The error is in thinking of home, property, and possessions as everything we have. In reality, they’re the least important and most superficial of what we have. Material things dazzle us because of their one advantage: they’re tangible. They can be seen, touched, and held. On the other hand, faith, hope, and the fruit of the Spirit can’t be picked up and examined, bought or sold, photographed or filmed. When we allow the tangible but transient to block our perception of the invisible but imperishable, we’ve lost our perspective on true value.
Henry David Thoreau, the Enlightenment philosopher, understood that principle. In Walden, he observed that people in his village spent their lives accumulating objects that needed constant dusting. They doted on these things, even built their lives around them. Then when they died, men gathered up all their stuff, carted it to the town square, and auctioned it off to other people who would spend their lives dusting it.[1]
I am not denying the value of tangible things. Everything God created is good, including the material world (Genesis 1:31). My wife and I have a houseful of possessions, which we value at varying levels. Family pictures and heirlooms, for example, mean more to us than furnishings or automobiles. We enjoy our stuff, but we never forget that it is stuff. Even so, I have no desire to see it all carted to the town square. I, too, would be terribly upset to lose my home. But I know that such things can and do happen.
So the question arises: When we’ve lost our homes, our possessions, our bank accounts, and our investments, and the very concept of financial security has been swept away—where do we turn? Does God have anything to say that will give us comfort?
Questions don’t come any more rhetorical than that, do they? Of course the Bible has words of comfort. The book of Psalms, our go-to book for comfort, provides a one-stop destination for all the significant emotional issues of life.
One of my favorites, Psalm 37, speaks to our hearts when the fear of calamity is stalking us. David wrote this psalm when he was an older man reflecting on the great questions of his life. Here he divides humanity into two general groups: the righteous and the wicked. Like many of us who have seen good people lose their possessions in economic recessions, David, too, has often seen bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people. He wants to know why. Isn’t God at work, rewarding good people and striking down the bad? David thinks, considers all the evidence, and draws this conclusion:
I have been young, and now am old;
Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,
Nor his descendants begging bread.
PSALM 37:25
As David wrote this, he was well aware that wicked people were doing record business and oppressing good, God-fearing people. Earlier in the psalm he addresses this abuse, using the word wicked thirteen times. Here is a typical example:
The wicked have drawn the sword
And have bent their bow,
To cast down the poor and needy,
To slay those who are of upright conduct.
PSALM 37:14
The term wicked refers to the negative moral conditions of guilt, ungodliness, and evil. It’s one of those words we’ve more or less retired. We allow its use only for witches in fairy tales, even though we know that real wickedness abounds all around us.
How should we respond when righteous people lose their possessions to those who are prospering through evil means? We need answers, and the Bible tells us that ultimately it’s an issue of trust. Do we trust God to sort out these glaring injustices? Do we place our hope in Him more than our own finances and possessions?
Let’s explore Psalm 37 and discover seven solid principles that will increase our reliance on God and anchor us in these days of instability.
Decide to Trust in the Lord
Trust in the LORD.
PSALM 37:3
One of the themes of this psalm is the principle of trusting. David uses the word trust three times—in verse 3, cited above, and in the two following references:
Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
PSALM 37:5
The LORD shall help them and deliver them;
He shall deliver them from the wicked,
And save them,
Because they trust in Him.
PSALM 37:40
We find true stability in this unstable world only when we trust in God. To trust is to be confident—to possess a strong sense of security. When we trust, we place confidence in someone or something. Trust is not an emotion that just springs up in our hearts as does anger, jealousy, or sadness. It is always a choice based on reason. We use evidence and discernment to conclude that this man or that bank or this investment is “trustworthy.” Yes, God gives us the faith to act, but He first gives us a choice to make.
To illustrate the process, let’s take a look at the stock market, which is based on high-level choices of trust. If you don’t trust in a company, you don’t buy its stock. The stock price represents an index of the overall trust people have in a company. Wise people investigate to determine if there are grounds for trust, then they depend on God to guide their decisions. Having placed their trust in God, they need not live in fear of loss. Even if material loss occurs, God promises to meet the needs of His children, and the Bible is filled with repetitions of that promise.
For example, Psalm 23 tells us that the Lord is our Shepherd, so we shall not lack. Jesus pointed to the birds and the flowers and noted that if God feeds and clothes them, won’t He do the same for His very own children (Matthew 6:25-33)? And here in Psalm 37, David tells us that in his long life, he has never seen God fail to meet needs (verse 25). His experience has proved God to be worthy of our trust. He will work things out.
Paul says the same: “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). Then, in 2 Corinthians 9:8, the Lord promises that He “is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.”
