THE ACTION PSALM
Psalms 37:1-8 NKJV
1 Do not fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
And wither as the green herb.
3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
6 He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice 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 brings wicked schemes to pass.
8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
Do not fret—it only causes harm.
I once did an entire message on the verbs of Psalms 37. That is not a very catchy title, but it does call attention to all the action words in this psalm of David. When we put them together, a plan of trusting in the Lord becomes clear.
Do not fret because of evildoers. Do not be envious of the ones who are habitually sinning. David starts with a plan of what not to do. David understood how temporary life is and warned us to not be caught up with people who do not acknowledge and serve God. One hundred years from now, it will not matter.
Trust in the Lord and do good. There are two actions here. Trusting the Lord is active and doing good is not a passive suggestion. Dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness is not a phrase that is common to us. I like the NLT that says if we trust in the Lord and do good, then we will live safely in the land and prosper. I can sure work with that.
The next verse is often quoted. Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Some have taken this to mean that if we delight in the Lord, He will give us what we really want. I prefer to take a different slant on this verse. If we are delighting in the Lord, then He gives us the desires of our heart. For example, for many years, I had no desire to be a pastor. But as I continued to pursue a relationship with the Lord, He put a desire in my heart to lead a church. As we focus on the Lord, don't be surprised if some of the things you think you want change. But when the Lord puts a desire in your heart, it revolves around His plan for your life, and it's the best place to be. Don't buy into the error that serving God means you will go where you don't want to go and do what you don't want to do. Nope, not so. When God puts a desire in you, it will be for your good and His glory, and other people will be impacted in a positive way.
Committing our way to the Lord is another action on our part. This is trusting Him with the direction of our lives. If we follow Him, He becomes involved in bringing our ways into line with His ways. And His ways work.
Rest in the Lord translates as be still in His presence and be silent before the Lord. The CSB says to be silent and wait expectantly for Him. This waiting on the Lord is not passive but active. There is a difference between waiting to see if anything will happen and waiting for something to happen. One is passive, and the other is positive. And then we are again reminded to not fret because of the man who does evil and seems to prosper. Don't catch yourself saying that it doesn't pay to serve and live for God. Remember, we are waiting expectantly for Him. This game ain't over til He says so.
Stop being angry and don't blow up in uncontrolled rage. That's the ACV, Alan Clayton version, of verse eight. The NLT says to not "lose your temper it only causes harm." The scriptures are way ahead of science, but even science will tell you that anger, rage and blowing up are not healthy or helpful.
As you continue reading this psalm, keep an eye out for all the actions we are called to. It's a great psalm with a great action plan.