Feeding On His Faithfulness

Trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land and feed on his faithfulness. (Psalm 37:3 NKJV)

When God challenged me to write an article on this verse, many things ran through my head. Immediately my thoughts went to one of my favorite Psalms, Psalm 1, where it says the faithful man is like a tree planted by rivers of waters, that brings forth its fruit in its season.

The images that come to mind are the roots that go deep in the soil by the river’s edge. Here by the river’s edge, the soil is always damp. There is always water. Water is essential for growth. You must have water to successfully grow any crop and produce fruit.

The tree doesn’t move around. It stays planted firmly by the water’s edge.

So is the Christian that faithfully meets God every morning at the same place, same time, to sit before the Lord and drink in of his goodness.

This Christian is like the tree that is continually by the river, drawing water and nutrients from the rich soil.

What does this picture inspire? Productiveness.

The one that consistently draws from the rich and bountiful presence of the Lord, is himself full of good things. He will be a reliable source to young Christians who need in turn to be fed and encouraged.

The Christian who is like the tree planted by rivers of water is really the one who feeds on His faithfulness, mentioned in Psalm 37:3.

That Christian who constantly feeds on his faithfulness will “do good,” mentioned in the first part of the verse.

I have mentioned many times in my writings the fact that God wakes me early in the morning to pray and to feed on his faithfulness. Sometimes I rise as early as 2:30 a.m. and sometimes as late as 5 a.m. but the mornings when I sleep past that time are very rare.

When God wakes me in the night I get up right away because I don’t want to miss that time with Him. It is by far my favorite time of the day. The world is asleep and there are no distractions. It is dead silent, which makes it so much easier to hear God’s voice.

God’s voice keeps me going.

I love to hear it.

When I hear it, which is every morning, I write whatever He says to me in my journal.

His words to me are as pure gold.

My life and direction are shaped by what He speaks to me in the morning, the things I write in my journal.

I have been writing in my journals since the year 1981. That is when my family moved to a new house in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. For whatever reason, I went to the donut shop in the area, had a donut and coffee, spread out my Bible and just enjoyed the quiet. There were one or two other people in the shop at the time, and they were alone, not talking to anyone.

I don’t know what was different about that morning, but God began to speak to me. I was so excited, I wrote down what He said to me in my notebook. This started a habit. I always had a journal handy when I sat down to read the Bible or to pray, or to just quiet myself before the Lord and listen. So, journaling for me started in 1981. I have journals that when stacked up would be a pile four feet tall. That’s a lot of writing. That’s a lot of God’s words.

I can go back to old journals and I marvel at what God said back then, and how He did what He said He was going to do. His faithfulness!

What does faithfulness mean?

A faithful man is one who does what he says he is going to do.

The verse says “feed on His faithfulness.” Feeding on His faithfulness means you develop a sense of great stability and comfort. Whenever you get before God in the quiet place, you feed on His faithfulness.

God will never fail you.

When you come to Him, He is there. He is ready to listen to you. You feed on Him because He is always there listening and bringing continual blessing and bounty into your life. That is His faithfulness, and you have the privilege of feeding on His faithfulness.

Photograph designed and taken by Lorraine