Stand Amidst the Flood

03.18.12

Psalm 37.3-5 3 Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. 4 Delight yourself in the LORD; and He will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He will do it. NASB

This is one of my friend Roger’s favorite verses. (Thanks Roger, thinking about you and praying for you!) It’s one of mine as well. It is a word I needed to hear today. It seems I need to hear a lot these days but that’s an indicator to me that I’m trying to do this in my own strength: fretting and worrying about the future.

David was concerned with leadership – after all, he was called by God to be the king of Israel. Not a bad calling, except that he was called while another guy – Saul – was already king. Kings who are already kings don’t like competition from those who are anointed king and work right down the hall. BTW: David was also concerned with what Saul thought about his calling.

So, David came to the understanding that the only way to survive (literally) the position he was in was to trust in the Lord and do good; to dwell in the land (perhaps here he meant his circumstances) and cultivate (or concentrate on growing in) faithfulness. He felt he needed to delight himself in God so that God would give him the desires of his heart (which may have been the ability to serve Saul fearlessly, loyally, and faithfully). David seemed to make up his mind to commit his way to the Lord and also to trust Him who calls, believing that somehow, God would provide for him.

David had lots to worry about, and lots of good reasons to worry, but he chose instead to trust in God. He knew his calling was real and was genuine and he chose to believe that and leave the results up to God. He had numerous occasions to even kill Saul and grab the throne by force, but something in David made him reject that notion. He seemed to know if he himself did that, somebody else might someday do that to him (like Absalom).

As I stated yesterday in my perspective, the battle isn’t necessarily the battle – it’ what the battle does to me that’s the battle. So my best defense is to learn to give these things over to God and faithfully trust Him to pull me through. Failure might come perilously close at times but for me to commit my way to the Lord and let Him lead means that He will do just that. David said, “Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He will do it.” He will see us through.

I admit it: I am a small guy; I worry about small things and let fear shove me around. Today, I read these words and am encouraged that another small-fry, David, chose another way to live and God put his words in a book so I could regularly read them and remember who is really in charge.

So, for the week ahead and for all that I face: Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD; and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He will do it. Amen. In Him, I will stand amidst the flood.