Live More Abundantly and Victoriously

"Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret – it leads only t o evil. For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land. Psalm" 37: 8-9

Psalm 37 is a Psalm, which deals with the righteous vs. the wicked. Commentator, Adam Clark sums up the Psalm in this way, “Psalm 37, Godly directions for those who are in adversity not to envy the prosperity of the wicked, because it is superficial, and of short duration, 1-22; to put their confidence in God, and live to His glory, as this is the sure way to be happy in this life, and in that which is to come”.

Fortunately, there are key phrases that exhort us to keep our focus on the LORD.

Verse 3 – Trust in the LORD: put your trust in HIM ALONE. People will let you down, but God never will.

Verse 4 – Delight yourself in the LORD: when we place our focus on Him and strive to delight Him our will lines up with His and thus, we receive the desires of our heart.

Verse 5 – Commit your way to the LORD: when we commit our way to the LORD, our service is for Him alone (also see Col. 23:3), which causes His light to shine through us.

Verse 7 – Be still before the LORD: It is when we are still before Him that we hear clearly, what He has to say. We learn patience and trust as well.

Verse 9 – Hope in the LORD: Our hope is KNOWING that after our time sojourning here is up we will be with Him (2 Cor. 5: 6). What a comforting promise!

Verse 34 – Wait for the LORD: Waiting on HIS timing is prosperous for us as we receive HIS best, rather than settling for second best, for our best is no way close to His best for us.

Verse 40 – Take refuge in the LORD: We have all heard the saying, “God helps those who help themselves.” The truth is, “The LORD helps them and delivers them … because they take refuge in Him.” (V 40) Proverbs 18:10 says, “The Name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run in to it and are safe.”

Dear friend, let us do what we need to cling to these promises, whether it mean printing them out and putting them on the refrigerator so we see them often, or committing them to memory, which ever works (for me the frig thing sounds real good).

May we burn brightly for our Creator who loves us so much that He chose to put on human flesh, to die, and rise up again so that we might live… live more abundantly and victoriously. To Jesus be the Glory!

Have a triumphant day in Jesus!

April