LESSON 2, DWELLING IN THE LAND AND BEING
WELL FED:
It's called a
"cause and effect" sequence.
God says, "If you do this," then, "I will do that."
A fuller example: "If you obey me, says the Lord" ... then "I will do
these two or three things for you, as rewards!"
The "cause" is made up our following the Lord's Directions, the
"effect" or the "result" is God's honoring our doing so!
The Bible is full of these kinds of events.
Here are a few.
"Draw
nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you."
James 4:8, do you see it?
This one is more involved, but follows the same pattern.
"Trust
in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own
understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall
direct thy paths."
Proverbs 3:5-6
Today's Text contains one too, a "cause and effect" statement. See if you
can discern it. It's pretty obvious.
"Trust
in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the
land, and verily thou shalt be fed."
Psalm 37:4
Lean on the
Lord, build all kinds of good deeds into your life, and
then ... here it comes! Here they come! A couple of
tremendous blessings, promises from Almighty God!
"So
shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed."
Psalm 37:4, that last half of the verse.
First, dwelling in one's land.
The verb is "shakan," of course meaning "to dwell," but in this sense.
"To settle down, to abide, to permanently reside." Others
textbooks add, "to continue, to remain."
This root word is the basis for that wonderful term "Shekinah
Glory!" The Aura of God, His Very manifest Presence that hovered
over and remained upon the Ark of the Covenant, the Old
Testament Tabernacle.
Wow!
The Lord is suggesting security in our homes and on our land,
perhaps even accompanied by His very Essence!
And of course for the Jews, "the land" meant the Holy Land! That's a
Bible term. "And
the Lord shall inherit Judah his portion in
the holy land, and
shall choose Jerusalem again."
Zechariah 2:12
But if we trust the Lord and do good ... not only is our land secure, so
will our pantries always be full!
Our Verse, Psalm 37:4 again.
"Trust
in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the
land, and verily thou shalt be fed."
The adverb "verily" is "emunah," something faithful and sure and stable,
absolutely truthful! It's final etymological root is the word "aman!"
God means it!
He will feed us!
But "raah" means more than just food for the stomach! It's the word for
what the shepherd does for his sheep!
He "tends them," giving his flock pasture!
To graze them!
It also involves protection and companionship!
Wow!
If we do two things.
God will do two things!
And His Two far outweigh our two!
Talk about exceedingly abundant blessings!
Look at them again. "Trust
in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the
land, and verily thou shalt be fed."
No wonder they call Him the "God of all Grace!"
Peter did in his First Epistle, 5:10 to be exact.
Let's "trust" Him all weekend!
And allow the Holy Spirit to produce "good" in our lives.
Then God will open the windows of Heaven and grant us safety in our own
land ... plus divine oversight, including food aplenty!
Thank you, Lord.
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 3, DELIGHT THYSELF IN THE LORD:
Countless
Christians have memorized it.
Folks who are especially dedicated to our Lord, I imagine.
Psalm 37:4 is its Biblical address. "Delight
thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of
thine heart."
Today we must discuss the first half only. Then tomorrow morning the last
part, Lord willing.
"Delight
thyself also in the LORD."
The opening verb is critical.
"Delight," which is an imperative here, a strong command, is spelled "anag"
in Hebrew, in its simplest expression anyway.
It is formed as a hithpael too, technically just meaning that it's
reflexive. The action comes back onto the subject.
That's why the translators clarify the intention of the Holy
Spirit here by including the word "thyself."
"Delight thyself."
Looks like this. If we delight in the Lord, ultimately that delight falls
back down on us as well!
The old "what goes around comes around" motif.
Like this verse from 1st Samuel 2:30. God is talking too!
"For
them that honour Me I will honour."
Wow!
So is it with "delight" too.
Those who delight in the Lord, will themselves be delighted by
the Lord!
The "also" is here not really an adverb, not in Hebrew. It's a
conjunction, actually attached to the verb "anag" in the
Masoretic Text. "And delight
thyself in the Lord." One more thing to do in order to
fully obey Psalm 37:3-6. And well worth the effort, abundantly
so!
But we must define that verb!
"Delight
thyself also in the LORD."
"Anag" has an unusual meaning. "To pamper! To treat delicately! To be
happy about! To make merry over!" Even, if you want to take it
this far, "to sport with!" As in "enjoying" a person, or
"flirting" with someone! I am telling you the truth!
Wow again!
It's almost saying "be in love" with the Lord.
