Trust Dwell Delight

Review:

We started to look at this after finishing Psalms 1. We looked at our worry and envy of the wicked. God tells us to view them in light of eternity. They have no substance and will soon pass away.

Psalms 37

This Psalm follows the Hebrew Alphabet like Psalms 119.

It isn’t normally seen as important or emphasized in many bibles.

Yet it is important as it gives us clear dividing lines to look at.

Example.

Psalm 37:3–4 “3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. 4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.”

I have often thought that the thought of the authors flow was 1-3; yet it clear starts in 3-4.

This is a continuous thought, so you are not missing much, but noticing the flow will help us to see a fuller picture.

3 actions followed by a promise. Trust, Dwell, Delight.

Trust in the Lord and do good.

What is trust? Reliance.

Who we trust in is important The Lord.

Do Good…

Dwell in the Land and cultivate faithfulness.

Dwell — To make a home, to be safe secure and joyous…

In the Land — This was written to Israel. Remember Naomi in the book of Ruth?

Yet for us as well, we are to stay where the Lord has called us.

There, we are to cultivate faithfulness.

Cultivate? —

prepare and use (land) for crops or gardening Example: the peasants who cultivated the land became its owners

try to acquire or develop (a quality or skill) Example: he cultivated an air of indifference

Faithfulness

The ability or character of being faithful to God’s Word and the Lord Himself.

Delight

Psalm 1:1–3 “1 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.”

Delight speaks of the heart.

“The worth and excellency of a soul is to be measured by the object of its love. He who loveth mean and sordid things doth thereby become base and vile, but a noble and well-placed affection doth advance and improve the spirit into a conformity with the perfections which it loves.” ― Henry Scougal, The Life of God in the Soul of Man

Love is that powerful and prevalent passion by which all the faculties and inclinations of the soul are determined, and on which both its perfection and happiness depend. The worth and excellency of a soul is to be measured by the object of its love.

What does God delight in?

Matt 17:5 “5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!””

John 3:35 “35 The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand.”

Colossians 1:13 “13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,”

Colossians 1:15 “15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.”

John 10:17 “17 “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.”

Why should we delight in Christ?

2 Corinthians 3:18 “18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

Promise

Psalm 37:4 “4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.”