Take your Bibles and turn with
me to Psalms 37. Psalms 37. As the case often happens, I had messages prepared. for this
morning and got up yesterday morning and got to looking at
this passage of scripture and felt as though that this is where
I needed to be today. I think often of that passage,
of that statement that Brother Henry made. He said, God's people
are not looking for a message You can come up with a doctrinally
sound message. And it be but words, if the Lord
doesn't bless it. It can be right, it can be doctrinally
right. But if it's not the message of
the hour, there's 66 books in our Bible. Where do you go? What do you preach? I feel that this is, this morning,
the message of the hour. And I pray that the Spirit of
God bless it to our hearts. Psalm 37. I'd like to look at
verses 1 to 5. Verse 1 says this, "'Fret not
thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious, against
the workers of iniquity. Now, fret not. What does that mean? What do
you mean fret not? Well, the word actually means
don't be angry. Don't be mad. Don't be furious. Don't burn or heat yourself with
vexation. Now, I read that and I got to
thinking to myself, fret not, but who are we being
admonished to not fret against? Don't be mad. Who? Unbelievers? Well, yes. Yeah, I can see. Obviously, the prosperity of
the wicked has been traditionally a stumbling block, according
to the Scriptures, against God's people. Listen to Proverbs 24,
19. Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou
envious at the wicked. So the scripture admonishes us,
don't be mad at the wicked. Listen, Asaph. Asaph in Psalm
73 was the writer, was the one that penned this psalm. And here's
what Asaph, under the inspiration of God's Spirit, wrote. Truly
God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. But as for me, My feet were almost
gone. My steps had well nigh slipped
for or because I was envious at the foolish when I saw the
prosperity of the wicked." Asaph just being honest about it. He
said, I was looking around and I'm struggling. I'm going through
trials and tribulations. You know, there's some folks
in our congregation and we're going through some tough times. We've got brethren that are hurting
physically, emotionally, and we look around and we see unbelievers. And everything's great. I mean
everybody is doing fine. And there's just, there's an
old man in us that is just, I mean, try to not be envious when you
see prosperity and you're struggling. But not only are we warned, And
the scripture bears that out, about fretting against unbelievers. But listen, we're warned not
to fret against God. Here's the heart of it right
here. Here's where it comes down to. Let me ask you this. Are we not, when we fret, when
we're mad, when we're angry, and probably, you know, you might
not see it outwardly. But I'm talking about God who
sees the heart, who knows the heart. Do we not all agree, do
not believers agree, that everything in this world, everything in
this world is being ordered according to the purpose of Him who worketh
all things after the counsel of His own will? Brother Scott said, who's running
this show anyway? Fret not against God. Fret not because of evildoers. Don't fret against God. Listen
to what Jeremiah, the prophet, he asked the Lord something about
the prosperity of the wicked. This was so amazing to me. Listen
to this verse of scripture. Righteous art thou, O Lord, when
I plead with thee, yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments.
Let me ask you, Lord, concerning some things that you're doing.
That's what he's saying. Wherefore doth the way of the
wicked prosper? Wherefore are all they happy
that deal treacherously? Now here was Jeremiah and he
just asked a question, Lord concerning you letting the evildoers, the wicked
prosper. Why is that? Obviously, all believers possess
an old heart that has a tendency to question God's providence. What is that? That's unbelief. That's all it is. Unbelief. But suffice it to say, however
at a loss that we might be to be able to explain the ways of
the Lord in His providence, we're sure of this. Almighty God does
no wrong. The Lord does that which is right,
because that's what He did. He's right, whatever He did. Therefore, fret not thyself because
of evildoers. Neither be thou envious against
the workers of iniquity. Why? Why? I mean, you look around and you
say, man, I'm telling you, that guy's got it made. Why are we
not to be angry at them or question God? Well, because according
to the Lord's good pleasure and infinitely wise counsel, the
Lord has left them to nothing more than a temporary prosperity. They're not going to prosper
eternally. Well, what's going to be their
end? Well, look at verse 2. For they shall soon be cut down
like the grass and wither as the green herb. How strong is the grass of man's
frail life against the scythe of God's judgment? What do you
think is going to happen? All this supposed prosperity
of the wicked is going to immediately fade into the horror of the reality
of an eternal separation from Almighty God and be found in
a place where the worm dieth not. You ever notice how quickly
you... Chop a limb off of a tree. Just
let it lay down over a few minutes. Go over here and do something
like it. Come back in just a little bit and all of a sudden you're
looking at that and what's those leaves doing? There's no life. There's nothing
there. It's withering. Why should we
be envious at the prosperity of the wicked? But we shouldn't. But because of the spirit of
lust and envy found in this old man right here, we are. Was that
not exhibited in Peter's question concerning John? The Lord told
Peter, He said, this is how you're going to die. When you were young,
you were strong, you went where you wanted. When you're old,
another is going to lead you. where you wouldn't go. Well,
what about John? What about your dealings with
John? What about your providence for
John? And the Lord said, if I will that he remain, if he live, until
I come back. What is that to you? You follow
me. You have one calling, Peter.
