The Bible has a great deal to say about the importance of living by faith. We are told that without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Abraham is held up as an example to Christians of one who actively walked with God and lived by faith. How do you actually live by faith in your daily life? This is a vital topic that every Christian needs to understand.
In our day-to-day lives, we encounter many ups and downs. Sometimes we may face a specific trial with health, or with job or financial problems. Other times we are simply dealing with ongoing stresses of life. At one time or another, we have had people who have seemingly “had it in” for us or for our family. Over and over, we find ourselves in circumstances where it is not within our power to control the outcome. How should we respond to such situations? What does God want us to do?
Have you ever wondered why Scripture places so much importance on faith? The answer lies in understanding what God is actually doing. He is building a family! Healthy families have close relationships. At the heart and core of any healthy relationship is trust. The Family of God will be able to dwell together in peace and harmony for eternity, because every member of the family completely trusts the Father! If we trust Him, we will obey Him and follow His ways. As we learn to trust God, we develop a relationship with Him. Abraham developed a close relationship with God, based upon learning to trust Him totally. Because he trusted God, Abraham walked with Him in his daily life—and came to be called the friend of God.
As we face the pressures and difficulties of life, how do we actually live by faith in our daily circumstances? Is there a place you can go in the Bible that lays out a step-by-step process of how to live and walk by faith each day? The answer is contained in a Psalm written by a man after God’s own heart: King David. In preparation for his destiny as King of Israel, David went through many tests and trials that taught him how to develop a deep, personal relationship with God, and to walk with Him in all of life’s circumstances. During most of the decade of his twenties, he was on the run from King Saul, simply trying to avoid being killed. While we can read over the account of those years in a few chapters of 1 Samuel, we must never forget that David lived them one day at a time. He did not know the time frame of his trial, any more than we generally know the time frames of ours. In Psalm 37, we read not simply a list of platitudes; we read what David actually learned, through practical experience, about how to walk with God in life’s most trying and frustrating circumstances. As we look at this Psalm, we will see that seven steps to walking by faith are clearly outlined.
Step #1—Do Not Worry About What Others Are Doing
“Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the workers of iniquity, for they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb” (vv. 1–2) was the first step that David recorded in Psalm 37. To fret is to become agitated, angry or disturbed. How many times have we let ourselves become agitated and upset because of what someone else seemed to be getting away with? Sometimes we may have even looked with a little bit of envy at those who were not trying to obey God, yet appeared to be prospering. The message of faith is that God sees what is going on, and that the prosperity of the wicked is just about as permanent as the grass! When we get our minds on the behavior of others, and trying to “fix” or control them, then our minds are off of the only behavior we can really do something about—our own!
During the final decade of his kingship over Israel, King Saul became absolutely obsessed with David. He reached the point that he could not even function as king because all of his mental and emotional energy seemed wrapped up in David. He was consumed with agitation and worry. He certainly was not trusting God to take care of him, but rather was trying to kill an innocent man in an effort to establish his own dynasty. When we put our focus so heavily on what others have done, are doing or might do, then we are unable to focus on what we ourselves need to be doing.
An important aspect of walking by faith lies in trusting God to fight our battles for us. He can fight our battles much more effectively than we can. When King Sennacherib of Assyria wrote to Hezekiah, making threats of destruction and captivity for Judah, King Hezekiah went to God and actually spread the letter out before Him. He was in a desperate situation but, instead of becoming consumed with worry and anxiety, he turned to God and put the whole matter in His hands. In the midst of our trials, putting our focus on God’s power rather than on the behavior and threats of others is the first step to walking by faith.
Step #2—Put Your Confidence in God
David went on to write in Psalm 37:3: “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.” To trust is to have confidence. When we turn our minds away from focusing on the people and situations over which we have no control, we can then focus on God and on His power. We can have absolute confidence in both God’s ability and His motives! God told Joshua, after the death of Moses, that He would neither fail him nor forsake him (Joshua 1:5). In other words, God was both able and willing to meet the needs of His people. He still is!
