Alright, Psalm 37. Our subject tonight is precepts
and promises to live by. Precepts and promises to live
by. Psalm 37 gives eight precepts
and there is a promise that accompanies each one of these precepts. And
now, these are not precepts to make a sinner righteous or holy
by His works. That's not what these are for.
Christ is the only one who makes His people righteous and holy.
These are precepts for those Christ has already made righteous
and holy. These are for you who He's made
a new creation, given a new heart, given faith to want to honor
Him in all that you do. This is for those who were in
Christ when He went to the cross and laid down his life and now
has risen again in newness of life. And he's made us to be
alive in newness of life. The scripture says the love of
Christ constraineth us. Because we thus judge that if
one died for all, then all for whom he died were dead. That
means all for whom he died were totally incapable. of saving
ourselves or of adding one thing to the salvation that Christ
accomplished. And that He died for all that
they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto
Him which died for them and rose again. And so that's what these
precepts are for, for you who are made alive to live unto Him. It deals with the prosperity
of the wicked while believers are suffering in trials and afflictions. God's saints face many trials
and so we need to hear this Word often. I would encourage you
to underline these eight precepts in your Bible and go to them
often and review them because they're needed. David wrote this,
but this is the words of our Lord. So as you hear these, remember
this is our prophet, priest, and king speaking directly to
each one of you and me who believe. Now first of all, here's the
first precept. Verse 1, fret not. fret not. He says, 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 the green herb. Wicked men who have no interest
in the gospel whatsoever, who take God's name in vain constantly
and who hate the gospel and hate God, Men like this live in great
prosperity and nothing ever seems to go wrong and everything seems
to go right with them. And then you have God's saints
who love God, who love the gospel, who love Christ, and they're
constantly in affliction and constantly suffering and constantly
going through some kind of trouble. Many saints barely even have
enough necessities or barely have necessities, much less live
in luxury. And some, I know, who have suffered
one trial after another trial after another trial all their
life, ever since they've known the Lord. And yet you see wicked
men who never seem to have trouble in this world whatsoever. But
Christ says to the believer, don't burn, don't become inflamed
in jealousy at the wicked. That's what fret not means. Don't
become inflamed in jealousy. And don't be hot with envy against
the wicked. Because, he says, here's the
promise, they shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither
as the green herb. Sinners are only grass. All sinners
are grass. And if we don't have Christ,
we're going to perish like the grass. Isaiah 40 and verse 6
says, All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof, all
the best that man can produce, is as the flower of the field.
The grass withereth and the flower fadeth, because the Spirit of
the Lord bloweth upon it. Surely the people is grass. But,
he says, the word of the Lord shall live forever. Psalm 92.7
says, When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the
workers of iniquity do flourish, it is that they shall be destroyed
forever. But thou, Lord, art most high
forevermore. When the wicked spring up and
the workers of iniquity flourish, it's that they shall be destroyed
forever. Just look to the cross. Look
to the cross. God allowed wicked men to flourish
and nail Christ to the cross. Look down at verse 12. The wicked
plotteth against the just. Who's the just? That's Christ
first and foremost. And they plotted against Christ,
and they gnashed upon Him with their teeth. The Lord shall laugh
at him, for he seeth that his day is coming. The wicked have
drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow to cast down the
poor and needy. That's Christ, the poor and needy. And to slay such as be of upright
conversation. That's Christ, the upright. But
their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bow
shall be broken. God said He would laugh at them.
Look over to Psalm 2. You'll see this. Psalm 2, verse 1. Why do the heathen rage
and the people imagine a vain thing? Here's the vain thing. The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against
His anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder and
cast away their cords from us. Let us get out from under this
dominion of God. He that sitteth in the heavens
shall laugh. Remember what He said in our
text? God just laughs at them. The Lord shall have them in derision.
