Psalms 37:7, commentary and pictures

Rest in the Lord means to trust Him with quiet confidence and glad peace, to wait patiently for Him to act, and to refuse to be troubled because evildoers prosper for a time and carry out harmful schemes.
This rest is not idleness, but a calm heart that works earnestly while watching, praying and waiting instead of rushing or mistaking constant bustle for faithfulness.
Waiting patiently means refusing to hurry out of difficulty or force results by human effort, but praying, settling the mind on His word, submitting the matter to Him and moving only as He leads.
Not fretting means laying aside anger, complaint and distrust, forgiving those who do wrong, and continuing steady work in Christ's peace while leaving justice and timing to God.
Committing the way to Him in this trust brings assurance that He will bring it to pass, bring forth righteousness as the light, and work present and eternal good for those who humble themselves before Him.

Resting in the Lord

Rest in the Lord is quiet confidence in him and patient waiting for him, finding peace and gladness through faith in Christ and in his everlasting love. That trust shows itself in calm reliance on him and in praise for his goodness and love and power, rather than letting trouble afflict the soul. It is rest without becoming troubled by the apparent success of those who pursue evil ways.

This rest is not inactivity, for the heart that rests fully is earnest and active in labor. Faithful work is to be joined with watching and prayer and patient waiting, not hurried rushing nor mere bustle and continual activity mistaken for faithful work.

Rest is a real experience of great peace and restfulness of spirit, being shut in with God in perfect quietude. It is given in answer to prayer and is greatly to be appreciated, keeping a person calm and undisturbed and free from weariness even amid restless, distracting surroundings with constant coming and going. The Lord is a shelter and a rest that the world cannot give or take away, and his presence brings gladness and peace. Committing life to him lets him shape character for his glory.

Resting is making him one's confidence with unbroken faith and trust. It is willingly abiding when the cloud rests and moving when it moves, going forward even when no way is seen because he sees the way and bids his people go forward. Those who so rest are cheered and guided to the haven of rest and clothed with garments of righteousness.

Such rest includes throwing off care and worry and perplexity, especially in failing health and weakness. It means being prudent to rest the body and doing all that is possible to become strong instead of overworking from longing to do much when much is to be done. Trust in him includes ordinary means of care and recovery, for rest and sleep can be part of his working and a reason to give him glory. Even a worker worn down like a run-down clock after weeks and months of heavy responsibility and very little sleep, facing serious fear of physical collapse while needed relief has not yet been found, is to take time to rest. Rest is trust that Jesus loves and lives to make intercession and cares, having the sufferer graven upon the palms of his hands, with divine grace and power behind the frail human instrument giving divine efficiency to human effort in laboring together with God.

Waiting Patiently for Him

Waiting patiently means refusing to hurry to escape difficulty or to force an outcome by one's own efforts, but standing still to see salvation and trusting God to open a way through apparent obstacles rather than taking interests out of His hands by rash or doubtful actions. After praying for light and help the mind is to be settled in the Lord, His word trusted without wavering, and no hasty, rash moves made. The case is to be submitted to God and His will done, rather than becoming discouraged and sinking under trials or acting hastily, while holding fast to Jesus by living faith, making Him the sufficiency and all, looking alone to Him, and walking humbly, trustingly, courageously and surely with no wrong feeling rising in the heart or spoken by the lips. Those who so wait have Christ holding them so His hand never lets go, working for them as they walk by faith, standing as helper and God and frontguard and rearward and taking them by His side as Leader, so they will not be tempted beyond what they are able to endure, and God can work during that waiting to teach precious lessons.

After doing one's best and what can be done, waiting means resting quietly and not fretting over results beyond control, but leaving them to God whose wisdom is infinite. When matters are troubling and the way forward is unclear, patience continues to trust Him to bring matters to pass for His glory and to bring His will to pass.

When personal ideas and plans are thwarted and some seeming good is withheld, waiting calls for self-examination instead of behaving like foolish, disobedient children. That deprivation is the Lord who searches the heart protecting the prosperity of His cause, revealing mistakes in planning and handling His work, and refusing to leave work that is not carried forward symmetrically to remain imperfect and unfinished.

