Title: A Call to Trust in the Lord

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

Main idea: Put your confidence in the Lord and his promises.

David says, “you just keep walking by faith, do good, cultivate a life of faithfulness, and God will reward you in due time!” It means a deep, abiding reliance on the God who has promised to punish the ungodly and to reward the righteous. His Word will never fail. The image of dwelling in the land is a metaphor taken from Israel’s historical experience of dwelling in the land of Canaan (Exod. 20:12). The upright will indeed dwell in the land and enjoy security.

John Wesley once sent financial help to a preacher-friend named Samuel Bradburn. Enclosing a five-pound note, he wrote: “Dear Sammy: ‘Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.’ ” In expressing his thanks, Bradburn said, “I have often been struck with the beauty of the passage of Scripture quoted in your letter, but I must confess that I never saw such a useful expository note on it before.”

“Trust in the LORD”, meaning, put your confidence in the Lord and his promises. Walk in confidence that what God said, He will do. All these promises have one common theme—they are fulfilled later. Believe the promise that those who are obedient will in fact be rewarded. That is the key to fighting worldliness and pursuing Christlikeness. You live by faith in the promise of something better. That is called hope. Hope is the confidence that the best is yet to come. When David wrote this Psalm he knew what he was talking about. For years he had lived as a hunted fugitive, yet he had not missed a meal and now Saul his enemy was dead and he himself sat upon his enemy’s throne.

Application
“Delight yourself also in the LORD” is to make Jesus our greatest delight. It is a call to stop looking at everyone else around us and look to Jesus—to make Him our greatest treasure and greatest pursuit. All those who take delight in the Lord will receive their hearts’ desires. The righteous who delight in the Lord will want to see His will done, and that will happen eventually for them. A dwelling place in the Father’s house is guaranteed to all who trust Christ (John 14:1–6).

Let’s pray together
Heavenly Father, I thank you for giving us this day. What a privilege Lord, to trust in You in all our days.  In Jesus Name Amen.