Psalm Reflection - Week 9

Psalm 37

"Be still before the Lord and wait in patience"

The psalms are remarkable in the varied ways they invite us to reflect on the many dimensions of our faith journey. As we are coming to the end of this summer's reflections on the psalms, I realize there has been a strong thread of wisdom thought that has woven its way through the psalms selected. This is what I must be drawn to hear and seek in these prayers. You likely have found something different. The word of God will speak to us where we are and with careful listening, God for sure draws us along one of the many currents of biblical faith. It is always new! It is always very personal. It is the way God directs our heart. But we must patiently listen. This is not always easy for us. As Psalm 37 says, "Be still before the Lord". To be content and still in God's presence gives evidence of a faith that hands over to God all the affairs of life. Such an attitude is at once a grace and the fruit of faith that is able to trust in God's care. This takes some work on our part!

The final verse of Psalm 37 seem to form the basis for the peaceful and contented state of mind the psalmist holds out as possible for each of us. That final verse says: "The Lord helps them and rescues them…because they take refuge in him". (vs 40). Taking refuge in God! God desires this for us and it is not easy to achieve because some surrender of our expectations, our plans and aspirations is required. These are words that arrest us: To take refuge in God. We like the sound of them but to make them our own takes some bit of work. The way to this can be found in the verses of the Psalm.

Three times the psalmist tells us "Do not fret"!
Trust in God, take delight in the Lord, commit your way to the Lord.
Be still before the Lord, wait in patience
Calm your anger, let go of it!
It is not for us to set things aright. It is for us to hold on to peace!

Such are the practical way of letting God be our refuge! As we have seen before in psalms with a wisdom theme, there is a contrast between those set on the right course and those on the wrong course. One of the hardest things for us to do is keep to our own path and not look around at others who seem to be succeeding and growing prosperous. Again, the passing fame and success and prosperity will disappear like the grass. What is really important? How timeless is the message of this psalm! Today, there are a multitude of things that can arouse within us some sense of righteous anger. We won't bother to draw up a list. But we stand to lose out big time if we allow the hollow, passing success and fame of others to rob us of our most precious entitlement: to find our delight in the Lord, to know the peace and the contentment that such a course assures us of experiencing.

Several times in this psalm, the promised reward for those holding on to such peace and contentment is the possession of the land. "Land" for Israel meant rest and security at the end of the journey. "Land" can mean tangible real estate, but mostly, "land" for ancient Israel implied God's rest, the gift of contentment. During the wilderness journey, Israel was gifted with remarkable signs of God's presence: water, manna, the daily guidance under God's watchful care. When they come into possession of the land, this "land" takes on the significance of God's presence. "The righteous shall inherit the land; there they shall abide forever." (vs. 29). To abide implies the possession of some permanent dwelling. Unlike the fragile desert dwellings constructed along the way, impermanent structures that do hold out their own blessings, allowing one to see the stars and experience the sure guidance of God in the midst of fragile desert living. But the desert was not the final destination for God's people. Life had to take on a more settled form. And recalling Israel's settling into the land recalls also the human tendency to forget God once the time of transition and fragile wandering is done and more secure life takes over. They (WE) forget the dynamic way God needed to be present to them each day in the wilderness. They put God in the temple and seem to forget!

We can reflect on the security of our dwelling, our refuge…do our "buildings", our "security", our "possession of the land" sometimes cause us to miss the point! We build bigger and better places! And envy those who have even bigger and better places than we do! What is the "land" that we are to inherit and what is the dwelling that enwraps us in security? What is our "Refuge"?

Psalm 37 is one of those "Alphabetic Acrostics"…a psalm that begins with a succeeding letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This was a way of making memorization easier when books were not available to people. Psalm 37 is worth memorizing! Like the book of proverbs, it can sound like a hodge-podge of advice here shaped to fit the acrostic pattern. Yet you will find, upon careful thought and reflection, your own thread of meaning and insight. "Take delight in the Lord"! As you pray and ponder the words of Scripture and patiently allow them to seep inside you, you know this delight and this peace and this contentment. This is the "land" that is for you to inherit! This is perhaps the greatest gift God has to give and one of the greatest gifts you in turn have to give to others. Nothing should take this away from us. Someone once said in reflecting on the gift of peace that God left us in peace and expects to find us in peace.