Trust Him and He Will
Roughly four months ago my brown-eyed girl and her cousin Linda took a road trip together. Seizing my opportunity to escape the heat of Texas, I dropped Dianne at the airport and pointed the nose of my truck up Highway 287 toward the mountains.
I discussed my trip with God and invited Him to join me. And yes, I do realize I can never escape God or Him me, but it was the polite offer to make just the same. Since He had nothing better to do than spend windshield time with me, we headed west out of Cowtown.
I fly fished, hiked, read, and sat on the deck. I ate meat and no vegetables. I slept until I woke up. I wore the same pair of pants for more than two days. And, I successfully escaped the Texas heat.
But escaping the heat was not my only reason for the mountains. My soul was depleted.
I needed to stand in a mountain river and let the melted snow-run numb my artificial knees. I needed to cover up with a blanket, tip my cowboy hat over my eyes, and fall sleep under the stars. I needed to drink coffee standing in the morning rain. I needed the safety of being in a place where my enemies couldn’t find me. I needed nothing but dirt roads and single tracks and boots. I needed the tug of a trout, the hoot of an owl, and the bugle of an elk.
I don’t recall landing in Psalm 37 for any reason other than it was the next psalm in my reading of Psalms—which I’m doing each morning, but will not complete in this life because I’m attempting to digest each before moving to the next. But I bivouacked in Psalm 37 and prayed the Spirit would make it part of the marrow in my bones.
My psalm could be our psalm.
On my drive home, when I was near Estelline, the thought occurred to me: I wonder if I should write to my friends about Psalm 37:3-5? Hmm. Could I pull that off?
I reflected back on my week with the passage…. I considered each word, studied the context, and within a couple of days had the passage memorized. I pondered the passage sitting beside Grape Creek and went to sleep each night reciting the verses.
Father God and I discussed many topics on our trip, but Psalm 37:3-5 was where our souls camped.
By the time I got to Quanah—the Texas town named after the great Comanche Chief—I realized my psalm could be our psalm if I broke it into literary bites of the same size I’d been chewing on. Four months later, here we are: approaching the final phrase.
After encouraging us to commit our ways to the Lord, Psalm 37:5 shifts to answer the implied question: If you commit your way to the Lord, what will He do with what you commit to Him?
There are the unknowns of how and when.
It’s an unanswerable question beyond generalities. Will God do right by you? Will He be good to you? Will He execute justice on your behalf and mete out vengeance on your enemies? Yes. Yes, He will.
It’s the how and when that are unknowable—and that’s where trust comes back into play as the crucible in which Psalm 37:3-5 works itself out.
Our psalm opens with trust (v. 3) and concludes with trust (v. 5). It is surrounded by enemies, anger, ridicule, sarcasm, injustice, and intrigue.
Circumstantially, Psalm 37 sets the stage: Your faith in God appears jeopardized because your wellbeing is in question. You need rescue, deliverance—but whether God sees your situation similarly is what’s not known.
In your heart, which Psalm 37:4 introduces into the discussion, you desire to trust God. The verse says that if you delight yourself in the Lord, He will give you the desires of your heart.
But again, there are the unknowns of how and when. Your predecessors in the faith, the people referenced in Hebrews 11, all believed God’s promise to them—and every last one of them died with their belief… and no fulfilled promise. At the end of Chapter 11, their final words were, “God, you promised.” It’s comforting for you to read Chapter 12 about the fulfillment of God’s promise, but they died not knowing. Faith is a big idea, but faith applied is really gritty.
The Apostle James wrote an entire book about applied faith because faith is a hard diligence when you are under duress. But faith applied is a good definition of trust.
It makes all the sense in the world to have faith in God. Until it doesn’t. That’s where trust enters and your belief turns into resolute conviction in spite of not knowing God’s how or His when. The folks in Hebrews 11 believed and had faith. As the chapter concludes, their faith catalyzed into trust.
Knowing the context of circumstance, Psalm 37:5 recognizes what’s necessary: “Trust also in Him.”
“Also…?” Also in addition to what?
In addition to your commitment in v. 5a, you are going to need trust in v. 5b. Why?
Commitment implies risk and risk requires trust. Committing your way to the Lord (v. 5a) takes you into the mysteries of God’s how and when, neither of which you have any guarantee of understanding, realizing, or even seeing. This means your commitment to the Lord is either lip service or that it must be inextricably linked with trust in the Lord (v. 5b) since there is likelihood you won’t see or understand how God honors your commitment or when He delivers His promises to you.
