27. Doug, lead us in prayer this
morning. Lord, how thankful we are this
morning that we can assemble in this place, a comfortable
place to rest and stand. And Lord, we pray that You would
give us heart this morning Lord, for thou alone are worthy to
be worshiped. Thank you, Lord, for ever blessing
of the life. Thank you this morning, you've given our master a message,
Lord, to bring to us, to bless our hearts, to comfort us. And Lord, we give you all the
glory and honor and praise. And Lord, we lift you this morning,
Amen. I titled this message the cure for fretting. Is there such a cure? Yes, there is. There is such
a cure for us. When I say us, I'm talking about
us who believe there is a cure for fretting. And that cure is
found in the Lord Jesus Christ, trusting Him found in his word
which as I told you Thursday night is not separated from him
they're one in the same and we are given this in this psalm
and I know we I know I we just went through the psalms but and
I was looking at this psalm and I was thinking we just went through
the psalms but then it real I realized about four years ago I went through
this one IT'S BEEN ABOUT FOUR YEARS SINCE WE WENT THROUGH THIS
PART OF THE PSALMS. IT'S AMAZING HOW TIME FLIES! BUT WE'RE GOING TO LOOK AT IT
THIS MORNING, AND IT SAYS HERE IN PSALM 37, PSALM OF DAVID. DAVID WROTE THIS PSALM. TELL HER TO COME ON IN. But David wrote this psalm, and
he wrote this psalm out of experience. I love to sit down and talk,
talk with people who have experienced what they're talking about. I
wish younger people would sit down and talk to older people
about their life. about their experiences. As I
was talking to someone the other day and I said to this person,
Experience is our best teacher but sometimes a brutal teacher,
and there are some things I would rather learn by listening Applying
some wisdom to it then having to experience it. There are some
things I don't want to experience I'd rather I'd rather learn something
by by studying the Word of God Shun every appearance of evil,
you know, I'd rather shun it then have to go through it and
experience it But experience is a is a is a our best teacher,
but sometimes it's the experience of can be brutal and the the
writer of this psalm knows what he's talking about because he
said in verse 25 I have been young and now I'm old I've not
seen the righteous forsaken nor begging bread so we know that
he didn't write this as a novice he wrote it as an experienced
old believer and the subject here that He's going to deal
with is the prosperity of the world, the prosperity of the
unbeliever, and the suffering and the trials of the believer
what God puts them through and how it's for our good and as
far as the world's concerned they are being fattened up for
the slaughter. That's what He tells us in this
Psalm, they're being fattened up for the slaughter. They don't
realize that all that they have, you know, I know some, I know
some very wealthy people that don't believe the gospel. God
made them rich. God said, I make rich and I make
poor. Whatever people have in this
life, God's given it to them. He's allowed them to have it.
And every person will give account for every penny it's ever gone
through their hands. I thank God and salvation is
all of grace because we don't use every penny wisely, do we?
But thank God our account has already been taken care of. Our
account has already been taken care of in Christ. But now the
unbelieving world, that rich man that died and went to hell
and then lifted up his eyes in torment, HE'S GONNA GIVE ACCOUNT
FOR EVERY PENNY THAT GOD GAVE HIM THAT HE THINKS HE EARNED
THAT HE THINKS HE GOT BY HIS INGENUITY BY HIS WISDOM NOT REALIZING
THAT GOD GAVE HIM ALL THAT TOO GOD GIVES US OUR WISDOM AND ABILITY
TO DO WHAT WE DO EVERYBODY IN A SENSE EVERYONE
IN A SENSE IS A STEWARD This is all His, isn't it? It's all
His. None of it's ours. It's all His.
And everyone on this earth is a steward. Even the unbelieving,
they are stewards of what they have and will give account for
it. And so what He's given us here,
and let me give you a brief summary of the whole psalm. We can't
read the whole psalm and go verse by verse. We don't have enough
time to do that in 30 minutes. But He tells us in verse 1 and
2 that the wicked, they flourish in this world, but they flourish
for a little while. They flourish like grass. But
as Isaiah said, the grass withereth, and the flower fadeth and falleth
away. So are the wicked. They'll soon
be cut down. And He tells us in verse 12 and 13 that the wicked,
now who are the wicked? When you read here, you read
of the wicked. Who are the wicked? It's everyone
that does not believe God. Everyone that does not believe
God, God said, they're wicked. And the wicked here, he says,
hates the believer and he persecutes the believer. But it says that
the Lord shall laugh there in verse 12 and 13, the Lord shall
laugh. So what he says over in Psalm
2, that the Lord shall laugh and have them in derision. And in verse 14 and 15, the wicked
seek to hurt the righteous. It says they draw their swords.
