Saturday, March 18, 2017

Trust and Do

Today’s Bible Reading:  Joshua 1-2; Psalm 37; 1 Corinthians 3
Topic: Trust



SCRIPTURE:  Psalm 37:3-7

3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. 
4Delight yourself in the Lord; and he will give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this:  6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
 (Ps 37:3-6 NIV)

OBSERVATION:

These few verses in this Psalm of David offer a wonderful progression of actions and resulting benefits:

    Action:                                                              Result:
“Trust in the Lord, and do good”                   A dwelling and safe pasture
“Delight yourself in the Lord”                       The desires of your heart
“Commit your way to the Lord”                    Your righteousness and justice 
                                                                        illuminated  


APPLICATION:

Let’s take these one at a time:

3 Trust in the Lord, and do good…

If I will put my faith and trust in the Lord and put action to that belief by doing good—that is living righteously according to Godly principles to the best of my ability, then I can trust God for the promise that follows, which says…

…dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

A dwelling is a place to live and a safe pasture is where one can be fed without fear.  This speaks of the two most basic of human needs: Food and shelter. What this tells me then is that if I will trust in the Lord and obey His ways—“do good”—then He will provide for my basic needs. The next action is…

4Delight yourself in the Lord;

This speaks of what my attitude is in following the Lord. Many times we may truly be trusting in and following the Lord, but not very happy about it. But if our attitude is one of un-begrudged delight the Lord says…

…he will give you the desires of your heart.

Wow, “the desires of your heart!” This goes way beyond my basic needs of food and shelter. God wants to provide my basic needs—yes, but He wants to go far beyond that.  He also delights to grant me the desires of my heart! God doesn’t want me to just be satisfied, He wants me to be fulfilled!  What a loving God we serve—hallelujah!  And He’s not done yet.  He has more; verse 5 says…

5 Commit your way to the Lord…    

What is my commitment to the Lord and these actions? A commitment is a solid decision or resolution from which you are unwavering, which you stick to no matter what. With that kind of commitment, God promises that… 

6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

God’s light will eventually expose everything. Whatever is righteous and just as well as whatever is evil and dishonest will be seen for exactly what it is. Your joyful obedience and unwavering resolve will be recognized and the scales of justice will be balanced.


PRAYER:


My Lord and my God, thank for these marvelous guidelines and benefits. May I be blessed with the wisdom and courage to live by Your Word. In Christ. Amen.  -AP

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