God's Call of the Righteous (5) Commit

“God’s Call of the Righteous”

(Part 5)

COMMIT YOUR WAY TO THE LORD

PSALM 37:5

We are sharing the message “God’s Call of the Righteous” as brought forth in Psalm 37.

If you recall, Psalm literally means “plucking the strings of a harp.” They convey in words the inner most feelings of our hearts expression. It is our heart “playing” to the Lord our prayers, our concerns, our faith, and our praise.

Psalm 37 is an acrostic poem, the stanzas of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. (Aleph, Bet, Gimmel, etc.)

We stated it is: The ABC’s of God’s promise to the righteous.

That there are six elements that are found if followed give peace to the believer regarding God’s promises and they are;

Do not FRET. TRUST in the LORD. DELIGHT yourself in the LORD. COMMIT our WAY to the LORD. REST in the LORD. And WAIT on the LORD.

We’ve shared the message “Do not Fret,” concluding that we have peace when we understand God is in control and we do not “fret.” Then we share knowing that God is in control our part is to “Trust in the Lord.” Last week, God’s call to the righteous is for us to “Delight ourselves in the Lord.” Today we want to share the fourth element of God’s ABC’s of His promise to the righteous, “Commit your way to the Lord.”

Psalm 37:5 (NKJV)

Ghimel (Gimmel)

5Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.

Commit - galal, to roll (literal or figurative):- commit, remove, roll (away, down, together), run down, seek occasion, trust, wallow.

In this passage literally – “to roll your way.” Term used of a bedouin rolling their pack load onto the back of a camel.

Used when Amasa was captain of the army and Joab killed him – he wallowed in his blood.

2 Samuel 20:12 (NKJV)

But Amasa (ah-ma-saw) wallowed in his blood in the middle of the highway. And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he moved Amasa from the highway to the field and threw a garment over him, when he saw that everyone who came upon him halted.

Thus “commit your way” means to roll your way, to wallow your way completely to the Lord.

1. “Commit your way to the Lord” means PUTTING your MAP of LIFE into God’s hands.

Have you ever gone on a journey to an unfamiliar place? What do you need to find your way around? You need a map. Something that will show you how to get there and how to get to the locations you want to see once you’ve gotten there.

A couple years ago I purchased a Garmin. It was the best investment I have made in going from point A to point B. I just type in my destination, the places I want to go to and this global positioning system does all the rest. Now sometimes it’s wrong because fallible people have programmed it. But 99% of the time it will get me to where I’m going, if I follow its instructions.

I realized that this is what this scripture is talking about. “Commit your way to the Lord and He will get you there.”

The Hebrew word “way” refers to a road, or course from the Hebrew word “derek” meaning to tread, or walk. Way simply refers to the map of your life, your journey on getting from Point A the day of your birth, to point B the day or your death and where you will spend eternity.

2. The Hebrew word translated “way” means: a ROAD, a COURSE of LIFE, a MODE of action, a JOURNEY, or a LIFE STYLE.

The Israelites journey:

Exodus 13:17-18 (NKJV)

Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, "Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt." 18So God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt.

Exodus 13:20-22 (NKJV)

So they took their journey from Succoth and camped in Etham at the edge of the wilderness. 21And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. 22He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people.

Exodus 23:20 (NKJV)

"Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared.

Exodus 32:8 (NKJV)

They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, 'This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!' "

Exodus 33:13 (NKJV)

Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people."

God was mapping their journey. He didn’t always take them the quickest route but He had promised to lead them to the promise land. But they like us get off the way and end up lost and messed up.

Psalm 25:4 (NKJV) Show me Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths.

Matthew 7:13-14 (NKJV) "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

The KEY is whom have you given control of your life.

Psalm 37:5 “commit your way TO THE LORD.” If to the Lord then – “bring it to pass.” The fulfillment of your life will come to pass if your road map of life is committed to the Lord. If it is not then good luck on your journey.

3. God’s PLAN for your LIFE is to GIVE you a FUTURE and a HOPE.

Joshua understood this principle.

Joshua 1:8-9 (NKJV)

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."

Joshua 3:4 (NKJV)

Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before."

The ultimate destination in our journey is on the day we die and where we will spend eternity.

Proverbs 14:12 (NKJV)

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

Joshua and David both understood this truth.

Joshua 23:14 (NKJV)

"Behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth. And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed.

1 Kings 2:1-4 (NKJV)

Now the days of David drew near that he should die, and he charged Solomon his son, saying: 2"I go the way of all the earth; be strong, therefore, and prove yourself a man. 3And keep the charge of the Lord your God: to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn; 4that the Lord may fulfill His word which He spoke concerning me, saying, 'If your sons take heed to their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul,' He said, 'you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.'

