(Message by Pastor Philip Joseph on 25.04.2010. Sorry for the late post...Happy Reading!)
King David was a man of poetic charm in words and verses. He wrote many Psalms. When he was joyful, he exalted God and sang praises to Him; when he was sad, he put down words of prayer and supplication; and when he was in distress facing difficult situations, he wrote psalms of assurance, trust, hope and victory. Psalm 37.is one such Psalm of David.
Psalm 37 is David’s response when he found himself in a tight corner and his soul is troubled and disquieted within him. Even for us today, it is of utmost importance to have a Godly response in every circumstances of life-whether good and pleasant... or the not so pleasant ones.
We certainly know that there are, and will be, times and seasons in our lives when we have to face unpleasant circumstances. It is one thing to show zeal and gladness and sing His praises in the church gathering, when ALL IS WELL with us. But what about the not-so-pleasant times in our lives? Are we willing to show up a Godly response, even when things are stacked-up against us?
We must know the strategy, the steps in our Christian walk that will lead us to victory. It is possible to always lead a victorious Christian life in every circumstance. Because we read in 2 Corinthians 2:14: “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ…” Jesus Christ is gone before us, and we are marching in that triumphal procession after Him. Our God is a God of victory and He ALWAYS leads us in triumph!
What about you? Is the Sunday ‘effervescence’ reserved only for ‘good’ week-days…and disappears the moment some trouble erupts? Or does praises to the Creator depend on fulfilled desires?
Today let me share the secret of living a victorious Christian life. Psalm 37: 23, 24 goes like this: The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand.
What a comfort to know that our circumstances are ‘ordered’ by the Lord and He holds us with His own hand! Psalm 139 talks about how even before we were formed, God saw us. V16 continues, “And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.” All the days we are going to here is filled with God’s purposes…We have a plan and a purpose for our lives all mapped out and ready. Do we have the entire map? No. Can we know His plan? Yes…in bits and pieces (How else will we learn to trust Him?)
This is the conclusion then- we don’t understand His plans fully…but that does not mean God has no plan…Even in the midst of circumstances of the most unpleasant kind, we can be sure of God’s great plan for our lives. Proverbs 20:24 goes like this: A man’s steps are of the Lord; how then can a man understand his own way? That settles it…we do not KNOW IT ALL…we are simply not called to know everything before-hand! Isaiah 55:8 confirms this. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways, My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts…”
But today, my word to you is a word of encouragement… of how, in every circumstance of life, we can know that He is with us, He holds our hand. I have chosen to meditate on Psalm 37 and find there are six ways to respond to any unpleasant circumstance you may face in your life. Let me share them with you here…
1. Psalm 37:1 “Do not fret…”
Do not FRET; do not worry. Can we add anything to our stature by worrying? The Bible says that God has made ALL for Himself. Yes, even the wicked for the day of doom (Pro. 16:4). It is clear from the Bible that the thief will come to steal, to kill and to destroy; that the Tempter is allowed at times to tempt us…But God has promised that He will not allow us to be tempted beyond our endurance. God has promised His presence and His peace as OUR portion. So we can have the peace of God in all situations…
In the parable of the Sower, the Seed that fell among thorns is compared to those who are burdened with worldly worries that choke them. Worrying has this effect of choking the word of God in our hearts. Therefore we must be on guard and not allow ourselves to fret over anything…because our future is in His hands. I recently read a sentence in a book that says, Are you stuck in a seemingly dead-end? Do not worry, it is only a bend. No dead-ends here for us…just a bend! Hallelujah!
2. Psalm 37:1 “Do not be envious…
Do not envy; be not jealous of anyone – especially your neighbor! Imagine you are on to this new job in a company, and completing formalities with the HR department. You leave satisfied with your pay package, sign the necessary papers and ready to face the job; and there you meet your colleagues, and by and by you get talking and find out that their pay package is much higher for the same kind of job that you are called to do! Now, how do you respond?
When we compare ourselves with another, there are bound to be differences…but does that give rise to envy in you? Why should you lose your joy and peace over other’s wages? Jesus told a parable, in Matthew 20, of laborers working in a field. The landowner of a vineyard-farm goes and hires daily-wage laborers-some in the morning, some in the afternoon and few others in the evening. At even-time, the workers come to receive their wages. And the landowner starts payments with workers who had come in the evening – Imagine their surprise when they receive a full day’s wages just for about an hour's work! But you know what-the workers who had worked all day complained because they received only one-day wage. This is what the owner contends – I promised so much and you have received it. Whatever you agreed to in those terms of contract, I have fulfilled it…and am I not free to give to another, a wage, according to what I wish?
