Psalm 37:27-29 - April 27, 2009

Ps 37:27-29 "Turn from evil and do good; then you will dwell in the land forever. 28 For the LORD loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones. They will be protected forever, but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off; 29 the righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever." NIV

Consistency, stability, continuity, this is the hope of the upright! God invites us into a life that has an anchor, a life that has roots, a life with a foundation. This invitation is not in the context of controllable circumstances but in the context of God’s character. Verses 27-29 give confidence to the man of character that protection, stability and love will flow from the heart of God to nourish the life of the faithful man. The Lord does not promise that there will be no changes in our lives in fact the scriptures call us to live as pilgrims. What the Word of the Lord does assure us is that if our ways please the Lord then no enemy will be able to displace us from living in the center of God’s will. The land referenced in these verses is reflective of every promise from God.
This is a year to enter in to your promises and to stand in faith that God will help you keep the ground which you have gained. Many people experience a season of breakthrough in their business, personal life or spiritual walk only to see much of that ground slip through their grasp and be lost, leaving them to fight for the same ground over and over again. The hope of Psalm 37:27 – 29 is that if our ways are pleasing to the Lord we will be able to endure in the breakthrough, not just visit the blessing for a season. Too many of God’s children are tormented by the fear of losing what has been gained. The problem with this consideration is that we are placing more faith in the negative possibility than in we are standing in the positive confidence that God will watch over the blessings he has placed within our lives. Verse 28 promises that those who are the Lord’s faithful ones will be protected forever, not just for a time. It brings God praise when we display to the world the enduring nature of God’s blessings upon our lives.
The power of what David is teaching us under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is where our attention should be placed. Turn from evil, do good, live justly, walk faithfully, this is to be the focus of our lives. We are not encouraged to fight to hold on to the blessing, we are encouraged to fight to hold on to a right heart before the Lord, we are encouraged to live with a just and faithful response to people. Jesus taught a profound truth in Mt. 16:25, the path to truly find your life is to lose it in pursuit of the living God. This is the essence of flourishing in life and in God. Solomon was rewarded with riches and influence not because he pursued these things but because when given the opportunity to have anything that he wanted from the hand of the Lord, he asked for the wisdom to serve God’s people well. His attention to the Lord’s business brought unparalleled blessings upon his life as well as the very wisdom that he was in pursuit of. This response from the Lord was almost certainly the foundation for Solomon to later write in Prov 10:22 “The blessing of the LORD brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it.” Give your attention to the things that matter to the Lord and He will give His attention to the things that matter to you!