October 23 | Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 1–2; 1 Timothy 3

Surrendering to God

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this. Psalm 37:5

READ Psalm 37:1–6

God doesn’t help those who help themselves; He helps those who trust in and rely on Him. Jonathan Roumie—the actor who plays Jesus in the successful TV series The Chosen, which is based on the Gospels—realised this in May of 2018. Roumie had been living in a big city for eight years, was nearly broke, had enough food just for the day, and had no work in sight. Not knowing how he would make it, the actor poured out his heart and surrendered his career to God. “I literally [prayed] the words, ‘I surrender. I surrender.’ ” Later that day, he found four cheques in the post and three months later, he was cast for the role of Jesus in The Chosen. Roumie found that God will help those who trust in Him.

Rather than being envious of and fretting over those “who are evil” (Psalm 37:1), the psalmist invites us to surrender everything to God. When we centre our daily activities on Him, “trust in [Him] and do good”, “take delight in [Him]” (vv. 3–4) and surrender to Him all our desires, problems, anxieties, and the daily events of our lives, God will direct us and give us peace (vv. 5–6). As believers in Jesus, it’s vital for us to let Him determine what our lives should be.

Let’s surrender and trust God. As we do, He’ll take action and do what’s necessary and best.

By Marvin Williams

What parts of your life are off-limits to God these days? What will it mean for you to surrender your life to Him today?

Dear God, please help me to surrender to You freely today and experience Your life and peace.

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT

Psalm 37 is one of many “wisdom psalms,” so-called because they teach us to cultivate a long-term mindset, fixing our hearts and minds on what’s truly important rather than living for short-term gain. In Psalm 37, David deals with the same perplexity that Asaph struggles within Psalm 73—the wicked prosper, while the godly suffer unjustly. Psalm 37 is a psalm of promise for those who seek God and a psalm of disaster for those who fail to do so. David tells those who suffer unjustly not to fret, be envious, or be angry, for God will punish the evildoers (vv. 1–2, 7–10, 35–38). Instead, the godly are to patiently trust and rest fully in Him and to continue to live lives set apart for God (vv. 3–8). The assurance is that “the Lord upholds the righteous” (v. 17) and “will not forsake his faithful ones” ( v. 28).