Are your short-term decisions based on vision? (126-4)

Wise leaders use long-term vision to prevent mistakes in short-term decisions. Read Psalm 37.

Israel’s second king, David, had some roller-coaster moments in his life. He was anointed king by Samuel at age 15 but spent the next 15 years with trouble in one form or another perpetrated by Saul, the king in power. Saul sent ruthless men to kill him and even personally tried several times to kill David. When David became king there were times when his own generals, leaders in his army, rebelled against his leadership and even members of his own family let their evil side try to harm their own father. David had numerous life challenges but he did not allow them to drive his long-term decision making.

David repeatedly exhorts leaders to trust in, delight in, commit to, and be still before the Lord. In Psalm 37, he encourages leaders to trust God and have vision, hope, and confidence in spite of the arrogance and apparent success of the wicked. David writes as a counselor, providing wise steps to take as a leader faces crisis and decisions. David uses godly perspective and long-term vision to prevent mistakes when making short term decisions:

• David trusted in the Lord and cultivated faithfulness despite the apparent success of those who did evil against God’s standards (v. 3).
• David believed that if he put a priority on God’s faithfulness that he would ultimately be rewarded (v. 4).
• David teaches leaders to commit their plans to God and trust Him for the results no matter the short-term circumstance (v. 5).
• David exhorts the leader to “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when (evil) men succeed in their ways” (v.7).  Trust God that evil’s success will be short lived.
• David teaches that we should not get angry at the competition (v. 8).
• David’s example shows leaders to put their hope in the Lord and allow Him to guide their decisions (v. 9).

Your assignment is to go through the rest of Psalm 37 and complete the list started above. Develop positive statements from several verses that will encourage you to have an eternal perspective rather than allowing short-term circumstances decide your course.