I have often refused help.

 Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.

Psalm 55:22 (ESV)
 
We must learn to cast our burden on the Lord, for He can help. Casting our burden on others may seem to lighten the load, and indeed, it may, but to remove it, we need to cast it on the Lord.
 
To not be moved is not to slip. During life's rougher times, we need to dig in, take a stand, and not move, and as we cast our cares upon Him, we can do just that. Those who cast their cares on others, or turn into moaners and groaners, will slip, for their trust has been established in areas that were not worthy of such.
 
God has never promised to remove the "burdens" of this life, but He has promised to carry them.
 
I have often refused help. My pride makes it so that I can do all things without help, but my stubborn heart makes life tougher than it was meant to be.

How do you view God?

 But God is my helper. The Lord keeps me alive!

Psalms 54:4
 
Sometimes, I think I am the one helping God, yet He does not need my help to succeed. I am not needed; I am wanted. Any success I enjoy comes from the fact that God is my helper.
The word helper in the verse comes from a primitive root meaning to surround, protect, or aid. (Strongs) 
 
Without God, I have no life, purpose, or hope.
 
Romans 8:31 tells us this: "What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?"
 
Whatever the task at hand today, whatever the challenges I face, if God is my helper, I will not fail.
 
How do you view God?
 

What will that day be like for you?

 Will those who do evil never learn? They eat up my people like bread and wouldn't think of praying to God. Terror will grip them, terror like they have never known before. God will scatter the bones of your enemies. You will put them to shame, for God has rejected them.

Psalm 53:4-5
 
There is a time when we finally "get it," that "ah-ha" moment. For some, that happens early enough in life to adjust their thoughts and actions to be in accordance with God's plans.
However, there will be those who ignore truth all their lives, and who will face the "terror" of truth for the first time when they cannot change their direction.
 
It's awesome to think that one day we will stand before God alone. All will be awed by His presence. Some will be caught up in worship, while others will be gripped with the terror that comes from their lifelong ignorance.
 
What will that day be like for you? Why?

Wisdom starts with acknowledging that there is a God

 

The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good. Psalm 53:1 (ESV)   God is not politically correct. Those who are politically correct are concerned more with how they say something than in what they say. God tells us that those who say there is no God are fools, and therefore, they are.   They may be educated, wealthy fools, but nonetheless, they are fools. Since there is no higher authority than God, He is correct in His assessment. It is hard for us to think that the highly educated, wealthy, seemingly carefree individual is a fool, yet that is the case if they have claimed there is no God.   In English, the fool acts "unwisely" if you live as if there is no God; you have acted "unwisely." In the Bible, the word "fool," as it is used, means "stupid" or "wicked" or stupid and wicked. Wisdom starts with acknowledging that there is a God and we are not Him. Then, it plays out in all our decisions.

Love, Mercy and Grace

 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Psalm 51:10-17 (ESV)
 
We can have a dirty heart and a wrong spirit, and God sees what is going on and has every right to cast us away. Yet, His love, mercy, and grace keep us, not our perfection.
 
When we begin focusing on the world, the joy of our salvation is taken from us. When we focus back on God, it is restored.
 

Correct Conclusions

 Why should I fear in times of trouble, when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me, those who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches? Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice, that he should live on forever and never see the pit. For he sees that even the wise die; the fool and the stupid alike must perish and leave their wealth to others. Their graves are their homes forever, their dwelling places to all generations, though they called lands by their own names. Man in his pomp will not remain; he is like the beasts that perish. This is the path of those who have foolish confidence; yet after them people approve of their boasts. Selah

Psalm 49:5-13 (ESV)
 
Those who think things out correctly come to the correct conclusion. People who trust in people are no different from the beasts of the field. Eventually, those who think like animals, act like animals. God made us in His image, not theirs.

God Is Great!

 

Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God! His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth, Mount Zion, in the far north, the city of the great King. Within her citadels God has made himself known as a fortress. For behold, the kings assembled; they came on together. As soon as they saw it, they were astounded; they were in panic; they took to flight. Trembling took hold of them there, anguish as of a woman in labor. By the east wind you shattered the ships of Tarshish. As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God, which God will establish forever. Selah We have thought on your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of your temple. Psalm 48:1-9 (ESV Strong's)   One will burst into proclamation that God is great and greatly to be praised as one thinks about His steadfast love. If you dwell on the proper thoughts, you express the appropriate emotions.

God Is Worthy

 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

Psalm 46:1-3 (ESV)
 
Money is not your refuge and strength. Physical strength, family, position, or power are not your comfort and strength. Money, physical strength, family, position, and power can keep you from the refuge you need, and rob you of your real strength.
 
Man's real strength lies in God, not in man. It is so easy to get this wrong, and when we do, we never find that for which we are looking.
 
The indication in these verses is that there will be times of trouble. For some reason, we want to think that troubled times will not come to us, and we often hope our relationship with God will hold them off, making it impossible to enjoy Him during them. (We are blaming Him for them.)
 
God is worthy of our trust at all times.

