Psalms 37:5

The literal meaning of this verse is: “Roll your way onto Jehovah and trust upon Him, and He works.” This brings to our attention the immediacy of God’s action once we commit, or “roll,” burdens of any kind from our hands into His. Whether our burden is a sorrow, difficulty, physical need, or concern over the salvation of a loved one, “He works.”

When does He work? “He works” now. We act as if God does not immediately accept our trust in Him and thereby delays accomplishing what we ask Him to do. We fail to understand that “He works” as we commit. “He works” now! Praise Him for the fact that this is true.

The Shunammite woman had lost her only son who had been given to her as the special gift of God. She held him dead in her arms. What could she do? She had a consecrated room where she entertained the prophet of God, and this room meant to her the very presence of God. She took up her precious burden and she went up there. How blessed it is to be able to go up to the secret place of the Most High and to bring our troubles under the shadow of the Almighty! This is the place of refuge where the weary, helpless, and heartbroken find relief.

“And [she] laid him on the bed of the man of God.” This is a beautiful picture of committal—laying our trouble, our business, our whole way over on God.

The word trust is the heart of faith and is the Old Testament word given to the infant, or early, stages of faith.

The word faith conveys more an act of the will, while the word belief conveys an act of the mind or intellect, but trust is the language of the heart.

I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause.

Is anything too hard for the Lord ?—Commit thy way unto the Lord ; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.—Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.—Casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you.

[Jesus] prayed the third time, saying the same words.

Who in the days of his flesh . . . offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death.

My times are in thy hand.—He shall choose our inheritance for us.—Lead me, O Lord , in thy righteousness; . . . make thy way straight before my face.

Commit thy way unto the Lord ; trust also in him; and he shalt bring it to pass.—In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.—Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

I seldom have heard a better definition of faith than that given in one of our meetings, by a sweet, elderly black woman, as she answered a young man who asked, “How do I obtain the Lor d’s help for my needs?”

In her characteristic way, pointi ng her finger toward him, she said with great insistence, “You just have to believe that He’s done it and it’s done.”

I once believed that after I prayed, it was my responsibility to do everything in my power to bring about the answer. Yet God taught me a better way and showed me that self-effort always hinders His work. He also revealed that when I prayed and had confident trust in Him for something, He simply wanted me to wait in an attitude of praise and do only what He told me. Sitting still, doing nothing except trusting in the Lord, causes a feeling of uncertainty, and there is often a tremendous temptation to take the battle into our own hands.

We all know how difficult it is to rescue a drowning person who tries to help his rescuer, and it is equally difficult for the Lord to fight our battles for us when we insist upon trying to fight them ourselves. It is not that God will not but that He cannot, for our interference hinders His work. C. H. P. Spiritual forces cannot work while we are trusting earthly forces.

Genuine faith puts its letter in the mailbox and lets go. Distrust, however, holds on to a corner of the envelope and then wonders why the answer never arrives. There are some letters on my desk that I wrote weeks ago, but I have yet to mail them because of my uncertainty over the address or the contents. Those letters have not done any good for me or anyone else at this point. And they never will accomplish anything until I let go of them, trusting them to the postal service.

It is the same with genuine faith. It hands its circumstance over to God, allowing Him to work. Psalm 37:5 is a great confirmation of this: “Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this.” He will never work until we commit. Faith is receiving—or even more, actually appropriating—the gifts God offers us. We may believe in Him, come to Him, commit to Him, and rest in Him, but we will never fully realize all our blessings until we begin to receive from Him and come to Him having the spirit of abiding and appropriating.

Talk to God about whatever may be pressuring you and then commit the entire matter into His hands. Do this so that you will be free from the confusion, conflicts, and cares that fill the world today . In fact, anytime you are preparing to do something, under going some trial, or simply pursuing your normal business, tell the Father about it. Acquaint Him with it; yes, even burden Him with it, and you will have put the concerns and cares of the matter behind you. From that point forward, exercise quiet, sweet diligence in your work, recognizing your dependence on Him to carry the matter for you. Commit your cares and yourself with them, as one burden, to your God. R. L EIGHT ON

Build a little fence of trust Around today; Fill the space with loving work And ther ein stay . Look not thr ough the pr otective rails Upon tomorr ow; God will help you bear what comes Of joy or sorr ow. MARY BUTTS

Don't calculate without God.

God seems to have a delightful way of upsetting the things we have calculated on without taking Him into account. We get into circumstances which were not chosen by God, and suddenly we find we have been calculating without God; He has not entered in as a living factor. The one thing that keeps us from the possibility of worrying is bringing God in as the greatest factor in all our calculations.