I May Stumble But I Ain’t Gonna Fall - Episode 105 - Psalm 37:21-24

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Well hey, hello again! Welcome to this episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, the podcast about God’s promises. And hey, those promises are for you, and they are for right now. Not just for later on. Isn’t that good news?  Let’s check out a couple of those promises on today’s show.

 

You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing in the Edifi app. This is episode #105.  

 

Psalm 37, verses 21 thru 24 from the Amplified. 

 

21 

The wicked borrow and never repay,

    but the godly are generous givers.

22 

Those the Lord blesses will possess the land,

    but those he curses will die.

23 

The Lord directs the steps of the godly.

    He delights in every detail of their lives.

24 

Though they stumble, they will never fall,

    for the Lord holds them by the hand.

 

The wicked borrow and never repay. So, yeah, let’s not do that. Pretty plain and simple. Sometimes the Bible is so clear, it just outright tells us what God thinks on a matter. It does that a lot, actually. This is one of those places. 

But the godly are generous givers.

Ya know, God is so generous. It is almost mind altering, like kind of blows your mind how generous He is. Nobody has ever been a giver like our God. Generosity is one of His hallmarks, He gives so big. Let’s be known as His people in part by our generosity.  This doesn’t have to just apply to money, but time, how generous are we in our praying, like praying for others. And others beyond me and mine, ya know, my kids and my spouse and my friends and my BFF from middle school and that is it. That’s my prayer list.

 

I’ll just tell ya, I have had quite a prayer list over the years. And not just now, like oh you’re in the empty nest phase so you have time to pray. Well, I learned how to invest in prayer when my kids were at home and we were a homeschool family and had ministry work we were doing and during deployments, during illness, yeah. There is time for prayer, and praying generously for others is really an incredible ministry, and it is ministry that is so needed. Is there any way in your life in which you could become more generous in your prayer time? The Lord can guide, He will show you if there is something He wants to grow in you in this area, so if He leads you, be sure to follow. And think about other ways that you can be generous that go beyond just finances. 

Those the Lord blesses will possess the land, but those He curses will die.

 

In the last episode I mentioned letting God do His work of dealing with the wicked, and that applies to verse 22 as well. He says those He curses will die. You and I do not need to be running around dropping curses on people. Like don’t do that. I am actually very serious. Just don’t. Not gonna deep dive into details on that today but I want to remind you that God takes seriously evil in this world, and He handles things. Perfectly and justly. He is merciful and He is just and He is loving and He is holy and all those things are always true of the Lord God Almighty. So those He curses, not those we curse, but those He curses will die, says this verse. Let that be that, and be careful with your words, with any cursing flowing off your tongue.

 

Those He blesses will possess the land. Look, the land is not the same for us as the Israelites who actually inherited a chosen place, the Promised Land. But God has things for us that He gives us, He gifts to us. Places for us to posses. Not places for us to get by, to just endure. But places where we can really be at home. You can pray this, and really I hope you do pray this, over where you work, who you work with, where you live, where you vacation, your church home, your loved ones homes and workplaces, even your hobbies. Ask God for the good land He has for you, whatever that quote/unquote land might be.

 

The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.

 

This is such an awesome promise!

 

We are godly because we know Jesus. He imparts His righteousness to us. And that’s how this promise can be ours. He will direct your steps. Expect it. Ask Him for it. Depend on it. And don’t panic and freak out that I’m going the wrong way. Look, if you are going the wrong way unintentionally, He can let you know. Ask Him to always do that, and I believe He will. Isn’t that what this is telling us? And if you are going the wrong way by choice, with a lot of intention behind that choice, don’t expect God to be about the business of blessing that. An attitude, a spirit of rebellion, is never becoming for a child of God. Kill that off if it’s a thing in your life. But understand that if you’re not just bucking His authority and jamming out to “You Can Your Own Way”, then He will direct your steps. This is a great promise!

 

He delights in every detail of your life, so you’re never boring to God, you don’t annoy Him, when asking Him about this detail or that choice or any number of things. It’s not too big and it’s not too small. If something were too big or too tiny, this verse wouldn’t be true because it says He delights in EVERY detail of our lives. We are not on our own, out here just trying to get by. No! Our God is here with us, delighting in every single detail every single day. Take comfort in that and talk to Him about the details. I mean, if it brings Him delight, man, that’s incredible! 

 

If you and I stumble, and hey it happens and that’s part of living in this world, He says here we will never fall because He is holding us by the hand. Think of a toddler, just learning to really walk well, they have like those wobbly chubby legs and not only do they not have their sea legs, they don’t legs for level ground when they just are getting started with this walking business. So, mom or day hold their hand. And they kind of wobble, start to go down, but they can’t really fall because you’ve got their hand. You keep them on their feet even when the road is rough. They don’t fall because you are the hand holder and you are in charge of keeping them from falling.

 

That’s the promise here, and we can live like this is true. Yea, I may stumble but I ain’t gonna fall. My Lord, He holds me by the hand. And He is not going to let me go. I’m good. I’m safe. It’s not up to me to do the impossible, be perfect, never ever stumble, but it is up to me to trust that what God has said to me in Psalm 37 verse 24 is my promise, my truth, my hope and my assurance. 

 

I can rest assured in this assurance because that’s what assurance does. It provides peace and rest, even in the tough moments. Rest assured, though you stumble, you will not fall, for your God holds you by the hand.

 

Be sure to join my free online prayer retreat group, it’s on Facebook, the link is in the Show Notes or just search Praying Through the Storm Online Prayer Retreat. We are doing some praying in there, leaning in hard to God’s promises, and it could really be a blessing for you. So check that out, come join us and expect blessing. It’s always a place of blessing, any place that is about praying and believing God’s promises. Praying Through the Storm Online Prayer Retreat on Facebook. You can also find me on TikTok at @janlburt.

 

So glad you’ve joined me today. See you next week for episode 106.