Simple Instructions

I think I may have a new favorite psalm. My lifelong allegiance to Psalm 139 makes me feel like a traitor for even considering a new favorite. It’s hard to beat that description of being knit together in the womb—especially when you’ve got a womb that’s seen as much action as mine. And that psalm ends with one of my life’s most consistent prayers: “Search me, O God, and know my heart. . . . See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.”

But about 100 chapters earlier, I’ve found gentle words that hit me like a bulldozer. In the midst of all my mental wrestling and questioning and wondering, here I find simple instructions for living.

“Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret.”

In my previous encounters with this passage, I was all over the rewards: getting the desires of my heart, shining like the dawn. Bring ’em on, God! Even the safe pasture thing sounds lovely, though I haven’t actually been in a pasture since 1979.

But today I read this chapter with more mature eyes. There are commands attached to those rewards. Hello! The commands are short and clear:

Trust in the Lord.
Do good.
Delight in the Lord.
Commit your ways to Him.
Be still and wait patiently.
Do not fret.

Doesn’t that pretty much sum up everything He wants from us? The word “love” doesn’t appear there, but surely it can be assumed in the command to “do good.” If you’re not doing good out of love, it’s probably not all that good.

What if this were my checklist; how would I be doing? I don’t struggle much with trusting and committing, but delighting? Hmmm. Being still and patient? Yeah, that’s a problem. And what about fretting? That’s most easily answered by what I find myself doing about 4:30 each morning—laying in bed, wide awake, my restless mind bombarded with thoughts. Let’s just call it what it is—fretting.

So while I love you Psalm 139 and you’ll always have a special place in my heart, Psalm 37 has chased me down, lassoed me in, and is staring me down eyeball to eyeball: Trust. Delight. Be patient. Do not fret.