In The Word
Read: Psalm 37:1-20
Security of Those Who Trust in the Lord, and Insecurity of the Wicked.
A Psalm of David.
37 Do not get upset because of evildoers,
Do not be envious of wrongdoers.
2 For they will wither quickly like the grass,
And decay like the green plants.
3 Trust in the Lord and do good;
Live in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself in the Lord;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
6 He will bring out your righteousness as the light,
And your judgment as the noonday.
7 Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him;
Do not get upset because of one who is successful in his way,
Because of the person who carries out wicked schemes.
8 Cease from anger and abandon wrath;
Do not get upset; it leads only to evildoing.
9 For evildoers will be eliminated,
But those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land.
10 Yet a little while and the wicked person will be no more;
And you will look carefully for his place and he will not be there.
11 But the humble will inherit the land
And will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.
12 The wicked plots against the righteous,
And gnashes at him with his teeth.
13 The Lord laughs at him,
For He sees that his day is coming.
14 The wicked have drawn the sword and bent their bow
To take down the afflicted and the needy,
To kill off those who are upright in conduct.
15 Their sword will enter their own heart,
And their bows will be broken.
16 Better is the little of the righteous
Than the abundance of many wicked.
17 For the arms of the wicked will be broken,
But the Lord sustains the righteous.
18 The Lord knows the days of the blameless,
And their inheritance will be forever.
19 They will not be ashamed in the time of evil,
And in the days of famine they will have plenty.
20 But the wicked will perish;
And the enemies of the Lord will be like the glory of the pastures,
They vanish—like smoke they vanish away.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
Today the Lord tells us to not be envious of those who embrace the ways of the world. We may look at others who live for the world and think that they are getting ahead of us. Actually, that is true in many ways. The world accepts their own. However, those of us who are living for the Lord are getting ahead of them in terms of God’s kingdom. We are also told that they will meet their sudden end, but we who hold firm to God will live on in eternity.
The key to our walk with the Lord is to trust God and follow His teachings with all of our hearts. We must cultivate this life style and embrace it with all of our hearts. There are many who begin to live for God but then, like Lot’s wife, they look back at the world and desire what it has to offer instead of what God has to offer. We must be different and keep our eyes on Christ. We are told how to do this through the teachings of Paul. We must keep our eyes on the things above where Christ is seated.
The best way to do that is to make a whole-hearted commitment to never look back. Just wake up each day and do the right things according to God’s Word. Rest in Him and be patient. For those of us that live this way, we will see God’s goodness in this life and in the one to come. We must learn to turn away from the world and look to God!