The Lord who makes our way firm
[Psalms 37:23-40]
Can we thank God even when we are in a situation that we cannot give thanks? This is the news I had while writing a thank you letter. I heard that the wife of the pastor, whom I had studied at the seminary, have the last stage of the stomach cancer. I thought of my first baby, Charis, who had already gone to heaven intentionally so that I may be in pain with the pastor’s couple together and pray for them. I was able to sympathize with the pastor’s couple at least little bit since the pastor’s couple found that she had stomach cancer in November, the month of thanksgiving as I found out that Charis had some problems in the hospital in November as well. I head that the church that Pastor Kim serves seems to testify this Sunday with a title of gratitude. And Pastor Kim went to the hospital on Monday with at least thought of gratitude that God would let his wife to have a surgery.
In this time, I think one of the Bible verses that we often think and share is the words of Job 23:10 – “But He knows the way I take; When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” When I meditated on this word, I meditated a lot on the second half of the verse, “When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” I almost never meditated deeply on the words, “But He knows the way I take” (v. 10a). When I meditate on this word that the all-knowing God knows the ways we take, Psalms 37:23 says that “… He makes his steps firm.” In other words, God has already made our way. And the Bible says that God delights in the way that He has already decided (v. 23). The God who knows our way, the God who predetermines and guides our steps, is the God who makes our way firm. And the God who makes our way firm delights in the way we walk. I would like to receive the grace of God by meditating on three things about what the Lord makes our way firm based on Psalms 37:23-40.
First, the Lord who makes our way firm is the One who upholds us when we stumble.
Look at Psalms 37:24 – “though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand.” The phrase “though he stumble” here teaches us that David or us are those who are truly vulnerable to stumble. Why is that? Why are we prone to stumble? Here are three related reasons in Psalms 37:23-40:
(1) The first reason why we stumble is because Satan knows our weaknesses, and attacks us to knock us down.
To borrow David's expression from today's text, he says: “The wicked lie in wait for the righteous, seeking their very lives” (v. 32). One day, I remember seeing a lion in the animal kingdom, lowering his posture to see and eat the prey, sneaking very quietly towards the prey, and then suddenly standing up and running to eat the prey. It seems like Satan does the same. The devil, who prowls around like a roaring lion, is trying ‘to eat’ the believer somehow, waiting still and looking for “an opportunity to kill” us. Therefore, if we aren’t of sound judgment and sober spirit, and if we are not awake, Satan will attack us ceaselessly if we show “the gap” in our weakness. So would’t David or we stumble?
(2) The second reason why we stumble is because of the great power of the wicked.
Look at Psalms 37:35 – “I have seen a wicked and ruthless man flourishing like a green tree in its native soil.” Here David says that the great power of the wicked is “like a green tree in its native soil.” In LXX (Septuagint), it was translated as ‘Lebanon's cedar’, which reminds us of a vigorous tree. It means that the power of the wicked is great, like the vast trees and vigorous branches (Park).
(3) The third read why we stumble is because of trouble.
Look at Psalms 37:39 – “The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD; he is their stronghold in time of trouble.” Since the Satan's wicked servants spy upon the righteous (v. 32) with their great power, to attack and defeat us, we stumble in trouble. However, even if we fall for a while, we don’t fall very far from the path we walk on, but we get up again and walk the path (v. 24). We fall for a moment because of Satan's attack and temptation, and the persecution of the wicked. But since our Heavenly Father upholds us in His hand, we must rise again and walk on the path God foreordained.
What, then, is our responsibility in walking the path that God has foreordained? It is the responsibility to turn from evil and do good (v. 27). There are wicked people all around. And it seems like they are attacking the crowds at once with their great power. In the meantime, we have to choose between them: Either turn from evil and do good or turn from good and do evil. Although when we leave the good and do evil, our conscience may be stricken at first and feel guilty in our hearts, when we do evil little by little, all those guilty feeling will go away so that we may feel peaceful in worldly perspective. We can also be rich in possession (v. 16). But this is only a moment. If we compromise with the wicked and forsake good and do evil, we will perish. But if we turn from evil and do good, there is blessing from God to us. That blessing is that our children will be blessed (v. 26). Psalms 37:25-26 speak of David's experience. The experience is that David had never seen, from his childhood to the old age, the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread (v. 25) and the righteous were always generous and lend freely (v. 26). So it was David's conviction that the descendants of the righteous would be blessed. Dr. Yoonsun Park said, ‘People are very concerned about their children's livelihood in the future. It is a vain concern. They shouldn’t worry about it. They should just try to live righteously. That is, they must strive to be righteous in relation to matter.’