He'll bring them to confusion. Then shall He speak unto them
in His wrath. And He'll vex them in His sore
displeasure. Yet, He said, have I set my King
upon my holy hill of Zion. They didn't stop God from setting
Christ on His throne. In fact, God raised up those
wicked men to flourish and nail Christ to the cross for the same
reason he raised up Pharaoh. He said, I did it that I might
make my power known in you and that I might show mercy, my mercy
to my people. And that's what he did. He said,
their sword is going to plunge into their own heart. And when
those men drew their sword, and by that I mean when their sword
was them nailing Christ to the cross. And by Christ conquering
sin, death, and hell on the cross, those men were plunging their
own sword right into their own heart by rejecting Christ. And so he says, don't envy them
at all because they're going to perish. Maybe that's what
David heard. Go over to Psalm 73. David came
to church service just like you and I came here tonight. He was
envious and jealous of the wicked and he heard a preacher. Maybe
he heard Nathan. Maybe he preached the same message
I'm preaching to you tonight. Here's what he heard. Psalm 73,
3. He said, I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity
of the wicked. Look down at verse 5. They're
not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued like
other men. Look at verse 17. Until I went into the sanctuary
of God, until I went in and heard the word of God preached. Then
I understood their end. Surely thou did set them in slippery
places. Thou castest them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation
as in a moment they're utterly consumed with terrors. My grandfather
had a large herd of cows out in the country and he fed those
cows very well. He had large pastures where they
could and he fed them plenty of hay and oats. He had them
well fed. But all he was doing was fattening
up those cows to take them to the sale barn where they'd be
sold to be slaughtered. Who would envy the cow being
fattened for nothing but slaughter? And that's what David learned
when he heard the gospel preached, and that's what our Lord's telling
us tonight. Don't envy and don't be jealous of the wicked, because
God says, I'm just fattening them up to slaughter them. They're
going to be cut off. Now that ought to tell anyone
here that doesn't believe on the Lord, cast your care on Christ,
because the end of the wicked is going to be destruction. Suddenly,
without warning. And remember this too, brethren,
if it wasn't for God choosing us by His grace, if it wasn't
for Christ redeeming all His particular people, if it wasn't
for God the Holy Spirit giving us life and faith in Christ,
you and I were the wicked. We were the workers of iniquity.
And the only thing right now keeping you and I returning to
that is the preserving hand of God. So God alone makes us to
differ. But He says, fret not, all things
are yours. Everything is yours. They're
going to be cut off. Look down at verse 10. Psalm 37, 10. He says, For yet
a little while, and the wicked shall not be, yea, thou shalt
diligently consider his place, and it shall not be, but the
meek shall inherit the earth. Remember Christ saying that on
the Sermon on the Mount? This is the word of our Redeemer.
The meek shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves
in the abundance of peace. Look at verse 16. A little that
a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked.
For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholdeth
the righteous. The Lord knoweth the days of
the upright, and their inheritance shall be forever. All that a
rich man has is what he's got right now. All that the worldly
wicked man has is what he has right now. God's people have
an eternal inheritance waiting. Secondly, here's the next precept
in verse 3. Trust in the Lord and do good. So shalt thou dwell in the land
and verily thou shalt be fed. Now this is the cure for fretting.
The cure for fretting is to trust the Lord. It's the cure for all
our sin. Trust the Lord. He's the Lord
our righteousness. He's the Lord our sanctification.
He's the Lord our redemption. He's the Lord our wisdom. He's
the Lord our all. Trust in the Lord. If you have
never believed on Christ, I say to you right now, trust the Lord. Trust in the Lord. Don't trust
in earthly riches. The psalmist said, trust not
in oppression and become not vain in robbery. If riches increase,
set not your heart upon them. Trust not in this world. The
fashion of this world passeth away. Everything you see in this
world right now shall pass away when it's God's time. Trust not
in your own works. By the deeds of the law there
shall no flesh be justified in His sight. For by the law is
the knowledge of sin. We can't justify ourselves from
our sin. But trust in the Lord. Trust
in the Lord. Trust in the Lord for pardon.
