Psalm 37 Part-Two

2/3/2012 9:51:51 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                                     Focus:  Psalm 37 Part-Two

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  Psalm 37:12-40

            Message of the verses:  In today’s SD we will begin to look at the next sections of Psalm 37 and we must remember that in this psalm David will answer the question as to why the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer.

            The Lord Understands Your Situation (vv. 12-20): “12  The wicked plots against the righteous And gnashes at him with his teeth. 13  The Lord laughs at him, For He sees his day is coming. 14  The wicked have drawn the sword and bent their bow To cast down the afflicted and the needy, To slay those who are upright in conduct. 15  Their sword will enter their own heart, And their bows will be broken. 16  Better is the little of the righteous Than the abundance of many wicked. 17  For the arms of the wicked will be broken, But the LORD sustains the righteous. 18  The LORD knows the days of the blameless, And their inheritance will be forever. 19  They will not be ashamed in the time of evil, And in the days of famine they will have abundance. 20  But the wicked will perish; And the enemies of the LORD will be like the glory of the pastures, They vanish-like smoke they vanish away.”

            I see in this section the differences between what will happen to the wicked and what will happen to the righteous.  We see that the wicked are plotting against the righteous and for the most it does not bother them for they are just doing what wicked people do.  I believe that this goes back to the original sin and the results of that sin.  God told Adam and Eve that in the day you eat of the forbidden fruit you will die.  I have to believe that with the superior intelligence that both of them had that they knew what death was even though they had not seen it before.  After their sin Adam and Eve knew something was different in that they did know the difference between good and evil.  What happened to them was that they died spiritually for they hid themselves from God because of the guilt that they not had as a result of the spiritual death.  This spiritual death is what has been passed on to all of their descendants and it is this spiritual death, or old nature, or flesh, is what causes the wicked to act the way they act because they cannot act any other way.  When a person has been born again or born from above they receive a new nature, but still have the old nature, but God looks at the believer through the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

            The word slay in verse fourteen is a word that is used to slay an animal, and that is the desire of the wicked to slay the righteous, but God has other plans for them as seen in verse fifteen.  We have to remember that the Lord does not take care of everything on the time table of man for He has His own time table and in the end the wicked will perish, but the righteous will live forever with the Lord.  “For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish (Psalm 1:6).”

            I want to look at the word “know” that is found in verse eighteen, for sometimes we will say that we know a person and mean that we have a causal contact with them, but that is now what it means as far as the Lord is concerned when He says that He knows someone, or even in the case of Adam and Eve.  When it said that Adam knew his wife it meant in a deep understanding of her and even in a sexual way.  I think that it is John 10 that Jesus says that “I know my sheep.”  He is not just saying that He knows who they are, but that He knows all about them and that they belong to Him and that He will care for them.  I am thankful that Jesus knows all about me and cares for me.

            The Lord Bless His People (vv. 21-31):  “21 ¶  The wicked borrows and does not pay back, But the righteous is gracious and gives. 22  For those blessed by Him will inherit the land, But those cursed by Him will be cut off. 23  The steps of a man are established by the LORD, And He delights in his way. 24  When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, Because the LORD is the One who holds his hand. 25  I have been young and now I am old, Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken Or his descendants begging bread. 26  All day long he is gracious and lends, And his descendants are a blessing. 27  Depart from evil and do good, So you will abide forever. 28  For the LORD loves justice And does not forsake His godly ones; They are preserved forever, But the descendants of the wicked will be cut off. 29  The righteous will inherit the land And dwell in it forever. 30  The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, And his tongue speaks justice. 31  The law of his God is in his heart; His steps do not slip.”

            We see in verses 21-22 that the Lord blesses His own by providing their daily needs.  We know that the wicked may succeed for a time, but eventually they have to borrow in order to survive, while the godly have what they need and have the means to lend to others.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “This isn’t a promise for every believer at all times in all places, for many believers have died in poverty and hunger.  Like the statements in the book of Proverbs, it’s a generalization that proves true in so many cases that we can safely apply it to life.”

            We see in verses 23-24 that God also blesses us with protection.  Our steps are established by the Lord and even if we fall He will pick us up as seen in Jude 24:  “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy.”  The reason that the Lord will pick us up when we fall or fail is because He delights in all of His children even though at times we find it hard to sense the truth of it.

            The next blessing we find is in verses 25-26 and that is the Lord’s presence with His people.  I seem to remember the content of verse 25, but never where it is located at.  I hope now that I will remember where it is found now.  We have to remember that David was advanced in age when he wrote this psalm and so he is drawing on his experiences. 

            In verses 27-29 we see the blessing of God enabling His children to live obedient lives and that will result in righteousness and good character and also justice in conduct. 

            In verses 30-31 we see a favorite blessing of mine and that is that God blesses us with His Word.  We know from other psalms the importance of hiding God’s Word in our hearts.  “Thy Word I have hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee.”  Psalm 119:11 KJV.

            The Lord Judges the Wicked (vv. 32-40):  “32  The wicked spies upon the righteous And seeks to kill him. 33  The LORD will not leave him in his hand Or let him be condemned when he is judged.  34 Wait for the LORD and keep His way, And He will exalt you to inherit the land; When the wicked are cut off, you will see it. 35  I have seen a wicked, violent man Spreading himself like a luxuriant tree in its native soil. 36  Then he passed away, and lo, he was no more; I sought for him, but he could not be found. 37  Mark the blameless man, and behold the upright; For the man of peace will have a posterity. 38  But transgressors will be altogether destroyed; The posterity of the wicked will be cut off. 39  But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; He is their strength in time of trouble. 40  The LORD helps them and delivers them; He delivers them from the wicked and saves them, Because they take refuge in Him.”

            Dr. Wiersbe writes “Three images illustrate God’s judgment of those who reject Him and rebel against His law:  the court trial (vv. 32-34), the tree (vv. 35-36), and the rescue (vv. 37-40).”

            We know from history, not only in Israel but other countries that it is the rich who are usually given better treatment when they go to court, and even though that is not right in the eyes of the Lord it still happens, and it happened in David and Solomon’s time too even though they had the Word of God that taught how to judge others.  Amos wrote about this to the shame of Israel in Amos 2:4-8; 4:1-3.  We know that in the end when the Lord judges it will be perfect judgment.

            Psalm 1: 3 reads as follows, “He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.”  Now compare Psalm 37:36:  “I have seen a wicked, violent man Spreading himself like a luxuriant tree in its native soil.”  Different kinds of trees are seen in these two verses.  The tree in Psalm 37 dies and is not seen again, not like the tree in Psalm 1.

            In verses 37-40 we seen that God not only judges the wicked but He will rescue the righteous from the clutches of the wicked.  It does not matter what a man looks like or how much money he has the question is where will he spend eternity, with the wicked in hell or with the righteous in heaven where the Lord is.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am thankful that the Lord knows me and that He knows me better than I know myself.  I want to know myself better and I want to know the Lord better as I study His Word.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.       I want to continue to learn contentment as Paul wrote of in Phil. 4:11b and following.

2/3/2012 11:51:34 AM