"Do Well & Do Good"

This morning while reading an online devotional I frequent, it pointed us to Psalm 37:3. I had just recently read through the book of Psalms, but the verse didn’t seem to jump out at me then like it did this morning. (Isn’t it amazing how God can point us to something at yet the right time and season?) I looked up two versions of the verse. I love the words in each:

“Trust in the LORD and do good;
Dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.”
--Psalm 37:3 (NIV)

“Trust in the LORD, and do good;
So shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.”
--Psalm 37:3 (KJV)

I love those words. I especially loved the “verily” in the KJV. Verily. It’s definition is “truly, confidently, in truth, certainly, assuredly”. (Now I have the hymn “Blessed Assurance” in my head!) We will dwell in the land, and we will verily…CERTAINLY…be fed and enjoy safe pasture. We will IN TRUTH be fed and enjoy safe pasture. We will CONFIDENTLY be fed and enjoy safe pasture. Wow. What amazing assurance (I know…it still in my head) that God is in control of everything. We need but be still and “trust in the Lord”.

The word choice in this verse reminds me of Matthew 28:20, when Jesus says, “And SURELY I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Surely. Not “with some of you”. Not “if something else major isn’t going on in the world”. Not “if you are good and deserve it”. Surely. Absolutely. 100% He is with me, to the very end of the age. And not just some of the time or even most of the time, but ALWAYS. So Jesus said, “I will absolutely and completely be with you 100% of the time, to the very end of the age.” Amazing. (I just got goose bumps.) :0)

Anyways, when I read Psalm 37:3 this morning, the words made me think of something I remember President Clinton saying many years ago. I googled it just now, and he’s used the phrase multiple times, but the instance I remember is when he was giving a commencement address at Touglaoo College on May 17, 2003, just a few months after his inauguration. At the end of the speech, he said, “You must do well and do good.” Maybe it was because it was a week or so after my own college graduation, but his words have always stuck with me. I actually use them in my prayer life quite a bit…especially with my precious newborn niece and so many other friends having little ones of their own. Anywho, I have always loved that phrase, “Do well and do good.” This verse reminded me of it this morning. Trust in the Lord. Do good. Dwell in the land. Enjoy safe pasture. Be fed by God. The New ASB says “feed on His faithfulness” or “cultivate faithfulness”. I like that too. :0)

So trust in the Lord, and do well and do good in His name. He is here with us and he will feed us His faithfulness, forgiveness, compassion, strength, and love.