Ironically, "Take good care of Him, too!"
"Dote" over Him.
Never "disappoint" Him.
"Pet" Him, and I mean all this in a reverent way.
Just defining a word!
Let me show you the verb in Scripture, in just a few of its 12 Biblical
locations.
Isaiah 55:2, using "anag," says a man can "delight" himself in the finer
things of life. "Wherefore
do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your
labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently
unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul
delight itself in fatness."
Where "fatness"
means the "overflow, the surplus, the best things available."
The sweetest wine and the fullest ears of corn and the most
bountiful harvests, things like that!
In other words Psalm 37:4 is saying something like this, treat the Lord
as if He is the best of the best! He is the very
"fatness" of life! In fact, He is Life!
Then let's look at a verse that is quite typical of "anag" usage in the
Old Testament. Jeremiah 6:2 says this.
"I
have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate
woman."
The word "delicate" uses "anag," hinting at Judah's femininity
and softness and beauty!
Respect God as a new husband does his pretty bride! With lots of extra
care and love and kindness and service!
The "soft" side of God!
Goodness!
Then lastly, if it won't shock you. Isaiah 57:4, which is amazing. "Anag"
here is used negatively, I think. But with this same definition
it certainly can be used constructively, positively,
aesthetically! "Against
whom do ye sport yourselves? Against whom make ye a wide
mouth, and draw out the tongue? Are ye not
children of transgression, a seed of falsehood, enflaming
yourselves with idols under every green tree."
God is jealous here, and rightly so! His people have been
unfaithful to Him, their heavenly husband, and have pursued
other lovers, false idols. God really wants Israel to "sport"
with him, to love Him, to "anag" Him, to delight in the
Almighty!
This "delighting" in God has taken on new character for me this morning,
several new shades of meaning!
Also to delight "in" the Lord, in Jehovah God, translates "al," a
fundamental preposition. It means "upon, on account of,
concerning, by, towards," among other things.
Make the Lord God the terminal focus of your delight!
He is the ultimate and chief Joy of all our existence!
Treat Him first class.
Treat Him as you would a brand new car, a one-of-a-kind model.
Treat Him as if you were in love with Him.
Treat Him as the most precious Thing in your life.
"Delight
thyself also in the LORD."
And just how does this Lord respond to such adoration and worship and
excessiveness?
Well, that's tomorrow's Lesson really.
But I'll give you one hint.
He likes it, real well!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
To those who rise to this level.
"Delighting in God,"
there is one special promise, unlike any other I know in all the
Bible!
Again, tomorrow.
LESSON 4, THE DESIRES OF THINE HEART:
Here's the rest
of the verse!
That very well known promise, or maybe challenge, from Psalm 37:4.
It begins, "Delight thyself also in the Lord."
It continues, "And He shall give thee the
desires of thine heart."
On the surface anyway, it appears to be one of the most unlimited
statements in all the Bible! Perhaps it is.
Even wicked King Herod, not remembered for many outstanding traits at
all, knew not to promise more than he could give! He told the
daughter of Herodias, his adulterous lover, that he might give
away half his kingdom, but certainly not all of it!
"And
when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and
pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said unto the
damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it
thee. And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of
me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my
kingdom."
Mark 6:22-23
Unlike Herod, the Lord in today's verse seems to promise more than half!
In fact, all of the desires of certain people's hearts!
"And He shall give thee the desires of thine heart."
The verb "give" is "nathan" meaning "to bestow, to grant, to deliver, to
entrust, to yield." And grammatically this Promise is a
continuing thing! He will keep on and on giving such things!
The noun "desires" is "mishalah," one's "requests, petitions, longings."
It's derived from "shaal," the main Hebrew verb for enquiring
of the Lord. For "asking" things of Him!
And "heart" is "leb," a little noun meaning that which is deep "inside" a
person. Its history suggests more than an organ is meant, more
than a pump for one's blood! It includes the mind, with a
sprinkling of emotion too.
Nearly "whatever you want" is indicated by the verse!
Wow!
But do keep in mind, and this is vitally important, God does not make
this promise to everyone!
Not even to every Christian!
Not to all Preachers even, or deacons or teachers or whomever!
Just to one group of folks!
Again, let's read it, Psalm 37:4 "Delight
thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of
thine heart."
The only people who can even claim these "desires" are those who "delight"
in the Lord!
Those who find their relaxation and thrills and enjoyment and value and
excitement and love and nearly everything else ... in the dear
Lord!
