Trust Over Worry: God’s Strategy for Moving Ahead* (Psalm 37)

Are you stuck in worry, frustration, or uncertainty? Psalm 37 gives us a roadmap to move forward with God—even when life feels unfair. In this episode, Pastor Chris Teien shares four steps from Scripture that will help you release fear, refocus your heart, and follow God’s way ahead. 

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2285086/episodes/16335649

Key Points:

[1] TRUST in the Lord and Do Good – Psalm 37:3
 Instead of giving in to fear or comparison, choose to trust God and keep doing what is right.

[2] DELIGHT in the Lord – Psalm 37:4
 Make God your highest joy. As you delight in Him, He reshapes your heart and gives you new direction.

[3] COMMIT Your Way to the Lord – Psalm 37:5
 Let go of control and place your plans in God’s hands. When you commit your path to Him, He faithfully leads.

[4] BE STILL and WAIT Patiently – Psalm 37:7
 God doesn’t rush. Waiting is a powerful act of faith that opens the door to peace and clarity.

Personal Stories from Pastor Chris:
 From ministry decisions to adoption, loss, and leadership, Pastor Chris reflects on how trusting God through personal trials brought clarity, direction, and spiritual breakthrough.

Notable Quotes:

• “You don’t have to know the whole plan—you just have to trust the One who does.”
• “Delight in God isn’t about getting what you want, it’s about wanting what He gives.”
• “Stop worrying, start trusting, and watch how God moves you ahead.”

Actionable Takeaways:

• Heart-level reflection: What is keeping you from trusting God fully right now?
• Daily-life application: Read Psalm 37:3–7 each day this week and apply one step.
• Spiritual step or challenge: Pray specifically to surrender your plans to God.
• Practical next step: Practice stillness before God this week—quiet your heart, listen, and let Him lead.

Scripture References:

• Psalm 37:1–8 – Four-step pathway to trust and peace
• Matthew 6:33 – Seek first the kingdom of God
• Jeremiah 17:7–8 – Rooted in trust, unshaken in drought
• Matthew 7:7–8 – Ask, seek, knock
• James 1:5 – Ask for wisdom and He will give it

Keywords:
 Psalm 37, trusting God, stop worrying, delight in the Lord, surrender to God, God’s direction, moving forward, biblical steps, peace in chaos, Christian encouragement

Challenge:
 Trade your worry for God’s way. Take these four steps from Psalm 37—and trust that He will move you forward, one step at a time.

18m0602de The Power of Delight

The WELL Faith Podcast offers encouraging, Bible-based messages from Pastor Chris Teien and guests. New sermons are released every Sunday. Replay episodes are marked with an asterisk. Find us online at ChrisTeien.com and Rockwell.Church in Virginia, MN. Email comments to wellfaith24@gmail.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:16

