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TRUST IN THE LORD
Psalm 37:1-40
The premise of this psalm is straightforward: God will bless his people and oppose the wicked. The psalmist makes it clear that the people of God are the righteous; those who uphold his values and principles.
From his time until now, it can be seen that the wicked — those who seek their own gain using all means available and regardless of who are hurt and impoverished along the way — often succeed. Not only are the righteous and the law-abiding often much slower to climb the ladder of success, the poor and needy have their rights trampled upon. It would seem that the way to success is not through love, kindness, mercy and generosity, but through scheming, selfishness, by circumventing laws, and even outright cheating, taking advantage of those who are defenseless. At the micro level people jump queue, park illegally or double-park, and game the system as much as possible.
The gains of wickedness are short term. God will make sure of that. Instead, the psalmist tells us to trust in the Lord and continue doing good. Commit your life to his way and delight in all that he is.
“Do not fret”, the psalmist says, “do not fret—it leads only to evil.” Don’t get upset, don’t be provoked to anger. Instead be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him to assert his justice. It is the meek who will inherit the land for “the Lord loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones.” So when we are in such circumstances, or we see the injustice in the land, the Psalmist calls us to turn away from looking at the wicked but to look at God and to place our hope in him. This is of course not turning a blind eye to injustice, but turning to God for justice. This is not doing nothing but doing what your hope in God allows you to do.
It is not common for the righteous people of God to become rich and powerful. Some do but most of us are just comfortable being blessed and being a blessing. What we delight in are the precious things that God sees as fruits of righteousness: love, peace, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The legacy of a righteous life lives on while the wicked will be cursed by his fellow men and by God. So we also need to be careful about the measuring stick with which we measure success.
All this is true because God is faithful to those who commit to his righteousness and God is eternally opposed to wickedness.
Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.