A Reflection on Psalm 37

The other day I was reading Psalm 37, which is subtitled in the NRSV as Exhortation to Patience and Trust.

There are many things in life that cause us stress: situations, people, and any combination of the two. We often cannot control these things; instead, we can only control our reactions to them. Here are some of the things that David advises throughout this text:

• "Commit your way to the Lord" (5)
• "Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for Him" (7)
• "Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath" (8)
• "Depart from evil, and do good" (27)
• "Wait for the Lord, and keep to His way" (34)
• "Mark the blameless, and behold the upright" (37)

Yes, life is chaotic. However, David's counsel is very different from the frenzied responses which we so often take to moments of stress or uncertainty. He tells us to wait on God, committing ourselves anew to Him and His purpose. He also challenges us to refrain from anger, wrath, and evil; instead, we should do good and pursue good things.

I will not pretend to know the struggles you face. I can only speak for myself. As I face challenges, it is my prayer that God would help me to follow David's advice. So often I do not. I want control, or I want it to be resolved at my tempo; however, I am not God.

Verse 39 begins the concluding thought: "The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord..." We should not become arrogant in this. The righteousness in question is that which David has been describing throughout the whole text. It is found by waiting upon the Lord, not in our acting and reacting according to our own imperfect and biased standards.

Bibliography

The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books: New Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford UP, 1989. Print.