A MAN AFTER MY HEART, who will do all My will.

Psalm 37 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

A Psalm of David.

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;
or 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.

Acts 13:22 says:  He (God) raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, 'I HAVE FOUND DAVID the son of Jesse, A MAN AFTER MY HEART, who will do all My will.'  When we read the psalms written by David then, we see more than encouraging words, we see into the very heart of God. We gain an understanding of what it is to do His will.  David 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.  If we are to clearly see and understand the heart of God, we also need to see from His perspective. We need to remember that quickly in God’s time may not be the same as our time. 2 Peter 3:8 says:  Do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.  If we would see results in a day, we would agree that it happened quickly, but if it took a thousand years, surely we would not consider that quick. God’s view, His perspective is from eternity. Even if it seems that those who do wrong continue to prosper in this life, their time will come. Even a full lifetime is but a twinkling in the scheme of eternity.

David says:  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. Even if we believe and have faith, we need to cultivate faithfulness, because faithfulness does not grow naturally. We need to daily work at and walk out our faith, trusting in God. To see from God’s perspective and to know His will, we need to focus on Him, we need to delight in Him and His presence. It is by delighting in God, by focusing on Him, that we become aligned with His will. The desires of our heart become one with His desires. God brings forth righteousness in our lives as we are conformed to His image and likeness. We become like that which we behold, so let us behold the beauty and majesty of God.  

David 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.  They will not be ashamed in the time of evil, And in the days of famine they will have abundance.  But the wicked will perish… The wicked borrows and does not pay back, But the righteous is gracious and gives.   In John 10:10 Jesus says:  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.   Again, we need to remember that we are looking at this from God’s perspective. According to His will.  Many people see the abundant life in Christ from the world’s perspective, that abundance means excess of material things, possessions and wealth. Those may indeed come to a believer, but from God’s perspective, Better is the little of the righteous Than the abundance of many wicked.  In Philippians 4:11-13;19 it says: I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me… my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.  The true key to abundance in Christ is to be content, to delight in God in whatever circumstance we are in. God will supply all of our needs, not all of our greed. If we are blessed with an abundance of things, it is so that as David says, we can be gracious and give.  

David 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.  I have been young and now I am old, Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken Or his descendants begging bread.  All day long he is gracious and lends, And his descendants are a blessing.  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.  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.   God actually delights in us as we walk in His way. God will not leave us or forsake us. In John 16:33 Jesus says:  “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”   There will be difficult times in this life, but through faith and faithfulness, we overcome with Christ. We abide forever, are preserved forever and dwell in the inheritance of God forever. The heart and will of God is for our eternity, which He has established through Christ, the cross and the resurrection.  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.

Heavenly Father, may You say of me what You said of David: 'I HAVE FOUND A MAN AFTER MY HEART, who will do all My will.'  I am determined to Trust in You and do good;  to Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. I will Delight myself in the Lord; so that You will give me the desires of my heart. I will Commit my way to the Lord, Trusting in You to bring forth your righteousness as the light And your judgment as the noonday. I will be content in whatever circumstance I am in, knowing that You are with me and I will be with You forever. Amen.