Scripture Lesson: Psalm 37:1-6
Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. 2For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. 3Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. 4Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. 5Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. 6And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.
Psalm 37:1-6
Meditation
Psalm 37:4 is a well known scripture. However, we generally pay little attention to the beginning part of it, “Delight thyself also in the Lord”. We rush to the promise “and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” How many request for material blessings have we tagged this scripture to? We reason in our hearts that not only will God supply our needs according to Philippians 4:19, but now, according to Psalm 37:4, He will also give us the desires of our hearts. Then we proceed to present God with our petition list. Many times it is this list that has gotten us into the situation that we now find ourselves in, feeling that God has not delivered on His promises. We have believed God to the best of our abilities, yet we have not received all of the desires on our list. As a result, our faith has been hurt and injured.
Let’s look carefully at verses 3, 4 and 5 of Psalm 37. These verses contain three conditional promises. If the conditions are not met, the promises are null and void. It is just that simple.
Look at the first condition. “Trust in the Lord and do good”. This is a two part condition. We must trust in the Lord AND we must do good. What does do “good” mean in this instance? If we look at verses 1 and 2, we will see that David talks about evildoers and workers of iniquity. In the Amplified Bible, workers of iniquity are those who work unrighteousness or that which is not upright or in right standing with God.
Sometimes it is not easy to do good, especially when it looks like those that do wrong are rewarded by the world. For instance, being honest does not always seem to be the best policy. Sometimes we may feel that we are behind the times since “everyone else” appears to get away with a few indiscretions. We find ourselves envious of those that appear to have the things we desire, such as health, wealth, relationships, and so forth, but have not put in a fraction of the time we feel that we have put in serving God. We then find ourselves in a spiritual battle. However, there is some good news concerning this situation. We are no longer slaves to sin. We can choose to do right. When we do, the condition of this promise in Psalm 37:3 is met and we can look to the promise. We will dwell in the land and we will be fed.
Affirmations
I am a person of promise. God wants me to live in His Word and to abide in Him. I choose to trust God. I will lean on, rely on, and be confident in the Lord. I choose to do good. Even when it appears to be hard, I know that I am no longer a slave to sin. I rejoice and I am grateful for the promise that I dwell in the land and I will be fed. In Jesus name, amen.
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