Promises to Believers Part Three
Over the last two weeks, we have been looking at Psalm 37. Oftentimes, the book of Psalms is split up by people who wish to pick and choose verses that suit their ideals. As with the rest of scripture, this is done to their detriment; and we have seen how when we look at the Psalms as a whole, we see more of God’s word. Our first look into Psalm 37, we saw that God has four pledges for the believers. Second, we saw promises to both the righteous and the wicked. This week will be the conclusion into Psalm 37 which shows the outcome for those who are righteous and for those who are wicked.
23 The steps of a man are established by the Lord, And He delights in his way. 24 When he falls, he will not be hurled down, Because the Lord is the One who holds his hand. 25 I have been young and now I am old, Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken Or his descendants begging for bread. 26 All day long he is gracious and lends, And his descendants are a blessing. 27 Turn from evil and do good, So that you will dwell forever. 28 For the Lord loves justice And does not abandon His godly ones; They are protected forever, But the descendants of the wicked will be eliminated. 29 The righteous will inherit the land And dwell in it forever. 30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, And his tongue speaks justice. 31 The Law of his God is in his heart; His steps do not slip. 32 The wicked spies upon the righteous And seeks to kill him. 33 The Lord will not leave him in his hand Or let him be condemned when he is judged. 34 Wait for the Lord and keep His way, And He will exalt you to inherit the land; When the wicked are eliminated, you will see it. 35 I have seen a wicked, violent person Spreading himself like a luxuriant tree in its native soil. 36 Then he passed away, and behold, he was no more; I searched for him, but he could not be found. 37 Observe the blameless person, and look at the upright; For the person of peace will have a future. 38 But wrongdoers will altogether be destroyed; The future of the wicked will be eliminated. 39 But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their strength in time of trouble. 40 The Lord helps them and rescues them; He rescues them from the wicked and saves them, Because they take refuge in Him.
Psalm 37:23-40
The first section of verse that I want to look at are verses 23-26. In these verses we notice that God is in control of our steps (verse 23), when man those who follow Him fall they will not be lost (verse 24), and that the righteous will not be forsaken. All of these are further promises to the righteous, those who have recognized their need for Jesus Christ. As believers, we can take strength and encouragement from these verses because we see that God is always with us, when we fail to follow Him, He will not forsake us. We may get ourselves into troublesome situations, but God is always the answer out and is there to provide us a way to deal with our temptations.
In our next set of verses, we see that God is advising us to depart from evil (verse 27). When we abide in Christ, we do not abide or practice anything that is unrighteousness. We are continually seeking to do His will which is why born again believers will live on eternally. However, those who practice unrighteousness, who do not place themselves under the authority of Christ, will find themselves eternally cut off (verse 28). We also see in verse 28, the fact that those who follow Jesus Christ will inherit the land and their inheritance will be eternal. This is actually the third time in Psalm 37 that we see this. The first is in verse 9 “For evildoers will be eliminated, But those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land.” And the second time is in verse 18 “The Lord knows the days of the blameless, And their inheritance will be forever.” And we will see it again in verse 34, “34 Wait for the Lord and keep His way, And He will exalt you to inherit the land; When the wicked are eliminated, you will see it.” This repeated concept is meant to encourage believers today and in the future who feel as if the wicked are getting away with their deeds. It is a constant reminder from God that He knows what is going on and our reward is coming and will be eternal. There is an eternal promise of land for all saints, Jews and Gentiles found in Revelation chapter 21-22.
Verses 33-40 are also a repeating concept found throughout Psalm 37. In these verses we see that the wicked spies on the righteous with a desire to kill them, but the answer to this concept is the same. The Lord will not leave us to be victims to the wicked. Our reward is eternal, it is why in verses 35-36 we see that the righteous spread’s themselves out in their native soil, this fallen world, but there is a day when they will all be cut off and no matter how hard you look you will not be able to find them. This is talking about the future reign of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem as described in Revelation 21-22. The wicked has their time on this earth, but the righteous will have an eternal peace because we take refuge in Jesus Christ! We must be careful not to add the Church into the promises described to Israel, but we need to recognize that some promises are directed at not only the Jews but all those who are saved no matter the time. Psalm 37 has unique characteristics of God revealing promises that have a future plan for Israel, yet also us who are of the Church. God is so good, His word can encourage in a timeless manner for each age of human history, promising for the ultimate prize found only in Jesus Christ.
Seek the truth and encourage one another,
Alex