It’s easy to say we believe in these promises, but when financial anxiety looms like an approaching storm, we’re forced to confront our faith level. Do we really believe God is in control? Easy living does nothing for faith; when the weather is fine, we drift into the illusion of adequacy. We think we have it all figured out and under control.
When we find ourselves with nowhere else to turn, can God help? It’s another obviously rhetorical question, isn’t it? He helps by offering the only stability possible in our lives.
Christian leaders attending a YMCA convention in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in 1873 witnessed firsthand how God can provide stability when our financial world is collapsing. Presiding over the convention was John Wanamaker, the famous retailer known today as the father of modern advertising. On the second day of the conference, a telegram arrived with shocking news. The banking house of Jay Cooke & Company had failed, resulting in terrible losses for Wanamaker and others at the convention.
When reports of other failing firms flowed into the hall, it became apparent that this was a nationwide financial crash. A tidal wave of panic swept the convention, making it hard to continue.
One of the delegates, Erastus Johnson, came across a comforting Bible verse:
From the end of the earth I will cry to You,
When my heart is overwhelmed;
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
PSALM 61:2
Based on that verse, Johnson wrote a song that was instantly put to music at the convention and sung over and over. It became a favorite hymn of its day, and the words are still applicable today:
Oh! Sometimes the shadows are deep,
And rough seems the path to the goal,
And sorrows, sometimes how they sweep
Like tempests down over my soul.
Oh, then to the Rock let me fly
To the Rock that is higher than I.
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sp; We’ve lived for too long in a world in which nothing is “higher than I.” We’ve placed ourselves above everything else, and where has it taken us? Into a world as broken as Humpty-Dumpty—and just as impossible to put back together. The one great loss we need is the loss of the illusion that we’re in any way self-sufficient. We need the Rock that is higher than we are, higher than this world. We need the Rock upon which we can make our stand, even with empty pockets, even without property or claim, even without a shred of worldly hope, because at the end of our vain hope lies the beginning of the knowledge of God and His grace.
Another great hymn says, “On Christ the solid rock I stand/All other ground is sinking sand.” When the sinking sand of nest eggs and 401(k) plans destroys our sand castle, nothing but trust in God provides stability.
Trust in God will not make the pain go away; it means we know He will provide what we truly need. In Christ our hope stands tall, solid, and untouchable. In Him we have a home that outshines the sun, an inheritance that can never perish, and treasures that can never be taken from us. The deed to our heavenly home is signed and sealed with the blood of Christ; the contract is ratified by the Resurrection. And no one will ever foreclose on that.
Do Things That Honor the Lord
Trust in the LORD, and do good.
PSALM 37:3
Here David tells us that we respond to God first by trusting and then by doing good—trust and obey. Trust is an act of the mind, while obedience is an act of the hands and feet. Once we’ve set our minds on the wisdom of God, we get busy doing the things He would have us do. It’s simple but empowering: “Trust in the LORD, and do good.”
Let’s look first at the trust step—the “think right” step. Paul’s advice to his protégé, Timothy, captures it well: “Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content” (1 Timothy 6:6-8).
Godliness with contentment is the mindset for right thinking—the pinnacle of wisdom in the Christian life. Don’t crave more than you need; demonstrate your trust in God by being content with what you have. It’s why Paul could be stripped of all he owned and thrown into prison, yet still manifest incredible joy. The world is filled with wealthy, miserable people who have everything but contentment. Their money is an empty god that can never fill the vacuum in their souls with peace. Here Paul points those with money toward right thinking: “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come” (1 Timothy 6:17-19).
Paul stresses the idea of both thinking rightly (trust) and then acting rightly (obedience). Right thinking means trusting in an unshakable God instead of riches that we can’t take with us. Right acting means doing good, which builds a heavenly nest egg of riches waiting just for us.
These insights echo throughout the Scriptures, and they are summed up in Paul’s restatement of Job’s famous observation: “We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out” (1 Timothy 6:7). Someone has observed that life is ultimately like a board game of Monopoly: you go around a few times; you collect paper money and houses; and then, sooner or later, it all goes back in the box.
What we often hear of wealth is true: you can’t take it with you. But you can send it on ahead. Jesus said we can lay up treasures in heaven. That means we can live now in a way that earns a kind of interest for the next life. Whenever we serve a fellow human being, we’re earning that kind of spiritual capital. Jesus said that even giving a cup of cold water to someone in need is rewarded in heaven (Matthew 10:42). He also said that when we amass “treasures in heaven,” no moth can eat them away, and no robber can steal them (Matthew 6:19-20).
