“Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass.”

Psalm 37:5

When you read this, it will already he 1961! 

But I am still in the old year while I write this. 

I want to say something to you with regard to the changing of the year. 

And as always, I sought and found a word of God. 

As you stand before a New Year, roll your way unto the Lord: for He is the only Almighty God, and merciful Father. He will take care of you. 

Psalm 37 harbors a great contrast between the righteous and the wicked. You find in it a description of the wicked and the righteous, as well as their end. 

The context of my text is sweet as honey and the honeycomb. 

“Delight thyself also in the Lord!” Can you think of anything sweeter than that? Think on the Godhead in terms of delight, pleasure, ecstasy. Is there anything in this sorry world that can be compared to that activity?

Start from the beginning of the psalm: Do not fret thyself because of evil men; trust in God; delight thyself in Him, and then roll your way on Him: He is strong, and able to take care of all your way. And the result will be that He will recreate you unto a glorious vessel of mercy. 

No, this does not mean that you are the first, and God a glorious second. 

It is presupposed that you are already alive unto Him. The poet is David, the man after God’s own heart. 

But, nevertheless, we are taught here that God will recreate your life in such a way that you will be the beautiful Bride of Christ in the day when He will make up His jewels. Body and soul, with the whole of the church of Christ, shall be to His glorious praises forever more.

Our way, what is it? 

Your way is your whole life, period. 

From the cradle to the grave with all that lies in between. But from the point of view of the heart. All the issues of your life proceed from the heart, so that as the heart of man is, so is he! 

It includes progress, direction and destination. 

Hence, it is so terrible important that we keep our heart above all that is to be kept, for out of it are the issues of our lives. 

Commit thy way unto the Lord! 

It is not so evident from the English translation, but in the Hebrew we have here a mixed metaphor. It says literally: Roll thy way unto the Lord. 

The word used here has the figure of a burden which you are to throw on the Lord. 

And why should we throw our burden upon God?

First, because it is a burden. From the cradle to the grave. It is a wonder that we get to be as old as we are. That is not always so clear, especially when we are young, or when all things turn out to our advantage and then I mean to the advantage of the flesh. Then things look rosy, and we laugh and play, and are in good spirits. 

But look somewhat deeper, and better still, read Psalm 90:10. And there we read: Their strength is labor and sorrow! That is, the strength of our days, that is, the best of our days here on earth. 

And why? 

That is easy: it is so because of sin and guilt. That’s enough to make us weep all the day long. From infancy to our last death throb, we are sinners against God, and consequently we are guilty and damn worthy. 

Our whole life from the heart is running in minus, an everlasting minus, falling far short of the glory of God’s sanctuary. 

Is that not enough to make you weep? 

Look at the life which you lived in 1960; look at it through the spectacles of the law of God, and weep. 

It’s all corrupt, evil, unrighteous, and damnable. It is so evil, my dear readers, that if you are to be judged according to your life’s work, you will spend eternity in the lake of fire and brimstone, weeping and gnashing your teeth. 

Now, the man that knows this has a hard life. 

Do you want proof? 

Then read the psalms of David, and note how often he grovels in the dust before the face of God. 

When the Spirit of grace opens your eyes, so that you can read and understand the Word of God, you find the proof in your evening prayer. And I mean your evening prayer, at the conclusion of each and every day of your life. 

Our life is a burden. 

But the result, the reward of sin, is a greater burden. 

I have said sometimes from the pulpit: “If you want to know something about what hell is like, you must ask a child of God!” 

You do not understand that? Then read Psalm 116:3, “The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.” Or go to Moses and listen to this man of God: “For we are consumed by Thine anger, and by Thy wrath are we troubled.” Psalm 90:7. 

Sin incurs guilt, and guilt is liability to punishment, and punishment is hell. 

Believe it, dear reader, our way is a mess! 

It is that at its very inception. When we are born, we have a load of guilt pressing down upon us in the cradle, and when we progress on the way, we make that burden heavier. 

We see that every evening, but at the evening of the year it becomes oppressive beyond our days. We think then on the 365 days that flew past, and are weary with our days.

There is no man who is able to carry that burden. And, therefore, the Lord comes to us in the evening of the year, and tells us: Cast that burden upon Me! 

And leave it there! 

This last thought we find in the sentence: “trust also in Him!” 

To trust in God means that you patiently wait on Him: He will surely make it come to pass. 

Wait on the Lord! 

He is able to bear that burden, in fact, He has carried that burden for you already. Objectively, God has carried that burden from all eternity. Objectively, He carried that burden all through the weary years of the Old Dispensation. Objectively, He carried that burden on the Cross. 

How do I know that? 

The Bible tells me that the Lamb of God was slain from before the foundation of the world. 

I believe that God has justified His saints from everlasting. 

But here is the point of this psalm: God wants you to believe that when you see your mess. He wants you to have that justification in your heart. Therefore, He says to you and to me in the eve of the year: Cast that burden on My shoulders: you cannot bear it!

And leave that burden there: trust in Me! 

Many, many years ago, when I was a child, I heard old men pray within my hearing, and they said in their prayers: “O God! dat wij ons mogen laten zakken en zinken op U, de Rots die van geen wankelen weet!” Freely translated that would be something like this: O God, that we may let ourselves fall and sink down upon Thee the Rock who does not know of any wavering! 

So, trust in the Lord after throwing your burden on Him, and He will surely take care of you. 

However, there is one thing we must keep before our mind in this connection. And that is this: to cast your burden on God, and to trust in Him wholly, does not mean that you just sit. Oh no, but a true Christian works all the day long, uses all the means, is busy in sanctification and all good works. However, after all is said and done, you trust in God who is a complete Savior.

And what is the result of the action of the true believer?

This: “And He shall bring it to pass.” 

Now remember that this is a poor translation. 

The literal translation is this: “And He shall create!” 

Hence, it means that God shall perform the perfect work for you. 

And what is that? 

Undoubtedly it refers to your whole life. For that is the subject of this text. Remember? It was your way which was at stake. You must cast your way upon the Lord and trust that He will take care of it. 

Well, He will and He has. 

It is a wonderfully comforting thought at the evening of this year, and at the beginning of another year of our Lord. The thought namely, that God will create. 

It means this: through the wonder of the Incarnate Word your life is entirely renewed. Attend to this text: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Eph. 2:10. ” The phrase: “created in Christ Jesus” is exactly the meaning of that part of my text which says: “and He shall create.” 

It means that He gives you the life of Christ in regeneration, and conversion, and sanctification. It means that He has removed all your sin and guilt through the self-sacrifice of God in the Mediator on the cross of Calvary. It means that He has clothed you with the fine and pure linen which is the justification of the saints. 

And the basis is the cross of Jesus Christ. 

Trust in that cross, in that Christ, in that God of your salvation. Rest in Him, trust and rely on Him and He will create. He will go on creating, until you are body and soul in heaven, in the second, in the last Paradise of God. Oh yes, in that trust let us enter 1961! Amen. 

—G.V.