I am so glad David knew God as well as he did. I am also glad that David went through so many difficult life experiences so he could show me how to deal with mine. I mean, really, there is not much David did not face that you and I will face and he was transparent enough to allow us to peek into his private life and see how he dealt with them. In his Psalms we also feel his emotions and discover many of his methods of dealing with things.
Am I the only one who frets? You know what I mean, worry, stew, panic, anticipate, dread. Those are all variations of the idea of fretting. David said, FRET NOT! Easy for him to say, or was it? No, David had experienced panic, fear, worry, stress and challenges many many times in his life. I am sure he understood the concept of fretting. Yet, he tells us to fret not. When a person has learned what David learned, fretting will no longer be a part of his daily life, but rather there will be a sweet rest that he finds in the relationship he has with his God. Worry is always the result of the insecurity of God’s power, God’s goodness and God’s reality. Let us look at the sweet awareness that David had of his God and how he obtained it. I have been going through this passage and I am going to share the
1. Trust in the Lord. Solomon begins his admonition with the same words as David. Awareness must always begin with the key word “trust” or “faith.” “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” But notice the sweet implications that David brings out in the trust of the Christian that the child of God has. “So shalt thou dwell in the land.” The word dwell means to live and be at rest; and so it is with
the Christian that puts his trust in the Lord. We will be at rest in God’s goodness. “Verily thou shalt be fed.” Certainly God takes care of those who put their trust in the Lord and enjoy His wonderful reality. Psalm 73:28 “But it is good for me to draw near to God: I
have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.” Psalm 84:12 “O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in
thee.”
Certainly God is good and we must learn to trust Him, yet all of our trust hinges on the two words “do good.” The little phrase “do good” is more than a phrase of formalistic action, but rather attitude. It actually means to be agreeable, be pleasant, be desirable, be beautiful, be fair, be prosperous, be cheerful, be comfortable, be virtuous, be abundant, be joyful, be happy, be honest, be valuable, be favorable, and be kind. You could sum it up with the word child-like. A child’s carefree innocence comes from trusting. What David is saying is to trust in the Lord and live with a child-like goodness where everything is delightful. Picture the carefree, happy-go-lucky
attitude of a child due to the trust they have in their parents. They do not have to worry from whence their food will come. They do not
worry about the problems of society and the economy, for they are trusting in their father. That is the way of the child of God who is
aware and trusting in his Father. The sweet result is to be able to rest comfortably in the land. What land? The Promised Land rather than wandering aimlessly in the wilderness, and we shall be fed by the goodness of our heavenly Father. “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.” David gives more than just the importance of trust. He gives us a sweeter trust; a delightful trust that we should place in the Lord God for His goodness.
2. Delight thyself in the Lord. The word delight has a very important meaning to the child of God. It actually could be translated “to be delicate.” Be delicate. Be delicate in the Lord. Picture a little delicate lamb that only delights himself in the strength and the
goodness of the shepherd and what he brings to him. Some sheep do not need him as much and so they do not get as much of his tender, personal care. The more you can survive without the Lord, the less you will enjoy and the more you will need to fret. This leads to a question. Why do you need God, or do you need God? As we look at our lives, we are so self-sustained that we find ourselves actually not needing anything from God most of the time. Thus, when desperation time comes, we do not know how to lean on Him. The delicate child of God leans on Him for everything. The delicate child of God learns not to stand on their own two feet but rather learns to stay very close to the Shepherd and be the delicate, favored lamb. I Peter 5:7 “Casting all your care upon him…” Psalm 104:34 “My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD.” Are you in a position where you must be aware of Him constantly to even take care of your basic needs of life? The needy child will be the most aware of his God, more than just in acknowledging him as Solomon said, but rather becoming totally dependant on Him as David says.
3. Commit thy way unto the Lord. When Solomon wrote, “Fear the Lord and depart from evil,” it is an awareness of God in a direction of our ways. David goes further. He says, “Commit thy way unto the Lord.” The word commit means “to roll upon.” David says in the sweetest awareness of God we will roll the responsibility and burden of our entire lives on our Lord and let Him take care of everything. Psalm 55:22 “Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.” The word sustain means “nourish and furnish.” Proverbs 16:3 “Commit thy works unto the Lord and thy thoughts shall be established.” The word established means “prepared.” He shall nourish us and prepare our way if we will but roll all of our life upon Him and give Him total reign and control. We have no need to worry when our ways are committed to Him. David understood this, for his life was a series of simply rolling everything on the Lord and letting Him work out the details, thus, that is the great key to the success of his life. Be aware of the Lord, for He will be aware of you and He will establish your goings.
4. Rest patiently in the Lord. (Psalm 62:1) “Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation.” The word rest means, to be silent. It is allowing God to be at work in our adversity as we quietly are aware of His presence. It is the awareness that He is working His plan in our lives. It is constantly knowing that God is at work in the midst of every circumstance of our life if we will just be quiet and let Him do His work. Is persecution coming your way? Be silent, God is working. Are you going through times of pain? Be
silent, God is working. Are you being tested? Be silent, God is working. Are you going through times of loneliness? Be silent, God is
working. Are you being tempted? Be silent, God is working. James tells us in 1:3-4, “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh
patience. But let patience (silence) have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” Far too often we are
looking for the answers, and if we would simply be quiet, God would give them to us. Resting patiently in the Lord is the stillness of our
souls as we allow Him to do His work in our lives.
5. Abide in the Lord. The word used actually is wait in the Lord. It means to delay, to linger, or to remain. It is the determination to
delay or linger in our awareness of Him. There ought to be times in the sweet awareness of our walk with God that we simply linger in our thoughts of Him and allow Him to move our hearts closer to His. In John 15, the loving disciple shares the truth of the importance of abiding in Him. We are so busy that we rush through our daily times of spiritual refreshment rather than taking our time like an afternoon tea; sitting back and sipping slowly, trying to enjoy each moment and each drop to its maximum fullness.
6. Wait on the Lord. This word wait is a word that implies a line that is directly between the heart of man and the heart of God. It is the line representing the intense desire of man’s heart to be in tune with God’s heart. It is man placing all expectations and hopes in God. It is when we hope for nothing, care for nothing, wish for nothing, and aim at nothing but to know and to be in tune with the very heart of our Father. (Isaiah 40:28-31) Oh, the restfulness and sweetness in the relationship that is aware of the goodness of God and the desire to be in tune with that goodness. In Matthew 5:5, our Lord taught the disciples, “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” The word meek is almost an impossible word to translate into our language, yet the best possible way is, the heart of a man is totally connected to the heart of God. All desire is in Him, all hope is in Him and all sustenance is in Him. It is putting no confidence in our self, but having total confidence in Him. That kind of meekness does not produce fear; it produces a lack of fear. It produces courage. That kind of meekness does not produce weakness; it produces ultimate strength. It does not produce helplessness, but rather hope and power.
It is when we become totally desirous of His heart and are constantly aware of being in tune with Him that we will enjoy Him to the maximum. Jesus was an ultimate example of that relationship as He was sweetly aware of His Father. (Isaiah 64:4) The great blessings of God come to those that wait on Him. (Psalm 27:1,14)