Those who hope in the Lord
[Psalms 37]
In John C. Maxwell’s book “Winning With People”, there is the impressive words by Ralph Stayer, the owner and chief executive officer of Johnsonville Foods: ‘There is a fact that I realize early and often think about it, that is, the most of the problems come from myself. I realized that the biggest stumbling block to success was my own mental state and my expectation’ (Internet). I wonder what the word “my expectation” would be the biggest stumbling block to success. Everyone will have expectations of themselves. The greater that expectation, the more risk we will be disappointed with ourselves. The reason is because we have to face our incompetence, which we don’t want to admit. But who wants to admit his own incompetence? We need to be thoroughly disappointed with ourselves so that we can realize our incompetence a little more thoroughly. The reason is because when we do that, we will rely solely on God and seek help from Him. As a result, we will be captured by the power of God in our total incompetence. And we will be able to lead a life that reveals His power by being driven by His power.
This is what the psalmist David said in Psalms 37:9 – “For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.” Here, “hope in the Lord” refers to the long-awaited faith that only God's help is a real blessing (Park). David, who knew that only God's help was the real blessing, went further and thought, ‘It was a greater blessing (happiness) to meet God Himself rather than God's aid (Park). As I meditate on David who had this thought, I would like to receive some lessons by thinking of four things about how people who expect God will live their faith.
First, those who hope in the Lord don’t fret.
Look at Psalms 37:1, 7 – “Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; … Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.” This means that the saints shouldn’t complain because of those who do evil but seem to be doing well (Park). The word “Do not .. be envious” is similar word (v. 1b). In other words, ‘envy’ refers to the displeasure of seeing others' vigor, which is unworthy to the saints (Park). Complaining is a bad habit. John Maxwell's book “Winning With People” tells us this story: When one grandfather took a nap, naughty grandchildren cut rotten cheese and put it like a beard under his grandfather's nose. When my grandfather woke up, it smelled rotten. So, he went to the kitchen and it smelled really rotten. So when he opened the window and breathed in fresh air, it smelled rotten again. The whole world vibrates with a rotten smell. It was because of the rotten cheese under the nose (Internet). The lesson from this example is that if our hearts are rotten, everything looks rotten. For example, if there is a complaint in our hearts, then everything looks complainable. Therefore, we are looking for complaints. Why do we complain and be envious even though these aren’t appropriate to the saints? The cause is “anger.” This is what David said in verse 8: “Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret--it leads only to evil.” So Proverbs 24:19 says, “Do not fret because of evildoers Or be envious of the wicked.” Why is David telling us not to fret evildoers in Psalms 37:8? Why is he telling us not to be envious of those who do wrong? (1) David said the first reason: “for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away” (v. 2). The reason why we shouldn't fret about bad guys is because the wicked’s prosperity will not last long like "the grass" or "green plants" that disappear quickly (Park) (cf. Isa. 40:6-8). (2) The second reason is given in Psalms 37:8b – “… it leads only to evil.” This is what Dr. Park said: ‘As anger belongs to the hot-blooded, it doesn’t remedy the outer world’s unfairness, but rather creates disorder in one's own soul. It increases evil. The saint should always has peaceful mind and should wish other well and shouldn’t be envious and have jealousy’ (Park). So what should we do when we see the wicked's prosperity? We must listen to the counsel of the wise: (1) First, we must fear God: “Do not let your heart envy sinners, But live in the fear of the LORD always” (Prov. 23:17). (2) Second, we must not desire to be with evil men: “Do not be envious of evil men, Nor desire to be with them” (24:1).
Second, those who hope in the Lord trust in the Lord.
Look at Psalms 37:3 – “Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.” We the believers have nothing to complain about, even if we haven’t achieved physical prosperity. The reason is because it is greater blessing to trust in the Lord than physical prosperity (Park). Do we really know that trusting God is greater blessing than physical prosperity? The wicked's prosperity eventually becomes a curse to himself. The reason is because he lives more self-reliant lives through his own prosperity. And he thinks that he is prosperous because he is good. Such wicked man eventually lives for himself, so he doesn’t know how to do good to his neighbor. And a life without knowing how to do good to his neighbor can never be said to be a blessed life. This is what Dr. Park said: ‘Who can do true good without trusting God? The hope of the believer who does good is in God's reward, and the ability to do good is also received by trusting God’ (Park). Then, how should we trust in God specifically in whom we hope?
