Stark Contrast

I've been working for over a year to memorize Psalm 37. You are probably quite familiar with verse four.

Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Psalms 37:4

But are you familiar with the verses that come before and after it? Verse three tells us to trust in the Lord, and verse five commands us to commit our way to Him. And while delighting in the Lord is wonderful, it's not so much the main point of the passage. Over and over and over in its forty verses the contrast is being drawn between the righteous and the wicked. The wicked may be prospering for a season, but they will be judged. The righteous are preserved by the Lord, in the passage both physically and spiritually. There is one particular couplet that keeps popping up as I go through my days.

The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand.
Psalms 37:23-24

This so encourages me, because the more I grow in Christ the more I see my sin. I see more and more how corrupt I am in every part. You may not think so, but you can't see my thoughts and my heart. (For which I am very thankful!) I really believe that even the "nice" things I do are radically tainted by sin. So I know I fall, but I love that this verse says the Lord upholds me. It's really interesting that this thought comes from David. This Psalm doesn't tell us when David wrote it, but if you know his story, you know he had a pretty major fall into adultery and murder. And David lived in a different part of redemptive history than us. In the Old Testament, God's Spirit didn't dwell in people like He does now. But in these verses, David is bearing witness to God's faithfulness, in spite of our sin! The difference between the righteous and the wicked is faith! And it is a gracious gift from the ever Faithful God!

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Hebrews 11:6
 
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:8-10
 
"For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?" "Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
Romans 11:34-36