In the well-known 23rd Psalm, David wrote: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me: Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” (v. 4). Through a life filled with danger and threats of danger, David learned to trust God and have confidence in His providence. In part, he was able to do this because he understood the role of a shepherd very clearly. After all, he had been a shepherd during his adolescent years. The shepherd’s rod that he mentioned was used to fight off animals that were endangering the sheep, and the staff was used to guide the sheep—or perhaps to pull a sheep out of a dangerous situation. The point is that a good shepherd was prepared to protect his sheep and was always alert to their needs. On more than one occasion, young David had risked his own life to protect the sheep under his charge (cf. 1 Samuel 17:34–35). Sheep under the care of such a shepherd learned to trust him for all of their needs.
Having such trust toward Jesus Christ, the true Good Shepherd, frees us to do the positive things that we need to do in life. Instead of being consumed with trying to protect the self, we can instead concentrate on doing what is right and good. Trusting God is a vital key that helps us to take our minds off of ourselves and to be truly about our Father’s business. When David wrote that the Eternal was his shepherd, those words conveyed a deep wealth of meaning to him. He knew the role of the shepherd as protector, provider and comforter, and had absolute confidence in God’s fulfillment of that role.
Step #3—Delight Yourself in the Lord
“Delight yourself also in the Lord,” David wrote, “and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). Years ago, when my children were growing up, I took my family every summer on a 3,600-mile round trip to visit my wife’s family in Saskatchewan. To relieve the tedium of a long car trip for two active little boys, my wife came up with the idea of wrapping little presents, for the boys to have as surprises along the way. Twice a day we would give them each a brightly wrapped package that they quickly proceeded to tear open. Have you ever seen a little child tear the wrapping off a present in order to discover its contents? If so, you probably have a mental picture of unabashed delight and pleasure.
What is it that really gets us excited in life? Did you know that God has many treasures in store for you, wrapped up in His Word and just waiting to be discovered? The ancient prophet Isaiah was inspired of God to record a vital point relating to this subject. In Isaiah 58:13–14, we are exhorted to turn away from trampling on God’s Sabbath and are told not to pursue our own mundane interests on His holy time. Rather, we are told to “honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words.” What is the alternative to pursuing secular delights? Does God want us to just sit around gloomy and morose on every Sabbath? Of course not! Notice what is the wonderful alternative to pursuing our own human interests. “Then you shall delight yourself in the Lord; and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father.”
God wants us to put our focus on Him, and on the things that are connected with Him and His great plan. Each Sabbath should be approached as a time to unwrap another of God’s presents for us. It might be a lesson that leaps out at us from the pages of Scripture, or it might be some point of understanding that we discover from an article, a booklet or a sermon. Sometimes it is the rich gift of fellowship with other believers who are also seeking God’s Kingdom. The point is for us to make God, and the things of God, the source of our delight. While this should not be limited to only once a week, it can be pursued more fully on the Sabbath than on any other day, because this is the day on which God forbids us from pursuing our secular labors and interests. Delighting ourselves in the things of God on a regular basis is a vital key to being able to live by faith.
Step #4—Turn Your Concerns Over to God
Psalm 37:5 reminds us: “Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.” So often, it is hard for us to turn loose and simply put a matter in God’s hands. We intend to turn it over to Him, and may even do so for a few moments, but then we proceed to reclaim it quickly as our own. We struggle under such a heavy load, because we keep trying to carry that load ourselves. It is often very hard to put into practice the Apostle Peter’s admonition that each of us should be “casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).
