Psalm 37:3-6 - April 20, 2009

Ps 37:3-6 "Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. 4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart." NIV

What does it mean to trust in the Lord? In searching out the definition more fully for this word Strong’s concordance states that it means to be confident in or to be sure of. This is what it means to trust in the Lord. God is speaking through his servant David and telling us, “You can be confident in me. You can be sure of me.” What a powerful hope this is. There are so many situations I know of where there is a great need but there is not the ability to be sure of a person to take care of it. There is no one that I can be certain will solve the problem wisely and correctly. But then there is God! When man fails us God is sure. When circumstance overwhelms us we can be confident in God! This passage is God endorsing his own character to us. This verse is more than just a king persuading us to lean on the Lord. This passage is the Lord himself through the inspired scriptures calling us to lean on Him!
There is a second powerful principle woven into the fabric of this verse. The Lord exhorts us to do more than trust! Through David the Lord challenges his people in the face of need to not become closed or withdraw from doing good. Our natural tendency under pressure is to focus on self preservation, to isolate and in our stress to place all of our attention on solving our problems or finding the path of deliverance from need. The problem with this situation is found in the fact that when we do this it dries up our hearts and cuts off our future harvest. The good things that we are reaping in our lives today are the result of past sowing not current sowing. The blessing that is on me today is the fruit of the years that are behind me. No farmer reaps in the same season that he sows. We sow and in due time we reap. Because of this principle if I withdraw from sowing goodness both financially and in my acts of kindness and obedience to the Lord then I can creating a future season of barrenness by the withholding of seed today. I may look at my circumstances and say, “I am doing okay right now so there is no consequence to withholding but be certain the harvest of tomorrow is hanging in the balance. God calls us in times of pressure to keep our hearts open and flowing with life and a spirit of generosity in all that we do and our obedience in this brings blessing and matures our faith as we look beyond the current trial with eyes of faith that say I will not be overcome by what I am walking through.
In times of crisis our needs tend to press in on us and consume our attention. All of our mental energy is absorbed in trying to find a way through the storm. David calls us to turn from this as nothing more than a distraction from devotion. Verse four calls us to delight ourselves in the Lord. You might be saying “What, worship now. Give thanks now! I can’t even find the presence of the Lord because my pain is speaking to loudly.” Take your eyes off of your situation and place them on the Lord! Delight in Him. There is no better thing to do in times of need than to take some time to enjoy God. Cultivate intimacy with Him and let him bring you to a place of peace and rest. God did not cause your problem, but He is the answer to it!!!!! Yield to His voice calling you to come and in his presence find life and wisdom. David is a wise counselor calling to us as if to say “Look to the Lord. He will carry you through.” It is in God’s presence that revelation comes, that proper attitudes of heart are imparted to us. So often pain and pressure become a poison to both our soul and our spirit and over time if we do not take our eyes off of circumstance and place them on the Lord we become bitter, angry, complaining and self-centered, as well as opening the door to temptations to find comfort in wrong forms of pleasure, all of these conditions lead us into greater darkness and frequently wrong choices and actions. However, if we will fix our eyes on Him he will give us right desires and clear directions. His faithfulness will lead us into victory over time as we praise Him.