And you can take your paper Bibles or your phone Bibles, your tablets or whatever, and turn to Psalm chapter thirty-seven. So I'm going to pray. Heavenly Father, I thank you so much for this opportunity to proclaim your word and for the promises that are in it. Lord, and your word says if we delight ourselves in you, that you'll give us the desires of our hearts. So Lord, I pray that you would help in this time to encourage us. Lord, we just thank you so much for the opportunity to worship you and to be part of your family and to know you and to share you. We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright, so Psalm chapter 37, verses 1 through 8. Don't worry about the wicked or envy those who do wrong. For like grass they soon fade away. Like spring flowers, they soon wither. Trust in the Lord and do good, and you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the Lord, and he'll give you your heart's desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you. He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun. Be still in the presence of the Lord and wait patiently for him to act. Don't worry about the evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes. Stop being angry. Turn from your rage. Do not lose your temper. It only leads to harm. Psalm 37, 1 through 8. So as I was preparing for this message, I realized that I have a lot of Bible commentaries about the New Testament, but I don't have a lot of tools for Psalms. And so I just wanted to find out every Hebrew innuendo for the word delight and figure out what it really means to delight in the Lord. And all my research shows that it means to pretty much delight in the Lord. That we need to love God and pursue Him. There's really no secret word there that says anything. But I did learn some stuff I wanted to share with you about Psalm chapter 37. One, it's a Hebrew acrostic, which is very interesting. So each stanza begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet, which was a common thing in the Psalm. Psalm 119 is like that. And it made it easy for people to memorize. Kids would memorize this stuff. So we think we're really smart today. We've got all the technology and all the science and all the tools and everything. But these kids back then memorized a lot of scripture. And I know our Bible cuisine kids memorize a lot of scripture. I challenge you to all memorize more scripture. But basically, Psalm 37 is offering clear responses that reduce the tensions of life. So all the difficulties in life, all the things that don't seem fair, like there's evil people all around that seem to be getting further ahead in life than we do. There's evil people all around that mistreat us and everything, and it's like, God, where are you? Why don't you stop them? Why don't you help us? And so the wise respond to evil by trusting in the Lord. Trust includes the five dimensions of renouncing irritability and envy, delighting in the Lord, submitting to the Lord, practicing patience and hope, and avoiding anger. Some Bible historians say that when David wrote this, it was towards the end of his life, and he had lots of life experience. So he knew that the Lord had done this, and his life experience proved that what's written here is true. So some think, some commentators think, that Psalm 37 to 41 is a series of Psalms written during a period of illness in David's life. If so, this may have been the opportunity that prompted his son Absalom to attempt to overthrow his father as king of Israel. While Scripture does not specifically speak of such an episode, it does record that Absalom won the hearts of the people during a time when David was not judging the lawsuits of Israel's citizens. So his son seized the opportunity to undermine his father by presenting himself as a better choice for king in 2 Samuel 15. Absalom intercepted those who came to the king's court with complaints and criticized his father for not appointing someone to hear their cases in his absence. Commentators speculate that David was not fulfilling his duties as judge due to the seriousness of his illness referred to in these Psalms. So David is writing this from experience and also from a time of great hardship and pain and difficulty. So he isn't, you a lot of the Psalms are directed towards the Lord, and this one is actually directed towards people, to give people encouragement, to give people hope, to say that things might be bad right now, but you can trust in the Lord. Things might be difficult, and other people might be hurting you, harming you, causing you sadness or pain or whatever, and trust in the Lord that God's gonna take care of it eventually, though he might not do it this very sometimes. God waits on purpose. He knows, he sees what's going on, but if he waits, then something better could come from it. You know, eventually that evil, wicked person is gonna get what they deserve. But sometimes it's about us, and God is molding our character and helping us to become stronger. Sometimes it's about God doing something else. So God is not deaf to your requests, God does not turn away from you during your hardships and difficulties, but he knows, and in his timing, he'll take care of things. But until then, we need to trust in the Lord. So Psalm 37 about trusting in the Lord. So don't worry about the wicked or envy those who do wrong. For like grass they soon fade away. Like spring flowers, they soon wither. If you look at the life of David, you see all these people that tried to keep him from gaining the throne. He was called to be king by the Lord, and all of these people would get in his way and cause hardship and difficulty, and then they would fade away, and David would still stay on the throne where God put him. David went through some hard stuff himself. He did a sinful thing, he had an adulterous affair, and then killed the woman's husband, and you know all about that. And in the midst of all those difficulties, God still loved him and he still pursued God. David was known as the man after God's own heart, though there was a period of time when he lived in unconfessed sin. And life, if you look at all the Old Testament characters, life is difficult for just about everybody. And for us too, I think that life is just difficult for all of us. I think that none of us, I don't know anybody that feels like they totally measure up. Anybody that feels like they totally accomplish all that they should. I don't know anybody who says that they totally 100% trust in the Lord. Sometimes they ask us to pray that they can trust in the Lord more. Trust in the Lord and do good, then you will live safely in the land and prosper. And when this was written, this was talking about the promised land, about Canaan land, which is parallel to heaven and to time with God and those better days ahead. But we need to trust in the Lord and do good. So when life is difficult and the people around you are causing you difficulty, or your neighbors are, your co-workers, or your classmates, or whatever, what can you do to trust in the Lord and to do good? What can you do to encourage? What can you do to be blameless before them? What can you do to live a life that honors God in the midst of all the difficulty? The word worry or fret means to burn, to