October 21, 2026

Many of you are familiar with Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” But that command “to delight yourself in the LORD” comes after another command in v.3, “Trust in the LORD, and do good.” But keep going back. Those two commands in verses 3 and 4 are in response to a challenging situation that David describes in verses 1-2.

“Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb.”

A friend’s mother was hit and killed in her neighborhood by a driver who fled the scene, then came back, drove slowly by the victim and then fled again. All of this was caught on a neighbor’s camera. The driver then went to a shop to have any evidence of the accident removed from the car. Eventually the driver was caught, charged, and the long legal and emotional process began.

What do you think the sentence should be for vehicular homicide, fleeing the scene of an accident and hiding evidence of a crime? Yesterday I found out. The judge ruled that the driver spend weekends in jail for a year. Of course, I was stunned, the family more so. We often say that someone got away with murder. In this case, it really seems like it. Weekends in jail is inconvenient, but does the punishment fit the crime?

What do you so when life is unfair? This is where Psalm 37 is so helpful. David has a lot of experience with inequities of life and David’s greater Son even more so. The rest of this Psalm is full of needed counsel for our souls. Here are some examples:

“Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.” (5)

“Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him.” (7)

“Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.” (8)

This Psalm is 40 verses long and is full of these admonitions, much of which are summarized in v.28, “For the LORD loves justice; he will not forsake his saints.”

I wanted to know the name of the judge. I wanted to do something, as if I could. Instead, I’ve spent some time this morning in Psalm 37 and thought, maybe it would be helpful to you as well.

In our text for this coming Sunday, David’s greater Son, Jesus, comes face to face with betrayal. It becomes clear that his soul is saturated with the promises of God even as he is the means for their fulfillment.

Grace and PEACE,

Bob

Sunday’s Text: Luke 22:47-53