Psalm 37

I was reading this morning and God's word was so rich and full of promises that I had to share with all of you. Isn't God good to give us His word? He is and we should be so thankful that we get to read it and learn from Him. I hope this passage will encourage you like it did to me.

"Fret not yourself because of evildoers;

Be not envious of wrongdoers!

For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. 

Trust in the Lord and do good;

dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. 

Delight yourself 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 act.

He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,

and your justice as the noonday. 

Be still before the Lord and wait 

patiently for him;

fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,

over the man who carries out evil devices!

Refrain from anger and forsake wrath!

Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. 

For the evildoers shall be cut off,

but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land." 

- Psalm 37: 1-9 (ESV) 

What are some simple things we can learn from this passage? There are several promises that jumped out to me. Promises that involve us doing something and God responding. 

Here's what I saw: 

If I: 

- Trust

- Do good 

- Dwell in the land 

- Befriend faithfulness

- Delight in the Lord

- Commit my way 

- Be still before the Lord

- Wait patiently

- Fret not

- Refrain from anger

- Forsake wrath 

God will: 

- Give me the desires of my heart

- Act

- Bring forth my righteousness and justice

- Cut off evildoers

- Give me the land 

God's word is so clear and these promises are true! Yes, the things we need to do seem insurmountable sometimes. But, God does not make us go through those things alone. He gives us his strength and grace to trust, wait, commit, etc. on Him. We will sin in our attempts to do these things, but his forgiveness is near and it gives us another opportunity to make a path to the cross and cling to Him. My prayer after reading those verses was "Lord, help me!" 

I know I will be coming back to these verses often to remind myself of what God requires of me and what he promises in return. What promises are you clinging to today?