Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Psalms, chapter 37. Psalm 37. I'm going to be looking at actually
three verses of Scripture, but this is the heart of what I believe
the Lord's laid on my heart this morning. Psalm 37, verse 23. The scriptures declare the steps of... and I want you to notice
if your Bible has the italicized words in it, the word good is
italicized. That means that it was not in
the original, it was put there for our understanding. The steps
of a man are ordered by the Lord. and he delighteth in his way." A few years ago, Glenda and I
decided that we were going to take a little trip. I remember,
I think, I remember where we were going. I think I was going
to Rupert's to preach. But we decided we'd leave a couple
of days early and We made up our minds that we would not make
any plans, any concrete plans on the route that we were going
to take. Every day was going to be a revelation of that day. If we decided we wanted to stop,
we stopped. If we decided we wanted to go,
we went. We came to a road, as long as
I was going in the general direction, you know, I knew I wanted to
go south-southeast from here. That's close enough. And I knew
that eventually we planned to be there, but if we started off
and we didn't go somewhere as far, there was no disappointments. We didn't have an agenda. We
normally have an agenda. You know, I have to stick pretty
close to what I'm going to do. My days don't allow me often
to do that. It usually stays pretty tight,
but not this time. We just decided, let's just go
see what we want to see and we'll do what we want to do. If we
want to stop early, we'll stop. Eventually we made it there and
we did the same thing coming home. And to this day we both
admit that was probably the best vacation we ever had. Just kind
of kick back a little bit. Take your time. Relax. We've got a destination but let's
just do it in such a way that there's no pressure. No pressure. No pressure. For every believer, we know that
we're going through this world. And this world, according to
the scriptures, is a race, a course. And I absolutely Think back on
that little vacation and I think, wouldn't it be nice to be able
to go through this life with a whole lot less pressure. I
stay Sakita all the time. I'm always on the edge. I'm always
just, you know, you may not think I am. Ask Linda. She'll tell
you. I mean, if everything doesn't just go right here, right here,
right here, she'll tell me sometimes, she'll say, Marvin, will you
stop prancing? I'm going down the road, I'm
listening to somebody, and if it's not somebody that I really
know that well, I'm listening to a message or something like
that, and things are not going just exactly the way I think
they ought to go. In that message, sometimes she'll put her hand
over my knee because it's just going And she'll say, you want
to listen to the rest of this? I said, no. Well, let's just
take it out then. This life is a race. This life is a course. The Apostle Paul said, know you
not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the
prize, so run that you may obtain. We're going through this world.
We're going through this world. And all of the stuff that I see
going on around me affects me. Doesn't it you? Doesn't it? It
affects me. Paul came to the end of his life
and he said in 2 Timothy 4, 7, I fought a good fight. I have
finished my course. I've kept the faith. We're in
a real world. And we know according to God's
Word where we're going. For a believer, they do. A believer
knows. He's convinced. The Lord said
this, here's the final destination. I knew we were going to Rupert's.
That was my plans. And the Lord said concerning
our final destination, in my father's house are many mansions.
If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place
for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come
again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may
be also. I know this, for a believer,
by the grace of God, we're going home. I know that. I know that. I know this, this
life is but a vapor. I know that we have no promise
of tomorrow. I know that. Lord, help me to settle down.
Just settle down. Going through this world, but
the exact way that I'm going, I don't know. I don't know. The children of Israel came out
of Egypt. And I've heard that it's, I think,
about a three-day journey from Egypt to Canaan. About a three-day journey. And
they were in the wilderness 40 years. Why? Because that's where
the Lord led them. There was a lot of tares in that
group. There was a lot of sheep in that
group, too. And the sheep went just exactly where the tares
did too. They all, and God, God's teaching his people. He's going
to teach them some things. And sometimes the way we go is
not exactly the, you know, humanly speaking, the fastest way. You
know, when the Lord saves a man, why would he not take him out
of this world right now? If I believe that the Lord has
saved me by grace, called me out of darkness, given me a new
heart, why am I still here? Because that's His will. That's
His purpose. When the children of Israel were
in the wilderness, they stopped. When the pillar of fire stopped,
the pillar of a cloud stopped, they stopped. And when the pillar
moved, they moved. They didn't have any say in it.
