I have been looking afresh at Psalm 37 today and have seen anew where God is in this current picture of my life. In this passage God assures His true children He will never forsake (abandon, reject, ignore, neglect, give up on, forget) them. With that assurance He calls His own to trust Him when things are not going well, even when things are very difficult and painful.
Fret not (vs. 1) – The word means to burn, be agitated. The writer is tempted to envy those who have it better than he does at the moment. His thoughts are on them. His heart is burning with the desire to change his situation to be like theirs. What is my heart burning for right now?
Trust in the Lord (vs. 3). It is definitely easier to obey God than to trust Him. But here God calls me to trust then obey. Am I focused on trying to obey or believe?
Dwell in the land (vs. 3) – That is, stay where God has put you right now. This immediately reveals whether I trust my loving heavenly Father. Where would I rather be right now than in this _______?
Feed on His faithfulness (vs. 3) – Keep reading in the Bible how God always keeps His promises. Keep reading how He promises to care for His own. Let those truths occupy your thoughts instead of vs. 1. Do I really believe He will be faithful in spite of how things look?
Delight yourself in the Lord (vs. 4) – Find Him to be the most eternally satisfying reason to live. Discover how richly rewarding are those things He delights in. What do I think about most that I think would make my life better?
Commit your way to the Lord…trust in Him (vs. 5) – Fully surrender to what He is doing right now and trust Him. This is the second time I am encouraged to trust the Lord in what I am going through. Do I believe His ways really are best and He really can be trusted right now?
Be still and wait patiently for Him (vs. 7) – Let Him change the situation in His time. Am I working at trying to change the situation myself? Or am I letting God change me?
There are rich promised results in this psalm if I will trust the Lord, if I will see His ways are best. I will discover the Lord to be the best reason to be alive, to go through this difficult time because He walks through it with me. He promises true purpose and fulfillment as I trust Him in this season of life.
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