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.

Hebrews 11:1 says:  Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.   Another translation says:  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.   Faith then, is believing in something that is intangible. Faith requires that we have conviction even in the absence of evidence.  We have faith in God, even though we have not seen Him. We believe because not because we have seen God, but because we have seen His works. Romans 1:20 says:  Since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made.  Having faith is basically a matter of decision. We decide or choose to believe. In today’s text the psalmist says:   Do not fret because of evildoers, Be not envious toward wrongdoers. For they will wither quickly like the grass And fade like the green herb. 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. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light And your judgment as the noonday.  Faithfulness is the outworking of faith.  Faithfulness is the evidence of our faith. It requires that we continue; that we cultivate; that we trust in and dwell with God. Ephesians 2:8-10 says:  By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.   We are saved through faith, believing in the grace of God given through the cross. Faithfulness is our response to our salvation. It is continuing in the good works that God prepared for us and prepared us for.

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.   Faithfulness also requires that we be patient. Trusting in God requires that we do not fret or concern ourselves with what others have. We are to cease from anger and forsake wrath.  Romans 12:17-19 says:  Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.  The psalmist says:  The wicked plots against the righteous And gnashes at him with his teeth. The Lord laughs at him, For He sees his day is coming.  In Jeremiah 29:11 God says:  I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.  We need to trust both the good plans that God has for us and also that He knows what is in store for the wicked. Rather than fret, we should laugh with the Lord.

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.  What a comfort to know not only that God has good plans for us, but that as we walk with Him He holds our hand. Look at the account of Peter walking on water to Jesus in Matthew 14:28-31:  “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him.  Like Peter, if we will call out to the Lord, He will immediately save us. His promise in Matthew 28:20 is:  “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”  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.  If we want the Lord to hold our hand as we walk, we cannot walk in the way of evil. We must do good. If we want to know the protection, the provision and the blessings of God, we need to walk in His righteousness. Again, righteousness is not our own good works, but rather it is faithfully responding to the grace of salavation through believing in the work of the cross. It is the righteousness of Christ that we walk in.

Heavenly father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit; I will Trust in the Lord and do good; I will Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. I will Delight myself in the Lord; Knowing You will give me the desires of my heart. I will Commit my way to the Lord, I will Trust also in You knowing You will do it. You will bring forth my righteousness as the light And judgment as the noonday. I will Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for You.  Amen.