November 24, 2014

Psalm 37:1-13



Rachel Workman: 1 Don’t worry about the wicked
    or envy those who do wrong.
2 For like grass, they soon fade away.
    Like spring flowers, they soon wither.

3 Trust in the Lord and do good.
    Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.
4 Take delight in the Lord,
    and he will give you your heart’s desires.
You're hearts desires. I suppose this is where you'll need to evaluate what your heart's desires are. David is not speaking about material things here but what our heart is designed to desire. Which is what God freely gives us. Love, peace and joy.

5 Commit everything you do to the Lord.
    Trust him, and he will help you.
6 He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn,
    and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.
So if you want to stand out from the crowd here is your chance. We often strive for acceptance, honor and nobility. But often we strive in the wrong ways. Commitment and trust, two things we lack in today's society. We will never fail or be disgraced when we are commit to trusting the Lord. We will shine like the noonday sun in other words we will stand out.

7 Be still in the presence of the Lord,
    and wait patiently for him to act.
Don’t worry about evil people who prosper
    or fret about their wicked schemes.
I actually find these to be hard verses. Perhaps I need to evaluate my heart.

8 Stop being angry!
    Turn from your rage!
Do not lose your temper—
    it only leads to harm. Yep. Been there done that.
9 For the wicked will be destroyed,
    but those who trust in the Lord will possess the land.

10 Soon the wicked will disappear.
    Though you look for them, they will be gone.
11 The lowly will possess the land
    and will live in peace and prosperity.

12 The wicked plot against the godly;
    they snarl at them in defiance.
13 But the Lord just laughs,
    for he sees their day of judgment coming.

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John Burnett:  37 Do not fret because of evildoers,
Be not envious toward wrongdoers.  Those people who do wrong and prosper will lose more and the pain of losing the possessions they love will only increase as their possessions increase.
For they will wither quickly like the grass
And fade like the green herb.
Trust in the Lord and do good;
Dwell in the land and [a]cultivate faithfulness.
Delight yourself in the Lord;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.  Peace and joy, not new toys.
Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
He will bring forth your righteousness as the light
And your judgment as the noonday.   
7 [b]Rest in the Lord and wait [c]patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.
Cease from anger and forsake wrath;
Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.
For evildoers will be cut off,
But those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land.
  These verses brought me comfort and encouragement to be better than those who were doing evil against me.  I wasn’t going to return evil for evil but I wanted revenge and these verses reminded me that vengeance belongs to the LORD.
10 Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more;
And you will look carefully for his place and he will not be there.
11 But the humble will inherit the land
And will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.  I love prophesy and this little snippet makes my heart sing.  I look forward to Christ’s return like a kid waits for Santa on Christmas eve.
12 The wicked plots against the righteous
And gnashes at him with his teeth.
13 The Lord laughs at him,
For He sees his day is coming.
This passage is one of the most comforting passages in the Bible and helped me through a very tough time in my career 6 years ago.  There is a movie called “Flywheel” that uses this passage as foundation for the storyline and it was during this movie that I heard this passage for the first time. Psalms 37 calls for us to not worry when people do evil against us because they will be cut off.  It also calls for us to cease from anger and forsake wrath which was the hardest thing for me to do.  When verse 12 is happening, so is verse 13 and there is nothing we can do that compares.  He takes care of His own because we were bought for the ultimate price.

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