Trusting Truth-40 Days of Psalm 37 (Day 7)

"Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes." Psalm 37:7

Stillness is a difficult word to swallow in this culture. To us, being still is nearly impossible as we constantly run around in a hurry and complain we don't have enough time to rest. Even if we are not doing anything physically our mind is constantly racing about what we still need to do in order to make life more comfortable. Fortunately for us, this scripture is actually teaching us how to become more still, how to let go of our whole self-righteous thinking in favor of God's righteous ways, and to once again gain perspective on the role God plays in our lives. Much like the way we become righteous (by allowing God to take our lives over) we become "still" or learn how to "rest" by dying to "self".

In Hebrew, the words "Be still" or "Rest" (as some translations read) in this scripture come from the word "Damam". "Damam" is difficult to define in the English language which is probably why we take the words we read and figure it is something else we have to "DO" in order to become still. But always remember that God is not a God of "confusion", so he can't possibly mean that we have to get busy doing something if He wants us to be "still". Fortunately the true definition of "Damam" implies that we need to do less, or stop thinking so much about what we think is right. Defined, the word "damam" is a way to tell somebody to "be dumb" or "to perish" (to die to yourself). In other words, the beginning of this verse is telling us to get over ourselves enough to recognize that if we become "dumb" before God, He is actually able to operate in our lives much easier as we get our human heart out of the way in favor of His. It is also important to quickly re-define the words "to wait patiently" in the Spirit of the text. "To wait patiently" defined in Hebrew is the word "chuwl". It can be better explained as "to twist or whirl, specifically to dance".

So let's iron this thing out. This verse is telling us to become dumb before God and dance in a sort of care-free (trusting) way as we wait for Him and what He knows is best for us. Isn't that amazing? The way to gain perspective in this life is to become "dumb" to what we think is right in favor of what God knows is right and then more or less ENJOY our time as we wait for Him to give us His vision. God wants to remind us that our lives become complete when we trust Him wholeheartedly. When we quit "interpreting" what He's truly saying in order to fit our own wants and desires.

I don't know about you but I constantly sit on my thrown and play God. I play God for myself, I play God for others and even more insulting is that I play God for God. Quite honestly, I don't know why He operates in such a unique fashion, or why he let's "men succeed in their ways", or why He claims that Jesus is the only way, but clearly He does. When David reminds us to be still before God and wait patiently for Him, he is providing us with the ability to substitute our worldly minds (which may be influenced or jealous of those people who succeed without moral inclinations and evil schemes) in favor of the mind of God.

Today, stop focusing on the good or the bad going on around you. Instead focus on letting go of what "seems" to be right and TRUST that God will provide us with what we need to know.
I Corinthians 3:19 reminds us that "For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: 'He catches the wise in their craftiness'". Can we trust that God see everything including what is good and evil? Can we trust that if we let go of the stronghold we have on our own personal beliefs in favor of what He can do through us, then the world would truly see Jesus Christ instead of a bunch of people using His name for personal gain? Get your mind off of what everyone else is doing wrong and trust that the LORD will have his way with them. Instead, become dumb before Him and dance in delight as we trust in His love and grace for us.