Psalm of Instruction

                                    “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.”- Psalm 37:3-4

 

          While I did come across one reference work that attributed this Psalm to David’s son Solomon due to its proverbial nature, a vast majority attribute Psalm 37 to King David. He is older now and is using this writing to instruct his people Israel “some things about life, righteousness, sin and God's will and plan.” * 

          In the first seven verses of this Psalm David lays out 5 precepts or rules for all believers for all time. They may have been written for Israel then, but they are eternally true and therefore wise council for us even now. Rule one in verse one instructs us ‘‘not to fret because of evildoers’’. Rule two is in verse three and tells us to ‘‘trust in the Lord and do good’’ as seen above. Rule three found in verse four says to “take delight in the Lord”. Rule four in verse five is ‘‘commit your way unto the Lord’’ and rule five is ‘‘be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him’’ which is found in verse seven. Our focus today is on verses 3-4 or the 3rd and 4th precepts.

          In this crazy mixed up world we live in, there isn’t a whole lot we can place our trust in anymore. Everything in this life is temporal. Nothing lasts forever. With that in mind we read David’s words ‘trust in the Lord and do good’. Now trusting in God is a faith issue, without question. Trusting in anything or anyone you cannot experience with any of your five senses is extremely difficult and requires a level of faith for the very definition of faith is to believe in something unseen as if it can be seen. David gives us one reason why we can trust God in all things by telling us in verse 25 “I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread”. David, now an old man, is letting us in on that which has worked for him throughout his life. In spite of the sins and major blunders he committed in his life, he can still lift his head heavenward and pay allegiance to his God for he knows in his heart that God is constant. His love is unconditional and everlasting. We change with every shifting of the wind, but God never changes.

          The ‘desires’ that David is referring to in the second part of verse four are not every little whim and wish that we can conjure up in our mind, but rather his assumption is that in trusting God and seeking Him we will also seek to please Him with our lives and therefore our desires will be ones that are pleasing to God and not in contradiction to His rules and commandments. In serving God we find that we shall never have anything to fear, nor shall we ever be forsaken. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries
*The Story Behind the Psalms; Dr. Jack Hyles; http://www.fbbc.com/messages/hyles_psalms.htm