Welcome to His Encouragement Thursday! I don’t know about you, but Thursdays are my struggle day of the week. By Thursday, I have already been working hard at school and at home, and I just wish it would hurry up and be Friday already. LOL! I definitely need a little extra Jesus time on Thursdays.
The righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever. The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice. The Law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not slip.
Psalm 37:29-31 (NASB2020)
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In a previous Psalm 37 series post, I explain what it means to be a righteous (tzaddik) person. In this week’s segment of verses, King David continues his discussion on righteous people and what they will get IF they continue in their righteousness — they will inherit the land and get to live in it forever.
David continues to describe what it means to be righteous: the tzaddik utter, or speak, wisdom AND justice. This is because God’s Word is in their heart. And because God’s Word is in their heart, righteous people do not falter in their steps. How can they when God is their guide?
This segment of Psalm 37 made me think of two very specific places in the Bible.
First, my brain immediately jumped to Jeremiah 31 and the New Covenant. Jeremiah lived almost 400 years after David wrote Psalm 37. The New Covenant is not new. The New Covenant as described in Jeremiah is an idea as old as time — God wants people to be righteous, He wants them to love Him and His Word, and He wants people to actively obey and do His Will. In other words, God wants a real relationship with people who really love and choose Him. David knew this fact well before Jeremiah was told to write it down in what would become chapter 31 of his book. IF we are righteous as David has described in Psalm 37, then we have such a real relationship with God that He is in our hearts. When God is in our hearts then we are His people and one day we all will get to live with Him in His new Israel. I, personally, cannot wait for that day!
The second passage my brain jumped to is Proverbs 16:9: “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” This verse is about a righteous man’s heart — he plans to walk the straight and narrow because he loves God and wants to do God’s Will. But we’re just human. We are fallible and we make mistakes. So, we need God’s help. God establishes our steps because He knows we need a lot of help even when we are trying to do everything right. Solomon, who wrote the Proverbs, would have known this fact because he learned from his father, David. I would bet money that David taught Solomon, as best he could, that when righteous people strive to do God’s Will, God will keep the tzaddik’s steps from slipping, or as Solomon put it — He will establish our steps. I think that’s pretty cool! In this sense, we who desire a real relationship with God are never actually alone because God is right next to us guiding our walk in Him.
Today, as I contemplate all these big ideas, I feel blessed. I feel seen. I feel cared for. God is such a good Father! If you, dear reader, are doing all you can to be a righteous person like David describes be encouraged by the fact that at this very moment God is right alongside you guiding your steps. You are never alone. What a true blessing!
The Christian Fiction Girl 
Amen! What great reminders of how precious we are to the Lord!
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Thank you for reading my post, Vickie. I’m so glad God is encouraging you!
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