Imperatives From Psalm 37, Part Six

"Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass." Psalm 37:7

Rest. We all long for rest. This is the rest that comes when he have trusted and committed so fully that we can sleep while God is driving.

We've all seen a sleeping baby in arms. This is my grandson sleeping in the arms of his Pops. This is trust. This is commitment.

Rest in the Lord.

"Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD." Psalm 27:14

On December 13, 2006, I was lying in a hospital bed. I had undergone surgery five days earlier and that evening, I took a turn for the worse. My fever had gone up and I couldn't keep anything down. A technician came and took an x-ray.

A few minutes later, my doctor entered the room and told me I was in need of another surgery. She handed me the consent form to sign and I asked "When are you going to do this?" She told me they were taking me right away because otherwise I wouldn't make it until midnight. My bowel had perforated and was poisoning me internally.

On the operating table, as they prepared to sedate me, I was fully aware of the fact that I might not wake up on earth. Like my precious grandson in the arms of his grandfather, I committed to the Lord and rested, trusting Him.

Obviously I woke up. But it forever changed me. At the end of the day, rest awaits if I only trust.

Imperatives From Psalm 37, Part 5

"Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass." Psalm 37:5

There is a difference between trusting and committing. Committing is rolling it all on God— giving your way to Him and letting Him carry it. When I commit my way to the Lord I allow Him to lead me as if I am blindfolded and gagged. Too often, we allow God to lead us only when we can see where the road is going. As soon as the way becomes uncertain, we start running our mouths like an obnoxious backseat driver.

That is not committing.

"Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?" Matthew 6:25

"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

"Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." 1 Peter 5:7

That is committing.

Imperatives From Psalm 37, Part 4

"Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." Psalm 37:4

Most of the time I have heard this verse taught or preached, it is given in reverse. Essentially, if you want the desires of your heart, then delight in Him. As a teenager, that was my focus on this verse. There were things I wanted — not even bad things. I tried to delight in the Lord so that I could have those things my heart desired.

Now, as a middle-aged grandmother, I have finally realized my error. It is not about the things my heart desires, it is about the Person I delight in! It is so very important that the LORD should be my delight, my joy, my life.

It is imperative.

Imperatives From Psalm 37, Part 3

In review, the Lord has told us not to worry about evil doers and not to be envious of those who work iniquity.

Verse three begins some positive imperative commands.

"Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed." Psalm 37:3

God commands us — don't worry about those other people — what's important for you is trust Me and do good! Sounds simple, huh? Try it. It's not as simple as it sounds but the Lord uses the imperative to emphasize the importance of it.

I think, that for many Christians, the one thing that we find the hardest is trust — trusting the Lord. We find it hard to trust Him to do the best thing for us. We find it hard to trust Him to care for us. We find it hard to trust Him to take care of our enemies. So we skip the trust part and attempt the "do good" stuff. That makes us feel better.

However, we can't properly do good until we Trust in the LORD.

Trust and Obey
Words by John H Sammis

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.

Refrain
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

Imperatives From Psalm 37, Part 2

"Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity." Psalm 37:1

The second imperative in verse one, says "neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity." Oh, my! I am more guilty of this one than the first. I'm sure you've never done this, but there have been times when my sinful self has asked the question, "Why does that person seem to be doing so well when she isn't even trying to life for God? Here I am trying to do right and I'm struggling!"

I blush to admit that I've ever thought this way because I'm sure none of you ever have. God looked through time, saw what I was going to do and wrote a verse just to tell me, "Don't do that!"

"Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long." Proverbs 23:17

The problem is, I focus my thoughts on the wrong thing. Instead of focusing on God, I look at the people around me. If I concentrate on my relationship with the Lord, I have plenty enough to keep my busy without becoming envious of the workers of iniquity.

These first two were the negative commands. Now that we've looked at a couple of things God told us not to do, tomorrow we will begin looking at those things God told us to do!

Imperatives From Psalm 37, Part 1

Psalm 37:1 "Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity."

Do you remember your grammar? Do you remember the four types of sentences? Let’s review: there are declarative sentences or sentences that state a fact; there are exclamatory sentences or sentences that express strong emotion; there are interrogatory sentences or sentences that ask a question; and there are imperative sentences or sentences which express a command as distinguished from the discretionary. The imperative is important. When one uses the imperative, the implied meaning is that the command should be followed.

As moms, we use the imperative all the time. “Go clean your room. Wash your hands. Stop tormenting the cat.” God also uses the imperative often in Scripture. I’ve been watching for imperatives when I read my Bible. The first seven verses of Psalm 37 have several imperatives in it.

For today, I’m only going to point out one of them. In verse one, God says, “Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.” I know that if I allow myself, I can really fret because of evildoers. I worry about what evil people are doing. I worry about people who don’t like me and if they could, would do evil against me. I worry about the wicked people trying to take God out of my country. I worry about evil people. Much to my shame, I sometimes envy the workers of iniquity — not because they work iniquity but because they seem to prosper doing it. God looks down and says, “Don’t do that.” It’s imperative.

Are you worried about or envious of evildoers? Don’t be.