THE STEPS OF A GOOD MAN ARE ORDERED BY THE LORD

Proclamation:

“The steps of a good man are ordered by The Lord; and he delighteth in His way.  Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for The Lord upholdeth him with His hand.”  Psalm 37:23-24 (KJV)

Explanation:

The words of this psalm were written by King David under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  David began this psalm by encouraging the people of God, telling them not to worry about, or be envious of those who prosper by doing wrong, for God will deal with them. (Psalm 37:1-2 and 7-9)  He told them to trust in The Lord, to commit themselves to Him, to delight in Him and He will give them the desires of their heart. (Psalm 37:3-6)  David knew that The Lord God directs the steps and conduct of a good man.  The Lord God knows and approves of, guides and directs his path. (Psalm 1:6 and 37:23)  Even though he may occasionally slip and fall into sin, he will not stay down and perish, he will be kept and lifted up by the power of God through faith which leads to salvation. (Psalm 37:24)  David said that he was now old, and he had seen and experienced a lot, but he had never seen the righteous forsaken by God. (Psalm 37:25)

Application:

The direction and path of the righteous man is determined by The Lord because he follows The Word of God and walks in the way that God would have him to walk.  Regardless of the success and prosperity of evil doers, the true believer will not follow them because their way leads to destruction.  We are encouraged to wait patiently on The Lord and to follow His way. (Psalm 37:7)  We are to trust in The Lord, to do that which is good and right, and to delight in His way and know that we will be blessed for doing so. (Psalm 37:3-6)  Our prayer should be that The Lord will order our steps in His word so that we can walk worthy of our calling.  We are to keep The Word of God in our heart and on our mind. (Psalm 37:31)

LORD MAKE YOUR WAY CLEAR BEFORE ME

Proclamation:

“But I, by Your great love, can come into Your house; in reverence I bow down toward Your holy temple.  Lead me, Lord, in Your righteousness because of my enemies; make Your way straight before me.”  Psalm 5:7-8 (NIV)

Explanation:

The words of this psalm were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by King David.  He begins this psalm by asking The Lord God to hear his prayer. (Psalm 5:1-2)  David states that the first thing that he does every morning is to pray to The Lord. (Psalm 5:3)  Then he begins to expound upon some of the things displease God. (Psalm 5:4-6)  David then states that by the love of God, and by the multitude of His mercy, he can enter the house of God.  He bows down in reverence and worship even when he looks upon or faces God’s holy temple.  Then he asks The Lord to lead him in His righteousness and to make His way clear before him.

Application:

Like David, we should begin every day with prayer.  We should hold The Lord God in reverential awe, and we should even respect His holy temple.  In addition to thanking God for His grace and mercy and blessing us with one more day, we should ask Him to guide us throughout the day.  We should all walk in the way that The Lord God would have us to walk.  Our prayer should be that The Lord will make His way clear to us, so that it is easy for us to discern, and that He will guide us and help us as we walk in His way. (Psalm 23:3)  We want The Lord to order our steps. (Psalm 37:23)  We want The Lord to clearly tell us what to do, and to show us the way to go.

EMBRACE THE WORD OF GOD AND BE BLESSED

Proclamation:

“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of The Lord, and who meditates on His law day and night.”  Psalm 1:1-2 (NIV)

Explanation:

The human author of this psalm is unknown but it was clearly written under the influence of the Holy Spirit of God.  This psalm serves as the gateway to all of the psalms.  It depicts the way of the righteous man and contrasts it with the way of the wicked man.  It stresses that those who worship The Lord must embrace His Holy Word.  Those who do so will be blessed. (Psalm 1:3)  Those who do not will be destroyed. (Psalm 1:4-6)

Application:

If we want a deep-seated joy and contentment in The Lord, and to be truly happy because we enjoy God’s favor, then we need to embrace The Holy Word of God, delight in it, and meditate on it daily.  We ought to begin and end each day with The Word of God.  It we do that, He will bless us in such a way that our efforts are fruitful and prosperous. (Psalm 1:3)  Jesus, The Christ, said, “If you love me, keep My commands.” (John 14:15)  Let us show Him that we love Him.  Let us read, internalize, and obey His Holy Word.

Commit To The Lord And Purify Your Thoughts

"Commit to The LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.  Proverbs 16:3 (NIV)  The King James Version of this verse reads: "Commit thy works unto The LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established." 

These are the words of King Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived. (1 Kings 3:12)  His divinely inspired word to the people was that if they committed their efforts to pleasing The Lord God, then their thoughts and plans would be purified and brought to fruition.

All to often our thoughts are not pure, they are sinful more often than they are not.  Our sinful words and deeds begin as sinful thoughts and plans.  Even when we do not act upon them, our sinful thoughts are still sins. (Matthew 5:28)  We are what we think, and as we think, so we are. (Proverbs 23:7)  On judgment day, we will also be judged on our thoughts and the intents of our heart. (Hebrews 4:12)  The Lord knows our thoughts. (Psalms 94:11 and 1 Corinthians 3:20)  The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to The Lord. (Proverbs 15:26)  We need to renew our minds, and pray. (Romans 12:2)  We need to pray about everything, read The Word of God, and think about things which are true, right, pure, lovely, admirable, and worthy of praise. (Philippians 4:6-8)  We need to commit ourselves to The Lord and to His way.  We need to let the mind which is in Christ Jesus be in us also. (Philippians 2:5)  We need to pray that The Lord will create within us a clean heart and mind. (Psalms 51:10)  

Delight In The Lord

"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"  Psalms 37:4-5 (NIV)

This psalm of King David was written to the people of God.  He told them that if they joyfully sought and followed The Lord God, then He would grant them their hearts' desires.  He made it clear, however, that they must first commit to following The Lord, and they must trust in The Lord before He would give them the desires of their heart.

We often pray for things that we want, but we do not always obey The Word of God.  We say that we love The Lord, but our actions do not always support our claim.  He said that if you love Me, then you will keep My commandments. (John 14:15 and 14:23)  He will give us what we want if we truly delight in Him, commit to His way, and trust in Him.  We must delight in The Lord, in His way, and in His Word.  We must love and delight in The Lord God Himself. (Deuteronomy 6:5, 10:12, 11:1, and 30:6; Joshua 23:11, Psalms 31:23, and Isaiah 58:14)  Jesus said that we must love The Lord God. (Matthew 22:37, Mark 30:12, and Luke 10:27)  We must find joy in, and delight in, doing the will of God. (Psalms 40:8 and Proverbs 11:20)  We must also delight in The Word of God.  Blessed in the man who delights in the law of The Lord. (Psalms 1:2 and Psalms 119:16, 35 and 47)  If we want The Lord God to grant us the desires of our heart, we must first delight in Him, and commit to following His way, and we must trust in Him.