August 20th, 2020
By Bill Yerkes
Do not fret because of those who are evil
or be envious of those who do wrong;
for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.
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.
Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
your vindication like the noonday sun.
Psalm 37:1-6
David gives us promising words in this Psalm. I am overwhelmed by the amount of evil in this world. We live in a culture of darkness. We live in a culture motivated by self-interests. We live in a culture consistently turning away from God. But David gives us hope!
Let’s start with politics. Yes, I said it…POLITICS! If you have no idea who you are going to vote for, it would be hard to choose. Why? Because everyone has bad things to say about everyone else. Everything anyone has ever done is wrong. This guy is too arrogant. This guy is too old. This guy did this wrong, but that’s not any where near as bad as what the other guy did! How do we choose? We all know corruption exists everywhere in politics. Both parties and every party in between have made bad decisions behind the scenes and have been proven guilty as such, and then they blame one another for being corrupt.
Politics is just the beginning. In our nation we have been plagued with fractured race relations rooted deep in our history and continually surfacing, demanding our attention. Then there is gender inequality, social inequality, climate change, and the dispute over natural resources just to name a few. Even within the church we struggle to agree on what is right and wrong based on scripture interpretation. If you find yourself trying to navigate the choppy waters of life, David gives us hope!
“Trust in the Lord” is how he starts verse three. Then he says to “dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.” God gave the Israelites land and was faithful in providing for them while they were there. What is your land? Where is the place God has given you to feel safe in his presence? Whatever you have been through, and whatever your past journey looks like, where are you right now? God has placed you there and it is your safe pasture. He wants you to rest in it and delight in it. When we trust Him, we can be certain He is watching out for us and keeping us in the place where we are called. We can be certain in the midst of the craziness surrounding us, “He will give us the desires of our heart.” God knows your heart, your anxiety, your fears, and your frustrations. He understands what you are going through and he gives us his Word to educate us on how to deal with those things, and He has given us himself, so we might be one with Him and His righteousness.
As believers our hope is in the Lord. Although it is sometimes hard, He wants us to trust Him and cling to that hope in the darkest of times. When life seems to be unraveling and the world seems to be closing in around you, “He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.” In other words, God wants you to choose Him. Choose to put your trust in Him. No candidate, cause or campaign can give you what He can. You will still need to do your part as an American and choose as your heart leads, but when you put your trust in Him, you will know your thoughts and actions will come from Him, and you can trust the outcome.
Do not fret because of those who are evil
or be envious of those who do wrong;
for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.
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.
Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
your vindication like the noonday sun.
Psalm 37:1-6
David gives us promising words in this Psalm. I am overwhelmed by the amount of evil in this world. We live in a culture of darkness. We live in a culture motivated by self-interests. We live in a culture consistently turning away from God. But David gives us hope!
Let’s start with politics. Yes, I said it…POLITICS! If you have no idea who you are going to vote for, it would be hard to choose. Why? Because everyone has bad things to say about everyone else. Everything anyone has ever done is wrong. This guy is too arrogant. This guy is too old. This guy did this wrong, but that’s not any where near as bad as what the other guy did! How do we choose? We all know corruption exists everywhere in politics. Both parties and every party in between have made bad decisions behind the scenes and have been proven guilty as such, and then they blame one another for being corrupt.
Politics is just the beginning. In our nation we have been plagued with fractured race relations rooted deep in our history and continually surfacing, demanding our attention. Then there is gender inequality, social inequality, climate change, and the dispute over natural resources just to name a few. Even within the church we struggle to agree on what is right and wrong based on scripture interpretation. If you find yourself trying to navigate the choppy waters of life, David gives us hope!
“Trust in the Lord” is how he starts verse three. Then he says to “dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.” God gave the Israelites land and was faithful in providing for them while they were there. What is your land? Where is the place God has given you to feel safe in his presence? Whatever you have been through, and whatever your past journey looks like, where are you right now? God has placed you there and it is your safe pasture. He wants you to rest in it and delight in it. When we trust Him, we can be certain He is watching out for us and keeping us in the place where we are called. We can be certain in the midst of the craziness surrounding us, “He will give us the desires of our heart.” God knows your heart, your anxiety, your fears, and your frustrations. He understands what you are going through and he gives us his Word to educate us on how to deal with those things, and He has given us himself, so we might be one with Him and His righteousness.
As believers our hope is in the Lord. Although it is sometimes hard, He wants us to trust Him and cling to that hope in the darkest of times. When life seems to be unraveling and the world seems to be closing in around you, “He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.” In other words, God wants you to choose Him. Choose to put your trust in Him. No candidate, cause or campaign can give you what He can. You will still need to do your part as an American and choose as your heart leads, but when you put your trust in Him, you will know your thoughts and actions will come from Him, and you can trust the outcome.
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