Psalm 37

Q: What does the Bible say about self-pity?

The Bible warns against self-pity, reminding believers that their troubles are not unique and are often shared by many. Self-pity can become a significant challenge for believers, as it distorts our view of our problems, making us feel isolated and overwhelmed. Psalm 37 addresses this by reminding us that many others also face trials and difficulties, suggesting that our personal struggles, while real, are not the worst among God's people. The psalmist encourages believers to 'fret not' because of evildoers, illustrating that the apparent success of the wicked should not provoke envy or despair in the heart of a righteous person. Instead, they are called to trust in the Lord, which involves a deep-seated confidence in God's sovereignty and goodness, knowing that He cares for His children, even amid their struggles.

Q: How do we know God's promises are true?

We can trust in the truth of God's promises as they are founded on His faithfulness and love. The reliability of God's promises stems from His immutable character. Throughout Scripture, God demonstrates His faithfulness to His people, assuring them that not one of His words will return void. For instance, in Psalm 37, believers are encouraged to commit their way to the Lord and trust in His ability to bring it to pass. This trust is rooted in the understanding that God has a plan for each of His children, a plan filled with hope and a future. His past actions—delivering Israel, promising a Messiah, and fulfilling that promise in Christ—reinforce our confidence in His current and future promises. When believers lean on God's word, they find peace and the strength to endure life's challenges.

Q: Why is trusting God important for Christians?

Trusting God is essential for Christians as it forms the foundation of our faith and obedience. Trusting God is central to the believer's walk with Christ, acting as the bedrock of faith. In Psalm 37, the exhortation to 'trust in the Lord' is not merely a suggestion; it's a command that invites us to rely on God's wisdom, strength, and provision. Trust enables believers to face life's difficulties without succumbing to fear or despair, knowing that God is sovereign and working for their good. Just as Abraham demonstrated trust by obeying God's command, so too are Christians called to exhibit a similar faith. This trust cultivates a relationship of obedience and reliance on God, urging Christians to act according to His word and to wait patiently for His plans to unfold, which ultimately leads to spiritual growth and peace.

Q: What does it mean to delight in the Lord?

Delighting in the Lord means finding joy and satisfaction in Him above all else. Delighting in the Lord is a pivotal aspect of a believer's relationship with God, as reflected in Psalm 37. To delight in the Lord entails a deep-seated joy that comes from knowing Him, understanding His character, and experiencing His grace. It involves prioritizing our relationship with God, allowing His presence to bring fulfillment and peace in our lives. The psalmist makes it clear that when believers delight themselves in the Lord, they receive the desires of their heart, indicating that true satisfaction comes when our desires align with His will. This delight transforms not just our spiritual outlook, but our entire life, as it shapes our desires, actions, and relationships, steering us towards a life of holiness and obedience.

