QUIETNESS BEFORE GOD

Psalms 37:1-7

Morning Meditation 9/17/2014

"Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass."

Someone has said that quietness before God is one of the most difficult of all Christian graces. Some do not even believe that quietness before the Lord is a form of prayer.

Madam Guyon calls a state of quietness before God as one of the higher degrees of prayer.

David seems to recognize this in these seven verses.

FIRST OF ALL HE SAYS, "FRET NOT."

The whole statement is, "Fret not thyself because of evildoers." It is easy for the believer to fall into a negative posture as he sees the evildoers prospering in their sins. It seem that they are making it better than the righteous. So what do you do when things are going bad for you and your prayers do not seem to be answered. You fret!!!

It is almost like we question the goodness of God when this happens. We have been serving the Lord and the bottom fell out. Everything seems to be going wrong. The wicked mock us and say that it does not pay to serve God. Satan gets involved in his accusations against us and puts it in our minds that God has let us down.

All of these things and much more happen and we pick up our Bible and it falls open to Psalm 37:1 and we are smitten in the heart as we read, "Fret not." If we have been fretting, there is only one thing for the Christian to do and that is to repent and ask forgiveness. The believer is on God's side no matter how silent the heavens are. God will come through in His time. Next--

SECOND OF ALL HE SAYS, "TRUST."

Psalms 37:3, "Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed." We are called believers because we TRUST in the Lord. He is worthy of our trust. We are loved by Him. He has made us His own through the sacrifice of His Only Begotten Son on the cross.

There are some attachments to the word TRUST. He says "Trust in the LORD, and do good." God wants His people to do good no matter how evil the wicked are around us. They do bad, we do good. We do not do good because those to whom we do the good deserve it. They do not deserve it. They may even make fun of the good we do for them. But we do good in obedience to the LORD'S command. You are never more like Jesus than when you do good to those who speak evil of you. We are reminded of His prayer on the cross: "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." We are to trust in the Lord to make things right with those who do wrong. And He will in His time. Next--

THIRD, HE SAYS, "DELIGHT THYSELF IN THE LORD."

Psalms 37:4, "Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart."

The word "delight" means to be excited and happy about one's thoughts of the LORD. It means to rejoice in the LORD and to be thrilled that we are under His care. Then there is a promise to those who do this. David says, "and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart."

Probably the most accepted application of this promise is that the LORD will give us what we want. There is another way to interpret this. If we delight ourselves in the LORD He will work in us to desire what He wants for us. In other words our desires will be God given. I like that. I want what He wants for me. We are constantly seeking God's will for us. It is good to know that if we delight ourselves in Him we will know His will because He will plant the desire in our hearts. Next--

FOURTH, HE SAYS, "COMMIT THY WAY UNTO THE LORD."

The word "commit" means "to roll you way on the Lord." When we commit our way to the Lord, it means that we let Him get in the drivers seat. And we don't back-seat-drive. It means that we never take God for granted. We pray about everything.. If we can't get peace about it, we do not act. His way is our way.. We will never go wrong if His way is our way. Next--

FIFTH, WE ARE TO REST IN THE LORD

The word "rest" literally means "be silent." There are times when silence is a virtue. David says this is how to act before the LORD. So, silence is a legitimate form of prayer. There are times when we are at a loss for words. When this happens the Holy Spirit will make intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White