Cultivate faithfulness

Psalm 37 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Do not fret because of evildoers,
Be not envious toward wrongdoers.
² For they will wither quickly like the grass
And fade like the green herb.
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.
⁶ He will bring forth your righteousness as the light
And your judgment as the noonday.

⁷ Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.
⁸ Cease from anger and forsake wrath;
Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.
⁹ For evildoers will be cut off,
But those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land.
¹⁰ Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more;
And you will look carefully for his place and he will not be there.
¹¹ But the humble will inherit the land
And will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.

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.
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.
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.

Yesterday we saw that verses 3-5, which say:  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, are vital to our knowing and walking in the will, the plan and the purpose of God for our lives. He reveals His plan through His word; both His written word and His word spoken through His prophets. We though must choose to walk in that revelation. The psalmist says we should cultivate faithfulness. Faith is believing. It requires that we make a decision, regardless of the circumstances, that we will believe God. 2 Corinthians 5:7 says:  We walk by faith, not by sight. Hebrews 11:1 says:  Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  Faithfulness is our response to, our working and walking out of our faith. It is what we do because of what we believe. Faithfulness requires work and commitment. We must choose to respond to our faith in faithfulness daily; hourly, even minute by minute. To walk in the fullness of God’s plan and will for our lives requires that we have the revelation of His will and also that we are faithful to walk in His way.

The psalmist says:  Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.  Cease from anger and forsake wrath; Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing. For evildoers will be cut off, But those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land.  Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more; And you will look carefully for his place and he will not be there.
But the humble will inherit the land And will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.   The psalmist says we are to rest and wait patiently for the Lord. In Matthew 11:29-30 Jesus says:  “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”   The rest that we have in the Lord is not a rest of slumber. It is rest while we cultivate faithfulness, partnering with Jesus, patiently going at His pace and on His path. When we walk and work with Him, we should not concern ourselves with what others are doing or achieving. When we walk and work with the Lord, there is no need to be angry about what it seems that others are doing or achieving. If we faithfully work and walk with the Lord, yoked to Him, resting in His promises, we will inherit and possess all that He has for us. We will share the abundance of the kingdom of heaven.

The psalmist says:   Better is the little of the righteous Than the abundance of many wicked.  For the arms of the wicked will be broken, But the Lord sustains the righteous.  The Lord knows the days of the blameless, And their inheritance will be forever.   By faith we know that God’s promises and plans for us are not limited to this finite place and time, but rather they are eternal. Regardless of the appearance of things during the limited days of our lives, they are but a twinkling in the scheme of eternity. God wants good things for our lives, but even more He wants us to have eternal life with Him; a forever inheritance through Christ. The psalmist says:  The steps of a man are established by the Lord, And He delights in his way. When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, Because the Lord is the One who holds his hand.   If we are yoked to Christ, we may still stumble, but we will not fall. If we are walking in the steps that God has established, He delights in us.

The psalmist says:  Depart from evil and do good, So you will abide forever.
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. The righteous will inherit the land And dwell in it forever.  The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, And his tongue speaks justice.  The law of his God is in his heart; His steps do not slip.  The wicked spies upon the righteous And seeks to kill him.  The Lord will not leave him in his hand Or let him be condemned when he is judged.  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.  We certainly can see in our culture and society that more and more those who have chosen evil over good are opposed to and even seek to kill those who choose to follow God and abide by His law. God loves justice and because He is a righteous and just God, evil will not go unpunished.  In Matthew 24:4-14 Jesus says:  “See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.  But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.  At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.  This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”   The psalmist says:  I have seen a wicked, violent man Spreading himself like a luxuriant tree in its native soil.  Then he passed away, and lo, he was no more; I sought for him, but he could not be found. Mark the blameless man, and behold the upright; For the man of peace will have a posterity. But transgressors will be altogether destroyed; The posterity of the wicked will be cut off. But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their strength in time of trouble.  The Lord helps them and delivers them; He delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
Because they take refuge in Him.  Amen.

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit. I will, Trust in the Lord and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
Delight myself in the You; knowing, You will give me the desires of my heart. I will commit my way to You Lord. Amen.