Text: Psalms 37:1-38
There’s a whole lot of cutting in this chapter. I think the purpose of this chapter is to remind us to trust in God and wait on Him. When we don’t, we tend to do things that are ungodly to get the results we are seeking. People tend to resort to wicked means to get ahead when “conventional methods” do not appear to be working. Even in the law, doing the wrong things for the right reasons is still punished. God constantly contrasts the end of the wicked with the end of the righteous. The righteous shall have peace (v. 37) and the wicked shall be cut off (v. 38).
First comes faith and then comes trust. Once faith is used to overcome, it becomes the foundation for trust in the future. Trust is knowing God has done it before and can do it again. My pastor says, a person can have faith in God but not trust God. He says faith is knowing that God can and trust is knowing that God will. This second part is the hardest for most people: knowing that for US God can and will move the mountain. We can have faith that things will work out, but when it doesn’t go the way we had faith for, we then need to trust God. Trust is greater than faith. We trust God by keeping His word in our hearts and meditating upon it. By doing so, we not will falter (v. 31).
“We need to trust God more than we have faith in God.” – Pastor Donnie Copeland
“Trust is faith in slow motion.” – Pastor Phil Munsey