There is another instance in the Bible after Jesus’ resurrection: Peter asking Jesus about John, “But Lord, what about this man?” (John 21:21). Yes, Yes... it happens even now in believing, spirit-filled Christian folks all over the world. Jesus’ answer is as straightforward as at other times “What is it to you?” In other words, why don't you mind your own business?…Be wise, do not compare yourselves with others…Paul explains in 2 Corinthians 10:12 “For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.”
3. Psalm 37:3 “Trust in the Lord…”
Trusting is ‘leaning’ on the Lord; the Bible commands us not to lean on our own understanding (Pro. 3:5). Consider the import of these words Do not trust your own understanding…But, how we love to lean on our own understanding! We love it when questions are answered to us in a scientific, systematic and logical way! But life’s questions may not be so simple to answer…The amplified Bible puts it this way: Leaning on the Lord is the leaning of the entire human personality upon God in Christ, in absolute trust and confidence-in God’s wisdom, God’s power and God’s goodness…
As the song goes …Learning to lean, learning to lean, I’m learning to lean on Jesus…To lean on someone is being fully dependent on that person…As you lean on God, you know He is all-wise, He is all-powerful and always good to lead you. Trust in the Lord and do good…Faith is not some abstract theory holding on to thin ice…it spurs us into action everyday and involves concrete steps in faithfully doing what is good. Faith is just holding on to God’s faithfulness! Faith and trust in God leads us to knock on closed doors, knowing the certainty of the outcome – God opens the door.
4. Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself also in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart”
Delight in the Lord…be pleased, happy to please Him. Paul says in 2 Cor. 5:9, “Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.” Pleasing God became an ambition in Paul’s life; and we read in the Acts of the Apostles, how Paul was stoned, had beatings and stripes, was ship-wrecked and in death threats…yet his aim remained the same – to please God. God will make a way!
Delight yourself in God’s word! Psalm 1 talk about the blessedness of a man who delights in God’s word and meditates on it day and night…
5. Psalm 37:5 “Commit your ways to the Lord…”
Committing means ‘surrendering’: you have something in your hand – maybe your plans, your thoughts on how things should go in your life…Surrender it to the Lord and fit into His plans…that is why, in our singing, we lift our hands as a sign of surrender to the Lord and His ways-ways that are higher and thoughts that are greater than the heavens…Yes, we sometimes bow down in surrender to God…Philippians 4:6 says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;”
So in praise we surrender our thoughts; in prayer we surrender our plans; in supplication we make our requests to God…but say “Your will be done”. Jesus, in the garden of Gethsemane taught us to pray this: “Nevertheless not Mine, but Your will be done”. Romans 8:26 says that we do not know what to pray for, but our Helper, even the Holy Spirit who knows the heart of God will help us to pray according to His will…
And as we pray, Lord, Your will be done in my life, we sometimes find God miraculously clearing our way and hurdles; other times God gives us the grace to walk through that valley experiences…
6. Psalm 37:7 “Rest in the Lord…”
Resting is waiting patiently…in the Lord and for the Lord to act. Even in the midst of difficulties, we can enter into God’s rest, here on earth. Patiently and through it all, we learn to trust in Jesus, we learn to trust in God…In Isaiah 40:31, it is written, “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”
Imagine the plight of the eagle, as it waits to grow new feathers…pitiful to those who look at the eagle-bereft of feathers, weak and deprived of food; but the eagle waits patiently knowing that by and by, new wings would come. And when feathers grow, the eagle does soar again, renewing its strength. Much the same way is our wait on the Lord…our strength is renewed, our hope soars, our faith presses on and our works follow…they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint!
Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ…When we respond, in these six ways, to life’s circumstances, we will prove what is good, acceptable and the perfect will of God. Jesus Christ is leading us in a triumphal march, everyday of our lives. Therefore, come-what-may, we will not fret or be filled with envy, but will trust and delight in God and His word. We will commit everything into His hands, and wait patiently…
May God help us to apply these principles and responses in every unpleasant circumstance that we may face in our lives. God Bless You. Amen.
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