Think on These Things thoughts from John…
Whenever I experience a glorious sunrise at dawn, I see the majesty of God’s creative power first hand. It truly astounds me when I watch closely as to how quickly it changes. All the deep, beautiful colors seem to flood my being with a sense of awe in God, the creator of all things. Did you know that Elohim is the name of God which means creator? It also happens to be in the familiar first sentence of the Bible – Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God (Elohim) created the heavens and the earth.
There are many verses in the Bible that reference the sunrise (or dawn). The following two verses speak to me as an example of God’s reward when we commit and trust Him and the promises when His children are obedient.
Psalm 37:5-6
Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
your vindication like the noonday sun.
Wow, that’s awesome! Another two verses in this chapter that were just as inspiring were verses 3 and 4 which are also a command and reward.
Psalm 37:3-4
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Reading through chapter 37, you get a sense of David realizing that his only way of overcoming his anguish of seeing the wicked prosper while the just are persecuted is to be patient and follow God’s commandments. Verse 25 tells us that David was old when he wrote this Psalm. Through his life experiences he had witnessed many wicked and evil people. You can just imagine the many times he was puzzled, like we can be today, as to why God would allow the wicked to prosper and the righteous to be persecuted. But as we go through life we usually get wiser as we get older. So the key element that God had shown him throughout his life was that his utmost responsibility was to obey Him. Even though the many times he saw the wicked prosper and the just be persecuted, David focused on obedience to God and was inspired by the Holy Spirit to pen the verses giving us a command and reward.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary refers to Psalm 37 as David’s call to patience and confidence in God by the state of the godly and the wicked. Charles Spurgeon in the Treasury of David calls it “The great riddle of the prosperity of the wicked and the affliction of the righteous”.
So, the next time you have a chance to experience a breathtaking sunrise, be mindful that if you commit your way to Him and trust in Him, He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn!
Thanks for listening, John
Thank you for your words, John. This is the reminder we need for every day of our lives.
~Adrienne~
Love this and your blog! SOrry it's been awhile since I vistied!!!
Good morning,
It really is puzzling sometimes when you see wickedness "rewarded" and those people prosper-when you know what they are doing goes against everything God stands for…and, on the other hand, you see people that are obedient and following God's way (as best they can) suffer. Just plain puzzling sometimes. Someday we will know……
Hope you have a great Sunday, Lorraine. xo Diana