I wrote out by that tongues, their tongues. You know, the
tongue, the tongue is sharp, isn't it? The tongue is cutting. The tongue is set on fire of
hell. There's nothing THERE'S NOTHING LIKE A WICKED TONGUE,
AND THEY DRAW OUT THEIR SWORD, THEY DRAW OUT THEIR TONGUE, AND
THEY DO SO FOR THE HURT OF THE WICKED. BUT GOD'S GONNA TURN,
HE'S GONNA TURN THEIR SWORD, HE SAYS, UPON THEMSELVES. AND
I THOUGHT OF HAMAN, HE MADE A GALLOWS, AND HE'S GONNA PUT THAT NOOSE
AROUND MORDECAI'S NECK, AND WHO ENDED UP BEING HANGED ON IT?
HE DID. GOD HUNG HIM ON IT. THEY'RE GOING TO FALL INTO THE
DITCH THEY DIG IS WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN. THE TRAP THEY SET
FOR THE WICKED AND I'VE SEEN THIS. I HAVE EXPERIENCED THIS. I HAVE EXPERIENCED IT. I'M NOT
GOING TO GO INTO DETAIL BUT I HAVE EXPERIENCED THIS. A TRAP THEY'VE
LAID FOR THE RIGHTEOUS AND THEY END UP FALLING INTO IT THEMSELVES.
I'VE SEEN THE LORD DO THAT. and then in verse 16 and 17 he
tells us here that the believer seems to have so little in this
life you know most of God's people in this life most of them now
there's some who are rich there are some who are well off but
most of them are not i mean they don't have the riches of the
world they have what they need God gives them what they need
but they're not they're not the wealthy of the world, and it
seems like they have so little while the world has so much,
but we have to remember this, and I've said this many times,
that the second, the very second a wealthy man or woman dies without
Christ, they're penniless. Nobody takes their bank account
with them. And if they did, what would it do? How could you spend it? They're penniless. The second
we die, we enter into true riches. The true riches that we have
in Christ, in a little while, we are going to experience them.
You see, these are the things we keep in mind. these are the
things that we think upon, think upon these things. This life
is very brief, it's very brief and it's like a shadow, it's
swifter than a weaver's shuttle and in a little while it's over
with and what we've heard about and read about in the Word of
God of the riches we have in Christ and we can only faintly
and vaguely imagine we are going to completely, perfectly experience. Riches untold I go and prepare a mansion for
you. Now I know people think they're going to live in mansions,
but when he uses the word mansion, I was thinking about this yesterday.
He uses the word mansion and that word means dwelling places,
but he uses the word mansions that we might understand that
nothing is small there. Everything in glory is great.
Great. I've never lived in a mansion.
You know, you see Biltmore, that's a mansion, but everything in
heaven is great. That new earth is going to be
unimaginable. It's going to be so great. It's
just, it can't even, you know, we can just only have a little,
a little imagination of it is all we can grasp. See, our, our
inheritance is forever. And then in verse 20, the enemies
of the Lord, it just seems like they just get fatter and fatter.
Doesn't it seem to you like that people are just flat out wicked
and bad, they just never seem to die young? They just keep
on living. And I know believers, I know
believers whom the Lord has taken young. And I know some people
who are just flat out wicked, they just keep on living. But
they're just being fattened up for the slaughter. That's all
that's happening, they're being fattened up for the slaughter.
But what's the conclusion? In verse 38 and 40, here's the
conclusion, and here's where all this is settled. And this
is how we are comforted in our trials that we have. and it's this we see the grace
of God to his children in the end Our end is eternal. I have said
so many times, I have a good future. I told my granddaughter
Madison, she called me the other day, talked about an hour and
a half, but she calls me, and I'm glad she does. And she was
talking about, she said, I just don't like going to college.
And I said, you know, I'm sure glad I'm not your age. Don't
get depressed, Sidney. I said, I'm glad I'm not your
age. Going through that, I said, I'm at the end. I said, none
of that, none of what you're doing and looking forward to
and, you know, trying to get a career, whatever. We were talking
about family and marriage. We're talking about all of it.