You follow me. Looking at somebody else, questioning
my dealings with somebody else. He said, that's not your concern,
Peter. Verse 3, Trust in the Lord and
do good. So shalt thou dwell in the land,
and verily thou shalt be fed. Trust in the Lord. Now let me ask you this, you
that believe. Don't we desire that? Is that
not the most beautiful exhortation that we could ever hear? Trust
in the Lord. Have your confidence in Jehovah. Why? He's trustworthy. The faithful God Trust in the
capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D. Trust in the triune
God. Brother Moose, last Thursday
night when he brought that message, that was just brought back to
my heart. I just enjoyed that message so
much. And he's just talking about before
the foundation of the world, and I thought we've considered
that passage before. before the foundation of the
world, before I was ever created, before I was ever brought forth,
before there was ever a human being. For every one of the vessels
of God's mercy, the Lord who knew them, when there was God, chose a people. He chose a people
unto salvation. That's what 2 Thessalonians 2.13.
We're bound to give thanks all the way to God for you, brethren,
beloved of the Lord. Because God has from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit
and belief of the truth. Trust in the Lord. He chose you
before the foundation of the world. If you be His, Trust in
the Son, who has eternally stood as the surety. The great Judah himself, who
said concerning Benjamin, but the Lord the surety. Judah said,
I'll stand as surety for him. And if I bring not Benjamin back
to you, Dad, I'll bear the blame forever. That's our great Judah
himself, the Lord Jesus Christ. If I bring not those that you've
given me to you, I will eternally stand as the failure. And our
God does not fail. Trust in the Lord. Trust in the glorious Holy Spirit
of truth. He has quickened us out of spiritual
darkness. He has convinced us of sin, but
we are. Of righteousness, He has imputed
to us. And of judgment. And by the sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ, there is now no judgment. He's convinced
us of that. The Comforter Himself, who shall
abide with the Lord's people forever. Trust in Jehovah. All caps. Trust in Him. And do good. That's what the scripture is.
Trust in the Lord and do good. Doing what? Trusting in the Lord.
That's to do good. So shalt thou dwell in the land.
You know, whenever the nation of Israel was in the desert and
they went into Canaan, what was that a picture of? Well, it's
a picture of their eternal rest, heaven. The glorious promise
of God to His people, so shalt thou dwell in the land of His
quiet rest and mercy. That spiritual Canaan of His
covenant. I'm not going to leave you. I'm
not going to forsake you. Every time something comes up,
I find myself fretting. Am I not just angry at God's
providence who has ordered all these things? For my good and
His glory. Verse 4, Delight thyself also
in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thy heart. Delight thyself. I looked that word up. You know
what it means? Pamper yourself. Pamper yourself. Delight thyself also in the Lord. He delights in you, believer. He delights in his people. That's
what he said. The scripture reveals the Lord
Jesus Himself, wisdom before His incarnation in Proverbs 8. He said, I was ever before Him,
I was ever His delight. And our delights are with the
sons of men. We delighted in our people. And His people are exhorted,
you delight yourself in Him. The life of a believer is described
here. Now here's the life of a believer. Everything that a believer does,
now you that know him know what I'm talking about. Every minute
of the day of a believer is revolving around the Lord. I mean, you
just, you can't get away from it. It's just, no matter what
you're doing, you're at work, you're at play, you're home,
you're sleeping, I mean, not sleeping maybe, but you know
what I'm talking about. Everything is concerning the Lord. They delight in the Lord. Now,
delight, delighting in the Lord, to this world's religion, is
a strange thing. Just pampering yourself in the
Lord. To a religionist, to a one that
just... I'm going to go to church, but
I'll be honest with you. Hearing the message of life,
hearing the gospel of God's free grace over and over and over
again to an unbeliever is a drudgery. You know, I had somebody mention
that one time. Clay Curtis said somebody asked
him, don't you have any other material? Is this all you got? Is this all you talk about? To
delight Thyself in the Lord to an unbeliever singing the songs