Second, the Lord who makes our way firm is the One who protects us in trouble.
Look at Psalms 37:28 – “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.” What kind of saints is God protecting? Those who love justice and are faithful (v. 28). The God of justice loves justice, and he is pleased to protect those who love and do justice. Also, God doesn’t forsake faithful believers. In a word, God protects the saints who faithfully do justice. Then what must we do to do justice faithfully? The law of our God must be in our hearts (v. 31). This is the key to do justice faithfully. Then our mouth can speak wisdom and justice (v. 30).
Then how does our God protect us when we faithfully do justice?
(1) God doesn’t let our steps to slip.
Look at Psalms 37:31 – “The law of his God is in his heart; His steps do not slip.” God doesn’t let our feet slip. Therefore, we can continue to stand firm and walk on our way.
(2) God doesn’t leave us in the wicked’s hand.
Look at Psalms 37:33 – “The LORD will not leave him in his hand Or let him be condemned when he is judged.” Although the wicked men can bring the righteous to trial to kill them, God doesn’t just look at the wicked to condemn the righteous. No matter how powerful the wicked's hand is, God's hand is omnipotent, so He doesn’t leave the righteous in their hands.
Third and last, the Lord who makes our way firm is the One who gives us peace.
Look at Psalms 37:37 – “Mark the blameless man, and behold the upright; For the man of peace will have a posterity.” How does God give us peace?
(1) God gives us peace by saving us.
Look at Psalms 37:39 – “But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; He is their strength in time of trouble.” Our God is the God who helps the righteous and saves them from the wicked (v. 40).
(2) God gives us peace by being our strength in time of trouble.
Look at Psalms 37:39 again: “But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; He is their strength in time of trouble.” Our God is our hiding place during times of trouble. When we take refuge in Him, He protects us and gives us peace. Where will we find peace when we are in trouble if it’s not in the Lord?
What, then, is our responsibility to be at peace? Two things we can learn from today's text:
(1) We must become “the blameless man” and “the upright.”
Look at Psalms 37:37 – “Mark the blameless man, and behold the upright; For the man of peace will have a posterity.” Here, “the blameless man” refers to a person who is pure and not crafty, and “the upright” refers to a person who lives rightly and without hiding in front of God (Park). In order to enjoy the God’s given peace even in times of trouble, we must live purely without being crafty and live rightly in front of God.
(2) We must take refuge in the Lord.
Look at Psalms 37:40 – “The LORD helps them and delivers them; He delivers them from the wicked and saves them, Because they take refuge in Him.” We must walk by faith, not by sight. Then we will be able to enjoy the peace given by God that the world cannot understand.
God, who has already foreordained our way, guides and protects us. And God upholds us when we fall and raises us up again so that we can continue to walk the way. And our God is pleased with the way. If so, I am meditating on whether Jesus was pleased with the way of the cross that His Heavenly Father has already decided for Him. Which parents would be pleased if the path of the beloved children that the Lord had decided is the way of martyrdom? There are parents who aren’t happy when their children walk on the path of the Lord's servants. But if their children walk on the path of Jesus' cross, the path of martyrdom, I cannot understand their parents can be happy for them to walk on that path. However, if our Heavenly Father was happy for His begotten Son Jesus to walk the path from the Bethlehem manger to the cross of Calvary, which He already predetermined, I think about what our hearts should be. When we follow the footsteps of Jesus and walk on the path of each of our crosses that God has already set for u, we must rejoice as we walk along that path. Even though we fall in trouble through the Satan’s temptations and the powerful wicked’s attacks, God upholds with His powerful hand, raises us up again, and enables us to walk the path of each of our own crosses. And in the midst of trouble, God protects us so that we can walk the path faithfully. It is God who protects us forever. After all, our God gives us peace that the world cannot understand or give. That God will make our way firm even more.
In the hope of rejoicing in faith while walking on the way of the cross given to me
James Kim
(In the conviction that even if I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I can be thankful for being guided by the Lord, my Shepherd)