“The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the LORD upholds him with His hand.”
Psalm 37:23-24
In Psalm 37 so far, the focus has been what we as the servants of the Lord should do, what attitude we should have when the wicked thrive and prosper. In addition, the Psalm has told us to consider how God views the wicked and to take comfort in the judgement that is waiting for them because of their wickedness. In our text today David would have the servants of the Lord consider how God views them in light of the wicked prospering and take comfort in God’s loving providence for His saints.
He begins by stating that God has planned the path of the good man. The good man here is the servant of the Lord, the man of God who is grieved, at the prospering of wickedness. God has ordered your steps saints. We are at this situation; we have arrived at the days we are experiencing precisely because God has brought us here.
The challenges we face are part of the path God would have the faithful walk. This includes times when the wicked are prospering.
We are simply called to continue to be faithful when the wicked prosper because this is the path God has set before us. It is part of His plan and notice that God even delights in the path of the good man! God uses the faithfulness of the faithful to condemn the wicked. And the path God has set before us, while it may lead through difficult terrain, it ends in the Promised Land and eternal blessing.
The faithful may stumble. The fall mentioned in vs. 24 could be a way to describe the sinful response of the faithful to the rise of the wicked. It is easy to give in to sinful thoughts and actions when the wicked are thriving. But it could also describe the suffering one might endure from the wicked being able to have their way and persecute the good man. But either way the Lord promises that the good man, the servant of the Lord, will not be utterly cast down. It is the Lord who upholds him with His very own sovereign, loving hand.
Jude ends his short letter by saying, “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.” God upholds those who serve Him. The path of the faithful leads to standing faultless in the presence of God Almighty with exceeding joy and glory. God’s wisdom includes the path that He has set before us with all its challenges, even times of the wicked thriving.
We are His special treasure that He holds in His hand because He delights in the path He has set for us for our glory and His. He will not allow us to be cast down but ensures the completion of our journey. The more we know and believe how God views His elect the more able we can walk the path He has for us with confidence and joy!
Glory to the Lord of hosts!
His mercy endures forever!
Pastor Flynn
