Pastor's Ponderings: Old Testament bible study of Psalm 37:1-20 (November 6, 2025)
- Rev. Kim Taylor
- Nov 6
- 4 min read
November 6, 2025: Thursday Bible Study on Old Testament of Psalm 37:1-20
May the heart of Christ's love for you sustain you and keep you throughout this day, and always!
Good morning my dear friends. I hope that you will continue to offer prayers as I bring to you the prayers that the prayer chain has been praying for during the week. This week we have had two. One is for a member's grandchild, Lucio, who is being treated for pneumonia. Please pray for his comfort and that the antibiotics that are being used to treat him will be successful. The second is for Aden who is a child. He has been diagnosed with leukemia and is hospitalized having a rough time right now. Pray for treatment options that will work for Aden, and that his family will find comfort in the LORD'S presence which surrounds them with courage and peace. There is hardly anything worse than feeling that things are so out of control when your children are ill.
Just a couple more prayers friends. Pray for Becky Prasek as she finds help for the extreme weakness with which she has been suffering, and for Teri Hardy who continues her healing process after her major surgery for a new style hip replacement. Her healing is on track for what her doctors expect from this major surgery. Another reminder: This Sunday is our blessing of the animals Sunday. So, bring your pets to church, and we will offer prayers for each one of them. If your pets are unable to be with us, please bring a photo to place on the altar table on the main floor level in the front of the nave. (the floor area where the congregation sits for worship)
This morning, we are doing the first part of Psalm 37:1-20. As I read this Psalm passage, I became acutely aware of what a great Psalm this would be for us to reread every morning at the beginning of our day. At a time in our nation and world which can be so frustrating and filled with angst, it becomes even more important for us to understand how God loves and cares for His faithful children. It must be that David was really faced with such difficult times with people in his own nation/community that it became necessary for him to remind himself, and his citizen community about the great importance of believing in, and living in, the presence of YHWH, knowing that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (Did you catch my error with historic parentage in my Bible Study comments? Melody did!)
David even indicates for us what it means to live faithfully:
Trust the LORD
Do good.
Feed on God's truthfulness
Be appreciative of the LORD!
Commit your way to the LORD, and He will act on your behalf.
Know that the LORD will bring out His own faithfulness to you, and it will be a bright shining light in your life.
DON'T FRET ABOUT WHAT EVIL PEOPLE DO. BEFORE THE LORD THEY WILL WITHER LIKE THE GRASS QUICKLY!
Be still and wait patiently before the LORD.
Don't fret about the success of those who do evil,
Don't be angry, abandon rage, because being caught in it may cause you to do evil yourself.
Look to the LORD with humility and certainty, and you will inherit the land in which you live.
David tells the listener that those who do evil will draw their sword and bring violence upon those who they see as little, but their sword will pierce their own heart. It is the meek who will inherit, not the extremely wealthy and powerful whose god is themselves, and the power that they wield which is no power at all in the face of the LORD! The weapons which those who look down on the poor and humble, will see their armaments break!
Live life with integrity before the LORD
Those who live with integrity will not be ashamed. They shall inherit that which has belonged to the faithless ones. In famine they will be full. Wait on the LORD, His benefits will come to the faithful, and the faithless will perish and be destroyed in the face of God's judgement.
In this time of great tribulation on God's earth, David reminds us of what it really means to live with faith in our God who is always faithful to His children. I know that when we read a Psalm like this it is easy to go on, and to not be able to focus on each point that David is making. On Sunday, our Gospel was the Beatitudes from the Gospel of Luke. Think about them, and the ones in Matthew as well, and you will be amazed at the parallels between this Psalm and those passages. I hope that you found this helpful today. As we get ready for next Thursday's study, it is good to know that David continues to guide his people, and us as well, about how we all should look to the LORD constantly to deal with our frustrations and anger when we see the worldly success, and abusive attitudes, with which those faithless people surround themselves. This Psalm is our humble, and godly answer. It can and should be our daily guide.
Thanks for being with me this morning.
In Christ's love, Pastor Kim
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