(1) We must trust God’s faithfulness.
In other words, we shouldn’t envy the wicked's prosperity and complain about them. Rather we should hope for His “faithful reward” while trusting in the faithfulness of God.
(2) We must commit our way to the Lord.
Look at Psalms 37:5 – “Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this.” Here, the “way” refers to all the anxious things of the believer and the unknown way ahead. And the word "commit" in the original Hebrew is “gowl” and it means "to roll" (Park). ‘Climbing with a large stone is difficult, but it is easy and pleasant to roll it from the top of the mountain. It is impossible to ascend with burdens of trouble and sin, but it is easy and pleasant to entrust all my burdens to Jesus who came down from heaven to earth to bear my burdens. This is the rest we get by faith’ (Park).
What is the result of committing our way to God? Look at verse 6: “He will bring forth your righteousness as the light And your judgment as the noonday.” In other words, the just God doesn’t leave us alone when we go through unfair things and are miserable because of the wicked, when we commit those unfair things to the Lord. The Lord strangely vindicates for us and moreover He exalts us like the light.
Third, those who hope in the Lord delight themselves in the Lord.
Look at Psalms 37:4 – “Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.” Faith that delights in the Lord is faith that has grown even more than faith that trust in Him (v. 3) (Park). It is the faith that has advanced to the stage of life where God's will is taken as his will. Therefore, David's prayers and wishes were fulfilled. What an amazing faith? Beyond the faith in God, we need the faith that delights ourselves in the Lord. What is the faith that delights in the Lord?
(1) The faith that delights ourselves in the Lord is the faith delights in the law of the Lord and meditates in His law day and night.
Look at Psalms 1:2 – “But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and
night.”
(2) The faith that delights ourselves in the Lord is the faith that praises God.
Look at Psalms 43:4 – “Then I will go to the altar of God, To God my exceeding joy; And upon the lyre I shall praise You, O God, my God.”
(3) The faith that delights ourselves in the Lord is the faith that knows how much God is rejoicing with him.
Look at Zephaniah 3:17 - “The LORD your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.”
Fourth and last, those who hope in the Lord are still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.
Look at Psalms 37:7 - “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.” We cannot be still due to the disorder in our hearts when we are jealous and angry as we see the prosperity of the evil men and those who do wrong. In other words, we cannot have rest in the Lord. Eventually, we will be shaken. The psalmist Asaph was like that. We can know this when we look at Psalms 73. He was envious of the arrogant as he saw the prosperity of the wicked (v. 3). So, he confessed that his feet came close to stumbling and his step had almost slipped (v. 2). Then Asaph came to realize the end of the wicked when he went into the sanctuary of God (v. 17). And the end of the the wicked is sudden destruction (vv. 18-20). At that time, Asaph confessed: “When my heart was embittered And I was pierced within,
Then I was senseless and ignorant; I was like a beast before You” (vv. 21-22). We need to be still before God. Our hearts must not be shaken because of the prosperity of the wicked and the suffering of the righteous. There is no need to envy evil people and be jealous of them. Only we must be still before God and wait for His salvation and judgment. Clearly, our Lord will judge the wicked and save us (from our suffering). By faith in this Lord, we must be still and wait patiently. Look at Psalms 37:9-10: “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.” Clearly, the wicked will be gone. Although it seems that they are prosperous now, the time of prosperity is brief. Also, their prosperity will be a curse to them. They will commit more sins against God because of their prosperity. Therefore, God's judgment will come upon them.
Those who hope in the Lord are humble (v. 11). The humble men don’t fret and complain when he sees the wicked. The humble men are those who trust in the Lord and commit all their ways to Him. And the humble men are those who rejoice in the Lord and know how to be still and wait patiently before Him. So eventually, they will inherit the land (v. 11). And they will get the inheritance in the coming age (Park). Furthermore, they will delight themselves in abundant prosperity. Those who are humble hope only in the Lord and are satisfied with Him, so their hearts are always joyful and peaceful (Park). May this blessing be up on you.
As I hope in the Lord,
James Kim
(As I look to the Lord who takes great delight in me)