June 3, 2026

Business by the Book

Psalm 30:6 And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.

On the occasion of dedicating his house, David said that his prosperity would not move him, would not change him, and would not alter who he was. Too often this is not the case. When prosperity comes to a person the temptation is to change, to become someone else, to leave a fixed position and find new paths to walk.

A preacher once said to me that prosperity causes people to sin. I disagreed. Prosperity does not cause sin, prosperity unmasks sin. Every person is capable of wrong doing. With no resources to assuage the difficulties of wrong doing a person will wisely watch their steps carefully. Sometimes however, with wealth comes the allusion that money can make all results from sinful actions disappear. Therefore, prosperous people can be tempted to do things they never dreamed of doing before becoming wealthy.

Wealth, or prosperity, is best managed by those who grow into it gradually, steadily, and purposefully. It’s like a championship level golfer. No one who plays the game picks up the clubs one day and wins the U.S. Open the next day. It takes years to learn how to handle the pressure of the game to win championships. Any golfer with their normal golf group can have a good day and post a low score. But to duplicate that feat four days in a row, with millions of people watching on television, spectators on every hole, competing against the best golfers in the world, with the pressure of winning a million dollars or more, and knowing the prestige that follows such a win, the emotional pressure has caused more than one golfer to fail to play their best. This is why the junior golf programs are so important to future champions; they teach them to handle the pressure little by little, year by year, tournament by tournament until they learn how to deal with it. I believe it was Tom Watson who said one time, “I never won a major championship until I learned how to manage the pressure.” 

The same is true with prosperity. By learning how to manage wealth gradually, an individual will be able to cope with larger amounts properly; part of which means that they are not changed by prosperity. If I remember correctly in the book “The Millionaire Next Door” it is related that most who become millionaires do not change their basic manner of life. Most millionaires have earned their money over years, through hard work, study, and carefulness. Those however who have money come upon them swiftly without the proper foundation of knowing how to deal with finances many times change immediately, and far too often mismanage and lose their windfall.

King David gives us a glimpse of the proper mindset of those who would be prosperous. Determine to not let prosperity move you from your fixed position, especially with the Lord.

Dr. William Howe