Trust in the Lord for righteousness. Trust in the Lord for holiness.
Trust in the Lord for all that you need to be saved. Salvation is of the Lord. Trust
in the Lord. Look at Psalm 103 in verse 1. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
all that is within me. Bless His holy name. Look at
verse 3. who forgiveth all thine iniquities,
who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth thy life from destruction,
who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies,
who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth
is renewed like the eagles. He executeth righteousness and
judgment for all that are oppressed. This is the the Lord that we
trust. This is what He does freely for
those that trust Him. Freely, by His grace, apart from
anything we've done. Trust in the Lord for all you
need for salvation. And trust in the Lord for your
daily provisions. Give us this day our daily bread.
That's what Christ taught us to pray. Give us this day our
daily bread. Trust Him for provision. Trust
in the Lord for protection. Psalm 91.11 says, For He shall
give His angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways.
We trust Him for protection. Trust in the Lord for His good
providence. Romans 8.28 says, We know that
all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are called according to His purpose. He's working
everything together for the good of His saints. He's purposed
it from eternity. So we can trust Him. And then
look at our text. It says there in verse 3, and
do good. Trust in the Lord and do good. He's not saying trust in the
Lord and add righteousness to the righteousness of Christ or
add anything to Christ. He's saying just trust in the
Lord and do good. and do good. Do whatever the
Lord commands in His Holy Word. And do whatever He's put in your
hand to serve Him in the furtherance of the Gospel. He says, here's the promise,
So shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
Look down at verse 19. Verse 19, He says, They shall
not be ashamed, in the evil time, and in the days of famine they
shall be satisfied. We're living in the days of famine.
This is a famine of bread. Not earthly bread, a famine of
gospel bread. But we're being satisfied. God's
provided us the gospel. It's a rare and precious thing
to have the gospel of Christ preached. It's not everywhere.
It's not just because there's a church building with a church
sign out front doesn't mean the gospel is there. This is a famine
we're living in. In these last days, God promised
a famine of the gospel. But He's left us satisfied. He's
given us the gospel. Look here, verse 20. But the
wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be
as the fat of lambs. They shall consume, into smoke
shall they consume away. Now notice how God's people do
good. Look at verse 21. The wicked
borroweth and payeth not again, but the righteous showeth mercy
and giveth. Even if they borrow from you
and they don't give it back, still God's people are merciful
and they give. to them that need it. Verse 22,
here is the promise, For such as be blessed of him shall inherit
the earth, and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off. We don't
have to worry about our provision being made. If somebody comes
to you and they need help, you can help them. Because God is
going to provide. He is not going to allow His
people to be indebted to Him. You can just bank on that. He
will provide for His people. Look here at verse 23. The steps
of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delighteth in
His way. Though he fall, he shall not
be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with His hand.
David said, I've been young and now am old, yet I have not seen
the righteous forsaken, nor have I seen his children begging bread.
You're not going to see it. It's not going to happen because
God controls it and He's going to provide. He is ever merciful
and lendeth, and His seed is blessed. Depart from evil and
do good. Dwell forevermore. Look at verse
29. The righteous shall inherit the
land and dwell therein forever. You see, every believer is safe
in the immutable, unchanging love of God in Christ. Because
He gave His Son, and His Son gave all to redeem His people,
He said, How shall He not with Him? freely give us all things. He gave His Son. He gave His
Son to justify His people. He gave His Son and His Son gave
His blood. He gave His life. How shall He
not with Him freely give you bread if you need bread? Or clothing
on your back if you need clothing on your back? He is going to
provide for His people. So, knowing this, we trust in
the Lord you can do good. Even when it's the wicked and
the ungodly that are needing your help, you can do good to
them. Because you know the Lord has
provided all for you. Here's the third thing. Delight
thyself in the Lord. Delight thyself in the Lord.
