Promises to Believers Part Two

Last week we began a discussion into Psalm 37. In it we saw four pledges that the Lord makes to believers; He calls us to trust in Him and do good, find our delight in the Lord and He will give us our heart desires, commit our ways to the Lord and He will bring forth righteousness, and finally rest in Him and wait patiently. However, this was only part of Psalm 37 and in order to fully understand, we need to look at it in its entirety. This week, we will be looking at the next section of Psalm 37 to see what God promises both the righteous and the wicked.

12 The wicked plots against the righteous, And gnashes at him with his teeth. 13 The Lord laughs at him, For He sees that his day is coming. 14 The wicked have drawn the sword and bent their bow To take down the afflicted and the needy, To kill off those who are upright in conduct. 15 Their sword will enter their own heart, And their bows will be broken. 16 Better is the little of the righteous Than the abundance of many wicked. 17 For the arms of the wicked will be broken, But the Lord sustains the righteous. 18 The Lord knows the days of the blameless, And their inheritance will be forever. 19 They will not be ashamed in the time of evil, And in the days of famine they will have plenty. 20 But the wicked will perish; And the enemies of the Lord will be like the glory of the pastures, They vanish—like smoke they vanish away. 21 The wicked borrows and does not pay back, But the righteous is gracious and gives. 22 For those blessed by Him will inherit the land, But those cursed by Him will be eliminated.

Psalm 37:12-22

The first thing that we notice is that the wicked are plotting against the righteous, there is no doubt that we see this occurring today. The world does not recognize Christ and His authority at this present time, and so they plot against Him and His followers. And yet what does the Lord do? He laughs at them; God is in control of everything, there is nothing that occurs that He does not allow. While the wicked in the world plot against those who follow Christ, their only reward is to be permanently separated from God. “17 Indeed, it is useless to spread the baited net In the sight of any bird; 18 But they lie in wait for their own blood; They ambush their own lives. 19 Such are the ways of everyone who makes unjust gain; It takes away the life of its possessors.” Proverbs 1:17-19.

In the second half of Psalm 37:17, we see the the author changing directions from how the Lord will deal with the wicked, to the rewards of the righteous. We see that the Lord will sustain those who follow Him, this does not mean that the Christian life is an easy one. Instead we can find our strength not in ourselves, but in God. Just as God knows the days of the wicked, He knows them for the righteous as well. The difference is that the wicked’s days will come to an end, while the righteous will have their inheritance forever.

So the next time you are faced with someone who is plotting against the Lord, remember that God sees them. They will receive their punishment. On the other hand, while we will still face troubles, followers of Christ will have a reward that will never end! Next week we will finish looking at the rest of Psalm 37 to see what other promises God has for the righteous and wicked.

Seek the truth and encourage one another,

Alex