Losing the Moment

 For not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me. But you have saved us from our foes and have put to shame those who hate us. In God we have boasted continually, and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah

Psalm 44:6-8 (ESV)
 
Scripture tells us that we will never be secure in our strength, inventions, or intentions. Those who are strong are strong in the Lord. He alone can control the uncontrollable. He alone can deliver hope, security, and significance in this life and the next.
 
Those who live for the moment have lost it, for it will fly away faster than they wish, and it will become the carrot on the string for the days to come.
 
Those who concentrate on having strength in this world have something that will not be available to them in the future. All who trust in their strength will lose that in which they have trusted in. Those who trust in God will never be at a loss.
 
God is older than us, smarter than us, and loves us. We can trust Him.

God is always right and, therefore, He is always good.

 As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, "Where is your God?" These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival.

Psalm 42:1-4 (ESV)
 
What will it take to get you to the point where you "thirst" for God? How precious it would be for a man to thirst for God without going through impossible and tragic times.
 
Yet, often, life's disasters bring the most precious truths to the surface, and allow us, once again, or for the first time, to revel in what is rather than in what is perceived.
 
God is always right and, therefore, He is always good. The sooner we recognize this, the sooner we can enjoy life.

Living In Reality

 

"O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah Surely a man goes about as a shadow! Surely for nothing they are in turmoil; man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather! Psalm 39:4-6 (ESV)   Proper perspective is critical to experiencing a significant and secure life. There is a God; I am not Him. God loves me, which means I have a choice. God has a plan; I need to discover that plan and adjust my life to it.   Those who live in reality have a real chance of living significant lives because of what God will accomplish through them. Those who lack perspective cannot be significant.   As I get older, this passage makes more sense. I see how fast life moves and how futile it is to live for the moment.

My Ways Can Be His Ways

 The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand. I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread. He is ever lending generously, and his children become a blessing.

Psalm 37:23-26 (ESV Strong's)
 
When I listen to God, my ways are His, and there is no way for His ways to fail. Therefore, there is no way for me to fail when I listen to Him. We may not always understand, but we can always obey, and obedience is far more important than understanding. Wonderfully, God eclipses life's obstacles and allows us to overcome them instead of succumbing to them.
 

The Meek

 But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.

Psalm 37:11 (ESV)
 
The meek are those who are humble and who do not think that the world revolves around them. These are those who have placed themselves in the correct position of created ones, not creator ones.
 
The meek see the world clearly. They understand that God always was, is, and will be, and that they once were not. The meek, not the strong, are the heroes of the faith, and the strong are the losers. The meek have no one and nothing to depend on but God. The strong have a temptation to trust their perceived strength.
 
The meek delight in God, and the strong put up with Him. The meek revel in God's Word, are intentional about spending time with Him, and desire nothing more than to give Him a vessel in which to demonstrate His power, love, and plans.
 
The meek are commended in Psalm 37 and by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. The meek are God's people doing life God's way.
 

Anger leads to evil.

 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

Psalm 37:8-9 (ESV)
 
Being angry is best left to those who are perfect and can use their anger to benefit those with whom they are angry. My anger does not achieve much good. It makes me tense, causes grief, and makes many not want to be around me. Often, it is motivated by my self-centered worldview, and aimed at those who do not acknowledge that the world revolves around me (at least my world).
 
James tells us that man's anger does not produce God's righteousness. It produces many words that one regrets uttering, many gestures one regrets giving, and many situations in which one regrets being placed.
 
Anger leads to evil, and evil doers are cut off from the life that God has for them now and in eternity. Anger is the fruit of the tree of self-centeredness, and it needs to be dealt with swiftly before the generation consumes its fruit to come.

Stillness

 

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! Psalm 37:7 (ESV)   Be still has no hidden meaning. It means be still. Those who are not still before God will fret over the circumstances of this life. Meaningful relationships require "still time."   Being still implies both listening and, as mentioned in the verse, waiting patiently. God's timing is not always evident, but He will always work things out, in the end, the way it should be for those who love Him.   Loving God is defined as doing what God says. This is a unique response to God because God is always right. Loving each other means to do whatever is "best" for the other person. This changes because we change.   That is why, the wise are those who are "still" before God then active carrying out His orders. This is perhaps, most appropriate in prayer. Constantly telling God what to do is not wise, but sitting and pondering what God is doing and saying is quite valuable. Be still…..

Commitment

 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.

Psalm 37:5-6 (ESV)
 
We are to check our ways and ensure that they align with God's ways, even when we do not understand or agree with God. Committing our way is just that; those who commit need to trust.
God has never and will never give us a reason to doubt Him, even though we have given Him multiple reasons to doubt us. As we commit our way to Him, our righteousness (our doing what is right) and our justice will eventually be evident.
 
Commitment is the foundation of a solid relationship. One does not have a solid relationship, and then a commitment, but is committed and gains a meaningful relationship.
 
Those who mess up the order mess up the relationship. It should be easy to commit to a perfect God unless we think He is not perfect, in which case we will be proven wrong.
 

In what are you "delighting" today?