of Zion. It's just mechanical, just periodically
performed. But for a believer... Listen
to Psalm 122.1. David said, I was glad when they
said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord. The thought
of being able to just assemble with God's people. And here,
the message of life, a believer delights in the Lord. I want the Lord to bless my heart
today. I want, I want to hear. I don't,
I don't, I don't want to come. I don't want to come and just,
let's just go through the motions. I mean, if my only desire to
be here this morning is a paycheck, let's go home. Let's go home. Go somewhere else. Go over here,
Mike. Go somewhere else. But to be
able to meet with God's people and assemble yourself, a believer
delights himself. Psalm 62, 4 declares that the
unbeliever delights in lies. That's what he said. They're
pleased and satisfied with the message. It gives man all the
glory and praise. The rest of that verse says,
they bless with their mouth, that is God. They bless Him,
you know, we love the Lord. But they curse inwardly. But
a believer, One that trusts the Lord Jesus Christ. He truly delights
in Him who has eternally loved Him and saved Him. Delight thyself also in the Lord,
verse 4, and He shall give thee the desires of thy heart. I got to thinking about what
does a believer truly desire? My mind went to this passage
of scripture, so I wrote it down. David, under the inspiration
of God's Spirit, wrote that he said, One thing have I desired
of the Lord. I thought, boy, you know what?
That's a precious passage of scripture. One thing. I'm going
to come down to this one thing. That will I seek after. And here
it is. That I may dwell in the house In the household, in the family,
in the dwelling, in the habitation. One thing I've desired of the
Lord. I want to be where He is. I want
to be where He's preached. I want to be where He's honored.
I want to be where He blesses. That's what I want. One thing
have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek, that I may dwell
in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold
the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple. The Apostle
Paul summed up that very truth that David penned right there.
One thing that I may dwell in the house, in the household,
in the family. Listen to the words of Paul the Apostle, yea
doubtless I count all things but loss. Now look, if he's counting
all things but loss, then obviously there's only one thing that he's
desiring. Yea doubtless I count all things but loss for this
one thing, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, of whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do
count them but done, that I may win Christ and be found in Him,
not having mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith. Here's the one thing, one thing,
that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and
the fellowship of His sufferings being made conformable unto His
death. This is all I want, that I might
know Him, effectually, personally. Last verse, verse 5. Commit thy
way unto the Lord. Trust also in Him, and He shall
bring it to pass. Commit thy way unto the Lord. We have a tendency to look at
our situation and ask ourselves this. Why are these things happening
to me? And what good is going to come
out of it? Commit thy way. What way is that? Well, the way
that the Lord has ordered your steps. Commit thy way unto the
Lord. But as we consider God's Word,
and behold the deliverance of the Lord to His people, where
He has never failed. That's what He said, I'm not
going to leave you. If I can get a hold of that,
I can settle down. I can settle down. Commit thy way. Lord, You've
ordered my steps. You're working all this after
the counsel of your own way and will, and you're doing it for
your glory, my good, I know you are. Well then, trust also in
Him. Roll your way upon Him, and He
shall bring it to pass. What? That which is purposed. Committing our way unto the Lord
unburdens our mind. And oh, how I need my mind unburdened. I think about that passage of
scripture, casting all your care upon Him. I want to do that,
but let me tell you what I do. I say I do it, and then I go
right back to it and pick it up again. You that know Him,
is that not so with you? casting all your care upon the
Lord. Man, wouldn't that unburden your
mind? Wouldn't that just ease your heart from looking to yourself
and knowing that He is going to bring it to pass? If Almighty God has promised to bring it to pass, Doesn't
that give us every reason to fret not? Lord bless these words
to our heart for Christ's sake. Amen. All right. Let's take a
break.