I said, you know, all this behind me. I said, I heard an ad here
not long ago about a company coming into North Carolina, and
there's going to be a lot of jobs, and they're all going to
be great pay. I said, you know, when I was
young, I said, that would have excited me. I said, I'm going to go put
an application in there. I said, but now, none of that
means anything to me. And I wouldn't go back for nothing.
I said, I'm glad I'm at the end. She goes, that's sad, Pawpaw.
She said, that's sad. I said, no, it's not. I said,
no, it's not. It's not sad. I said, dying to
me is not sad. Leaving this earth is not sad
to me. And I didn't expect her to grasp
it. You know, only experience can
grasp this. Only you older ones in Christ
can. You know what I'm saying? I said, no, it's not. No, no,
no. What did Christ say? Don't weep
over me. And when the Lord takes me and takes some of you older
ones, don't weep over us. I mean, I know we will weep because
we miss each other's company and relationships. That's what
makes dying hard. It's the relationships we have.
But don't weep over me in the sense that I'm gone and perished. No. I've just entered into life.
I quoted that scripture to her. Christ said, he that believes
in me shall never die. I said, I'm never going to die. Don't
you think of me as dead. I'm never going to die. I'm going to be with the Lord.
I'm just going from here to there and they're going to bury this old corrupt
body. That's all that's going to happen. I'm going to close
my eyes and wake up in glory. I said, that's not sad. That's not sad. I think she thought
at first I was looking at life in a sad way, but I'm not. I'm not. I'm so glad that God
has ordained. I'm not even going to get to
the message. I'm so glad that God has ordained my path. I'm
so glad. Do you know anyone wiser to do
it? Are you wise enough to do it? DICTATE YOUR OWN PATH? YOU DON'T
EVEN KNOW WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN THE NEXT MINUTE FROM NOW. YOU
DON'T EVEN HAVE A CLUE WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN. GOD DOES. GOD
HAS ORDERED IT. HE HAS ORDERED ALL THINGS IN
SURE FOR EVERY BELIEVER. GOD HAS. NOW I LOVE THAT GOD. I LOVE THAT GOD. I LOVE THAT
GOSPEL THAT TELLS ME THAT. All right, now let's get to the
cure for Freddy. Let's get to the cure for Freddy. He says in the very first verse,
fret not. He tells us these things because
we do these things. This is why He tells us. What
did He say to the disciples? Let not your heart be troubled.
Why did He say that? Because their hearts were troubled. That's
why He told them that. He knows the heart. He knows
our Freddy. We're given to that. And there's
nothing, listen, there's nothing more unbecoming of a believer
than to sit around and fret, worry, be anxious. There is a cure for that, I mean
there really is a cure for that. It's not in a pill, because you'll
have to take the pill again, and again, and again. That cure
is in Christ. But let me, and I know this,
This comes by degrees. This comes from growing up. This
comes from maturing in the Lord Jesus Christ. This comes from
growing in grace and in knowledge of Christ. This comes from a
deeper relationship with God in Christ. This comes, but it
comes from growing. It's not something you get all
at once. Paul said this, I have learned and whatsoever state
I am therewith to be content." It's a learned behavior. It's
a spiritually learned behavior. I have learned this through trials,
disappointments, heartaches, the good days and the bad days.
I've learned to be content. The Lord has ordered my steps.
The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. Sometimes that order
goes through the water, sometimes through the fire, but all through
the blood. God's ordered our steps. Threat not thyself because of
evildoers. We are surrounded by them, aren't
we? We are surrounded by them, family. It's rare to find a whole family
that believes the gospel, that's as rare as can be, it's rare. What he's saying here is don't
be jealous, And don't be overcome with anger. You see, when we
fret, that is the door that opens up to anger, jealousy, envy,
and they are the reasons why we fret and worry and get anxious. But don't, he says here, fret
not thyself because of evildoers. They have what they have now
and that's all, but you've got what you have forever in Christ. THEY SPEND THEIR LIFE, THEY SPEND
THEIR VAIN DAYS UPON THIS EARTH, IT MAY BE IN EASE AND RICHES,
WHAT WE LOOK AT AND SEE, EASE AND RICHES, BUT THEY'RE GOING
TO BE CUT DOWN. I DON'T WANT TO BE THERE, I DON'T
WANT TO BE WITH THEM WHEN GOD CUTS THEM DOWN. I DON'T WANT
TO BE A PART OF THAT SECOND DEATH WITH THEM. You see, I have one death to
die. I have to die. It's my body has to die. That's
my body. Me personally, I'm not going
to do it. They've got a second death. They die. They die in
this life and then they got the second death. That's when they're
resurrected and at the judgment, they're cast into eternal torment
in the lake of fire. Whatever that lake is, it's called
a lake of fire. I know it's the fire of God's
wrath. And then he tells us in verse 3, in the Lord. Here it is, When
it fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious
against the workers of iniquity, for they shall soon be cut down
like the grass, and wither as a green herb. Now here's the
cure, TRUST IN THE LORD. Has he ever failed you? Has God
ever failed? He's never failed anyone who
trusts Him. HE WILL DO EXACTLY AS HE HAS
SAID. HE WILL FULFILL EVERY PROMISE
HE HAS GIVEN. HE CANNOT FAIL. TRUST IN THE
LORD. FAITH IN CHRIST CURES FREDDY.
