“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, And He (the Lord) delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the Lord upholds him with His hand,” Psalm 37:23.
“Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the workers of iniquity,” Psalm 37:1.
Psalm 37 is a powerful scripture and I consider it is a follow-up to one of my favorite scriptures – Psalm 1. So when I read Psalm 1, Psalm 37 is a great follow-up. The two scriptures are validating scriptures or supporting chapters of each other.
I am comforted by the Word in these two chapters concerning the world: there is righteousness and evil as it relates to mankind. The scripture explains that the world is NOT evil; rather, that evil exists in the world because of mankind. Evil is unrighteousness and unrighteousness is sin. The physical world does not sin for God created the world out of nothing. Because of evildoers, systems of the world have been demoralized.
Psalm 37, like Psalm 1, gives me a comforting Word concerning the wickedness and righteousness of mankind. Most of all, it gives me hope. For the righteous, in both scriptures, have a look at some of the promises from God.
Verse 4 of Psalm 37 says “Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Not on man’s faithfulness but rely on God’s faithfulness. “Delight yourself also in the Lord. And He shall give you the desires of your heart.” Is that not a promise! We articulate from dwelling to delight and from delight to desires of the heart.
Psalm 37 has so many action words (verbs): commit, rest, cease, wait, inherit, trust, laugh, etc. Each one of those words are to be appreciated when it comes to the life of the righteous.
Verse 13 says that the Lord laughs at the wicked for He sees that his day is coming.
This is a comforting message in this Word. As Christians, we are not to fret because of evildoers. We are told do not be envious of the work that they do. “Hold on; they will be cut off,” says the Lord.
The righteous person must keep your eye on the eternal prize for doing good – eternal life. The righteous person has hope. He has faith (faith is the substance of things not seem but is the evidence of things of hoped for).
Several times the words “do good” stands out in this chapter – verses 3 and 27. Trust in the Lord and do good (verse 3); depart from evil and do good (v 27). What does that mean as a servant leader?
The righteous man can not be satisfied when his belly is filled and his neighbor is starving. The righteous man can not be at peace with a system of injustice when the Lord says He loves justice. He sees the days of the upright. He knows that the inheritance of the righteous is forever.
The riches of this world are not carried to the grave with a righteous man for the righteous lay up his treasures in heaven where thieves can not rob and destroy. This is not so for the wicked evildoers. Verses 9, 28, and 31 says the evildoers shall be cut off.
The Lord says He sees the wicked who plots and seeks to slay the righteous. Why does the wick plot? Because the righteous speaks of wisdom and his tongue talks of justice. The law of his God is in his heart; none of the steps of the righteous man shall slide.
Though the wicked has drawn his weapon to cast down the poor and needy, to slay those who are of upright conduct; the Lord has promised that the sword of the wicked will enter into their own hearts.
Servant leaders of God, do not fret. Do good! The Word says, “Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright; for the future of that man is peace. The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their strength in the time of trouble.”
About eight years ago, I changed my license plate tag at part of my validation of speaking Psalm 1 over my life. Yes, “I want to ride this scripture out. For I have a promise that if I delight myself in the Word of God day and night; and meditate in His Word then I will be planted like a tree by the rivers of water that brings forth fruit in its season; not out of season, but in its season. My leaves will not wither; whatever I do will prosper.
The psalmist said in Psalm 37:25 of himself as a witness to the Word, “I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread.” Do not fret. Do good. Why? In the last verse of this scripture, the psalmist restated the rewards of, “And the Lord shall help them and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the wicked and save them – Why? because they trust in Him.”
Credits
Music – Solitude from Movavi