 

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 (ESV)   We do not often talk of "delighting" in someone. In the original language, the word delight is a primitive root meaning to be soft or pliable. It implies being delicate in a way that totally makes oneself enjoyably available. Another literal translation might be "Seek for delicacies in the Lord." As one delights in God, one wants to please God, and the desires of our hearts align with the God in Whom we are delighted. Therefore, to give us the desires of our hearts is to provide us with the very will of God.   1 Corinthians 2:9 says this: But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him." Those who love God and live as if they love God will find satisfaction in this life and be honored in the next.   In what are you "delighting" today? What satisfaction has it brought to you?

Instead of fretting…

 Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

Psalm 37:1-3 (ESV)
 
Often, when God tells us to avoid one behavior, He gives us another positive action. In this case, we are told not to fret about evildoers. As mentioned in the previous “Thought for the Day,” fretting wastes time and changes nothing, while ruining our lives.
 
Instead of fretting we are told to trust the Lord. This has enormous implications. Those in God's family can trust that their Father has their back. They can know that anyone who does evil to them because of their love of Him will be dealt with. First and foremost, God would like to bring them into the family and have them on the same side. However, if they choose to continue to be enemies of God, they will be enemies of His children, and they will eventually pay the price for such foolishness.
 

Fret Not!

 Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb.

Psalm 37:1-2 (ESV)
 
“Fret not” sounds easy, but applies hard. So often, evil gets most of our thought time. Usually, we stress out over what others are doing or saying. It is as if we think that our continual thinking about them will change them and what they are about. Fretting about someone doing wrong has never changed the person doing wrong.
 
The idea of fretting here could be comparable to sandpaper and wood. If I was to take sandpaper and rub it on a piece of wood until it is gone, it would be a laborious and worthless act. Fretting gives us the same work and the same results. In this strange way, the evil doers ruin our lives when they attack us and when they are not even around us because of our constant "fretting."
 
Evildoers need God's intervention, and the best thing we can do is pray for them and entrust our lives to God.

This universe is not about me.

 Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes. For he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated. The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit; he has ceased to act wisely and do good. He plots trouble while on his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not reject evil.

Psalm 36:1-4 (ESV)
 
Transgression, or rebellion, speaks deeply to the non-believer's heart. It starts with fearing something or someone other than God, and then moves to elevating oneself in the sight of others.
 
If you do not know God, you seem to want to become God. Yet, if you think about being God for just a moment, you would not want that position. First and foremost, we do not have God's attributes, the attributes necessary to be the creator and sustainer of the universe. Second, we are not capable of carrying the burden that God alone can carry.
 
This universe is not about me. It was created for me. There is a big difference in that.

Those who love God must be patient.

 How long, O Lord, will you look on? Rescue me from their destruction, my precious life from the lions! I will thank you in the great congregation; in the mighty throng I will praise you. Let not those rejoice over me who are wrongfully my foes, and let not those wink the eye who hate me without cause. For they do not speak peace, but against those who are quiet in the land they devise words of deceit. They open wide their mouths against me; they say, "Aha, Aha! Our eyes have seen it!" You have seen, O LORD; be not silent! O Lord, be not far from me! Awake and rouse yourself for my vindication, for my cause, my God and my Lord! Vindicate me, O LORD, my God, according to your righteousness, and let them not rejoice over me! Let them not say in their hearts, "Aha, our heart's desire!" Let them not say, "We have swallowed him up." Let them be put to shame and disappointed altogether who rejoice at my calamity! Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves against me! 

Psalm 35:17-23 (ESV)
 
AG Brown summarized how long we need to wait on the Lord.
 
1. "Long enough to try your faith." He loves to strengthen the faith of His people. Hence He often tries them by delaying the answers to their prayer.
2. "Long enough to teach you your own weakness."
3. To make you value the deliverance. That which is easily obtained is little valued. "Lord, how long wilt Thou look on?"
4. "Until the right moment." Not a moment too soon for His own glory: not a moment too late for your good.
 
Our clock is always too fast; we call upon the Lord and say, "Lord, now is the time; the hour to deliver has struck," but no answer comes because He keeps not His time by ours, and His clock still wants some minutes to the hour; but when that has struck, swift as the lightning flash He is at our side. Trust Him, then believe. Though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come. (A. G. Brown.)
 
Those who love God must be patient.

Significance and Security

 The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous, and his ears toward their cry. The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.

Psalm 34:15-19 (ESV)
 
Those who trust in God will never be ashamed. They may and should be disappointed in this life; they may be rejected, hated, despised, and even persecuted, but never ashamed.
 
Those who are ashamed of being Christians or Christ followers do not know God. If you spend time getting to know God, it will be well spent, for at some point in the process, the world and the universe make sense, and your part within both becomes relevant.
 
Significance and security come from knowing God, pointing to Him, and consistently doing that daily and in every circumstance.

Those who seek the Lord, find the Lord.

 I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together! I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.

Psalm 34:1-6 (ESV)
 
Those who seek the Lord, find the Lord. If you have not found Him, you have not been seeking Him. You would rather give up this life than your association with Him when you find Him. It has been that way throughout history. The term abandonment would not work because you cannot abandon a God with Whom you are only acquainted. Those willing to abandon God have never really sought Him in the first place.