Trust in the Lord and do what is good; dwell in the land and live securely. Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires. (Psalm 37:3-4 HCSB)
The main commands of God in these two verses are trust, do good, dwell, and delight. The promises? Live securely, and receive your heart’s desires. It’s so simple, but we have a way of complicating the simplicity and beauty of all God asks of us. As we’ve seen these last six months of going through the promises of the Bible, every promise comes with a condition or command. If we would just humble ourselves to consistently obey His commands, the promises will come flooding in. Unfortunately we all have such selfish and sinful natures that we doubt and rebel and end up postponing our miracles from happening, if ever.
The dictionary definitions of each command:
Trust: a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something
Do good: to do what is desired or approved of, showing kindness, having or displaying moral virtue
Dwell: live in or at a specified place
Delight: take great pleasure in
Rewording verses 3 and 4 according to these definitions, we can say that God wants us to have a firm belief in His reliability, truth and strength, to be virtuous and kind and do what He desires. He wants us to live in the place where He has specified, because He will guarantee our safety and peace. We need to take great pleasure in Him, enjoy being in His presence, enjoy obeying His commands and enjoy spending as much time with Him as possible. Then and only then, will He grant us the desires of our hearts.
So ask yourself, do I really have a firm belief in God’s reliability, or do I waste time worrying that He won’t come through for me? Am I virtuous, kind, and do what He wants? Am I dwelling (living, working, associating with people) as God has specified? If so, I have no reason to feel anxious because my safety is certain.
Do I take great pleasure in Him? All the time, and on a consistent basis? Does my praying, fighting demons, going to church and reading the Bible happen in fits and spurts according to my schedule, moods and impending problems? Or is delighting in God something that I do eagerly and can’t spend a day without?
The world offers tons of ways to chase after security and our heart’s desires with no guarantee of actually finding them – they usually include a good sum of money and the right connections. What God promises is iron clad, and requires the currency of faith, trust and obedience. Anyone can have security, and anyone can find their heart’s desires, no matter how privileged or poor they might be.
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