VERB POWER
PSALM 37:3-5
PSALM 37:3-5 NKJ
3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
Years ago, at Lakewood, I did a message in one of my classes called The Verbs of Psalms 37. I can't say that's a catchy title, but the verbs in this Psalm are strong. Trust, dwell, delight, commit, rest, cease, depart, wait. It is an action-oriented Psalm.
These three verses carry some powerful wisdom. Trust in the Lord and do good. That advice is always a winner. We could adopt that as a life mantra.
Dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness. That is a bit out of the ordinary in terms of the phrases we use. Other translations read, "Trust in the Lord and do good, dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture" (NIV). The NLT says . . . "Then you will live safely in the land and prosper." That phrase would make a good greeting, live safely, and prosper. Anyway, we translate it this verse works well for me.
Verse four is one I have heard quoted for years. "Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart." I would hear people say, I am delighting myself in the Lord, so He is giving me, and then they would name their desire.
I believe there is another higher way to look at this verse. If we delight ourselves in the Lord - we take pleasure in Him and our relationship with Him. And He will give us the desires of our hearts. He will put in our hearts things we will desire.
I have heard people express a fear that if they got close to God, He would send them to a foreign country as a missionary. But that verse does not say delight yourself in the Lord, and He will make you do something you hate. God will put desires in our hearts that are in line with His plans for us.
Commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. This action would involve making Him the Lord over our ways. Not doing everything in our own strength. Getting Him involved in completing the plans that He put in our hearts.
APPLICATION:
Many years ago, after bible school, I was praying about our next step. The Lord put into my heart car sales. I was thinking ministry, but He gave me another desire. As I committed that plan to Him, He opened a door in car sales that was the path to another job in sales that helped my young family greatly. I was seeking and trusting and delighting and committing, and He brought it to pass.
PRAYER:
Thank You, Lord. I can trust You, and You can cause me to live safely and prosper. Thank You that I can also trust You to put the right desires in my heart.