In other words, people who have literally given the Lord all of
themselves!
The Lord may nearly be saying, "You gave Me all your desires. You really
have made Me your chief Desire. Now I am going to return
the gesture. I will give back to you an abundance of your
desires!"
But now, look!
These desires will be sanctified ones!
The yearnings of a heart who loves the Lord supremely!
No quest for anything sinful will be heard from these dedicated lips!
No worldly demands either!
Probably not much in the line of personal needs as well!
The desires of a heart that really delights in God ... no telling what he
or she might want!
More understanding of the Bible?
That lost loved one to be saved?
Or that relative who is cold and indifferent to the Lord, to be
reclaimed?
Or an ever closer walk with Jesus?
"Delight
thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of
thine heart."
Go ahead, recipient of this great promise, ask the Lord for $10,000.00.
To which said Christian would probably say, "No. That family who
just lost their income needs it more. God would be better
pleased if the money went over there."
Goodness!
Tell me what a man desires, what he wants most in life, and I can
perfectly describe his character.
Our wants define us in many ways.
That's one reason why Jesus could so assuredly preach,
"Blessed
are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness:
for they shall be filled."
Matthew 5:6, where this person is hungering and thirsting after
things which please the Lord, which delight our mighty
God!
Furthermore, we do not need to worry about the last half of our
Verse. God will take care of that.
We need to concentrate on obeying the first half! That's our part!
"Delight
thyself also in the LORD,"
my
job!
"And
He shall give thee the desires of thine heart,"
God's promise. And He will do it, too!
All one's desires, yes!
But they have now been filtered through God's Heart, God's Mind, God's
Word ... and thus have been conformed to the desires of
Him Who is Perfect.
Wow!
This is just about what Jesus was saying, at least to some degree, when
He taught: "If
ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it."
John 14:14
"In My Name," meaning if it delights the precious Son
of God!
Lord, teach us to delight in Thee!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
But do remember this.
As long as you delight in Him, He will be giving you the desires of your
heart!
Keep on desiring!
He keeps on giving!
And I've just seen something surprising here in this Text, this very
second! Show me where it says I have to "ask" for these
desires! "Delight
thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of
thine heart."
It is almost as
if God is saying, "I know your desires and will give them to
you, formal prayer aside!" Of course a man or woman who
delights in God this way, probably lives in constant
communion with Him all the time anyway! For him or her "to
think" something is "to pray" it! That close to God!
Wow!
LESSON 5, COMMIT THY WAY UNTO THE LORD:
Psalm 37:5 is a
classic!
Yet it is not anywhere near as familiar to us as its predecessor, Psalm
37:4. Verses are strange that way. Some get lost in the towering
shadows of their neighbors.
"Commit
thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring
it to pass."
This is it! And really, the scope of this verse is vast!
Remember Psalm 119:96. "Lord, Thy
commandment is exceeding broad." Meaning God's
Word! Wide open!
We must of course begin with that first verb, "commit." It's a
translation of the Hebrew "galal." It means "to roll" something
away from yourself, and toward someone else! It's also the first
word in the Hebrew Text, in the Verse, giving it great
prominence, awesome importance to the meaning that God is here
conveying.
It's an imperative verb too. By now we all realize that's a command!
We have no choice in the matter. Yet still, God's commands
usually carry with them blessings, if obeyed!
Here's "galal" a time or two in Scripture, just to give you a sense of
how the Holy Spirit defines it.
Beginning with Psalm 22:8, talking about Jesus!
"He
trusted on the Lord."
If our Saviour "trusted," using "galal," His Father, surely we
must too!
Now here's "galal" used differently, Psalm 119:22.
"Remove
from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies."
God, please roll away, "galal," or "remove" the hatred and scorn
I'm facing!
Still with the word that translates "galal" underlined, watch this.
"And
thither were all the flocks gathered: and they rolled the
stone from the well's mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the
stone again upon the well's mouth in his place."
Geneis 29:3
Three "hints" about our verb "commit."
That ought to be sufficient.
Now what do I commit to the Lord?
"Commit
thy way unto the LORD; trust also in Him; and He shall
bring it to pass."
My "way" is to be given to the Lord, rolled onto Him, rolled off of me,
away from me.
The noun "way" is "derek," meaning a "road or path," even a "journey" at
times. It's from a root verb, "darak," meaning "to march, to
tread, to walk."
Commit all my plans to the Lord, in other words.
All my intentions.
All the paths I hope to take.
Place them in the Lord's Hands!
This so far is sort of a parallel to Proverbs 3:6.
"In
all thy ways acknowledge Him, the Lord, and He shall direct thy
paths."
Yes!
But our Text adds one more command. "Commit
thy way unto the LORD; trust also in Him."
Psalm 37:5, especially now the middle part.
This specific verb "trust" is used 120 times in the Old Testament. It's "batach,"
and means "to have confidence" in someone. "To feel secure" in
him. It can even go so far as to involve some "boldness," one
being that confident! Trusting the Lord so much that all
care and anxiety and fear and worry completely disappear! "Batach"
is actually translated "careless" in the King James Bible,
though only once. That much trust, feeling absolutely
"safe," another King James rendering.
Wow!
In other words, God can take care of our plans.
Of our future.
Of our hopes and aspirations too.
Roll them over into His Mighty lap!
So trust Him with them, so deeply believing Him, that you can quit all
that "over-thinking," all that obsessing! All that fretting!
"Commit
thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him."
Then what?
Is there more?
Yes, there's an accompanying promise, straight from God, an
encouragement to obey these commands.
"Commit
thy way unto the LORD; trust also in Him; and He shall
bring it to pass."
Psalm 37:5
Bring what to pass?
Your plans!
Your hopes!
Your desired future!
"To bring to pass," one word in Hebrew, is the verb "asah." Used 2,633
times in the Bible, we must learn its definiton!
It means "to do, to build, to accomplish, to fashion." Also "to perform,
to maintain, to prepare."
Trust your "ways" into God's Hands, He will "build" your plans into
something absolutely lovely!
He knows best!
This is nearly compatible with Jeremiah 29:11, I think.
"For
I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD,
thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected
end."
Mercy!
This sure has helped me today!
"Commit
thy way unto the LORD; trust also in Him; and He shall bring
it to pass."
Psalm 37:5
I pray it has encouraged some of you too.
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
By the way.
Psalm 37 reiterates this idea later on in its 23rd verse.
"The
steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he
delighteth in his way."
You see the similarity, don't you, to today's Text?
"Commit
thy way unto the LORD; trust also in Him; and He shall bring
it to pass."
Amen!
LESSON 6, THY RIGHTEOUSNESS AS THE LIGHT:
Psalm 37:6 is a little harder to understand than the two or three verses
preceding it. At least I think so.
"And
He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy
judgment as the noonday."
The "He" of our verse is of course the Lord.
It sounds so strange to speak of someone's "righteousness," no doubt a
few of the Jewish people being indicated here.
After all, man has no righteousness of his own!
According to Isaiah anyway. "But
we are all as an unclean thing, and all our
righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as
a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away."
Isaiah 64:6
Paul adds, in Romans 3:10, "As
it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one."
Then when David says that the Lord will "bring forth thy
righteousness," where in the world does that righteousness
originate?
Here's the answer. It must somehow be the Lord's righteousness!
Since He is the only truly Righteous One ever!
God's righteousness, loaned to man!
Placed on man's account!
Imputed, Paul would have said.
This happens when a man or woman gets saved, by the way!
Some will accuse me of reading a New Testament word back into an Old
Testament context here, but still, there's no other way to
interpret this!
This man is saved!
Born again!
That's the only way he can have any true righteousness at all.
Second Corinthians 5:21 may help here. "For
God hath made him, Jesus, to be sin for us, Who knew no
sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in
Him."
God's righteousness!
In us!
That noun, "righteousness," nearly defines itself! It is God's
"rightness," His inability to ever do anything wrong!
It is His spotlessness!
His total absence of sin!
The Hebrew noun is spelled "tzsedeq," meaning "that which is just, that
which is correct."
God is always right!
Going further now, into our Verse.
What does that verb mean, "to bring forth?"
"And
He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light."
This is David promising us what God will do! To certain men and
women. Those who meet the high standards of Psalm 37:3-5.
"Yatzsa" means "to lead out." To proceed. "To deliver" something! God
will keep on doing this too, perennially, if we do those things
He has mentioned, the things we've studied in the earlier
Lessons of this Bible Study Series.
If we will ...
"Trust
in the Lord, and do good."
Psalm 37:3
And if we will ...
"Delight thyself also in the Lord."
Psalm 37:4
And also ...
"Commit thy way unto the Lord."
Psalm 37:5
God will prove to the whole world that we are not hypocrites!
"And He shall bring forth thy
righteousness as the light."
