Steps That Won't Slip

The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, And his tongue speaks justice. 31 The law of his God is in his heart; His steps do not slip. 32 The wicked spies upon the righteous And seeks to kill him. 33 The LORD will not leave him in his hand Or let him be condemned when he is judged. 34 Wait for the LORD and keep His way, And He will exalt you to inherit the land; When the wicked are cut off, you will see it. 35 I have seen a wicked, violent man Spreading himself like a luxuriant tree in its native soil. 36 Then he passed away, and lo, he was no more; I sought for him, but he could not be found. 37 Mark the blameless man, and behold the upright; For the man of peace will have a posterity. 38 But transgressors will be altogether destroyed; The posterity of the wicked will be cut off. 39 But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; He is their strength in time of trouble. 40 The LORD helps them and delivers them; He delivers them from the wicked and saves them, Because they take refuge in Him. Psalm 37:30-40 (NASB)

F B Meyer writes:

“How dear this psalm has been to God’s saints! It has been peculiarly prized by them in all ages. Gerhardt has paraphrased it in his noble hymn:

Give to the winds thy fears,

Hope, and be undismayed.

When banished from Berlin by the Elector, he turned into a small wayside hostelry, not knowing where to go. Seeing his wife greatly depressed, he turned to find comfort for them both in these verses, and the conception of his hymn broke upon him. That evening messengers arrived from the Duke of Mecklenburg, offering Gerhardt an honorable position in his kingdom. Among many others, Psa_37:5 was frequently quoted by David Livingstone.

Bishop Coverdale’s translation of Psa_37:37 is noteworthy: “Keep innocency and take heed unto the thing that is right, for that shall bring a man peace at the last.” But the psalmist repeatedly insists that the fulfillment of God’s promises is conditioned by our faith, Psa_37:40. The day may break stormily, but the storms expend themselves before nightfall and the sunset is golden.”

When we think of posterity, what comes to mind? Here, we see that the righteous will speak wisdom and justice. His feet do not slip. The wicked come against him to no avail. Verse thirty-seven tells us that the righteous will have a posterity. In contrast, verse thirty-eight tells us that the posterity of the wicked will be cut off. Posterity comes from “akh-ar-eeth',” the definition of which is, “From H310; the last or end, hence the future; also posterity: - (last, latter) end (time), hinder (utter) -most, length, posterity, remnant, residue, reward.” It's the end result of our faith... or lack of it. So many times, when I'm ministering to the lost, they have all the answers. They know exactly how everything is supposed to be. They know exactly what everybody should be doing, yet, their life is in shambles. The Holy Spirit has, more than once, prompted me to ask a simple question. “How's it working for you? And if it isn't working, what makes you think it will work now???” When we put the law of the Lord in our hearts, we are told in verse thirty-one that our feet will not slip. Why do I think God's way is better??? Because it worked for me the last time... and the time before that... and the time before that. The bottom line is simple. God simply does not know how to fail and He cares for those who put their trust in Him. Like Graham said, “Give to the winds thy cares, hope and be undismayed”

Friday, November 27, 2020