Originally posted: 10/13/2020

Wait for the Lord and keep His way,
And He will exalt you to inherit the land; (37:34).

The Promised Land is in question, the inheritance promised to the children of Israel. Who will win out in the end? What happens when it looks like the bad guys have the upper hand, when evil seems to be overcoming good, when the wicked prosper and the upright are oppressed?

When life seems to be upside down, when truth is being swallowed up by deception, when security is being eradicated by chaos, when hope is being squashed by discouragement, what are the righteous to believe? Will God keep His covenant promise?

Although unasked, in perhaps not wanting to give voice to such doubts, this Psalm is filled with questions that often loom in the hearts of God’s children when lawlessness prevails.

Psalm 37 answers these considerable concerns highlighting the contrasts between the righteous and the wicked, focusing on how the righteous are to respond, react and live. David’s song offers God’s supernatural wisdom and guidance for enduring in such times.

And behind each exhortation and word of advice is the promise of What He Will Do.

Consider What He Will Do

• He Will Grant us the desires of our heart as we delight and trust in Him.
  • Delight yourself in the Lord;
    And He will give you the desires of your heart.
    ⁵ Commit your way to the Lord,
    Trust also in Him, and He will do it, (37:4-5).

• He Will Justify the righteous.
  • He will bring forth your righteousness as the light
    And your judgment as the noonday, (37:6).

• He Will Give abundant prosperity to the humble.
  • But the humble will inherit the land
    And will delight themselves in abundant prosperity, (37:11).

• He Will Sustain the righteous.
  • For the arms of the wicked will be broken,
    But the Lord sustains the righteous, (37:17).

• He Will Provide an eternally abundant inheritance.
  • The Lord knows the days of the blameless,
    And their inheritance will be forever.
    ¹⁹ They will not be ashamed in the time of evil,
    And in the days of famine they will have abundance, (37:18-19).

• He Will Establish our steps and Delight in our way.
  • The steps of a man are established by the Lord,
    And He delights in his way, (37:28).

• He Will Hold our hand and Keep us from falling.
  • When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong,
    Because the Lord is the One who holds his hand, (37:24).

• He Will Provide for the righteous.
  • I have been young and now I am old,
    Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
    Or his descendants begging bread, (37:25).

• He Will Preserve His godly ones.
  • For the Lord loves justice
    And does not forsake His godly ones;
    They are preserved forever,
    But the descendants of the wicked will be cut off, (37:28).

• He Will Exalt us to inherit His promise.
  • Wait for the Lord and keep His way,
    And He will exalt you to inherit the land; (37:34).

• He Will Be our salvation and strength.
  • But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
    He is their strength in time of trouble, (37:39).

• He Will Help and Deliver those who take refuge in Him.
  • The Lord helps them and delivers them;
    He delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
    Because they take refuge in Him, (37:40).

How do we respond to What He Will Do?

His covenant promises are never in question. One question we can confidently ask is, “What Will He Not Do for those who belong to Him through faith in His Son?”

He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? (Romans 8:32).

He Will Freely Give us all things. But what are these “all things” Paul was writing about to the church in Rome? Obviously, Paul did not mean all comfort and ease, all happiness and convenience, all things that are painless and uncomplicated, all things that are fair and just in this life; for consider Paul’s life, constantly met with persecution and affliction.

All things refer to all His covenant promises, many which are framed within this beautiful Psalm; and What He Will Not Do is go back on a single one of His promises. Our promised inheritance is never in jeopardy, for it has been sealed by the blood of Jesus and His Holy Spirit.

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace… ¹³ In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, ¹⁴ who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory, (Ephesians 1:8, 13-14).

And this is where we absolutely have to fix our minds when life challenges His goodness and faithfulness; when it looks like the bad guys have the upper hand, when evil seems to be overcoming good, when the wicked prosper and the upright are oppressed, when life seems to be upside down, when truth is being swallowed up by deception, when security is being eradicated by chaos, when hope is being squashed by discouragement.

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand, (Colossians 3:1 NLT).

We are not to fixate on all the things that are unjust and unfair in this life, for the day is coming when He Will Judge the world in righteousness.

“because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead,” (Acts 17:31).

Until that day, let us remember Him Who endured the greatest of all injustices, the most extreme of all unfairness… to save us.

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart, (Hebrews 12:1-3)

Oh, let us fix our eyes on Jesus, let us fix our thoughts on Him Who now sits on the throne, and let us fix our hope on the future that awaits us; that we would run this race of life knowing What He Will Do for each of us who run with endurance and faith.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; ⁸ in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing, (2 Timothy 4:7-8).

Perhaps there’s one more question needing to be asked. How can we not delight in Him, commit our way to Him, and trust in Him? He is our faithful, sovereign, and gracious Savior; and all that He has promised, every single jot and tittle, He Will Do.

“For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled,” (Matthew 5:18).

Oh, that we would grow in our faith and gratitude, convinced that He Will Be Faithful to every promise. And as we find all our delight in Him, He Will Give us His desires. Today, and every day, let us commit to trust Him in all things. For as we grow in faith in What He Will Do, He will guide our hearts right to His.

Delight yourself in the Lord;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.
⁵ Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it, (37:4-5).

Let’s Grow Together!