God will demonstrate to everyone that we are "for real," genuine
Believers! "And He shall bring forth
thy righteousness as the light."
God will validate our sincerity! "And
He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light."
The idea of "light" here is "brightness, clarity," like the
"sunshine."
No
doubt is involved!
It
is so encouraging in this day of dubious faith and half-hearted
Christianity that God can, when He so chooses, certify
those who really belong to him!
"The Lord knoweth them that are His."
2nd Timothy 2:19
And here in our Text today God has put them on "display!"
This is just a head start on Ephesians 2:7.
"That in the ages to come He might shew
the exceeding riches of His grace in his kindness toward
us through Christ Jesus."
The verb "show" here is "endeiknumi," meaning "to expose, to
advertise, to put on display," all in a good way of course.
That's what our verse today has said as well, at least in some
sense.
"And He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light."
Thank you, Lord.
Even though we don't deserve it.
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 7, THY JUDGMENT AS THE NOONDAY SUN:
I've called this Paragraph, Psalm 37:3-6, a "cause and effect" sequence.
In such a situation the following happens. God says, "If you will do this
__________," and He then gives us an assignment, a command
really.
"If you do it, I will do that _______________." The "that" being some
special blessing or benefit of some kind, simply because God's
conditions were met!
"If you do this, God will do that!"
That's a summary of our Text this week.
Here it is word for word from the Bible. "Trust
in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the
land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the
Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit
thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring
it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as
the light, and thy judgment as the noonday."
Embedded in these words are all the elements of the "cause and effect"
situation I've described.
Here's our part.
Trust in the Lord.
Do good. By
the way we can't really "do good" until we have properly
"trusted" in the Lord anyway!
Delight in the Lord! We had a whole lesson on that verb, amazing!
Also, Commit thy way unto the Lord.
Now here's what God will do in return, His Promise to us!
He will give us land, a secure home place.
He will feed us. The word means "be our Shepherd!"
He will give us the desires of our heart.
That sure deserves a Wow!
He will bring to pass our plans, when they please Him, delight Him!
He will show to those around us that we are real, sincere, genuine
Believers.
Displaying "our" righteousness, the Scripture says! Which is
really nothing but His Righteousness given to us!
Then lastly, today, He will bring forth our judgment as the noonday.
But what does that mean?
"And He shall bring forth ... thy judgment as the noonday."
Read the verb "bring forth" as "put on public display!" Take it out of
the closet. Let others see it! The grammar books say this is
always done, this "bringing forth," for a purpose. God
has a reason for doing this. God has a reason for everything!
What could that reason be? I think this.
"That
they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is
in heaven."
Matthew 5:16
"And He shall bring forth ... thy judgment as the noonday."
For God's Glory! For His Praise! To His Honor!
The noun "judgment" translates "mishpat," a word from the courtroom. It
here means the right verdict, the right decision,
the right outcome, in a trial.
Get it?
God will make things turn out right for us, if we meet His
conditions in those previous verses. The ones I listed just a
minute ago.
He can see to it that we are treated fairly!
He can keep us from abuse.
From being defrauded.
From being the subject of malicious slander or hurtful lies!
The "noonday" idea is that "no doubt" will be associated with the results
God brings. "Tzsohar" originally means "to shine, to glisten."
Like the sun at its very brightest!
Clearly this man or this lady, who so loves God, who so delights in her
Heavenly Father, can expect these good allotments in life!
"And He shall bring forth ... thy judgment as the noonday."
This is one of the few times in all the Bible that I am aware of God
promising such a thing!
A satisfactory judgment in all the "ins and outs" of life!
A good resolution to that pending problem!
In fact, usually we Christiana hear this. "Our
flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without
were fightings, within were fears."
These words, surprisingly, are from Paul the Apostle in 2nd
Corinthians 7:7.
And surely we must prepare for hard times like Paul faced.
But still, Psalm 37:3-6 is in the Book, the Bible!
And God can "Bring forth our judgment as the
noonday!"
He can make everything "turn out" all right!
And if not?
If cancer comes?
Or financial loss?
Or unexpected tragedy?
Well, still for the saint of God, all will be well!
Heaven awaits!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
Now if you can ...
Look back over the Text, all four verses.
"Plug in" the definitions you remember and the meanings you have gleaned.
See what God says to you then!
"Trust
in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the
land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the
Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit
thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring
it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as
the light, and thy judgment as the noonday."
Praise the dear Lord!
It sure looks like He is doing a lot more for us that we did for Him! Do
you agree?
