“Knowing Christ is the best thing that has ever happened to me, although winning the US Open was a pretty good second.”
Psalm 37 Part 3
The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD Psalm 37:39For the last two weeks we have looked at the issue of why the “unrighteous” seemed to be more successful in life that the “righteous”. In the final meditation from Psalm 37 we will look at what it means to be righteous.
In the early verses, the Psalmist issues four instructions which give us some clues:
Trust in the LORD.
Take delight in the LORD.
Commit your way to the LORD.
Be still before the LORD.
Trust implies, letting go, recognizing that it is not down to us to sort out the world’s problems but that it is God’s responsibility. Giving up control is not easy for us as humans but that is what God calls us to do when we are told to trust him. Take delight implies that we trust willingly and happily. It is not just a case of reluctantly handing over control. We do it with a smile on our face!
Commit your way to the LORD is similar to trusting but sounds more active. It reminds me of Proverbs 3:6 “in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight”.
Be still is quite a challenge for many of us in the modern world. Our lives are busy from morning to night. We live in a world of noise. At home we have perhaps 100 TV channels to choose from. In the car we have the radio or the music on all the time. Being still before God is a real discipline.
This week in the midst of training, competition, living our lives, even going to all our church activities, let us find time to be still before God and time to take delight in Him. Let us reaffirm our trust in him and commit our season – hopes and fears, expectations and pressures – to him. Because the salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD.