Psalm 37: 1-18

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Psalm 37:1-18


¹Do not fret yourself because of evildoers; *
do not be jealous of those who do wrong.
² For they shall soon wither like the grass, *
and like the green grass fade away.
³ Put your trust in the Lord and do good;
dwell in the land and feed on its riches.
⁴ Take delight in the Lord, *
and he shall give you your heart's desire.
⁵ Commit your way to the Lord and put your trust in him, *
and he will bring it to pass.
⁶ He will make your righteousness as clear as the light*
and your just dealing as the noonday.
⁷ Be still before the Lord *
and wait patiently for him.
⁸ Do not fret yourself over the one who prospers, *
the one who succeeds in evil schemes.
⁹ Refrain from anger, leave rage alone; *
do not fret yourself; it leads only to evil.
¹⁰ For evildoers shall be cut off,*
but those who wait upon the Lord shall possess the land.
¹¹ In a little while the wicked shall be no more;*
you shall search out their place, but they will not be there.
¹² But the lowly shall possess the land;*
they will delight in abundance of peace.
¹³ The wicked plot against the righteous *
and gnash at them with their teeth.
¹⁴ The Lord laughs at the wicked,*
because he sees that their day will come.
¹⁵ the wicked draw their sword and bend their bow
to strike down the poor and needy,*
to slaughter those who are upright in their ways.
¹⁶ Their sword shall go through their own heart, *
and their bow shall be broken.
¹⁷ The little that the righteous has *
is better than great riches of the wicked.
¹⁸ For the power of the wicked shall be broken, *
but the Lord upholds the righteous.

Think

⁵ Commit your way to the Lord and put your trust in him, *
and he will bring it to pass.

I try my damnedest and sometimes its just not good enough.  This isn't the way I am supposed to feel, that if I had just done X more, studied more, prayed more, believed more then God would favor me more.   But the committement to the Lord must come first.  And for me its like driving a clutch for the first time.  I though I was committed to it, I thought I had the feeling for it, until I stalled out, until I tried to drive to fast in 2nd gear, until I popped the clutch too fast and lurched to a stop, violently.  Today I am feeling like I committed to something different than the Lord, I forgot that I was driving a different car- I forgot that I was driving an automatic, God has it in gear and when I hit the clutch -I'm actually hitting the break and the seat belt slams against my chest, my head against the headrest and I am stunned about why the car did that.  Then I remember its an automatic.

⁷ Be still before the Lord *
and wait patiently for him.
⁸ Do not fret yourself over the one who prospers, *
the one who succeeds in evil schemes.
⁹ Refrain from anger, leave rage alone; *
do not fret yourself; it leads only to evil.

I should not be driving or trying to drive my car at all, if I am to be a true follower of Jesus, a true Christian I shouldn't be rushing through hurdles, or planning my future I should be sitting patiently still and waiting for the Lord.  This is what Lent is all about.  Giving up the things that give me pause, the things that cause me to downshift to shift into depression or ramp up into fretting in high gear for the things that I want so badly I can taste them.  Both of these kinds of shifts are things that distract me from the love of God, the call that God has placed in my heart.  

On this day of love- the day of St Valentine- I woke up to find myself angry and fretful not about someone else, but at myself.  I know better than to expect perfection from myself.  I know better than to desire other people's prosperity, I know better than to hatch schemes to better my position in this life.  But sometimes I fall into the traps as everyone does, imagining a future where the worries of today are no longer worries, and coming out of this day dream to realize that things aren't there yet, and possibly won't ever be.  On this day I woke up full of anger and fret and I decided to 'restart' to put myself in a place of stillness and patience- a spiritual time out.  If I am going to behave like a child, then I should be treated like a child.  Its time for that reboot. Its not about my feelings towards the people around me who appear successful, its about me, and God and no one else.  This car is an automatic. 

Pray

Be still and know that I am God.

Contemplate

Centering prayer 15 minutes