Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Inheriting the Land and Psalm 37

Psalm 37 - Inherit the Land


Psalm 37:9b... those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land.Psalm 37:11But the humble will inherit the landAnd will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.Psalm 37:22For those blessed by Him will inherit the land,But those cursed by Him will be cut off.Psalm 37:29The righteous will inherit the landAnd dwell in it forever.

As I was saying in my last blog, we've had a little setback in the Brillhart household this week. We had planned to be in Texas preparing to occupy family land. But instead, we have been spending the week in hospitals and doctors offices. Is there a message in this for us? I was praying about it today and Psalms 37 came to mind. Now that is not at all unusual, as that is one of my favorite psalms, but I noticed something different in it today about inheriting the land.

First of all, in verses 9, there is that dreaded phrase "wait for the Lord". When was the last time you were glad to hear someone tell you that you needed to wait for the Lord? If you are like me, waiting is not your favorite activity. "But wait! There's more..." to quote a famous commercial line... verse 9 continues by saying that those who wait for the Lord will inherit the land. Now it is my father-in-law's intention that we inherit his land, and it is our intention that we should be close to family to take care of our aging parents, but what about the timing?

In verse 11, the Psalmist continues saying that the humble will inherit the land and will have abundant prosperity. There is something about waiting that encourages humility. Taking over our family land is a great blessing but also a great responsibility. There is a price to pay, not only in dollars and cents, but also in time and effort. We will have to humble ourselves in order to serve and care for our parents in their latter years, and even preparing the house for the move will cost a great deal. Maybe falling from a ladder is a sign that we need to proceed cautiously, though not fearfully. Passover is a good time to remember that the Israeli people were delivered from Egypt and inherited a good land, but it cost them a great deal to occupy the promised land. Those who grumbled and complained instead of being humble and grateful perished in the desert and never made it in.

Verse 22 tells us that inheriting the land is a great blessing from the Lord, but to be careful, since there is also a curse for those who don't measure up. We need to be careful to put the Lord first and acknowledge that the inheritance is His land and to treat it appropriately. Joshua led the people into the promised land, but they needed to inquire of the Lord before every battle to learn the Lord's strategy and plan for each encounter. Likewise, we need to proceed humbly, letting the Lord lead us a we proceed to occupy our destiny.


Finally, in verse 29, the Psalmist tells us that the righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever. Think about it a minute. I want to occupy the family land in Texas, but I don't want to live there forever. My forever home is elsewhere, and the Psalmist is reminding us of that fact here.  We are just sojourners in this land, as beautiful and blessed as it is, it is still temporary. The land we want to dwell in forever is a heavenly land where we can worship the Lord continually without end. Therefore, we need to keep our eyes focused on the ultimate goal and live our lives here accordingly. We need to possess the land of our inheritance with patience, humility and wisdom, but with an attitude of worship to prepare us for our eternal inheritance with our Father who is in heaven.

No comments:

Post a Comment