become heated, to become kindled as fire is kindled, to glow or to blaze. So don't be burning with anger. Don't be all upset or worrying about the wicked or envying those who do wrong. Sometimes it's easy to envy those who do wrong when you see all the stuff that they I know you do wrong, but you have a really big house. There was a car dealer that was famous across Minnesota that up on Lake Vermillion, the church that I went to before, some of the people in the church owned this island on Lake Vermillion, and behind it was that car dealer's really big house before he went to jail and lost all that stuff. Don't envy those types of people. It'd be better to be humble and simple and walk with the Lord than to have all the stuff and walk away from the Lord. So trust in the Lord, number one. We need to trust in the Lord. This is one of the favorite verses in the entire Bible to me. Sometimes I try to use it as a compass in my life. And it's to take delight in the Lord, and He'll give you your heart's desires. To put God first in all that you do. We delight in a lot of things. I mean, the local restaurant that serves a lot of ice cream has delights. They sell you delights and sugary treats, and that's kind of fun. I actually thought I should go over there and try some of those to prepare for my sermon, but I didn't. But anyway, to delight in the Lord, to put God first in all you do. So that means that you want to be in the Lord's presence. You want to spend time in God's Word to see what He has to say to you. Worship is singing often or listening to music or whatever. Dan leads worship because he loves the Lord and delights in the Lord and he'd love the worship team to expand. His deal is he wants to invest in people's lives to help them become more musical and to better praise the Lord and things like that. And so maybe you're musical and you could be part of the worship team. Music is often someone's delight. I have we have this dog, and when we first got him, he's a puppy. He would run all over and he would chase things and chew things, and he was always off here and there. And if you tried to hold him or get his attention or whatever, he didn't want any part of it. He was just always off doing this and that. And when he was really little, when he wanted to hold them and cuddle them and everything, he wouldn't sit still. And one day I said to my wife, I said, That dog's just not that into us. And when we'd play, I'd play catch and stuff with him, he wouldn't bring the ball back. He'd grab it and drop it and go run off and do something else. And I'm like, this puppy's just not that into us. And so the catching became so bad that I noticed that he liked to watch TV. So I put him in front of the TV in front of a YouTube video of this guy training a dog how to fetch a ball. So he watched the YouTube video, and then he maybe it helped, I don't know, but he actually does watch TV sometimes, especially if it's another dog. But as time goes on and he realizes how much we love him and care and everything and the rewards of catching the frisbee and bringing it back and everything, he's really into us now. So he knows us better, and we know him, and so now there's this relationship. And I think that we delight in each other, and I know that we're not dogs or anything, but I think that as you pursue the Lord and trust him and spend time in his word, and you come to church and not just to hear a message or be entertained or get free cookies or whatever, but you come to church to figure out ways to serve and to be involved, and because it's important, because God thinks it's important, so you think it's important. You give back to the Lord out of a desire to worship him, and God sees that as faithful and he rewards your finances. You take delight in the Lord and He gives you your heart's desires. No, that doesn't mean that he gives you whatever you want. So I remember when I was like 14 or something like that, that I would sit there and I would read. I'll like we didn't have the internet, and so we had auto trader magazines, and I would take whatever money I could get from my paper route, and I'd buy like car things, and I would look at Porsche's like the 9-11s and 944s, whatever, and think about the day when I was gonna get one of those. That was a heart desire. And but as I walk with the Lord now and I have a different priority for finances and stewardship and what's important to me, the things that I thought would really bring me delight, I wouldn't want, at least I don't think I would. But if you give me one for free and it's totally paid for and there's a reason for me to use it, then I will. And that would probably be fun. But it's not my heart's desire. Because as you walk with the Lord, you become more in tune with what God wants. So you the things that you truly desire become more of what God truly desires. So he's giving you the things that you need, which are the things that you desire, which are the things that you know that you want, because you're walking with him in his will, and he's providing the things that you need. So many times I see people get things that they don't necessarily need, but they really want, and that pulls them away from God. So they get all sorts of toys, and then all of a sudden they can't be involved in church anymore because they've only got 90, what, 92 more days until Labor Day, and I have this boat, and I've been making payments on this boat all year. I gotta use it. I can't go to church over the summer because I gotta do the boat thing. And it's like, well, wait a second, you know, there's just Sunday morning church, there's all afternoon and everything. You could do the boat thing then. They're like, no, the boat landing's too full by then. I gotta go early. And so what it does is it gets in the way of their relationship with God, and then when their boat breaks down to the lake on Sundays, I just laugh. So actually, God is a jealous God, and if you have possessions that get in the way of your relationship with him, I think they self-destruct. I've had experience on that. But anyway, delight in the Lord. Put God first. Take delight in the Lord, and he'll give you his heart's desire. So you, Matthew 6, 33 is a New Testament passage that basically says the same thing. Seek the kingdom of God above all else and live righteously, and he'll give you everything you need. So when you don't have what you need, you gotta ask yourself, am I doing that? Am I putting God first above all else? Am I living righteously? Then he'll give you everything you need. Are you praying that God provides for your needs? Are you putting him first? Are you spending time in his word? Are you confessing any known sin? Are you doing what you can to serve him and to live for him and to share your faith and to do the things that are important to God? Because if you put God first, you'll always come out ahead. Seek his kingdom above all else, live righteously, and he'll give you everything you need. So if you're not getting everything you need, I would pray about that and ask the Holy Spirit to show you what areas in your life you're not putting God first. And it's been a struggle all my life to put God first. I love these verses and I know it's great, but there are so many