Waiting includes humbling oneself under His reproof and correction without murmuring or complaint, accepting His refining process when mismanagement has not glorified Him and His work is hindered and something is out of joint. It means looking away from everything discouraging, saying Amen under reproof because the Lord lives and reigns, talking faith and courage, remaining strong in Him, trusting in the Lord, and walking before Him in faith and hope and righteousness until He brings matters to their proper end and to His glory and brings the waiting ones off more than conquerors. It also calls for resisting discouragement so the enemy gains no advantage, humbling ourselves before God as helper and protector, and practicing the counsel by working, waiting, watching, praying, and guarding words so they cannot be used against us.

In trial, quiet rest and refusal to worry or complain make God's voice clearer, and He guides His people through trial into a deeper experience of His grace.

Not Fretting Over Wickedness

The instruction is to settle calmly in the Lord and wait patiently for Him without being inwardly troubled by the one who prospers in his way or carries wicked schemes to success. This counsel belongs especially to those who have received present truth, as part of a life of trust, obedience, and sanctification.

Not fretting means ceasing from anger and forsaking wrath and refusing to fret oneself into doing evil. It means putting away a fretful, sour, complaining, repining, and distrustful spirit, forgiving enemies who have bruised and wounded the soul, and living and working with Christ's peace, quietness, and confidence. Such waiting includes self-examination when personal ideas and plans are thwarted, rather than acting like foolish, disobedient children when some seeming good is withheld, for that withholding is the Lord who searches the heart protecting the prosperity of His cause, exposing mistakes in planning and handling His work, and refusing to leave unsymmetrical, unfinished work to remain imperfect. Evildoers will be cut off, but those who wait upon the Lord will inherit the earth. The same trust means fleeing to Christ in every circumstance, clinging close to Jesus and rejoicing in Him as a strong tower into which the righteous run and are safe, exercising living faith in the power of Jesus Christ rather than in one's own efficiency and wisdom to come through difficulty and temptation, waiting patiently while watching and praying and holding fast to the promises, finding Christ as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land, finding strength in quietness and confidence in Him, resisting whatever mars simplicity of faith, and waiting only upon God.

Those facing discouragement, opposition, and slow progress are not to be dismayed or troubled by the apparent success of evildoers. They are to rely wholly on the Lord as helper and hope, continue working for His cause, and trust that He will bring matters to pass in His time and will not disappoint them or fail His promise.

Waiting on God rests on confidence that He is helper and support who will not abandon or forsake His people. Therefore burdens He does not ask to be carried are to be laid down in trust in Him. His promise of forgiveness is sure, and to believe He has forgiven is both privilege and duty, and such faith honors Him. When His work does not advance as quickly as expected, there is to be no fretting, but keeping the word of patience in faith and courage and prayer, doing quietly what can be done simply and with Christ's grace while waiting for the Lord to act.

When men who ought to deal justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God instead follow imagination and uncontrollable will and passion and work harm, the one wronged must not put trust in men. He must not allow their words, spirit, or business dealings to confuse his senses, discourage him, or provoke him to do evil. Even when God's words and cautions appear to have no immediate correcting influence, everything is to be left with Him who knows and by whom actions are weighed. Every transaction He condemns is to be refused and neither participated in nor sustained, whether directed against the weak, the poor and needy, or relatives.

Trusting God to Act

To rest in the Lord is to commit the way to Him and trust Him to bring it to pass, bringing forth righteousness as the light and judgment as the noonday, without fretting over the one who prospers in his way or brings wicked devices to pass. It means fleeing to Christ in every circumstance, clinging closely to Jesus and rejoicing in Him as a strong tower into which the righteous run and are safe, and exercising living faith in His power rather than in one's own efficiency and wisdom to come through difficulty and temptation. It means waiting only upon God in patient waiting, watching and praying and holding fast to the promises, finding Him as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land, finding strength in quietness and confidence, resisting everything that mars simplicity of faith, and refusing a fretful, sour, complaining, repining, distrustful spirit while forgiving enemies who have bruised and wounded the soul. Applied to prayer, this same committing and waiting is confident trust while waiting for His answer, with hope instead of discouragement in remembrance of His mercy, goodness, compassion, love, and blessings.