Look at verse 4. Delight thyself also in the Lord,
and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. There's the precept
and the promise. Delight thyself in the Lord.
Here's the promise. He shall give thee the desires
of thine heart. Delight means find your merriment
and your joy in the Lord. Find your joy, your rejoicing
in the Lord. Psalm 1-2 says, let me just read
this to you. It says, Blessed is the man whose
delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he
meditate day and night. When it talks about the law there,
it's talking about the Word of God. The Scriptures. The Scriptures. And it says he delights in the
Word of God, and he meditates on the Word of God day and night. And here's the promise. He shall
be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth
forth his fruit in his season, and his leaf also shall not wither,
and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. You know what he's saying? He's saying what I tell you every
time we meet. The more we hear the gospel preached,
the more you want to hear the gospel preached. The more you
hear Christ exalted, the more you want to hear Christ exalted,
the more you want to know of Christ. And He says, He shall
give thee the desire of thine heart. The more we desire His
will to be done, the more you hear of Him and you hear about
what He accomplishes by His will, the more you desire His will
to be done. And He says, He shall give thee
the desire of thine heart. The more you hear the Gospel
preached, the more you immerse yourself in the Word of God,
the more you want to be like Christ. And He says, He shall
give thee the desire of your heart. When you're fretful and
you're fearful and you're doubting, don't go to another sinner. Go
to God's Word. It's easier in our day than ever
before to get access to a gospel message. Go to the Word of God. Go to
the Word of God and apply them to yourself. The Scriptures are
there for your comfort and your edification and your faith and
your reproof and your instruction. And this is the Word of God.
God, you know, if you just tell somebody something, when you
leave, they can forget it or, you know, it's just a passing
thing when you tell somebody something. But when you write
it down, it's forever. And God didn't just tell us the
Gospel, He wrote it down. And we've got it. And why would
I ignore this and act like, well, God's not going to help me. Let
me go to another sinner and tell him what I need. No, go to God
and go to His Word. That's what He's saying. Trust
in the Lord. Delight yourself in the Lord.
Find your merriment. Find your joy in the Lord. And
He shall give you the desire of your heart. You know, as a
father, It would hurt me if my son or my daughter had a problem
and they went to somebody else to talk to somebody else to help
them with that problem. I want them to come to me. That's
what He's saying. Come to Him. Find your joy in
the Lord. Come to Him. Alright, fourthly. He says, commit thy way unto
the Lord. Look at verse 5. He says, commit
thy way unto the Lord, here's the promise, and He shall give
thee, I'm sorry, commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in
Him, and here's the promise, and He shall bring it to pass.
Nothing causes our minds to be tossed like trying to save ourselves
by our own wisdom and works. If you want your mind to be tossed
and your mind to be constantly over here and over there and
just you don't know what to do, you try to save yourself by your
wisdom and your words. I asked my wife, I was up all
night last night, and according to her when I was asleep I was
still wrestling with the codes people over at the Hopewell Township. Your thoughts will be all over
the place if you try to save yourself by your wisdom and your
works. That's in salvation and in our
daily lives. Go to Psalm 16, 3. Look at this. Psalm 16, 3. Hold on one second. I think it's
the wrong one. Hold on. I wrote it down wrong. Listen,
this is what it says. I don't know where it's at. I
don't know what I wrote down. 16-3. I don't know. I wrote it down
wrong, but let me give it to you. I'll look it up and when
I send you the notes, I'll have it right. It says this, commit
thy works unto the Lord and thy thoughts shall be established. Commit thy works unto the Lord
and thy thoughts shall be established. You try to save yourself by your
works and your wisdom and your thoughts are going to be all
over the place. You're going to be troubled. But you commit all your works
to the Lord and your thoughts will be settled and your thoughts
will be established. That's what he's saying here.
