Psalms 37, The Steps of the Godly

23. The steps of the godly are directed by the Lord.
He delights in every detail of their lives.
24 Though they stumble, they will not fall,
for the Lord hold them by the hand.

Verses 10-22 talk about the wicked and what will happen to them. Then King David talks again about the godly. My theme for this blog is Drawing Close to God and therefore, skimmed to this verse because this verse describes our relationship with God.

I am trying to move into a job promotion in the education world. It is a very political world and I am not one who plays the political games very well. As I journey through my life, I see how God has directed my paths whenever I have come to a crossroad. One time, I wanted to move to another school, but I couldn't get the interviews I wanted. Looking back, I see how God closed that door for me because the year I ended up staying, was the most gratifying year I have ever had in education and was nominated for Teacher of the Year. Although I didn't get T.O.Y., the fact that I was honored for the work I had accomplished would have never happened if I left that school when I wanted to. Instead, God allowed me to stay and become the EETT grant coach for the math teachers, which meant I was to train the teachers on how to use the new technology in the classroom. It was an exciting year. Now that I have moved to the new school, I'm having to start over a little. It's hard to start over, especially coming off of my best year ever.

Looking at this verse, I am reminded that it is God who will direct my path. Even though I am discouraged about the jobs I have interviewed for and did not get, I can read this and know God is directing me where HE wants me to go. I have to trust him enough to know where that might be.

I like the part that says, "He delights in every detail of their lives." Wow. He "delights" in me. I had to look up the word delights. biblecrosswalk.com is a great place to find this kind of information. According to this site, delights means 1. to delight in, take pleasure in, desire, be pleased with. Basically this means that God takes pleasure in me, has the desire to know me, wants to be pleased with my life. That is humbling to me as sometimes my life isn't that great. It sure makes me want to be a better person so God will want to be near me.

The best part of this verse is 24 because I know that when I mess up and stumble, God holds my hand. When I go off of God's path and got hurt or stuck, he cared about that and held my hand and brought me to where I'm supposed to be. I know that God doesn't expect perfection, but I certainly want to please him, which helps me to stay on his path. Don't get me wrong, I have strayed from the road God wants me on and gone done a path that was full of thistles and thorns and potholes. However, God didn't let me stay there long. I stumbled big time, but I got up and came back to where God wanted me.

Psalms 37, Stop Your Anger

8. Stop your anger! Turn from your rage!
Do not envy others, it only leads to harm.

9. For the wicked will be destroyed,
but those who trust in the Lord will posses the land.

Sometimes I get angry at those who wrong others. Ok, often I get angry, especially, when I fall victim to someone who is just plain rude. It's funny because it seems like this world is getting worse and worse. But nothing is new. The same wickedness found in people today, existed back then. I have to keep reminding myself that God will deal with these people. It would be nice if he zapped them right then and there, but that is not the way God works.

Anger is an issue that I'm dealing with. I will admit, I do have a problem with anger. Mostly because other people do stupid things. So why do I react to others? What kind of control am I giving the person who causes me to be angry?

Verse 9 holds two promises. First, the wicked will be destroyed. But it's not my job to put them in their place. Second, those who trust in the Lord will posses the land. Even when life seems unfair and the wicked get their way, in the end, justice will be served.

For me, I need to worry only about myself and my salvation and not anyone else. I can pray for other people, but It is not me who saves them. It's between them and God. As I focus on myself and being obedient, then God will bless me. Through his blessing on my life, He will be glorified.

Psalms 37: Commit Everything to the Lord

I need this today. I'm feeling drained and weary. I didn't sleep well, which doesn't help matters.

Psalms 37:5 says,
5. Commit everything you do to the Lord.
Trust him, and he will help you.
6. He will make your innocence as clear as the dawn,
and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.

God is good. My plate is full, but I need to commit everything I do to the Lord. I need to trust him, and he will help me through my life situations. Here is another promise: Once again, I must act by trusting him, THEN he will help me. See, we feel the need to hold on and try to tackle our problems on our own. But the promise here is that God will help us after we commit them to him. It's so simple, yet we miss it.

7. Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act.
Don't worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes.

As I write this, I listen to a song call In Your Presence by Jason Upton. I highly recommend downloading this song. Anyhow, it's so calming.