They did not know where they were going to go next. The scripture
says, Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day
may bring forth. Don't say, I tell you what I'm
going to do. Tomorrow, I'm going to go into
this city and I'm going to buy and sell and make gain. And the
Lord said, don't say that. But rather, say this, if the
Lord wills, we're going to do so and so. Because you don't
know. You don't know. I'm going to
do this, I'm going to do that. You may be in the ground in three
days. You may not be here. I may not
be here. The Lord God knows exactly the
way that His sheep are going to go. He has so ordered all
things that every circumstance in the journey of His people
is surely going to fall out providentially for His glory and the good of
His people. That's what Romans 8.28 says.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that
love God. Not for everybody. Not for everybody. That scripture is not for everybody.
We know that all things work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are the called, the elect, the sheep, according
to His purpose. It always works out for our good
because the Lord is good. The Lord God is good. He worketh
all things. after the counsel of his own
will. The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing
thereof is of the Lord. The knowledge of the eternal
state of God's people is in the hands of him who is omniscient,
almighty. And I'll tell you this, God's
people are thankful for the revelation of the will of the Lord Jesus
concerning His sheep. They're thankful for this revelation. Father, I will that they also
whom Thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold
my glory which Thou hast given me for Thou lovest me before
the foundation of the world. So I know this. We're going through
this world. And we don't know exactly how
we're going to go. But by the grace of God, we know that our
end, by God's grace, shall be with them, with the Lord, with
Almighty God. The Lord prayed in his high priestly
prayer, I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the
world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. So here's
what I know. I've got three simple points. concerning this walk that we're
going. And whatever comes our way, I
know this, whatever comes the way of God's people is according
to the will of the Lord. I know He's done it. He sent
it. He works it. Here's what I know,
that verse I just read. The steps of a good man are ordered
by the Lord. and he delighteth in his way."
Now listen to me. The goings of all men in particular,
I mean all men, but in particular, the steps of his people for his
glory and their good are set. The steps of a good man are ordered. That's what it means. That means
they're fixed, that they're surely determined. God's people do not
take unfixed steps. They're ordered. They're ordered.
Well, I've just decided that after we get out of church tonight,
I think I'm going to go over here and go get something to
eat over here. God ordered that. Well, no, I'm
not going to go today. We're not going today. God ordered
that. I think tomorrow, the Lord, if the Lord wills, He ordered
that, the steps of a good man. Everything concerning a believer's
life is graciously ordained according to the Lord's loving kindness. And it is fixed. Fixed. Now listen. The Father has given the Son
all power that He should give eternal life to as many as the
Father has given Him. Did the Lord say that? Yes, He
did. God has a sheep, and let me tell you what He is going
to do. He's going to move the steps
of His sheep providentially, and He's going to get them under
the sound of the gospel of God's sovereign grace. And everything
needful for them, the Lord's going to supply. What if a man
or a woman never crosses the path? of the gospel of God's
grace. They never hear the gospel. They
never hear. They never hear the gospel of
God's grace. What's going to happen? God's going to deal with
them in justice. In judgment. You say that's not fair. It doesn't
matter what I think or what you think. That's what God said.
And that ends it, right there. That just ends it. Whatever the
Lord does is right. Who art thou, old man, that replies
against God? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? Does the clay
have the right? When I was in school, I never
did really get into pottery that much. I just kind of watched
them. You know, I was over there doing other art stuff. And I'd
watch these students and they'd take a big old lump of clay and
they'd just take it and just throw it on the wheel like that.
And that wheel was going and they'd take their hands and they,
you know, they wanted to push here, they pushed here. If they
pushed here, they pushed here. If they did this, it just, and
they just made it. You know how they made it? Exactly
the way they wanted to. And do you know I never heard
one pot ever say, why did you make me thus? It was a pot. It was the clay. The potter,
the potter is in control. And the Lord orders the steps
of His people for the glory of God and the redemption of His
sheep, and He does it for their good. And the scripture says,
and he delighteth in his way. He orders the steps of his people
and the Lord delights in the way that he ordered it. And God's
sheep do too. They do. I'm thankful that the
Lord has been pleased to order my steps. If he left me to myself,
I would never seek after Him. I'd never yearn after Him. I'd
never long to hear His voice in the preaching of the gospel,
had He left me to myself. I would have never desired to
be faithful to Him, to know Him. I would never have said, Lord,
what would You have me to do? I'd have never said that. But
in His infinite mercy and grace, He crossed paths. Well, here's
the second point. First point is the Lord orders
the steps of His people. That's just a fact. Here's the
second point. Since we know that the Lord orders
the steps according to His everlasting love and covenant of grace, since
I know that He's going to do whatsoever, He's pleased, I know
that His counsel is going to stand. This is the way it is.