But now watch what he says back in our text, Psalm 37, verse
5. Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in Him. We trust in Him too. We resign
to the truth that He shall bring it to pass. You go through the
Scripture, and I love reading in the Scripture where God gives
a promise, and then a little while later, you'll read, and
it came to pass. God always brings His promises
to pass. Everything that's coming to pass
in this world right now is God's will, or it wouldn't be coming
to pass. And God shall bring all His promises
to pass. Everything that's coming to pass,
He's working together for the good of His people and He shall
bring to pass all His promises through all these things. And
if you and I were to try to figure out what God is doing by some
of the things that are happening in the world, our thoughts surely
would not be established. They wouldn't be settled. But
if you commit all your works to Him and trust Him with them,
leave them with Him, He says He shall bring it to pass. Everything
He's promised, He's going to bring to pass. If the world from
you withhold of its silver and its gold, and you have to get
along with meager fare, just remember in His Word how He feeds
the little bird. Take your burden to the Lord
and leave it there. If your body suffers pain and
your health you can't regain, and your soul is almost sinking
in despair, Jesus the Lord knows the pain you feel. He can save
and He can heal. Take your burden to the Lord
and leave it there. When your youthful days are gone,
and old age is stilling on, and your body bends beneath the weight
of care, He will never leave you then, He'll go with you to
the end. So take your burden to the Lord
and leave it there. Another hymn writer put it this
way, It's Thy way, not mine, O Lord, however dark it be. Lead me by Thy hand, O Lord,
and choose my path for me. Smooth let it be, or rough it
will still be the best. Winding or straight, it matters
not, it will lead me to Thy rest. I dare not choose my lot, I would
not if I might, but choose for me, O Lord, that I may walk aright. That's what he's talking about.
Commit your way unto the Lord, trust in Him also, and He shall
bring it to pass. Here's the fifth thing. Rest
in the Lord. Rest in the Lord. Look at verse
7. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently
for Him. Fret not thyself because of Him
who prospereth in His way, because of the man who bringeth wicked
devices to pass. The word rest here means be silent
and be still. That's what it means. Be silent
and be still. In other words, once you have
committed it all to the Lord, and you're trusting Him to bring
it all to pass, now don't murmur, and don't complain, and don't
be anxious when it doesn't come to pass right now. Wait on the
Lord. That's what he says there. He
says, rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him. You have to
wait patiently, and he says there, even though you see wicked men
prospering. You know, sometimes you ask the
Lord to help you with something, and you ask Him to help you with
something, and you ask Him to help you with something, and
it just doesn't seem like He's going to work it. And at the
same time, you see things happening in the world that looks like
it's surely not going to come to pass because those things
are against you so much. That's what he's talking about.
He says, rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him and fret
not thyself because of Him who prospereth in His way, because
of the man who brings wicked devices to pass. Wait on the
Lord, wait patiently. Isaiah 30 verse 15, Thus saith
the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, in returning and rest
shall you be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be your
strength. See, I can't rest as long as
I'm trying to save myself. I can't rest as long as I'm trying
to bring something to pass by myself. But if I've really committed
it to Christ, and I'm really trusting Him that He should bring
it to pass, then I can rest. And I can just patiently wait
on Him to bring it to pass. I like to think this to myself.
When I see things happening in my life and everything is just
so messed up and it just appears like everything wicked is prospering,
and every person that's wicked is prospering, and I'm not prospering,
and it just seems impossible to get over it. I like to think
to myself, Lord, I can't wait to see how you're going to turn
this around for my good. I know you are, because He says
He is. I just can't wait to see how you do it. It's going to
be something I never would have thought of, and He's going to
bring it to pass. And He always does. He always does. Do you have rest and do you have
peace? There are not many people that
do. This is a world of unrest. This is a world that does not
have peace. Christ said this, Come to Me
and I will give you rest. Come unto Me and I will give
you rest. Cease from your labors and enter
into His rest. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently
for Him to bring it to pass. Aren't these good precepts? They
all have a promise. You hear God's Word on this.
