Olan Stubbs's Blog
January 5, 2023
Psalm 37 and worry
There’s no prayer in this psalm. The entire thing is a meditation. It is also an alphabetic acrostic. This was probably done to help with memorization. One of the best reasons to memorize is that it forces you to slow down and go over the same material over and over again. Doing this often forces you to meditate whether you plan to or not. You naturally start to notice new things, make connections you wouldn’t have otherwise seen, and ask more questions. This can lead to deeper insight as well as intimacy.
Another feature in this psalm is that there are 3 main themes that come out clearly in the first 11 verses. They are then repeated throughout the psalm. This is another way that this psalm helps with meditation.
In some ways this psalm is an anti-worry psalm. The overarching theme seems to be “Don’t worry but rather…” Let’s look at the strategies and the wisdom this psalm provides to help us in our fight against worry.
Much of the worry in our lives comes from envy. We look around and see others doing better than us and we are jealous. This is exceedingly hard when we feel that prominent sinners seem to thrive and saints seem to suffer. David offers very simple advice. Trust the Lord.
Trusting in the Lord can seem so basic and simple we’re not even sure how to evaluate if we are truly doing it. Is just saying “I trust God” enough? Is it a certain feeling? David gives us the answer in verse 3. If you truly trust your doctor, then you’ll follow the prescriptions he gives you. If you truly trust the Lord you will obey Him. You will do good.
Then comes a powerful phrase that has been variously translated; “dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.” Here is my best understanding of what this means: Focus on faithfulness, God’s and yours. Focus on how faithful God has been to you, all the goodness he has provided and continues to provide. Enjoy God and delight in his great gifts. When you do that the only proper response is then to focus on your own faithfulness to God. Live faithfully. Live humbly. Live obediently. Be happy and content with all God is and with all he has and is doing for you. Out of the overflow of that joy live a life of holiness to honor him. Spurgeon teaches that feeding on God’s faithfulness “banishes forever the hungry heart-burnings of envy.”
The second theme flows naturally from this. Delight in the Lord. It is not enough just to trust Him. This trust must be accompanied with great joy. God promises to give us all that is best for us. He obviously doesn’t grant every casual wish we ever have and certainly not our sinful ones. But He will meet the deepest desires of our hearts in His own way and timing, often in ways we could have never imagined.
One key to truly delighting ourselves in the Lord is to intentionally take our affections off of sin and lesser things and intentionally place them on the Lord. Pray for help to do this. In the place of prayer, meditate on God’s goodness until your heart slowly starts to warm with a deeper delight in him alone than in all of his gifts put together.
This naturally leads to the third theme. Rest in the Lord. Verse 5 tells us to commit to obedience. Then there is a promise. In the Hebrew it literally says, “he will do.” It doesn’t tell us exactly what he will do. God is promising us that he will act for us. He will do what is best. He will not be passive.
Even before we were born God acted by sending Christ to die for us. He secured our salvation. He is an active God. He sees and understands our problems even better than we do. He is already acting on our behalf. Trust him. Enjoy him. Rest in him.
John Calvin is helpful. “[I]f we stay our minds wholly upon God, instead of allowing our imaginations like others to roam after idle and frivolous fancies, all other things will be bestowed upon us in due season…the faithful truly feel and understand that this promise is not made to them in vain, since, having fixed the anchor of their faith in God, they pass their life every day in peace, while God makes it manifest in their experience, that the shadow of his hand is sufficient to protect them… although God may not bestow upon us what is necessary for our gratification, yet, unless our own ingratitude prevent us, we shall experience, even in famine and want, that he nourishes us graciously and liberally.”
Another feature in this psalm is that there are 3 main themes that come out clearly in the first 11 verses. They are then repeated throughout the psalm. This is another way that this psalm helps with meditation.
In some ways this psalm is an anti-worry psalm. The overarching theme seems to be “Don’t worry but rather…” Let’s look at the strategies and the wisdom this psalm provides to help us in our fight against worry.
Much of the worry in our lives comes from envy. We look around and see others doing better than us and we are jealous. This is exceedingly hard when we feel that prominent sinners seem to thrive and saints seem to suffer. David offers very simple advice. Trust the Lord.
Trusting in the Lord can seem so basic and simple we’re not even sure how to evaluate if we are truly doing it. Is just saying “I trust God” enough? Is it a certain feeling? David gives us the answer in verse 3. If you truly trust your doctor, then you’ll follow the prescriptions he gives you. If you truly trust the Lord you will obey Him. You will do good.
Then comes a powerful phrase that has been variously translated; “dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.” Here is my best understanding of what this means: Focus on faithfulness, God’s and yours. Focus on how faithful God has been to you, all the goodness he has provided and continues to provide. Enjoy God and delight in his great gifts. When you do that the only proper response is then to focus on your own faithfulness to God. Live faithfully. Live humbly. Live obediently. Be happy and content with all God is and with all he has and is doing for you. Out of the overflow of that joy live a life of holiness to honor him. Spurgeon teaches that feeding on God’s faithfulness “banishes forever the hungry heart-burnings of envy.”
The second theme flows naturally from this. Delight in the Lord. It is not enough just to trust Him. This trust must be accompanied with great joy. God promises to give us all that is best for us. He obviously doesn’t grant every casual wish we ever have and certainly not our sinful ones. But He will meet the deepest desires of our hearts in His own way and timing, often in ways we could have never imagined.
One key to truly delighting ourselves in the Lord is to intentionally take our affections off of sin and lesser things and intentionally place them on the Lord. Pray for help to do this. In the place of prayer, meditate on God’s goodness until your heart slowly starts to warm with a deeper delight in him alone than in all of his gifts put together.
This naturally leads to the third theme. Rest in the Lord. Verse 5 tells us to commit to obedience. Then there is a promise. In the Hebrew it literally says, “he will do.” It doesn’t tell us exactly what he will do. God is promising us that he will act for us. He will do what is best. He will not be passive.
Even before we were born God acted by sending Christ to die for us. He secured our salvation. He is an active God. He sees and understands our problems even better than we do. He is already acting on our behalf. Trust him. Enjoy him. Rest in him.
John Calvin is helpful. “[I]f we stay our minds wholly upon God, instead of allowing our imaginations like others to roam after idle and frivolous fancies, all other things will be bestowed upon us in due season…the faithful truly feel and understand that this promise is not made to them in vain, since, having fixed the anchor of their faith in God, they pass their life every day in peace, while God makes it manifest in their experience, that the shadow of his hand is sufficient to protect them… although God may not bestow upon us what is necessary for our gratification, yet, unless our own ingratitude prevent us, we shall experience, even in famine and want, that he nourishes us graciously and liberally.”