distractions, there's so many things that come along that could pull me off from the main mission. So my main mission this morning was to get the trailer here and get set up for church and to think about church. And you got to prioritize the things that really matter. And Satan has all these distractions that he throws at you. So it's like, I want to read God's word, but oh look, there's something to read, or my phone just went off with some sports alert or distraction after distraction. And you want to focus on the Lord and put him first, somehow, make that a priority, and you will have great rewards. The Lord will bless you in many things. So the Bible says, when we don't get what we need in Matthew chapter 7, that we should keep on asking and we'll receive what we ask for. Keep on seeking and we'll find, keep on knocking, and the door will be open. Everyone who asks receives, everyone who seeks finds, and to everyone who knocks, the door will be open. And we need to pray and to ask God and to trust and to wait to delight in the Lord. So some of you know my story, and I probably bore you with it, heard that before. Some quick reflections. So I was born into the world, and my parents got divorced when I was two. And then I lived with my grandma and my dad for a bit, and with grandpa too, but then she died of breast cancer, and that was tragic in my life. My dad remarried, and I stayed with my step-grandparents, and they were the ones that were really pointing me to Jesus. I went to Bible camp and by 10th grade I finally realized what it was to truly be saved, got saved, and then a little after that, totally committed my life to the Lord, and I prayed something like, Lord, you saved me, but I want to give my life to you. Whatever it is you want me to do with my life, I want to serve you. And so I prayed about it, and I felt he called me to ministry. Went to Bible college for a year, then dropped out, found the perfect wife. We got married at 19, had some kids. By 28, I had finished Bible college, actually, two Bible colleges, and started full-time ministry with two kids and full-time ministry, two degrees. And then one of our heart's desires were out was always to adopt a child. So you treated him as our very own or her. And we did foster care and prayed for a child, and God granted us the child. And that was 18 years ago, and he's graduated now. And then when I was 33, I came here to plant this church, and I've been here since, and now we've got four grandkids. Jessica and Jeremiah married, and we lost Jeremiah when I was 48. Now I'm 50, and I stand here today, and I look at this and I tell you that it's true, just like David went through all these hard times and good times and everything, that so many of these things we prayed about, and it seems so impossible, but God did it. God answered, God took the desires of my heart to serve him in full-time ministry, to finish Bible college, to adopt a child. But it's true, like David says, it's true, it is true. And Jeremiah 17, 7 says, Blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought, their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit. God has been faithful. I can't say that I have always sought his kingdom every single moment the way that I should. It is a constant struggle, and I would bet you would probably say the same thing. But we need to commit everything we do to the Lord. We need to commit everything we do to the Lord, the raising of our children, the things we want to do for ministry, the things that we do at work, commit everything to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you. When we're accused of things, when people talk bad about us, he will make our innocence radiate like the dawn, like the brightest of the sunshine where everything is revealed. And so commit everything to the Lord. And when we don't know what to do, when life is difficult, when we're not getting the response that we need to be still before the Lord. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him. Do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes, and refrain from anger, turn from wrath, do not fret, it leads only to evil. We need to be still before the Lord. We need to wait on him. We need to wait for him to defend us. We need for him to give us direction. So we pray and we wait. We know God will do something. And until that time, we're faithful to serve and to use what we have and to make a difference in the lives of the people that are around us. And sometimes we need, instead of running ahead of God, we need to be still and ask God, what is it that I can do? What is it that I can, how can I change? Who can I pray for? You know, pray for the pastor. So I felt that God called me here. And I still feel called here. There are so many things that I would love to be doing that we don't do, so many things that we don't have or don't do because of resources, but we need to be faithful and trust that God is doing great things. Be still before the Lord. And I think that sometimes we don't take delight in the Lord because we know who we are. We suffer from a realistic low self-esteem. We look at the things that we say, the things that we do, the things that we watch, the things that really define us that God sees that no one else sees, and we feel like we come up short. And there is a song by Toronto Wells. If you're faithful to show up, if you're faithful to pray it through, if you're faithful to put God first, you will find reward and you'll find great delight. And you'll find that God's love is so evident. When you look back on your life, you'll see all the ways that God was there. Even when you look forward and wonder, you know, how the future is going to work out. And I'd have to say that in God's faithfulness, He's done amazing things. And there was one probably defining moment in my life, besides marrying my wife, one defining moment where I had every opportunity to get a marketing, advanced marketing degree for free. The company would pay for the education, pay for me to actually be there in school, pay for everything. And it sat out there before me as an option. And I felt that God had called me to minister, and I thought I could still do ministry and do marketing. But I prayed about it in this verse. Delight yourself in the Lord, he'll give you the desires of my heart. What is my heart desire? Was it truly to make money in marketing? Was it truly just to exist, or was it truly to serve the Lord? Because I mean, what a risk to say no to marketing and then trust God for ministry. Does that even make sense? And in that defining moment, I chose ministry instead of marketing. And I actually chose to go to Bible college instead of University of Minnesota for the marketing degree. And the reason why was because that was truly my heart's desire. And I thought when I'm old, when the rocking chair on the steps of the nursing home, and I look back on my life, if I hadn't tried to serve God like He called me to do, I would have wasted my life. And he's just been so faithful over the years. And I encourage you to be faithful, to serve the Lord, even when it doesn't seem like it makes sense, or there's a better option, and then live your life in a way that really matters and see if you can make an eternal difference.