God can't lie and He promises us. He says here, do this and
here's what I'm going to bring to pass. Here's the promise that
I'll make happen. Look here, here's the sixth thing.
Cease from anger. Verse 8. Cease from anger and
forsake wrath. fret not thyself in any wise
to do evil, for evildoers shall be cut off, but those that wait
upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. Now this is the hardest of all.
We all get angry, and I'm as guilty as the next person. Cease
from anger against God's providence. And that's what we're doing when
we get angry about something. We're angry about something God
brought to pass. Cease from anger against God's
providence. Cease from anger against unbelievers. Cease from anger against relatives. Cease from anger at other believers.
And cease from anger that leads to vengeance. That's what he's
talking about here. He says cease from wrath cease from anger and
forsake wrath and fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. Don't
get so upset with the wicked or so upset with or envy and
jealous of the worker of iniquity that you do something vindictive
to get vengeance on them. Vengeance belongs to the Lord.
Cease from anger that leads to vengeance. And don't let another
person's bad behavior cause you to lose your peace and your rest. Because that's what we lose if
we retaliate. We lose our rest with the Lord.
We lose our peace with the Lord. It comes between our communion
with Him. And you know this, the Scripture
says the wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God.
It doesn't. So us getting angry is not going
to work the righteousness of God. That's not what God calls
right. to get angry and be vindictive.
Anger is not going to change the situation except to make
it worse. That's the only way it's going
to change it. And besides that, it's going to rob me of my fellowship
with God. So cease from anger. Remember,
you think about somebody that had, you could understand them
being angry. It's Joseph. His brothers threw
him in a pit and were going to just sit and watch him die. And
then they got the big idea, we'll sell him. And so they sold him
to strangers. And Joseph ended up in prison
in a foreign land he didn't know. But by God's providence, he ended
up being exalted to the man right underneath Pharaoh. That was
a powerful position. And when his brothers came down
there begging him to help them, when they were starving now and
they need help, remember the Scripture says, the righteous
he giveth, he has mercy and he lendeth. That's what Joseph did. He provided for them. And this
is what he said to them. As for you, you thought evil
against me. But God meant it. He meant it
unto good. to bring to pass as it is this
day, to save much people alive. Now therefore, fear ye not, I'll
nourish you, I'll nourish your little ones." And he comforted
them and he spake kindly unto them. Isn't that a much better
way than being angry? Their way was anger. Their way
was to be angry and envious and jealous of their brother, so
they threw him in a pit and then sold him into slavery. But his
way, Joseph's way, was to cease from anger. Alright, look at this seventh
thing. Depart from evil. Depart from
evil. He says there in verse 27, Depart from evil, and do good,
and dwell forevermore. For the Lord loveth judgment,
and forsaketh not his saints. They are preserved forever, but
the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. This word depart
from evil, it has to do there with verse 28 with judgment.
And that judgment is discernment. God has given us a new heart
and a new spirit so that we can have discernment to judge things
that are good and evil. He said, He that is spiritual
judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. He has given
you spiritual discernment. How did those born of the spirit
know the truth from a lie? Look at verse 30. The mouth of
the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment.
The law of his God is in his heart, and none of his steps
shall slide. The mouth of the righteous speaks
of God's wisdom and God's mighty works, giving God all the glory.
He speaks of God's electing grace who chose a people. He speaks
of Christ dying for that particular people and accomplishing their
redemption. Because He wants to speak in
a way that glorifies God the Father and His Son Christ Jesus.
He speaks of the Holy Ghost having to regenerate you and give you
life and faith and that you can't resist it. Because He wants God
to have all the glory and salvation. He speaks of God preserving you,
of God raising you, of God keeping you, of God losing none. He wants
God to have the glory. And the mouth that's not speaking
of righteousness is a mouth speaking evil. Because out of the abundance
of the heart, the mouth speaks. If a man won't preach the truth,
he don't believe the truth. That's just plain and simple.