IT DOES. I like what Henry wrote here.
Our outward conduct depends on our inward attitude and confidence
in our God. Our outward conduct depends on
HOW WE BELIEVE GOD, DO WE BELIEVE GOD, AND WHAT MEASURE WE BELIEVE
GOD. O YE OF LITTLE FAITH. THERE IS
NOT ONE REASON UNDER THE SUN WHY YOU AND I OUGHT TO HAVE LITTLE
FAITH. EVERY PERSON IN HERE OUGHT TO HAVE GREAT FAITH BECAUSE WE
HAVE A GREAT GOD. THAT'S TRUE. WE HAVE A GREAT GOD. WE SHOULD
NEVER HAVE LITTLE FAITH. Trust in the Lord. Don't trust,
trust not in men, that's what the Lord said, trust not in princes,
those in power. You know, I don't trust in our
president. I don't. I trust in the Lord
who controls that man. I trust in the Lord who controls
every leader in this world. I trust the Lord who controls
them. I DON'T TRUST THEM, I DON'T TRUST
CONGRESS, I DON'T TRUST SENATE. FOR THE MOST PART, IT'S MADE
UP OF A BUNCH OF UNGODLY MEN AND WOMEN. IT IS. THERE MIGHT
BE ONE OR TWO IN THERE THAT BELIEVES, I DON'T KNOW. BUT IF THERE IS,
THERE AIN'T MANY. AND I DON'T SEE HOW THEY CAN
STAY IN THERE VERY LONG. BUT ANYWAY, I TRUST THE LORD. I TRUST THE
LORD. Psalm 62.10 Trust not in oppression,
and become not vain in robbery. If riches increase, set not your
heart on them. Another place it says, Riches
have wings and fly away. They fly away. Trust in the Lord
for pardon, for forgiveness, for justification, FOR PROTECTION
in this life, in this life. Our Lord said, it is written
in the scriptures and I can say this, our Lord said, I can say
that from Genesis all the way to Revelation, our Lord said,
Our Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ said, He said this, that He would
withhold no good thing from us. Remember what He said? The Lord
will not withhold any good thing from you. He won't do it. And
then in verse 4, Delight thyself also in the Lord. Now if you're
going to trust Him, if you're really going to trust Him, you're
also going to delight in Him. The less you trust Him, the less
you delight in Him. These all go together, they go
together. Trust in the Lord and do good,
and so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be
fed. God will take care of you. We sing this song, God will take
care of you. And He will, He has, has He not
taken care of us? He has. and delight thyself also
in the LORD, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart."
Delight yourself in Him. Delight, listen, this is important. Delight yourself in Him and He'll
give you the desires of your heart because you know what the
desires of your heart is going to be? It's going to be everything
that's spiritual, everything that glorifies Christ. It's going
to be, Lord, grant Increase my love for thee because
my love increases for God it'll increase to you. You see my love
to you is in direct proportion to my love for Him. Increase
my love, increase my joy, increase my happiness. All these spiritual
blessings, Lord increase them, the fruit of the Spirit, increase
them in fruit of the Spirit, that will be your desire. that
he's not going to fulfill our sinful desires we know that that's
not what you know that's what he's not talking about he's talking
about the spiritual blessings that's those are the ones we
need we delight in him we rejoice in him we're glad to glad to
be here you glad to be here this morning i'm glad to be here Even
though I'm the one that has the responsibility of standing here
and speaking to you this morning, I'm glad to be here. I'm glad
to be able to do this. Even with the responsibility
that comes with it, I'm glad to be here this morning and to
be able to speak to you, the Lord's people. You know, when
I think of you, I think of Christ dying for you. I think of Christ
hanging on that cross The Son of God, God in human flesh, God
incarnate, hanging on that cross, dying for your sins. And He has
made me your pastor, your under-shepherd. Delighted to be here. Delighted
to do His will. Delight yourself in the Lord. You know what? One of the things
that this shows, if you delight yourself, if you really delight
yourself in the Lord, You know what it shows? A real contentment
in Christ. You are really content with the
Lord Jesus Christ and with where He's put you and what you're
doing. I'm content, this is the Lord's will. And then he says, Commit thy
way unto the Lord. That is, listen, take your burden
to the Lord and leave it there. Cast your whole life your whole
life cast it upon the Lord cast it upon the Lord everything that
you are concerned with cast it upon the Lord cast it upon him
whatever your anxieties are and your worries and your fears are
cast take your care Peter said it this way cast your care upon
him for he careth for you and no care is too small No care
is too small. And we can't take it there and
cast it upon Him. Roll the whole burden of life
upon Him for time and eternity. And then rest in the Lord. You
see the progression here? He says, FRET NOT. Now stop your
fretting, stop your worrying, just stop it. What are you saying?
