My day has started later than usual and it is for a good cause. The extra sleep was much needed today. My cereal was washed down with a big cup of Door County Vanilla Crème Brulee' Coffee and now it is time to write.
I have been reading and listening from the Book of Psalms and it has been very good for my soul. God has allowed me to capture some thoughts and put them to pen. This has been a sweet time.
Psalm 37:4-8 New King James Version (NKJV)
4 Delight yourself also in the Lord,And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
4 Delight yourself also in the Lord,And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
6 He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
6 He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.
7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
Do not fret—it only causes harm.
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
Do not fret—it only causes harm.
The other day as we strolled into Psalm 37 we concluded that when we take true delight in the Lord He becomes the desire of our heart. As our relationship with God grows in intimacy and intensity we move into areas of deep trust. Many Christians wear themselves out playing God. Something happens to us or to someone we care about and we put on our God hats and get angry. Then we spend a whole lot of time trying to correct the person doing wrong and at times we spend countless hours deriving the punishment that we think God should dole out.
We forget that our God already knows the situation and in verses 5-8 of Psalm 37 God gives us our action plan. This plan keeps us whole with Him and is actually heathier for our own, body, soul, and mind.
We must be in God's plan by committing to the plan. As we grow in the Lord, His ways become our ways. Whatever has happened, God will bring it to pass. If He brought us to it, He can bring us through it.. For sure we will triumph and our righteousness will prevail. But only if He leads and we submit.
Now when we are truly committed to God's plan for the wicked, we can rest in Him and not have to take on the job of playing God. Which by the way, none of us are qualified to do. Satan just wants us to think we are. So we are not to fret.
Now once a situation has made us angry, God expects us to cease from anger. It is assumed that certain things will anger us. Yet God says once we are angry we should stop and cease the anger. Our anger should never lead us to sin. Our anger should never boil over out of control.
Ephesians 4:26New King James Version (NKJV)
26 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath,
Anger unleashed and unbridled often causes more harm. We see this at civil demonstrations that turn ugly. Righteous anger that turns to violence adds jail sentences to people. Some people lose their businesses and many innocent people get hurt. Only God can bring about true change. Family arguments that allow to unleash anger have caused deaths or unrepairable damage to relationships.
Our sinful response in anger only causes more harm.
As I move on through the weekend and next week I will continue to focus on the Book of Psalms. But for today I challenge us all to curb our anger if it arises and rest in the Lord.
Marty
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