Good morning, and a most blessed Thursday to you.

Have you ever been reading Scripture (a passage or story that you’ve read time and time again) and all of a sudden a verse really jumps out at you and takes hold of you, like it's never done before? Well, I had that experience just a few days ago. And you know me. I can't not share with you. So I'm going to share what that verse is. And the deeper I dug into it, the more exciting and meaningful it really is for us. 

In our time of devotion together today we're going to dig a little deeper into Psalm 37: 5 

Psalm 37:5 “Commit your ways to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.” 

I really appreciate the way that it is written in Hebrew. In Hebrew it's written… “Roll to Yahweh your way.” That means: trust Him. Make your ways turned to him, and entrust your life, entrust your future all to Yahweh.  And then he follows it up by saying, “Trust him and he will act.” The psalmist adds in that extra “he”, which emphasizes that Yahweh is a God unlike any other god. There were other gods of the time, who didn't do what they had promised. But Yahweh is always the God that does what he says, and always fulfills his faithful promise to his people.

So, “commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.” That made me think about different promises that we received in Scripture from God.

In Isaiah the 53rd chapter, we hear… “The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and shall bear their iniquities.”  God fulfilled that promise in His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ bore our iniquities. He made us righteous through his blood. And so that promise is delivered and answered by Yahweh. 

“Commit your ways to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.” 

And then, in the Gospel of Matthew, after Christ has died and has risen again, right before he ascends to the Father he tells his disciples, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

In the Gospel of John he promises that he will send an advocate, the Holy Spirit, to his people. And then we see how that plays out in our daily lives; that Christ indeed is with us daily through His Spirit given to us. The peace that surpasses all understanding fills us with a supernatural strength that we can't describe. He comforts us. He leads us. He washes us over with mercy and with Grace and forgiveness. All that God promised to his people he has delivered and continues to deliver day after day, moment after moment.

“Commit your ways to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.” 

Will he act according to our will?  No.  Does our will ever line up with his will?   Yeah, I think sometimes it does, by his grace. But he acts in his perfect will, and he answers his promised to us over and over again. He is with us every single day. 

“Commit your ways to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.” 

Whatever you are facing today; whatever your loved ones are facing today, whether it is joyful or sorrowful or somewhere in between, know that God is with you. He is walking with you through your life, through the ups and downs, through the in-between. And he will never leave you. He is always acting and active in your life for your good, and for his glory. 

Let us turn to him in pray.  Lord, we thank you for not only promising us your love, but acting and delivering. Thank you for  being faithful to that promise of your love and mercy.  Lord, we thank you for humbling yourself and entering into this world, into humanity, and living perfectly according to your own law; your own Holy Word. Lord, we thank you that living holy unto your own law you provided for us a way to be saved from our sin and from our sinful nature, by dying upon the cross and rising triumphant; exchanging our sins for your righteousness. Lord, we ask that you would guide us, that you would help us to trust you, that you would help us to commit our ways to you; knowing that you are faithful to your people. You are faithful to your promise, and you continue to be faithful to us.  Lord, we thank you, and we ask that you watch over us today and always; that you would use us according to your good will, and that we would be strengthened in your Spirit of love and mercy. Lord, we lift this to you, n the name of  Jesus Christ.

Have an incredible rest of your week!  And remember.. “Commit your ways to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.”  

God bless!

Pastor Malinak