Psalm 37

This Psalm is one that I have never really spent a lot of time reading or even looking into.  But as I have been really studying through the Psalms a lot over the past month there have been many Psalms that have caught my heart. I have also been trying to really learn to focus and ask God what He is speaking to me specifically through what i am reading.  God really spoke to me in Psalm 37...

We know that Psalm 37 was a Psalm that David wrote when he was older in age because of verse 25.  If you are like me you enjoy listening to stories from older people.  I can sit and listen to an older person sit and talk about their life, their job, what it was like growing up and much more and at the end of my time I learned something.  I really feel like David wants us to hear some sagely wisdom here and it is some that I really need not only right now in my life but that we all need to be reminded of often. It's as if David is telling us, "This is a Psalm to live by.  TRUST ME!"

Verse 1 tells us to "fret not" because of evil doers and do not be envious of wrong doers. David new there was a tendency for us to worry and be jealous of the seemingly prosperity of wrongdoers.  I all to often look at people and think "REALLY GOD?! I know You know how they live their life.  Are they really getting to do that? Are they really getting that job?  Are they really making that much money?  Are they really driving that car?  Do they really get to live in that house?  Did they really get to go on that vacation?" It is sad how quickly I/we can think we are so great and everyone else is so bad.  I all to often want others to get what they deserve then I remember, "God please don't give me what I deserve!"  But David reminds us over and over throughout this beautiful Psalm that it may seem as if wrongdoers are "living the dream" but in reality they aren't and we know that deep down inside.   As verse 2 says they will wither away like a green herb.

Verse 3 really spoke to me.  In that season of waiting and uncertainty if God remembers us, we have a tendency to sit and do nothing.  But verse 3 reminds us, "Hey in all seasons if you ever wander what is going on, or what to do amidst transition just  TRUST IN ME AND DO GOOD AND BE FAITHFUL TO ME." It is hard to do but, we have to do what we know and then we will know what to do.  We have to concentrate on being faithful and doing good.

Verse 4 is a verse as Christians we love this one! But I really am learning that if we DELIGHT (have a good time with the Lord, enjoy our relationship with Him) it isn't that we will get whatever we want but that "If I am loving the Lord, then my desires will be His!" And the reverse is the same... If we aren't delighting in Him we should never listen to our heart because it will lead us all over the place.

The next few verses are words to live by that are hard for us to truly live into.  Verse 5 tells us to commit our ways/life to the Lord, to trust Him. To be still and rest in Him. Wait patiently for Him. Refrains from anger and getting mad about everyone around you getting what seems better than what you have because that only leads you down a path or darkness and evil being birthed in your heart.

David continues to remind us over and over that the wrongdoers will not really last. Verse 16 is great because it tells us that, "better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked." We feel like the wicked have all the fun.  They get all the great things.  But David at the end of his life is telling us I would rather have little and be found righteous in the Lord than have everything the world has to offer and be viewed as wicked in the sight of the Lord. The wicked think they are so smart to get away with so much stuff but as verse 13 tells us God just sits back and laughs at how foolish they are.

Verse 23 & 24 are so powerful.  If you love the Lord and your heart is bent on delighting in Him then the Lord WILL guide your steps.  It says "though he fall" not if you fall.  But when you fall the Lord Himself with grab you by the hand and hold your hand.  THE LORD WILL SEE YOU THROUGH PERSONALLY! Don't give up. Don't get discouraged.  Don't fret.  He will see us through. Verse 28 tells us that the Lord will not abandon his saints which are us who are in Christ.  He will see us through.  He will not forget us and leave us hanging.  But in the mean time we have to be faithful and do good!

Part of being faithful and doing good is right here in verse 31 "The law (the Bible) of his God is in his heart; his steps do not slip". If we will meditate on God's Word and hide it in our heart WE WILL NOT SLIP. Verse 34 encourages us to be patient.  Wait on the Lord.  Don't accept what is better than what you currently have just to get through it.  Wait and be patient for the place God wants to lead you to by His hand.  God promise us in verse 37 that we have a future!  As Perry Noble (@perrynoble) says, "If your not dead, God's not done."  I love that.

Then verse 39 & 40 just top the cake. Remember that the greatest gift have been given to us over and over and over. SALVATION!  Lord was so faithful in giving us that.  It promises us that Gods helps us and delivers us. TRUST IN HIM.  CONTINUE TO DO GOOD.  BE FAITHFUL TO HIM.  GOD WILL SEE US THROUGH!

AMEN!