Dear Amy,
Do you ever marvel at how the Bible is quite so dense with blessing and encouragement, and that even the most familiar passages can suddenly reveal to us new insight and bestow upon us new grace?
Let me give you an example, just half a verse, a mere seven words.
Dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
― Psalm 37:3b
On the face of it this doesn’t seem to be saying very much at all. What does “dwell in the land” even mean? Is it simply saying, live your life? By no means!
To understand this we must understand the Old Testament significance of the land from the very beginning, from the call of Abraham, even before God gave him his new name which means “father of a multitude”.
Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.”
“To your offspring I will give this land.”
― Genesis 12:1, 7
(Be mindful that this promise was spoken to a childless 75 year old man who was married to a barren woman.)
More was revealed when God spoke to Moses out of the burning bush.
Then the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
― Exodus 3:7-8
This was “the land” and it was hugely symbolic of the covenant promise of the Lord to Abraham and to his chosen people, the Israelites. To dwell in the land then is to live in the promises of God⸺the promises of the most faithful God to his woefully unfaithful people.
And “befriend faithfulness”? The Lord himself is faithfulness personified. We befriend faithfulness by honouring him with our own faithfulness, trusting not doubting his promises to us.
What are these promises? Some are common to us all⸺Scripture is full of them! One of the most astonishing is in the very next verse, and we already considered this extravagant promise, seemingly too good to be true.
Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
― Psalm 37:4
Seek the Lord with all of your heart, desiring him alone, and he will give himself to you in the richest of relationship. This extraordinary promise is that we can have as much of the Lord in our lives as we desire. Praise his holy name!
And some promises are uniquely given. Promises that I have received are for me, and different from yours, Amy. We honour him alike by resting in these promises, living in them expectantly, believing not doubting, just as David goes on.
Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.
― Psalm 37:5
The Lord is not uninvolved as we live in his promises. Trust in him and he will act, whatever has been promised!
Dwell in the land, Amy, and befriend faithfulness! 🙏