The Book of Prayer – Part II

Do not fret because of the wicked;
do not be envious of wrongdoers,
for they will soon fade like the grass,
and wither like the green herb.

Trust in the Lord, and do good;
so you will live in the land, and enjoy security.
Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.
He will make your vindication shine like the light,
and the justice of your cause like the noonday.

Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him;
do not fret over those who prosper in their way,
over those who carry out evil devices. 
—Psalm 37:1-7

How are your spirit and soul? Are you contented or do you fret, worry or feel anxious? Given the chaos and uncertainty swirling around us, how can we possibly find peace?

As a prayer, Psalm 37 is a prayer for a heart filled with worship, with desire, with longing for God. Scripture provides many examples of people who experience total life change through true worship. By the term “true worship” I am trying to distinguish between mere church attendance and the reverent, relentless desire for God displayed through certain people in Scripture. They see God for who He is; they realize they are nothing in comparison; they stop standing on their own power and dignity; and they bow before Him, surrender everything to Him, and through that spirit of worshipful surrender, they gain His strength, power, peace, rest and joy. They gain Him. 

Worship-filled surrender requires absolute trust and commitment, and that sort of worship leads to spiritual transformation and life change, which leads to joyful delight in the Lord. For a snapshot from Scripture regarding what this looks like, consider David dancing with wild abandon leading the Arc of the Covenant into Jerusalem (see 2 Samuel 6). His focus was on God and he did not care what anyone else thought because he had seen God’s power, mercy and grace. He understood that God really is sovereign and almighty and David was totally devoted to Him.  

It may all happen in an instant or it might take time to process and move through various steps, but as we see Him and seek Him and desire Him and give ourselves to Him, we gain Him. What could possibly be a greater blessing than that? We gain Him!

Let’s quickly take a step back and refresh our memory on who God is, because He is awesome beyond our ability to imagine. When Moses asked to see God’s face, God replied saying, “no one shall see me and live … you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen” (Exodus 33:20&23). He was essentially saying, “You cannot handle seeing my face.  If you were to look at my face it would destroy you.” His holiness, purity and light are so far beyond our comprehension, they would consume us like a gnat venturing too close to a campfire.

When God revealed a glimpse of heaven to John, John was in the spirit and he was allowed a glimpse of God sitting on a throne and John attempted to describe the awesome sight using our limited language and images from our limited frame of reference, so he compared what he saw to the most beautiful jewels he could imagine – jasper, carnelian, emerald – and the brightest thing he has seen – flashes of lightning – and floors like a sea of crystal (see Revelation 4:2-6). John saw a scene beyond earthly comparison, beyond our language, beyond his ability to describe.

We cannot begin to imagine all that God is. He spoke and the universe came into existence, He has all authority and sovereign power, and He is holy, pure and divine, and if we are not careful the words lose their impact on us because we possibly overuse them, but each one describes awesomeness beyond our ability to understand.

Psalm 37 focuses on YHWH, written as Lord in many English translations, and our relationship with Him. It reminds us to fully consider holy God by using His unspoken name, YHWH, over and over again. It reminds us that while He is holy, He is also truly present, available and concerned for us, and it lists types of actions and attitudes that lead to God’s blessing. For example, those who trust in Him (vv.3 & 5), do good (v.3), take delight in Him (v.4), commit their way to Him (v.5), and patiently wait for Him (v.7) receive His blessing.  

But how do we do this? The words make sense, but how do we accomplish this? We might say the recipe for spiritual satisfaction is simply love. We might say it is loving God and loving our neighbor. We might say it is relationship with Christ Jesus. We might look at the characteristics of people who receive God’s blessing described in the Beatitudes (see Matthew 5:3-11) or described in Psalm 37. With each successive iteration we see slightly more detail helping us better understand the earlier, broader explanations. They each lead us to the same place – to God the Father through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. True, sincere worship leads us to the place of trust, delight and patience.

Each aspect of relationship with Him is a means of grace. We receive His holy gift of grace when we seek Him, desire Him, submit to Him, engage in genuine relationship with Him and allow His love to flow through us. And we are blessed with His indwelling and His continued spiritual transformation, which enhances our ability to trust in Him (vv.3 & 5), do good (v.3), take delight in Him (v.4), commit their way to Him (v.5), and patiently wait for Him (v.7).  

The passage says He will give you the desires of your heart (v.4), He will act (v.5), He will “make your vindication shine like the light, and the justice of your cause like the noonday” (v.6), and five times it says “you will inherit the land” (vv. 9, 11, 22, 29 & 34), a figure of speech referring to His blessing. He will bless you with peace, rest, satisfaction, wholeness and security. In short, if we seek Christ Jesus we gain relationship with Him, and His holy, pure, divine being with us, and His Holy Spirit in us. We gain His holy presence and His resulting transformation of our spirits. We gain Him.

Humans naturally long for God. I have encountered many who, after being hurt, and feeling rejected, shamed and judged by people claiming to be Christians, left the church and rejected faith in Christ Jesus. They continued searching for spiritual answers to fill the void in their souls, but they knew with certainty that Christianity was not the answer for them. Some describe themselves as “spiritual but not religious.” Others claim to be agnostic or atheistic but each one, whether they know it or not, searches for spiritual wholeness. They search for satisfaction that only relationship with God through Christ Jesus is capable of providing.

What do you long for? What is the desire of your heart? Take delight in the Lord and He will give you what you long for (v.4). But please allow me to warn you, if you begin the process of seeking God and at that point in your life you desire wealth, possessions, prestige and position, as you move forward to the point in your relationship with Him that you find intimate pleasure in Him and through Him, you truly delight in Him, you will have changed and your desires will have changed. If you allow God to fill the spiritual void in your soul, His holy presence in you is transformative. He changes you, your desires, your worldview, your spirit, your soul, your life, and you gain relationship with the almighty, sovereign, holy, pure, divine, Creator of the universe.

Please take a few minutes to read Psalm 37 in its entirety. Consider the frequent use of YHWH, translated as Lord. Then, convert the psalm to your personal prayer. If God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit is who He says He is, and if He truly desires relationship with us, how could we place our trust, commitment, delight or hope in anything or anyone else? How could we possibly extend our deep longing to worship to anything or anyone else?