Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  I woke up this morning with Psalm 37:1-5 on my mind; hence, I would like to encourage you with these verses written by David along with my brief applicative exposition.

¹ Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.

• • Are you agitated because of the evil that someone is doing?  Do you envy the prosperity of people who do wrong?
  • David encouraged believers to be not agitated (fret not) because of evildoers.  
  • We cannot live peacefully if we allow the evil of others to agitate us, so our focus must be on the Lord rather than evildoers.  Let’s practice giving God all the time and energy that we give to fretting because of evildoers. 
  • David also encouraged believers to waste not a moment envying the prosperity of wrongdoers.
  • Sometimes, the human side of us wonders why do the righteous often suffer yet the wicked often prosper?  We have to be careful about assessing the prosperity of others because God will rain on the just as well as the unjust (Mt. 5:45).  How God chooses to deal with people is His business, so we cannot question these matters.  Nonetheless, as we shall see in the ensuing verse, the wicked will not always prosper.

²  For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.

• • David informed believers that evildoers and wrongdoers will not prosper long, for the prosperity of the ungodly is short-lived.  In God’s due time, He will cut them down and cause them to wither.
  • Instead of fretting and being agitated because of evildoers and wrongdoers, we should put them in God’s hand.  We do not have to deal with them because God will soon deal with them!  

³  Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

• • Are you trusting in the Lord?  Are you focused on doing good?
  • David commanded believers to trust in the Lord and be diligent about doing good.  If we trust in the Lord and do good, then God will bless us with prosperity (dwell in the land and be fed).
  • I don’t know about you, but in the last few months, I was at times too focused on mankind.  As believers, we cannot allow politics to divide us!  Let us not get caught up identifying with a political party as we should not get caught up identifying with a denomination.  Our primary identification is being a child of God, and our primary affiliation is with the Body of Christ.  We should put our trust only in the Lord, not man; also, we should focus on doing all the good to others that we can, especially to those most in need.  Then, God will bless us with more prosperity (dwell in the land and be fed).  To dwell in the land and be fed covers the blessings needed and the blessings desired that are according to God’s will in our lives.

⁴  Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

• • A lot of people are desperate for happiness, especially amid this pandemic.  What about you?  Are you unhappy or miserable?
  • David commanded believers to take delight in the Lord.  When we do this, God will put desires in our hearts and give them to us.  Note, this does not mean that God will give us everything we desire.
  • When we delight ourselves in the Lord, the cares of this world should not distress us.  As believers, our joy does not come from the world, and our joy is not contingent upon whatever is happening in the world.  Our joy comes from the Lord which is the second component of the Fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22).  “This joy that we have the world did not give it to us, so the world cannot take it away.”  Hence, let’s adhere to David’s command which is to delight ourselves in the Lord, then God will give us the desires of our heart.  A lot of people make the mistake of expecting God to give them the desires of their heart but fail to realize this is conditional.  God will give believers our heart desires after we delight ourselves in the Lord.  Hence, if you want God to give you the desires of your heart, you must first delight yourself in the Lord.

⁵  Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

• • Are you wholeheartedly committed to the Lord?  Are you trusting in the Lord with your whole heart?  
  • David commanded believers to commit their way unto the Lord.  In the Hebrew language, to “commit” means to roll with God.  David commands believers again to trust in the Lord as he did in verse 3.  When believers commit our way unto the Lord (roll with God) and trust in Him, then “He shall bring it to pass” which means He will do it!
  • Is there something in your life that you need for God to do that only He can do?  If what you need is according to God’s will, you have the assurance that God will do it if you faithfully commit your way unto the Lord (roll with God) and trust in Him.  
  • As we press our way through these perilous and unprecedented times, we need God to do what only He can do.  God will do it when we do our part, so let’s faithfully commit our way unto the Lord (roll with God) and trust in the Lord wholeheartedly.  God has no problem doing His part.  He is just waiting on us to do our part; then, He will “show up and show out!”

In conclusion, I encourage each of us to adhere and apply Psalm 37:1-5.  Also, I thank many of us who are supporting St. John financially.  I do not want anyone who is not financially able to feel bad or guilty for not giving.  I pray that God will see you through your financial struggles and bless you to live and give according to His will.  To those of you who are able to give but have not been giving according to God’s will, begin today supporting your church financially.  We give currently by mailing or dropping off our Tithes and Offerings to our St. John South Campus (662 South 52^nd Street—Richmond, CA  94804) or by giving online through our website (sjmbc.org).