Be still in the presence of the Lord. Is this hard to do in our crazy society. I am often going so fast, I don't know which way is up. I spend time praying to God, but how often am I still in his presence? How often do I just sit and listen to the still small voice of my God? And to wait patiently for his words. I am wanting to pursue a facilitator job, but have not been able to get anything, even after interviewing many times. I seem to interview in the top ranks, but never am the top candidate. In this case, second place doesn't mean anything. I think sometimes when we don't wait, we move on in our lives and miss what God has for us. There is the part about evil people again. See, there it is. We are not patient so we move on, frustrated, and our eyes go off of God onto the evil people who seem to prosper and we miss out on what God has for us.

God, help me to wait patiently in your presence. Help me to hear your voice in my life. Forgive me for being so busy. I commit everything I do to you. I trust you, Father, and I ask for your help today and everyday this week. Amen

Psalms 37: Don't Worry, but Trust in the Lord

From the New Living Translation:
1. Don't worry about the wicked.
Don't envy those who do wrong.
2. For like grass, they soon fade away,
Like springtime flowers, they soon wither.

Have you ever been wronged by someone? Do you know someone who is not a Christian who seems to have it made while you struggle through life? I find this verse comforting, especially when I have been wronged by a non-Christian. It seems like sometimes, life is unfair. But this verse reminds me that they will fade away. Time is but a moment to God. Like a spring time flower, the wicked or non-Christian will fade away. His life is but a season in the perspective of time.

3. Trust in the Lord and do good,
Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.
4. Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you your heart's desires.

If we stop at verse two, we don't find his promise. David tells us that we should trust in the Lord and do good. Don't worry about those who are wicked. There is promise when we do good and trust in God. The promise is that I will live safely in the land and prosper, when I trust in him and am obedient to him by doing what is right. Don't worry about those who seem to get away with the wicked things they do in their lives. Instead, take delight in the Lord. Spend time with him and find your comfort in him. Once again, we have another promise, that is, God will give you your heart's desire, when we delight in him. When I delight in what God want me to do, my hearts desire changes to what God wants for me. When I am worried about the wicked, I miss out on what God wants for me. I miss on on his blessing in my life.

Draw Close to God, part 2

Another promise is revealed in James 4. Starting at verse 9 - 10, it says, "Let there be tears for the wrong things you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, he will lift you up and give you honor."

We live in an age where everyone blames everyone else for the bad things that happen to us and have neglected to take responsibility for our own actions. How sad is that? We are constantly pointing the finger at someone else instead of owning up to our own sin. James, who was said to be the brother of Jesus, speaks so clearly on owning up to our wrong behavior. Instead of laughing because we got away with it, we should be sad and in deep grief.

I know when I had a difficult time in my life, I became so numb to my pain that I didn't feel the Holy Spirit grieving my heart because of the wrong things I had done. I didn't blame anyone else, but I became numb. I wasn't laughing and joyful, but I was numb. Since then, I have shed many tears for the wrong things.

I look at my daughter, Emily, who is so tender to the Lord. When she blows it, it is only hours before she busts into tears and comes to apologize to me for her attitude. She is an example of what this scripture is talking about.

Once again, the promise comes after our obedience. When we are willing to take responsibility for our sins, and bow down before Him, the promise is that "He will lift you up and give you honor."

Draw Close to God

I picked this name because my name, Michelle, means Woman of God. I found another meaning of my name, which means close to God.

James 4:8 says, "So humble yourselves before God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you." (New Living Translation).

What I like about this verse is that it is a promise. Notice the action first must come from you. Sometimes we expect God just to hang out. But it says here that we need to draw close to him first, then he will draw near to us. We miss that sometimes. It's like a friend. When I invest time in my friendship and call them and want to be with them, hopefully, they will want to be near me and will reciprocate the actions. However, unlike our friendships, who may fail us or let us down, God is not like that. The promise here is that he will draw to close to you.

But notice the verses prior to this promise. It says to "Humble" ourselves. Before we can enter into God's presence, we must humble ourselves. What that means to me is to come before God genuine and transparent. The next verse says to resist the Devil and He will flee from you. I know this verse all too well. But once again, before we can draw close to God, we must resist the Devil's temptations in our lives. If we are living in sin, God cannot draw near to us. Therefore, the second step is to confess our sins and resist what Satan puts before us. Finally, as we take action to draw near to Him, then he will draw near to us.