This is the way it is. And here's what I'm going to
say. Lord, give me a heart to believe this verse of Scripture.
Commit Thy way unto the Lord. Trust also in Him, and He shall
bring it to pass. Commit. Roll upon. Roll what upon? Roll upon thy
way. Your road, the distance, the
direction. Because it's more than I can
bear, I don't have sense enough to get out of the rain. How do
I know? the way that I'm to go. How do
I know what's right? How do I know what's going to
be best? How am I going to know what's
going to be influenced and who to cross paths with and what
to say? I don't know. I don't know. Lord, lead me. Lord, direct me. Lord, you've
said That if I commit, if I roll upon because I don't know, I'm
just a feeble, helpless sinner. Lord, direct me. Lord, keep me. Lord, you're God. I trust you. And thank you for
a heart to trust you. Lord, you said you're going to
bring it to pass. You're going to produce it. You're going to
work it. You're going to attend to it.
You're going to accomplish it. Put it in order. May I be found to be one who
willingly rolls my burden of my life upon him. Now, I got
an old man in me that fights that. I got an old man that says,
I don't like that. I don't like that. I see no point
in that. But how wonderful does it sound
to a believer to admit, I want to cast my anxiety
upon him. I want to cast my desire upon
him. I want to cast my all upon him. I want to resign to his will. I want that. I do want that.
I want that. I want to submit. I want to leave
it with the Lord. I want that. And then lastly,
knowing that the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and
hearing the exhortation to commit my way unto Him, here's the reason
for me to trust Him. Here's what it is. Casting all
your care upon Him. For he careth for you. He cares. He cares. Listen to Psalm 1-6. This is a beautiful... I never
knew this until I'm reading this. For the Lord knoweth the way
of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
The Lord knoweth. Now, you know when we first read
that passage of Scripture, here's what we think. Well, the Lord
is aware. He is. The Lord's aware. He knoweth
the way. He is aware. But that's not what
the word knoweth means in that scripture right there. What it
means is, I had to look this up. It means to turn the mind
to something to care for it and to see about it. It's to turn
his mind to something in particular. Because you care for it and you're
going to see that it's accomplished. The Lord knoweth the way. He has turned his mind to the
way of his people because he cares for them. I want to know. One of my kids calls me. He says,
Dad, what's the best way to get to where you are or something?
You know what, I'm not going to send them some way that I
know is going to be hazardous to them. I'm not going to send
them some way that's going to be confusing to them. You know
what I'm going to tell them? I'm going to tell them the best
way that I believe in my heart for them to get to me. I want
to give them the best route that I know. The Lord knows. The Lord knoweth the way of the
righteous. It's the same word in Genesis
18-19 concerning the Lord's attitude toward Abraham. He says this,
For I know him. That is, I care for him. And I will see about him. I know him. Lord, we prophesied
your name with all these mighty works. Cast out devils, I never
knew you. That means he was never aware
of their existence. He never cared. I know him. I care for him. that He will command His children,
His household, after Him. They shall keep the way of the
Lord, to do justice and judgment, that the Lord may bring upon
Abraham that which He has spoken of Him. Abraham, I care for you, and
for all just like you, those that He has everlastingly loved.
The Lord knows the way of the righteous. That is, the way of
the righteous Their physical walk in this life, yes, but especially
as they walk in Christ, who is the way. The way of the Lord
is He who is the life and the truth also. The way of the righteous
is by the grace of God, who's given them a new heart to not
walk after the flesh, but after the Spirit. The way of the righteous
is to come to Christ by faith, having been made willing in the
day of his power. The walk of a believer, the course
of a believer, the race of a believer is particular to that believer. But the Lord is going to bring
all his people to himself. The steps of a good man are ordered
by the Lord. They're established. They're
set. Commit thy way unto the Lord.
Trust Him. He's going to bring it to pass.
Because His counsel is going to stand. Roll your burden upon
him. Why? Because he cares. He cares. He knoweth the way
of the righteous. Lord, bless these words to our
heart for Christ's sake. Amen.