Are you following your own map? It leads the way of destruction.

Isaiah 53:6 (NKJV)

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

Isaiah 55:6-13 (NKJV)

Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. 7Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.

8"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord. 9"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.

10"For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

12"For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. 13Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off."

Jesus said:

John 14:1-6 (NKJV)

"Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4And where I go you know, and the way you know." 5Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?" 6Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

John 10:10 (NKJV)

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

4. The NEW Testament PROMISE for you is to GIVE you LIFE and a LIFE more ABUNDANT.

The bottom line – who’s mapping out your life?

James 1:8 (NKJV)

he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Psalm 37:5 (NKJV)

Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.

Psalm 37:7 (NKJV)

Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.

Psalm 37:14 (NKJV)

The wicked have drawn the sword and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, to slay those who are of upright conduct.

Psalm 37:23 (NKJV)

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way.

Psalm 37:34 (NKJV)

Wait on the Lord, and keep His way, and He shall exalt you to inherit the land;

2 Samuel 22:22 (NKJV)

For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God.

2 Samuel 22:29-33 (NKJV)

"For You are my lamp, O Lord; the Lord shall enlighten my darkness. 30For by You I can run against a troop; by my God I can leap over a wall. 31As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

32"For who is God, except the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God? 33God is my strength and power, and He makes my way perfect.

Is God’s Word directing your way? Is He your GPS?

5. The Bible is GOD’S POSITIONING SYSTEM.

The Bible God’s Positioning System gives directions for:

A successful marriage

Guide to raising children

Instructions of being a godly man or woman

Directions for true happiness, true blessings.

Directions of Life, for Heaven

Ultimately it is our direction to Life after death.

Jeremiah was confronted by the children of Israel before the Babylonian captivity. They wanted God’s directions.

Jeremiah 18:15 (NKJV)

"Because My people have forgotten Me, they have burned incense to worthless idols. And they have caused themselves to stumble in their ways, from the ancient paths, to walk in pathways and not on a highway,

Jeremiah 42:2-18 (NKJV)

and said to Jeremiah the prophet, "Please, let our petition be acceptable to you, and pray for us to the Lord your God, for all this remnant (since we are left but a few of many, as you can see), 3that the Lord your God may show us the way in which we should walk and the thing we should do." 4Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, "I have heard. Indeed, I will pray to the Lord your God according to your words, and it shall be, that whatever the Lord answers you, I will declare it to you. I will keep nothing back from you." 5So they said to Jeremiah, "Let the Lord be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not do according to everything which the Lord your God sends us by you. 6Whether it is pleasing or displeasing, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God to whom we send you, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God."

7And it happened after ten days that the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. 8Then he called Johanan the son of Kareah, all the captains of the forces which were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, 9and said to them, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition before Him: 10'If you will still remain in this land, then I will build you and not pull you down, and I will plant you and not pluck you up. For I relent concerning the disaster that I have brought upon you. 11Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid; do not be afraid of him,' says the Lord, 'for I am with you, to save you and deliver you from his hand. 12And I will show you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and cause you to return to your own land.'

13"But if you say, 'We will not dwell in this land,' disobeying the voice of the Lord your God, 14saying, 'No, but we will go to the land of Egypt where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor be hungry for bread, and there we will dwell'-- 15Then hear now the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah! Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: 'If you wholly set your faces to enter Egypt, and go to dwell there, 16then it shall be that the sword which you feared shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt; the famine of which you were afraid shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there you shall die. 17So shall it be with all the men who set their faces to go to Egypt to dwell there. They shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. And none of them shall remain or escape from the disaster that I will bring upon them.'

18"For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: 'As My anger and My fury have been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so will My fury be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. And you shall be an oath, an astonishment, a curse, and a reproach; and you shall see this place no more.'

There were some who did not like what they heard. They did not listen to God consequently they met destruction.

Are you

6. PROGRAM your LIFE for your DESTINATION.

It begins by committing your way to the Lord.

“God’s Call of the Righteous” (Part 5)

COMMIT YOUR WAY TO THE LORD -PSALM 37:5

1. “Commit your way to the Lord” means _____________

your ____________ of _____________ into God’s hands.

2. The Hebrew word translated “way” means: a ________,

a _______________ of __________, a __________ of

action, a ______________, or a _________ __________.

3. God’s __________ for your _________ is to __________

you a _____________ and a _____________.

4. The __________ Testament ______________ for you is

to ____________ you __________ and a _____________

more ______________________.

5. The Bible is __________ ____________ ____________.

6. ____________________ your __________ for your

______________________.

Psalm 25:4 (NKJV) Show me Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths.

Matthew 7:13-14 (NKJV) "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.