The prophet Isaiah wrote, "The steadfast of mind you will keep in perfect peace, / Because he trusts in Thee" (26:3).
Said another way, when you trust in the Lord, as our psalm advises, your mind is steadfast on your commitment to the Lord and your faith in Him. If Isaiah were to weigh-in, he would add, “And this posture and plan produce lasting peace. God will see to it.”
It’s a wonderful promise that fits nicely with our psalm.
But as one who is sensitive to the labor of trust, I can’t help mentioning that the reason a promise is meaningful is because a promise is a pledge you can bank on when bankruptcy of soul is looming.
You must be steadfast in your mind because faith that is applied is a belief that can appear misplaced and foolish when the how and when and why of God are not apparent. God is unchanging, so faith in Him makes perfect sense—until the storm surges and your soul is taking on water. A steadfast faith is a steadfast mind—which is what you know, about whom you know, when tumult indicates you should abandon ship, but you stay focused on the Lord’s promise to act on your behalf.
This covenant is sealed by the blood of Jesus.
Trusting God happens when it appears faith in God is unreasonable, or when it appears God has been less than faithful. Since God operates outside your time dimension, above your pay grade, and with absolute awareness of everything, your commitment to Him and trust in Him must be anchored on the integrity of His character, not your situational awareness.
Psalm 32:10 sheds additional light: "But he who trusts in the LORD, / lovingkindness shall surround him."
“Mercy” in the New Testament, and “lovingkindness” in the Old Testament, are code words for the covenant agreed upon between the Trinity: God, Jesus, Spirit. This covenant is sealed by the blood of Jesus, secured by the Spirit, and pledged by God to be faithful to you. While you are a beneficiary of this covenant, the covenant is kept because of the integrity of God. If God fails you in any manner, then God fails utterly.
After writing that last sentence, I paused to reflect on my circumstances and my faith. At this juncture, I have a full plate of concerns. I have friends suffering beyond my comprehension to grasp. Wars are raging, and each news feed leaves me shaking my head.
But here’s the deal: As onerous as life’s drama is, even life’s accumulated questions, is this of sufficient gravity to entice God to sacrifice His character and honor and abandon His covenant, His promise to surround you with lovingkindness and mercy? Certainly not!
Therefore, you have every reason to set your mind—be steadfast of mind—and commit your way to the Lord and trust Him, just as Psalm 37:5 guides you to do.
The grammar of verse five implies a journey and indicates a time lag. At some point, you determine to trust the Lord. The text does not stipulate or indicate any insight as to when you decide to trust or how complete your trust is, only that you determined to trust. Then, the grammar indicates: God will act.
Some would say your obedience and trust cause God to act, or free Him to act, or even obligate Him to act. You can make the text say this, but it’s crummy theology for one reason: It makes you, the limited one, more powerful than the all-powerful One and renders Him subservient to you.
Your heart’s desire is connected to eternity.
When verse five concludes with, “…and He will do it,” what is “it” specifically that God is going to do in response to you committing your way to Him and trusting Him?
According to our passage, the “it” is further illumination and experiential fulfillment of your heart’s desires (v. 4). Given the condition of your new heart, and what you know of your heavenly Father’s character, it is the ongoing desire of your heart to commit your way to the Lord and trust Him (v. 5).
Further, it is your heart’s desire to live an applied faith, to exhibit resolute trust, and for your soul’s deep conviction to be that God is good and true whether or not you can assess His actions or discern His ways. Even if His promises to you are not tangible realizations, your heart’s desire is to have every confidence that God has you surrounded with His mercy and lovingkindness.
How your earthly life plays out is a preference. Knowing, understanding, and trusting your heavenly Father is the root desire of your heart. Your earthly life is temporary, but your heart’s desire is connected to eternity.
God pays attention to your earthly life, but He is working from and toward eternity. The circumstances of your life—which you wrestle with daily—and your incapacity to control your situation, are your motivation to look beyond your day-to-day and engage Him who sees all and surrounds you with lovingkindness. Of this, you can be certain!
Thank you for your partnership with Lifetime-PHG. I appreciate your prayers, and notes of encouragement, and your financial support. If you have not yet joined our financial team, you can do that via this secure link. Thank you in advance.