Gems for Your Journey: Lord Help Me to Hold Out

By Veronica Martin Thomas (M.Div’07)

In Psalm 37:1-8, David teaches believers how to survive in the land of the wicked. How is the believer to respond to wicked individuals? How can we hold out until our change comes?

First – Don’t Fret:  We should never envy evil people even though some may be extremely popular or excessively rich. No matter how much they have, it will fade and vanish like grass that withers and dies. Those who follow God live differently from the wicked and, in the end, will have far greater treasures in heaven. What the unbeliever gets may last a lifetime, if he is lucky. What we get from following God lasts forever. The Holy Spirit guided “David to tell us regarding these things, “Don’t fret yourself” and he emphasized this point again in verses 7 and 8.

Second – Don’t be Envious:  The wicked’s time is short. They may prosper for a time, but only for a time. Confidently wait on the Lord who abundantly blesses his children during their earthly life and also promises them eternal life.

Third – Do Trust in the Lord:  V3. In other words, don’t look to the wicked or at the wicked, but rather “the Lord,” and in Him put your “trust.” Do good and enjoy your blessings. What a promise! Delight yourself also in the Lord and guess what, He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Fourth – Do Delight in the Lord and Do Commit your way to and Trust the Lord:  David calls us to take delight in the Lord and to commit everything we have to Him. But, how do we do this? To delight in someone means to experience great pleasure and joy in his or her presence. This happens only when we know that person well. Knowledge of God’s great love for us will indeed give us delight.

To commit ourselves to the Lord means entrusting everything in our lives, families, jobs, possessions – to the Lord’s control and guidance (37:5) believing that he can care for us better than we can ourselves. We should be willing to wait patiently (37:7) for him to work out what best for us.

Fifth – Do be still before God and wait patiently for Him. In verses 3-7, we have the four keys to a victorious Life — “Trust,” “Delight” “commit” and “rest.”

Sixth – Don’t Be Angry and Don’t Fret is mentioned for the third time in these verses. Never be angry or worried in times of conflict. This is a time when we can say never to these evil acts to remedy the situation, whatever the situation might be. Continue to “trust”, “delight”, “commit” and “rest” in the Lord.

Anger and worry (fretting) are two very destructive emotions. They reveal a lack of trust that God loves us and is in control. We should not worry; instead, we should trust in God, giving ourselves to him for his use and safekeeping. When we dwell on our problems, we will become anxious and angry. But if we concentrate on God and God’s goodness, we will find peace.  Where do you focus your attention, friends?

This anger is what most of us would call “righteous indignation.” It is anger clearly directed at the right thing – doing wickedness. Here anger is linked with the repeated concept of “fret.”  This is the anger we must release, to replace with a perspective shaped by a quiet trust in God. There are times when it is hard to release our anger; that’s when we remember what the songwriter declares, “Lord Help me to Hold out until my change has come.” Let us respond to the word of God. “Amen. So be it!”