SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/3/2012 9:51:51 AM
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. They
hid themselves from God because of the guilt that they now 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 not 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, as the Bible says 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.
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 own 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 can 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 see 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
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