King Jehoshaphat of Judah faced an overwhelming situation, and it frightened him. He was threatened with the invasion of enemy armies that were poised to destroy his nation. What was his response? It was one that would certainly never even occur to most modern leaders. In fact, most people today would consider his response downright irresponsible! Instead of pursuing a military solution, or attempting to hire foreign allies, he proclaimed a fast and gathered the people of Judah together. He led the nation in heartfelt prayer to the Great God, concluding with these words: “For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon you” (2 Chronicles 20:12). Clearly aware of his own powerlessness, Jehoshaphat made the decision to completely trust God, and to commit the entire situation into His hands. What was the result? God told him to make ready the Temple choir and orchestra, and to watch the results. The next day, Jehoshaphat went out to meet the enemy troops with the Levitical choir in the forefront, singing praises to God! When they arrived at the battlefield, it was only to find that the enemy forces of the Moabites, Ammonites and Edomites had all turned on one another—and completely destroyed each other’s armies! The king and those with him returned to Jerusalem with joy, entering into the Temple to celebrate God’s deliverance. As a consequence, the other nations, upon seeing that God was fighting His people’s battles, left Judah alone and the land had rest (vv. 27–30). You and I will never fully turn something over to God unless we recognize our inability to fight our own battles and to meet our own needs. We must always remember: God can carry our loads and fight our battles with far more success than we can.
Step #5—Rest in the Lord
Have you ever had cause to notice that God does not operate on the time schedule that you have drawn up? This is where a fifth step becomes crucial. Psalm 37:7 reminds us: “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.” After we have turned something over to God, an important lesson of faith is to relax in faith and wait for God to do what He says He will do. The alternative is to be nervous and agitated, figuratively “pacing the floor” until God comes through.
In his Autobiography, Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong wrote of the founding of Ambassador College and described the severe trials of those early years. Surrounded by people who kept talking of “when this thing folds up” and facing incredible financial pressures that were beyond his ability to meet, Mr. Armstrong found himself feeling overwhelmed. There was a time, he admitted, when he actually prayed God to let him die during the night rather than to awaken to these overwhelming pressures and problems the next morning. The next day, he had to repent deeply of having given way to despondency. Finally, in 1949, circumstances began to ease up a little. Mr. Armstrong wrote that it was “during that respite I finally learned how to RELAX in faith, and shift the weighty BURDEN of it over onto Christ” (Vol. 2, pp. 228–229).
The Apostle James wrote that the trying of our faith works patience (James 1:3). God has reasons for letting us learn to wait on His own perfect timing. When you and I can come to the point of being able to truly accept God’s will, in place of our self will, then we can finally rest and relax in faith, patiently waiting on God.
Step #6—Cease from Anger
Sometimes the attitude and behavior of others really begins to get to us. But David wrote in Psalm 37:8: “Cease from anger, and forsake wrath.” We cannot walk by faith while we are trying to avenge the self and get even with others. The Apostle Paul exhorted the Christians in Rome: “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.… Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord. ‘Therefore if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:14, 19–21).
When we allow resentments against others to build up, we are being poisoned spiritually. Such attitudes take us away from truly walking with God, and lead us into the way of self-will. James explained that the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God (James 1:20). If we truly walk by faith, we trust God to judge the world in righteousness—just as He promised to do. Walking by faith frees us to turn loose of the hurts that we suffer, and to meet rejection in the same manner that Jesus Christ did. Without this vital yet difficult key, we will become sidetracked in our effort to live by faith.
Step #7—Depart from Evil
In Hebrews 3 and 4, the Apostle Paul clearly links unbelief with disobedience. Just as true obedience from the heart is a result of faith, so disobedience is an inevitable result of not believing God. King David sums up this seventh point in Psalm 37:27. “Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell forevermore.” Real faith takes us in the pathway of obedience to God and to His law.
Paul explained in Romans 10:10 that “with the heart man believes unto righteousness” (KJV). If you truly believe God’s message from the very depths of your being, it will change your whole life! With this step we come full circle, uniting faith and obedience. We are not walking by faith unless we are seeking to live by every word of God and to please Him in all of our ways. Living faith always results in obedience.
During the seven days of the Unleavened Bread festival, our minds often turn back to the story of the children of Israel and the seven days they spent coming out of Egypt and crossing the Red Sea. They made their journey just as we must make ours—under God’s loving care, taking one step at a time. This festival season is a good time to meditate on how to walk by faith in our Christian life, day by day.