Trust belongs in the Lord rather than in one's own strength, efficiency, and wisdom. As His people so wait patiently for Him, He will cause His name to be honored and magnified, and the plans of those who oppose what is good will not be allowed to trouble them. He is Ruler, Helper, and strong Tower who knows all things and weighs actions, too wise to err and too good to do harm, and trusting in Him and waiting patiently is the very best way to keep peace of mind undisturbed by anything that comes. Therefore the one who feels overloaded can stop worrying and do the best that can be done in the wisdom God gives, with help from others, without haste and without rushing fellow workers, assured of no blame or censure. Such a one remains of good courage, cheerful, appreciative and loving toward fellow workers, and true as steel to principle without betraying sacred trusts, and by drawing near to God so that He draws near, increases in wisdom and in knowledge of God.

Patient waiting brings assurance that His salvation will be seen. When His work is hindered and something is out of joint, waiting means looking away from everything discouraging and trusting Him to work everything out to His glory, knowing He knows all about it, including through a refining process when mismanagement has not glorified Him. It means humbling the soul under His reproof and saying Amen, never murmuring or complaining because He lives and reigns, but talking faith and courage, being strong, trusting in Him, and walking before Him in faith and hope and righteousness, and He then brings the waiting ones off more than conquerors. When events seem inexplicable, those who trust, wait patiently, and humble their hearts before Him find He works for their present and eternal good and will not permit the enemy to triumph.

Resting is ceasing constant care for self in order to give God opportunity to care for His people. When brought into shortness and strait places, calm trust lets human necessity become His opportunity, and His blessing in emergency increases love for Him and leads to prizing temporal blessings in a higher sense. This trust increases faith, brightens hope, and replaces gloom and doubts and murmuring with cheerfulness, for faith grows by exercise. It quiets the spirit in the Lord, entrusts oneself and fellow workers to God, keeps firm hold on Him and trusts His help even when all that is hoped for is not yet seen, for He sustains His people and answers prayer.

Living the Counsel Daily

Holding fast to Christ and resting in quietude is fitting in tiring conditions, such as hot days when workers are not required to labor, because the Lord knows all about the matter and will bring it to pass, and this gives ground for hope in God. Waiting patiently means not pushing beyond appointed work, but laboring in one's own calling; a physician, for example, should do surgical work rather than feeling competent to go over the field adjusting its different parts, establishing sanitariums, or undertaking orphan asylums and homes for the aged as another has done. It requires distrusting limited experience and personal judgment, reasoning from cause to effect, receiving advice and counsel, learning in the school of Christ, and obtaining the spiritual knowledge that makes a person of high principle and fit to give spiritual instruction. Waiting also means resting all upon Him for the money needed to advance church building and health work, confident He will bring it to pass because the Lord God Omnipotent reigns. He can lay formidable walls even with the ground and build up as readily as He tore down the walls of Jericho, while still requiring human cooperation in working together with God.

Entrusting life to God and waiting patiently for Him prevents taking on burdens He has not required, exceeding human strength, and becoming worn down, and heeding His counsel and warnings would have prevented such exhaustion. Those who wait put themselves into His hands to open the way, making no hasty, rash moves, and when trials come they are not discouraged nor sink under them but continue to trust and never let go. They hold fast to Jesus by living faith, making Him their sufficiency and all, looking alone to Him, and walking in faith with good courage, humbly and trustingly and surely, allowing no wrong feeling to rise in the heart or be spoken by the lips, knowing Jesus knows it all. Christ's hand then holds them so it never lets go, He is their helper and God and frontguard and rearward, He works for them as they walk by faith and takes them by His side as Leader, and they will not be tempted beyond what they are able to endure. Reposing in God and waiting patiently for Him gives strength in stormy times and in every need, and trusting Him and His promises keeps one from being overcome, for He is a present help.