Below is the continuation from last week of "True Biblical Prosperity as Revealed in the Beatitudes:

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With this understanding in mind, let us begin to “open the treasure-chest” of the Beatitudes by seeing verses 3 and 4 as a “couplet,” a pair of parallel statements:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

This concept – those who are “poor” in spirit – is used four (4) times in the Hebrew Scriptures translated as the English word “contrite.” In three of these various forms of the word transliterated “da-kaw;” is used. Let us consider two of these from the Psalms of David:

Psalm 34:18 – (notice, once again, the couplet form)
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted
And saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Psalm 51:17 –
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

Is it any wonder that our Lord Jesus couples this image of the “poor in spirit” with “those who mourn?” When you and I have experienced situations and circumstances of life – be they financial, medical, relational, loss of our dreams, betrayal, times of abject failure, et.al. – we truly have known what it means to be “brokenhearted,” “crushed” or “broken” in spirit.

At this time we also become quite contrite – “sorrowful for some wrong that one has done; deeply repentant.” (Miriam-Webster). These are the times, times of pain and desperation, of the keenly felt need for God’s help, His extended Hand, His Love and Forgiveness, times when we come in total and abject honesty as we “mourn” and weep unashamedly before Him in the midst of our pain. These are the times when we lay aside all of our excuses and rationalizations, and we “come clean” before Him with humble and beseeching hearts – hearts crying out His forgiveness, for His deliverance, His healing, His restoration!

Praise God, our Father in His faithful Love responds to our cries. He comes to us and meets us in our time of need! Jesus tells us that we will be blessed with the Kingdom of heaven, and we will be comforted when we come to Him in such honest, searching humility. 1 John 1:9 tells us that “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness,” and1 Peter 5:6-7 gives us this promise: 6“Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time. 7casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”

. . . . to be continued