Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

Romans 5:1-5, NLT

I will admit that the past year or two has been very trying for me spiritually. It is one thing to claim to be a “Calvinist” and a whole other thing to live like one who actually trusts in the sovereignty of God. Those pseudo-A types like myself who intensively put in the effort to “work out” the will of God in our lives, we often over-exert ourselves and try to make something happen that is completely beyond our control.

This over-emphasis on self-trying and self-power is in fact an over-estimation of our own abilities to control our lives and an under-estimation of God’s sovereign authority to rule it: everything we have is from God, and there is nothing we have in this life that we did not first receive from him.

What this leaves me with is the continual search for a balance between self “trying” and God “trusting”: the fine line between not working too hard for God’s will & waiting patiently, expectantly, in trust of God who will ultimately (now and in the end) work out all things for the good of us who love Him.

Psalm 37 is a simple tell-tale reminder of what I need to do when life throws me a lemon.  I prayed through this Psalm back on March 7, 2008. I have been working at God’s commands in verses 1-7 since at least that day, almost a year and a half-ago. May this blogpost thus serve as a mile marker for how far I have come, how far we have yet to go, and how God desires us to live.

1 Fret not yourself because of evildoers;
be not envious of wrongdoers!
2 For they will soon fade like the grass
and wither like the green herb.

3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.
6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
and your justice as the noonday.

7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
over the man who carries out evil devices!

Psalm 37:1-7

“The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” –The Apostle Paul

Psalm 30:

A Psalm of David. A song at the dedication of the temple.

According to the title, David composed Psalm 30 for the dedication of the temple (an event that took place after David died, 1 Kings 8:63). The temple does not figure much in the psalm itself, except for the address to fellow worshipers in Ps. 30:4. The theme of the whole psalm is one of personal thanksgiving for God’s repeated care and deliverance over the course of a life; the title makes the concrete situation of David’s experience the background, and the worshipers can liken their own experiences to his.¹

This psalm praises God for rescue from a life-threatening crisis of which we catch only glimpses. The sequence is as follows: the poet’s praise of God for deliverance from a life-threatening illness (vv. 1–3); call to the community of believers to praise God (vv. 4–5); recollection of the speaker’s ill-founded self-confidence before his crisis (vv. 6–7); petition to God to save the speaker’s life (vv. 8–10); praise of God for deliverance (vv. 11–12).²

1 I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up
and have not let my foes rejoice over me.
2 O Lord my God, I cried to you for help,
and you have healed me.
3 O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol;
you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.

4 Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints,
and give thanks to his holy name.
5 For his anger is but for a moment,
and his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may tarry for the night,
but joy comes with the morning.

6 As for me, I said in my prosperity,
“I shall never be moved.”
7 By your favor, O Lord,
you made my mountain stand strong;
you hid your face;
I was dismayed.

8 To you, O Lord, I cry,
and to the Lord I plead for mercy:
9 “What profit is there in my death,
if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it tell of your faithfulness?
10 Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me!
O Lord, be my helper!”

11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
you have loosed my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness,
12 that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!

1. ESV Study Bible [↩]
2. ESV Literary Study Bible [↩]

O Changeless God,

Under the conviction of thy Spirit I learn that
the more I do, the worse I am,
the more I know, the less I know,
the more holiness I have, the more sinful I am,
the more I love, the more there is to love.

(From The Valley of Vision: Puritan Prayers and Devotions, 128)

Almighty God,

Our heavenly Father,

We have sinned against you in thought and word and deed,
through negligence, through weakness, through our own deliberate fault.

We are truly sorry and repent of all our sins.

For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, who died for us, forgive us all that is past;
and grant that we may serve you in newness of life,
to the glory of your name.

Amen.