February 6th. Reviled here, rewarded there.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season,

and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers Psalm 13.

How does the promise in Psalm 13 point to Christ? It says, in all that he does, he prospers.

The righteous prospers in everything they do. Is this naïve or profoundly true?

In this life, it certainly seems that the wicked prosper.

Fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way over the man who carries out evil devices.

Psalm 37. 7. Evil doers not only prospers, but they put God to the test and they escape. Malachi 3.15.

And in this life, the righteous often suffer, and their goodness is rewarded with abuse.

If we had forgotten the name of our God, would not God discover this yet? For your sake,

we are killed all day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

Psalm 44. 20 to 22. The psalmist themselves knew this. We are not protesting something they didn't

already know. Therefore, when the psalmist says, in all that he does, he prospers, he is not naïve.

He is pointing through the ambiguities of this life to the life after death,

where the true effectiveness, the true prosperity of all that we have done will appear.

This is the way Paul thought. First, he celebrates the victory of Christ over death.

Oh, death, where is your victory? Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ

for Corinthians 15, 55 to 57. Then, he draws out the implication that because of this triumph,

every work that believers have ever done will prosper.

Therefore, my beloved brothers, in the Lord, your labor is not in vain for Corinthians 15, 58.

When something is not in vain, it prospers. Because Jesus died in our place,

he guaranteed that every good deed prospers sooner or later.

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