The Lord Delights in the Prosperity of His Servant: what does that mean?
Psalm 35:27 KJV
Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.
Psalm 35:27 CEB
But let those who want things to be set right for me shout for joy and celebrate! Let them constantly say, “The LORD is great— God wants his servant to be at peace.
3 John 2 KJV
Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
3 John 2 NIV
Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.
Today I want to highlight two scriptures that prosperity preachers have used for years. And almost every time they use it, they will quote these two versus above, and almost every time they use them incorrectly. So today, I want to show you these two versus, from different versions so you can see the meaning behind what was actually said from the King James Version (KJV) and other versions of the bible to compare them to see what is really going on, and also, to see, how preachers have taught on these versus for years, incorrectly. So here we go.
OK, in order to understand these scriptures and why they were translated differently in different versions is you have to remember the Old testament was originally written in Hebrew and the New Testament was originally written in Greek. So, in order to translate these texts to really know what they meant in the original language, we have to look them up in a Strong’s concordance with Hebrew and Greek Lexicon, (that’s just a fancy word for dictionary). Once there, it will give us the original meaning of the words in their original language. So, in Psalm 35:27 where it reads, the Lord is magnified in the prosperity of His servant, the word prosperity there does not mean, finances, money, or anything to do with that. The word there in Hebrew means Peace because the word used there is SHALOM, which means peace. So, it is saying there the Lord delights, is magnified, in the peace of His servant, which makes sense, considering Psalm 35 is David praying to God to be delivered from his enemies. So, David is basically saying the Lord delights in the peace of HIS servants from one’s enemies. Not money cars, houses, land, and private jets etc. If you look at the CEB version of that texts they translate it better with the word peace in it to show what it looks like with peace as opposed to prosperity and I think you can see a huge difference.
Now in 3 John the word prosper their means to go along well with you as to go well with you on a journey. So, if you look at the New International Version (NIV) they translate it very nicely that way, and I think you can see what it looks like there and how it means nothing about money or anything of the sort. So, my point is, in both these versus they NEVER meant, nor will they EVER mean money or finances at all! So, I’m not against God blessing us, but using these scriptures out of context to prove prosperity (riches as defined by prosperity preachers) is just plain wrong and needs to be addressed. So, in recap:
1. Prosperity in the Hebrew is Shalom, which means peace, not money.
2. It means peace as in context from one’s enemies, that is what Psalm 35 is about.
3. Prosperity in the Greek in 3 John means to go along well with you as in a journey. The NIV shows that beautifully. So, we can’t use this verse for riches either!
4. Also, sorry for the King James only Christians out there, but I also hope this exercise shows that other translations may have translated it better or more correctly than the King James does as far as helping us get a better understanding of what it means today. So, for me, I use an eclectic style in reading scripture, getting it from many versions, and then comparing it to the original Hebrew and Greek to see which one is the closest to the original meaning. To use King James only could mess you up at times. These are just two versus right here that it could.
Closing Prayer:
Lord, thank You for Your word and I thank You that You bless us. However, forgive us for using Your word incorrectly and thinking these versus mean You desire for all of us to be rich and that being a Christian automatically means being wealthy and using it that way. Thank you so much for showing us this verse means peace and You wish all is going well with us as it goes well with our souls, again, indicating peace. Thank you for the correction, in Jesus’ name, Amen!
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