Trusting God in the Good Times 

Psalm 23 

with John Calvin 

Those who enjoy the greatest abundance of outward good things are empty and famished if God is not their Shepherd. 

Read Psalm 23 

What are all the good things David is enjoying in his life at this moment? 

Who is responsible for that? 

Thanksgiving 

This psalm contains simply a thanksgiving, from which it appears that it was composed when David had obtained peaceable possession of the kingdom, and lived in prosperity. He does not wish, in the time of his great prosperity, to be like worldly men—who, when they seem to themselves to be fortunate, bury God in forgetfulness and luxuriously plunge themselves into their pleasures. So he delights himself in God, the author of all the blessings which he enjoyed. 

David acknowledges that the state of tranquillity in which he now lives, and his exemption from all inconveniences and troubles, is owing to the goodness of God. He also trusts that, through God’s providence, he will continue happy even to the close of his life.     

A Ladder to God 

Although God, by his benefits, gently attracts us to himself by a taste of his fatherly sweetness, yet there is nothing into which we more easily fall than into a forgetfulness of him—especially when we enjoy peace and comfort. Indeed, prosperity not only so intoxicates many, but it can also make them proudly rise up against God. Scarcely one in a hundred of those who enjoy the good things of God in abundance keep themselves in the fear of God and live in the exercise of appropriate humility and temperance. 

For this reason, we ought more carefully to note the example which is here set before us by David. He was elevated to the dignity of sovereign power, surrounded with the splendour of riches and honours. He possessed the greatest abundance of earthly good things, and yet in the midst of princely pleasures he testifies that he is mindful of God. Calling to remembrance the benefits which God had conferred upon him, David makes them ladders by which he may ascend nearer to him. By this means he not only bridles the wantonness of his flesh, but also excites himself with a greater earnestness to gratitude, and the other exercises of godliness. 

Apply

How can you stop yourself from forgetting about God when things are going well for you in this life? 

How can you make sure you continue to regularly thank God for all the blessings he has showered upon you? 

Pray   

Thank God for all the blessings and prosperity which you may be enjoying at the moment. 

Ask God to help you continue trusting him and looking to him, and not fall away because of the comforts of this life.