Good Morning! 2010.06.04 - Psalm 37:23-24 - The Steps of a Good Man

Good Morning!

 

The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in

 

his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD

 

upholdeth him with his hand (Psalm 37:23-24).

 

My speech teacher, Mrs. Grace Greene, quoted verse 23 every morning for 4 ½ months. I memorized the next verse with it and have been meditating on those verses for over fifty years.

Can it be that the almighty God of the universe is ordering my steps? Can it be that He watches me as I walk and He notes every time I stumble and keeps me from making the worst out of my stupidity and wandering nature? The idea that the God of heaven is holding my hand is awesome! Just awesome!

When my children were barely beyond the toddler stage we sometimes walked in the yard or in a public park. We might go up or down some rough steps and I would say "You better let me hold your hand!" Invariably their response was "I can do it!" But how many times did their best plans fail them and they fell down and skinned a knee? In crossing a street it was my choice to hold their hand, not theirs. I cringe when driving along the road and a mother is walking along with a child, not holding the child's hand. One sudden impulse and the child could dash in front of the car and be dead.

The steps in this verse refer to our journey of life in general. The complicated cloth made up of threads of many origins. It suggests strongly not only guidance but also control. We do not know who is going to cross our path today. When the Twin Towers in New York were attacked on 911, several stories emerged of people who were sick that day, or had a doctor's appointment or had car trouble or traffic problems. Did God actually have anything to do with that? And why didn't everybody have a flat tire that day? You see how complicated this gets?

Good man. You will notice in your King James Bible that "good" is in italics which means the word was supplied by translators. They assumed that it was a particular kind of man who was guided by the Lord. A rebellious man, a man who is determined to live independent of God cannot expect and does not want to be guided by the Lord. He is his own god and doesn't want the God of Heaven telling him what to do. So, he's on his own to make a royal mess out of himself.

Ordered. This means established. Matthew Henry comments: "by the whispers of conscience, saying, This is the way, walk in it. He does not always show him his way at a distance, but leads him step by step, as children are led."

Delighteth in his way. Some believe that it is God who is delighted in the way His child is walking. But in the context it appears that the Christian is the one who is delighted in the way God his leading his steps. I take that view. Looking back over many years, I can see clearly the hand of the Lord in so many, many things. There was no voice from heaven "now hear this—now hear this!" In the Book of Esther the name of God does not appear even once. But no book of the Bible gives clearer evidence of the hand of God upon the lives of His own. And so it is that many times we cannot see the hand of God during the day, until it is over and we look back on it. We do not always recognize the significance of people crossing our path or of incidences occurring in a certain way.

Our verses for today are nothing short of awesome (which I have already said at least twice) in its implication. God has not confined His interacting with people to stories in the Bible. He is still at work today just as much as He was in Bible stories.

Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.  Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.  Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.  (Psa 373-:5)

 

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