Vain Confidence
Psalm 30:6-12
And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.…


And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved, etc. Three stages here represented in the life of a good man.

I. WORLDLY PROSPERITY A SECURITY. "In my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved."

1. We say this in youth. All our castles in the air, we think, are built upon mountains. We think we can become anything and achieve anything we please.

2. We say this before we know our sinfulness. The ways of the world harden our hearts about our sins. Success in life and the means we employ to reach it will often harden the conscience. Money, luxury, praise, are dreadful things to blind men to their real character and state before God.

II. THE SENSE OF DANGER AND TROUBLE.

1. God hides his face. We, in our vain confidence, think it is God that has made our mountain to stand strong - till he hides his face, till a great black cloud (our sins) comes between us and God. This phrase, though often misapplied, expresses a very real fact. It is the blackness of darkness to many a terror-stricken sinner.

2. The terrors of death. Of death, natural and spiritual, get hold of us. The terror of death, natural and spiritual, is to be forsaken of God in it. This dreadful moment has come to nearly all good men. Some men never get beyond this second stage of life.

III. RESTORATION TO REAL PROSPERITY AND SECURITY.

1. The prosperity of the believer is real prosperity. It is the prosperity of the soul; it is prosperity from God, and not from man; it is lasting, secure prosperity.

2. God is the Author of the second and third stages of a good man's life. "Thou didst hide thy face;... thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing," etc. - S.





Parallel Verses
KJV: And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.

WEB: As for me, I said in my prosperity, "I shall never be moved."




The Proper Improvement of Prosperity and Adversity
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