Serene Dependence

Psalm 37:3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

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

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

7 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.

9 For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.

Psalm 78:15 He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths.

16 He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.

17 And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness.

18 And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.

19 Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?

20 Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?

21 Therefore the LORD heard this, and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel;

22 Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation:

23 Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven,

24 And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven.

Matthew 6:30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

MEMORY VERSE: The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing. —Psalm 145:15-16

CENTRAL THOUGHT: Every living thing waits upon the Lord for provision, and He is faithful to all His creation; therefore, we are exhorted to wait patiently for Him to supply our needs without fretting, murmuring, doubting or worrying.

WORD DEFINITIONS

Psalm 37:3 “And verily thou shalt be fed”: “Taken literally this promise may be addressed to the Levites, and may contain allusion to their precarious condition, dependent as they were on offerings and tithes, but the Hebrew may also have the meanings: (1) Thou shalt feed on (or enjoy) stability (or security). (2) Thou shalt pasture on faithfulness, i.e., be supported by God’s truth and righteousness as by a rich pasture. Possibly both were combined in the psalmist’s thought, for the faithfulness of God is the security of man” (Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers).

Psalm 37:4 “Delight:” from a root meaning soft, delicate, dainty; to take exquisite delight; spend in enjoyment. “Desires of thine heart”: “Our innermost desires are here meant, not our casual wishes; there are many things which nature might desire which grace would never permit us to ask for; these deep, prayerful, asking desires are those to which the promise is made” (The Treasury of David). “A deep lesson lies in that word distraction, which has come to be so closely attached to desires; the lesson that all eager longing tears the heart asunder. Unbridled and varying wishes, then, are the worst enemies of our repose. And, still further, they destroy tranquility by putting us at the mercy of externals. Whatsoever we make necessary for our contentment, we make lord of our happiness. By our eager desires we give perishable things supreme power over us, and so intertwine our being with theirs, that the blow which destroys them lets out our life-blood” (MacLaren’s Expositions).

Psalm 37:5 “Commit”: roll; as in rolling a heavy burden from ourselves onto another. “He shall bring it to pass”: He will work; He will accomplish.

Psalm 37:6 “Rest”: be still; be silent; quiet yourself.

LESSON BACKGROUND

The directives given in Psalm 37 are a happy balance of action and repose. Not only do we trust, but we “do” what is good and right. Not only do we commit, trust and rest, but we “delight” or immerse ourselves wholeheartedly in the pleasure of knowing God’s presence and doing His will. Clarke’s Commentary puts it, “Have a sedate care and an industrious confidence.” This leaves no room for idleness or slothfulness in business!

But there is a part of “busyness” which those of us who know God must refuse, and that is the fretful, distracting anxiety that entangles us in the affairs of this world. It seems the Israelites (Psalm 78) couldn’t—or wouldn’t—let go of their desires for the things of Egypt and delight themselves in the provisions of the Lord, rejoice in the miracles and relish the special care He gave them.

“Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?”

We should shout the answer to their skeptical question: “YES, HE CAN!”

Jesus addressed the worldly attitude of doubt and scrabbling for the things of this world and taught His disciples to PRAY about their daily bread and CONSIDER how He fed the birds and clothed the flowers. The heathen people seek after these things, He added, but “your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.” His promise was that if we seek Him first—seek the heavenly things of the kingdom; seek His righteousness—all our food, clothing and other needs would be added.

Our memory verse reminds us that in reality, all forms of life around us are dependent upon God for sustenance. He provides, constantly, “in due season,” right on time; and what’s more, with a generous, open hand He SATISFIES the desires of every living thing.

—Sis. Angela Gellenbeck

DISCUSSION:

1. List the seven positive actions in Psalm 37:3-7.

2. What were the attitudes and actions of the Israelites after God “opened the doors of heaven” for them, and what was God’s response?

3. Share your story of how God fulfilled the promise of Matthew 6:33 in your life.

COMMENTS AND APPLICATION

“My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.” There is such a deep truth expressed here when we apply these words to this area of our lives. When we can truly recognize with our hearts and confess with attitudes, words and actions that Jesus is the One who supplies all of our needs, it is life-transforming. I’ve seen it take the back-breaking, overwhelming burden out of the heart of a husband who works so hard to supply for his home. It puts a radiance and child-like softness into the heart and countenance of a housewife, replacing the hard lines of worry and discontent. It gives the Lord an opening to surprise us with miracles when we take EVERYTHING to Him in prayer. Every item on our want/need list. Every time crunch, every financial crisis, every impossibility, every fear.

When want does come, when disaster hits, I’ve seen those who knew God was their supply stay serene and composed. Their life-blood didn’t drain out from the physical loss, because their life-blood was Jesus Christ.

—Sis. Angela Gellenbeck

REFLECTIONS

Waiting on God’s timing to provide is one of the most difficult challenges in this life of faith. We know he can provide and know he promised to do so, but there are still times we struggle with the question, “When.”

I’m reminded of a recent event that took place at Pearl of Grace Ranch. We had just started this journey of faith and had seen God miraculously supply thousands of dollars for needed building materials, staff and labor crews to make this ministry a reality. But just as the children of Israel saw God perform miracle after miracle in their deliverance out of Egypt but when they got hungry they started complaining, I found myself doing the same thing. We opened our doors and shortly after found ourselves low on operating funds.

In fact, we were scraping the bottom of the barrel. We had been praying for God to provide but I was getting anxious and felt like maybe I should help things along a little bit. I contacted some of the board members to let them know that something had to be done!

Shortly after that impatient intervention (30 minutes), my wife called to tell me a $15,000 check had just come in the mail! I shouted, then cried, and then had to ask God to forgive my lack of trust and my impatience. God always comes through—never too late and rarely early, but on time.

—Bro. Toney Samons