The great Christian leader John Wesley lived in a time of financial disruption, and he took those words of Jesus very seriously. The Industrial Revolution was causing a massive move to the cities. Farms were lost, small-town economies collapsed, and epidemics of crime and disease plagued the cities. The rich grew richer, and the poor grew in number.
Wesley saw the crowds of hurting people as Jesus would see them, and he designed ministries to care for them. His ministry became a financial success, and his annual salary grew to be the modern-day equivalent of $160,000. Wesley calculated the small sum that he really needed and gave the rest away. He saw it as investing in the things of God, which never perish. Wesley said, “If I leave behind me ten pounds, . . . you and all mankind [can] bear witness against me, that I have lived and died a thief and a robber.”[2]
By no means was John Wesley against the idea of wealth; his problem was with “storing up treasures on earth” when wealth could be such a marvelous tool for ministry. He once preached a sermon in which he proposed the best attitude we can have toward wealth: “Gain all you can, save all you can, give all you can.”[3]
When we do things that honor the Lord, we invest in eternity.
Dwell on the Faithfulness of the Lord
Feed on His faithfulness.
PSALM 37:3
Your mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens;
Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
PSALM 36:5
These verses draw our attention to the faithfulness of the Lord. But let’s take a peek at the final verse of Psalm 37 to learn the outcome of God’s faithfulness:
The LORD shall help them and deliver them;
He shall deliver them from the wicked,
And save them,
Because they trust in Him.
PSALM 37:40
To trust in Him is to respond in faith to His faithfulness. David knew from experience that God rewards faith with blessings. As a young man, David had been anointed as the next king of Israel. Then he spent years living in forests and caves as the reigning king hunted him down. He had to do more than merely assent to the idea of God’s faithfulness—he had to stake his life on it. Life was hard during those long, perilous years. But in time, Saul died, David became king, and he could attest to the fact that God keeps His promises.
Timothy George, the dean of Beeson Divinity School, recalls a story from one of his professors, Dr. Gardner Taylor, who had once preached in Louisiana. He had been assigned to a poor, rural church with a sanctuary lit by a single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. One evening he was preaching the Gospel with gusto when suddenly the power went out. Dr. Taylor had no idea what the protocol might be, so he stumbled around in the dark until an elderly deacon cried out, “Preach on, brother! We can still see Jesus in the dark!”
Sometimes, George concludes, we see Him best in the dark. “And the good news of the gospel is that whether or not we can see him in the dark, he can see us in the dark.”[4]
Delight Yourself in the Lord
Delight yourself also in the LORD,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
PSALM 37:4
Even when our circumstances hold nothing delightful for us, we find delight in the Lord. We could be facing loss and oppression, but these things don’t define us. Because we put our hope in God, we find an inner joy in Him.
What gives you delight? The word refers to extreme satisfaction or gratification. I find delight in a good football game or in Frank Sinatra singing a terrific old song. I find deeper delight in having my family all around and hearing about what’s new in the world of my grandchildren. One of my deepest delights is time alone with my wife, my soul mate of all these years. No one on earth knows me as she does, and we create our own little world when we’re together.
But my deepest delight is found in the Lord. I can go to Him no matter what is happening in my world, and the amazing truth is that He finds delight in me. I can’t even begin to imagine why, but He does. My children and grandchildren realize that there’
s never a time when I’m not overjoyed to see them. God has this kind of delight in His children, and we should delight in Him—not because we “ought to” but because there is no deeper joy in life.
David squeezed every drop out of life the way some do an orange. He had many delights, many gifts. He could sing, he could dance, he could write poetry, he could devise battle plans, and he had an aching desire to design a temple for God. He was a passionate man who found the best in life, and he wanted us to know that one’s greatest delight is found in the knowledge of God. And as usual, there’s a breathtaking promise attached to that delight. The promise is that if we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our hearts. Can anything so wonderful be true? Absolutely! But it’s important to understand this promise. It isn’t a shortcut to prosperity, as some ill-informed preachers claim. We don’t delight in the Lord so that He will give us what we want. That approach confuses faith with greed.
No, when we find true and genuine pleasure in God, with no thought of gain other than gaining intimacy with Him, we find our own desires coming into conformance with His desires. We begin to live in His will, and we pray accordingly. We find the joy of the Lord by following the Lord of joy into His joy. The following promises capture this idea:
He said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
NEHEMIAH 8:10
You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
PSALM 16:11
When things go wrong and loss overtakes us, misery often follows. And the more we struggle against the pit of discouragement, the deeper it becomes. But if we’ve placed our hope in God no matter what, His joy becomes our strength. We delight in Him and find new energy, new insights, and new resources to keep on going.
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