And out of the heart the mouth speaks. And so he says, when
you hear somebody speaking lies, he says, depart from evil. Depart
from evil and do good. And dwell forevermore because
the Lord loves judgment. He loves it when His people...
Don't you love it when you've taught your children and you
see your children use what you've taught them and do what they
should do? That thrills you. That's what
he's saying here. The Lord's given you discernment,
He's taught you the gospel, so when you hear that message that's
not truth, depart from it. The Lord loves it. He loves to
see His children use discernment that He's given them. That's
what He's saying. The wicked, verse 32, watch this. The wicked watcheth the righteous
and seeketh to slay him, and the Lord will not leave him in
his hand nor condemn him when he's judged. You know, the Lord
loves it when His people, by His grace, when they bear the
cross of Christ, you know, when you depart from somebody that's
speaking lies against the Lord, sometimes you've got to bear
the cross, you've got to bear suffering because they get mad
at you and all of that. And then He says there, and they
start watching the righteous and seeking to slay Him. They're
watching you to find something they can blame you with and lay
to your charge. But when you do that and you
start bearing that affliction from the wicked that speak lies
against God, He says the Lord will not leave you in His hand
nor condemn you when you are judged. When that enemy casts
a charge at you, He says God won't condemn you. And He won't
leave you in His hand either. So that's an encouragement for
us to depart from evil. No matter who it is that's speaking
lies, that's an encouragement to depart. Let me read this to
you from Isaiah 54, 17. No weapon that's formed against
thee shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against
thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the inheritance of the
servants of the Lord. That's your inheritance from
the Lord. That's your heritage. And their
righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. So don't be afraid
to depart from evil. No weapon that's formed against
you is going to prosper. And God will not allow you to
be taken by the hand of the wicked. He won't leave you in their hand.
And He won't lay a charge to you when they condemn you. Alright,
lastly. Here's the last thing. Wait on
the Lord. Verse 34. Wait on the Lord. and keep his way, and he shall
exalt thee to inherit the land, and when the wicked are cut off,
thou shalt see it. Now when wicked men pretend to
believe the gospel, they only go so long and they fall away
because they do not wait, they do not persevere. keeping the
way of the Lord as the only way of salvation. They don't persevere
in that way. And that's what he's talking
about here. Wait on the Lord and keep His way. And in the end, He shall
exalt you to inherit the land, the land He's promised, heavenly
Jerusalem. But a wicked man won't wait,
he won't persevere. Look at verse 35. I have seen
the wicked in great power, spreading himself like a green bay tree,
yet he passed away, and lo, he was not. Yea, I sought him, but
he could not be found. That's what a wicked man is.
He may appear to be a believer, and he may look like he's flourishing
like a green bay tree, but he won't keep the way of the Lord.
He will not trust Christ only. He's got to add something, and
he's going to fall away. But those in whom Christ dwells,
they're going to wait and they're going to persevere. They're going
to keep the way of the Lord. Look here at verse 37. Mark the
perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace.
But the transgressors shall be destroyed together, the end of
the wicked shall be cut off. But you see the perfect man,
perfect in Christ, upright because of Christ abiding in him, giving
him a new heart. perfect in righteousness and
upright in holiness, that man is going to wait on the Lord.
He is going to wait for the Lord's return and he is going to keep
the way. He is going to trust Christ the
way and never not turn from Him. And in the end, the end of that
man is going to be peace. God is going to bring him into
His presence forevermore. But the wicked, they won't wait
on the Lord. They won't keep the way. They
are going to fall away every time. Every time. Here's the reason the Lord's
people wait. Here's why they continue to the end. Verse 39.
