Trusting, Trusting, Trusting

Psalm 37:3-6 (NKJV)
³ Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
⁴ Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
⁵ Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bringit to pass.
⁶ He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday.

There is a shortcut to interpreting the deeper meaning of a Bible passage. I don’t apply it as often as I should, but it never fails to be helpful. It is simply listing the verbs. What are the verbs in this portion of Psalm 37? By the way, if someone quotes a single verse, always finds its full context to see if it is a fair representation of the wider context. We see the words trust, dwell, do good, feed, delight, commit and trust again. Now look at the actions of God in response to the Psalms actions. They are “shall give,” “shall bring to pass” and “shall bring forth.”

We are to trust in the LORD himself. We are not directed to place our confidence in some abstraction but in the personally self revealed God of Abraham. In other places we are asked to trust is the law, God’s promises, etc. But here, we place our trust in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is repeated in the New Testament. Jesus tells us “believe in God, believe also in me.” The Apostles’ teach the same personal trust. “Cast all your cares on Him, for He cares for you.” Jesus exhorts us to “Come unto me, all of you who are about to buckle under the weight of the stress you are carrying around.” (Now that is paraphrase.)

Carefully consider with me the profound phrase “feed on His faithfulness.” In Hebrew poetry there is often parallel phrases. The writer repeats the same meaning using slightly different words. Here is it is “delight yourself in the Lord.” The promise that God shall give you the desires of your heart is prefaced on the state of your heart. The state of your heart should be trust, righteousness, and delight. We are to, also, submit to the Lord’s ways. If your ways comport with God’s ways, then, naturally, God will bless your ways.

Here the theme is a man, David, who is doing the right things and getting his butt kicked for it. In the reading the entire Psalm and the Psalms around it, it is clear that David is losing sleep over the conditions of his life. This Psalm is for the people but it is first for David’s own soul. In verse 24 we get the background of the Psalm. “Though he falls, he shall not be utterly cast down for the Lord will uphold him with his hand.”

Our responsibility in prayer is to trust God and earnestly desire to please him. It is to do the right thing, that is, the righteous thing. If the evildoer prays for protection from the evildoer, then God can only guard him and others from the consequences of own his or her evil.

All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

Courage, brother! do not stumble,

Though thy path be dark as night;

There’s a star to guide the humble,

Trust in God and do the right.

Norman Macleod (1812–1872)

God knows, not I, the reason why

His winds of storm drive through my door;

I am content to live or die

Just knowing this, nor knowing more.

My Father’s hand appointing me

My days and ways, so I am free.

Margaret Sangster (1838–1912)

Hush! my dear, lie still and slumber,

Holy angels guard thy bed.

Heavenly blessings without number

Gently falling on thy head.

Isaac Watts (1674–1748)