Journey Through the Psalms #37

He will not forsake His Saints

Psalm 37

Read the chapter carefully and prayerfully.

“Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;

fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,

over the man who carries out evil devices!

Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!

Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.

For the evildoers shall be cut off,

But those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land.”

Think of someone who has wronged you in the past.

Did your pain turn to anger or bitterness?

How did you respond to that person?

How did you respond to your own anger or bitterness?

Read these promises.

“Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.”

“He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.”

“…but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.”

“But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.”

“..the Lord upholds the righteous.”

“..the wicked will perish … they vanish-like the smoke they vanish away.”

“those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the land”

“The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast head-long, for the Lord upholds his hand.

“He is ever lending generously, and his children become a blessing.”

“Mark the blameless and behold the upright, for there is a future for the man of peace.”

•••

What are some other promises you see in Psalm 37?

Write down the ones that stand out to you.

Now look closely at the promises. What does it say you are responsible to do? Remember, you are not merely a consumer of God’s gifts! He has a bigger plan for you, and this is a call to action.

Read these imperatives (to-do’s).

“Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers!”

“Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.”

“Delight yourself in the Lord”

“Commit your way to the Lord”

“Trust in Him”

“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him”

“Fret not”

“Refrain from anger”

“The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when He delights in his way”

“Turn away from evil and do good”

“Wait for the Lord and keep his way”

“The Lord helps them and delivers them .. because they take refuge in Him.”

•••

Reading through Psalm 37 while looking for imperatives sounded to me like David kept saying, “WAIT! HOLD ON!! –-Just stop what you’re doing and take directions from the Lord.”

So what are His directions? Do we sit on our hands and wait for signs of a prosperous life? Do we call every hardship “God’s will” and do nothing? By all means, this is not the time to become passive!

I had a conversation with an ex-Catholic man in a coffee shop who harbored bitter feelings for his ex-wife. She happened to attend Grace Community Church and, he claimed, was extremely religion-oriented. His opinion of the church was wrapped up in his ex-wife’s idea that in hard times we must do nothing because we are waiting on the Lord. According to his perspective, Christians were weak hypocrites, blaming God and waiting for change instead of taking care of the situation while they could.

His criticism is not far off. I’m sure there are many Christians and so-called “Christians” who take David’s words like a doctor’s note to school and claim there’s nothing they can do.

The reality is that waiting on the Lord requires obedience, and that by nature, is difficult to do. When you were wronged, when you were hurt, and when that hurt turned to anger and bitterness, did you worry that this person would get away with what they’ve done? Were you envious of the life of someone who clearly disregarded God’s Word? Did you turn from evil and commit to God’s way, or did you subtly seek revenge on that person?

Did you refrain from letting yourself dwell on how angry you were inside? Probably not! Not at all times, at least.

You see, the Lord shapes our character in times of hardship, and how we respond is directly related. It takes humility to accept that the one who has hurt you may be fine – they may never even regret it. And it takes a broken heart of obedience to gather up the choices you have and respond with forgiveness and grace.

The Lord is always faithful to His children, so will you be faithful too?