But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord. That's why. Because our salvation is of the
Lord. He is their strength in the time of trouble. And the
Lord shall help them and deliver them. He shall deliver them from
the wicked and save them because they trust in Him. That's how
we're going to persevere to the end. We're preserved by the hand
of the Lord. That's the only way. We couldn't
persevere in faith without His hand. Now remember this as we
wait on the Lord. The Lord never moves before His
time and He is never late in His purposes. He never moves
before His time and He is never late in His purposes. In the
fullness of time, He sent His Son. When the hour came, His
Son went to the cross. In the fullness of time, He called
you. In the fullness of time, He delivers
us right out of the trial. And in the fullness of time,
He's going to exalt us to heaven's glory. But our verse says we
have to wait on the Lord. We have to keep His way. And
in the end, He will exalt you. You have to wait on the Lord.
Look at 1 Peter 5. We'll end with this. 1 Peter
1, I mean, 1 Peter 5, verse 5. Look at the end there. God resisteth
the proud, and He giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves,
therefore, unto the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you
in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He careth
for you. What's due time? It's God's time. God's time. Go one more, Hebrews 10. Hebrews
10, 35. Here's what He's telling us right
here. Cast not away, therefore, your confidence. Confidence in
Christ. Don't cast it away, which hath
great recompense of reward. You continue on with all your
confidence in Christ. In the end, you're going to be
in peace. You're going to dwell with the
Lord forever. Great recompense of reward. Verse 36, For you
have need of patience, that after you have done the will of God,
you might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he
that shall come will come, and he will not tarry. He is going
to come right in his time, and he won't be late. Now the just
shall live by faith, but if any man draw back, my soul shall
have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw
back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of
the soul. So by His grace, we're going
to wait. Now what do we see here? First of all, fret not. Don't
be envious and jealous, in hot envy and jealousy of the wicked.
Trust in the Lord. Trust in the Lord. Delight thyself
in the Lord. Get all your merriment and joy
in the Lord. Commit thy way unto the Lord.
And also trust Him, knowing He'll bring it to pass. Rest in the
Lord. When you really committed it
to him and you trust him, that's where you're going to find rest.
Then you can just rest. I'll give you an illustration.
When you're driving somewhere, you're traveling on vacation,
your kids are in the back, and, hey, you know, oh, you're missing
this turn. Turn here. We're supposed to
go this way or that way or the other. And you can tell them,
I got the wheel. I'm driving. All you got to do
is just rest back there in the back seat. Be silent and wait
and rest. He said rest. and cease from
anger and depart from evil and wait on the Lord. That's a recipe
for a happy life. That's a recipe for a happy church.
Those are precepts and promises to live by. Amen. Let's pray together and then
Brother Kevin will lead us in a closing hymn. Lord, we thank
You for Your Word. We ask You to help us to do these
things that You've commanded. We pray, Lord, You would make
us truly earnest to walk in this way that's pleasing to You. not
trying to add anything to your work, not trying to earn a reward
from you, just simply because it's your word. We want to please
you and honor you. Forgive us of our failing to
do so, Lord. We pray you be with our brethren
that are traveling. We pray you be with us in Arkansas
this weekend. Be with Brother Eric as he preaches
here. And Lord, bless him with a safe
trip back. We ask these things in Christ's
name. Amen. And Brother Kevin. I forgot Brother
Kevin is going to preach on Sunday. Pray for them. Alright, Kevin. All right, if you want to turn
to your hymnals, number 255 will stand and sing Blessed Assurance. Last one and Eric will be back
Sunday. 255. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory
divine. Heir of salvation, Purchase of
God. Born of His Spirit, washed in
His blood. This is my story, this is my
song, Praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story,
this is my song, Praising my Savior all the day long. Perfect submission, perfect delight. Visions of rapture now burst
on my sight. Angels descending bring from
above Echoes of mercy, whispers of love. This is my story, this
is my song, Praising my Savior all the day long. This is my
story, this is my song, Praising my Savior all the day long. Perfect submission, all is at
rest I in my Savior am happy and blest Watching and waiting,
looking above Filled with His goodness, lost in His love This
is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day
long. This is my story, this is my
song, praising my Savior all the day long. Dismissed.