Fret not, stop it. Just trust in the Lord and delight
in Him and commit your way to Him. There's a progression here.
And rest in Him. We've looked at this in Hebrews
4. Rest in Him. Find your rest in Christ. Brethren,
there's no reason you and I should go through one minute of this
life, Freddy, with no reason. The Lord is going to carry us
home. He's going to carry us home. Rest in the Lord. COMMIT
THY WAY TO THE LORD, REST IN THE LORD. You know when God created
the heavens and the earth, it says on the seventh day God rested.
And when the Lord Jesus Christ cried, IT IS FINISHED, HE RESTED,
HE RESTED, HE SAID IT'S FINISHED, THE WORK OF REDEMPTION IS DONE,
SALVATION IS ACCOMPLISHED. Now let you and I You see, God
rested in creation, Christ rested in redemption. Now let's rest
in Christ. Let's find our rest in Him. You
know, I know things that come our way and trials and heartaches
and it's tough. It wouldn't be a trial if it
wasn't tough. It wouldn't be a trial if it didn't hurt. Chastisement is not chastisement
unless you feel it. So rest in the Lord, let's rest
in Him at all times, in all situations. And let us strive to do that
daily, daily. And the more we learn, listen,
the more we learn of the sufficiency of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
more we will rest, the more we will rest in Him. The more we
see and understand and know HIS SUFFICIENCY, WE CAN SAY,
ALL IS WELL WITH MY SOUL. All is well. It's all well. As you all say, when I came down
here, you all. Now it's we all. All is good. It's all good. It's all good. And cease from anger. You know,
some people have anger problems. But we all have anger, don't
we? We all have anger. We get angry. When things don't
go our way or somebody crosses our path, we get angry. But he
says here, stop it. Stop the anger. Cease from anger. Don't let it
be in your homes. You know, there are some things
that I think you should never allow in your home. You know,
if you have children, especially if you have children, that should
be a safe place. That should be a quiet place. That should
not be a place where there's screaming and shouting and carrying
on. That shouldn't be. That should be a safe place.
That should be a place where you can come apart from the world. We should never give in to the
thought that this is normal. It's just normal for people to
fight. It's normal for goats to butt,
but not sheep. And it takes effort, it doesn't
just automatically happen, it does take effort because we have
the flesh with us. We have the flesh. Cease from anger, don't even
entertain it. Don't entertain it against the
natural man because one time that was you. Boy, if we could
only see that, that was me. I mean, it's like looking into
a mirror. When I was lost and undone and angry and did stupid
things and believed lies and promoted lies, that was me at
one time. And don't get even. When he says
here, cease from anger, don't get even. Don't get even. Vengeance
is mine, saith the Lord. And depart from evil. There in
verse 27. Depart from evil. and do good
so you don't you don't just depart from evil you depart from evil
and you do good your life your life is a living testament that's
what paul said of the thessalonians your our epistle known and read
of all men people read your life i don't really pay so much attention
to what people say as i pay attention to what they do it's what they
do that's your life And wait on the Lord, depart from evil
and wait on the Lord. Trust Him, delight in Him, rest
in Him, and wait on Him. Wait on Him. He's coming. He's
coming. Wait on Him to deliver you out
of your trouble. He's coming. He's coming. The Lord's going
to deliver us out of every trial. And one day we'll have that last
trial. Death. And He'll deliver us out of that
too. All right.