And we're all so susceptible
to this thing called self-pity. We're all bad about this. We've
got a bad case of self-pity. I have as much as anyone here.
I go through it quite often. We feel that our particular problems
and our predicaments are the worst of all, and surely nobody
else has it as bad as I do. It usually involves the jobs
that we work, generally. Most of our problems involve
our jobs. Sometimes it's our home life. But for a believer to live in
this world at all is a continual trial. to live with, to work
with, to be subject to this wicked world, these evil people that
don't know our God and don't have the same principles that
we have, and we're subject to them, we're under their authority.
It's a constant source of trouble, isn't it? A constant source of
fretfulness and pining and self-pity. On the job, And in the home,
we're constantly beset with troubles. I know where you're at. I've
been there. And we catch ourselves crying with the psalmist David.
How long, O Lord? How long? Don't you? How long
am I going to have to go through this, put up with this man or
this woman or whatever? And you catch yourself sometimes
wishing that the Lord would rend the heavens and come down and
get us out of this mess. But you're not alone. As I said,
we feel like our troubles are the worst of all. But you're
not alone because that's the Elijah syndrome. And there's
7,000 people just like you all over. 7,000 believers all over
the world who are going through the same thing, thinking, Oh,
nobody's got it as bad as I do. In this psalm, the Lord hushes
the fretful repinings of his people. and calms their minds
as to their present situations, and gives them a certain happiness
and peace concerning their future. It's all right here. He hushes
us up like a little child who's crying. Hush up now. And gives
us a peace and a happiness concerning our future. Do you need some
reassurance? I do. Well, what many of the
old writers refer to as eight great precepts here in this Psalm
37, I find nine, but eight precepts here, all of them contained in
the first eight verses. Let's look at it, beginning with
verse one. He says, Fret not thyself because of evildoers,
neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity." Fret
not. The world just doesn't seem fair,
does it? It just doesn't seem fair. It seems that those who
are trying to do what is right are getting wronged, and those
who are living wickedly and wrongfully are getting They get everything,
especially the believer. Do you remember us reading back
there where he said the believer, his cup, it's in Psalm 73, he's
full of troubles. He has a full cup of troubles,
trials, and sorrows, yet the God-hating world has more than
their hearts can desire. Why is that? Well, he says quit fretting.
He says it in several places. He says they're like cattle being
fattened for slaughter. We don't envy the fattest cow
out in the pasture, do we? I mean, the fattest, biggest,
fattest cow out there in the pasture. No, he's the one that's
most likely to be butchered the soonest. Right? God gives—listen to this statement—God
gives everyone, most of the time, God gives everyone their heart's
desire. Yeah, he does. Most of the time,
God gives everyone just exactly what they desire. So that brings
me to the question, what do you desire? What do you desire? If you desire the world, you'll
get it. The world out there is pursuing
it with all the vim, vigor, and gusto they can muster, and they're
getting it. But you know what they've got
after they've got the world? They've got what the world's
got coming to them—death and destruction. But if you desire
Christ, you'll get Him. And you know what you'll get
with Christ? Heaven, eternal life. If you find Him, you'll live
with Him. If you find the world, you'll
die with the world. Quit fretting, David says. Quit fretting about not having
this or that as others do. Do you know Christ? Hmm? He's all. He's all. Christ had nothing. Jesus Christ had nothing. He
said, the foxes had their dens, the birds had their nests, I
don't have a place to lay my head. But he had the Father. Verse
3, verse 2, they shall soon be cut down like the grass, these
wicked people. Their end is coming, and wither
is the green herb. Precept number 2, trust in the
Lord. Trust in the Lord and do good. This word trust here, in my opinion,
according to the scriptures, according to what I see in the
scriptures, this word trust is the best word for faith that
you can come up with. Trust. The best word you can
use for faith yet, it's the hardest thing for us to do, just completely
and totally trust the Lord. That's the reason he said, our
faith is not like the grain of a mustard seed. Do you know that
if we really, if we really trusted the Lord, I mean if we really
trusted the Lord in everything, we would never be sad, never
have a worry, never have a problem that amounted to much of anything. If we really trusted in the Lord. There was a ship, a large ocean
vessel that was out in a severe storm on the Atlantic. And everyone
on that boat, everyone on that boat was quite fretful and worrying
about the boat sinking or capsizing. The boat was tossing to and fro,
and the waves were crashing over the side. Everybody was fretful
but one young man, one young man. And in the course of that
storm, somebody said, Don't you worry. Somebody hollered, What's
wrong? Why are you so calm in the time of this storm? Why aren't
you worried? We could go down. And the young
man said, I'm not worried because, you see, my daddy is the captain
of this ship, and I've ridden this boat quite a few times through
many storms. And my daddy loves me, and daddy
wouldn't let anything happen to his boy. Daddy's got his hand
on the wheel, and I'm quite confident he's going to get me through
this storm. Well, my father, my father that's
in heaven, has his hand on the wheel. We're going through the
storms, but he's the captain of this boat, this ship, and
he'll never let anything happen to his children until it's their
time. Believers are immortal until
God says it's time. Trust, this word trust, is implicit
confidence, confidence in the ability in the knowledge, in
the strength, in the truthfulness, listen, in the faithfulness of
the Lord, confident that he's able to do what he said he was
able to do. Confident in his word, all of
his promises. He said a thousand shall fall
at thy side and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it'll
not come nigh. He's faithful to his word. Not
one of his words will return void. Not one of his promises
will fail. They never have. They never will. And trust is just that. Trusting
whatever he says. Trusting his ability. Trusting
his knowledge. Trusting his wisdom in all things. Abraham believed God. Abraham
believed God. How else could he take his son, his only son? God reminded him
of just what a treasure this boy was to him when he told him
to go sacrifice him. Like your only son, Margaret.
How else could Abraham take his son, his only son, whom he loved
dearly? and take him up onto a mountain
and butcher his body and pour out the blood of his only son.
How else could he do that except implicit confidence in and trust
in what the Lord had said? It seemed hard and unreasonable,
didn't it? Take your son up. Didn't it seem hard and unreasonable?
Not to Abraham. He believed God. He believed
that what God had promised, God was able to also perform. And
there's a verse in Scripture, Terry, where it says that he
received his son back from the dead. He'd already killed him,
but he thought somehow or another God was going to raise him from
the dead or something. God told me I'd have a seed as
the stars of the heaven and the sands of the seashore, and this
Isaac was the one that they want to come from. And now he tells
me to kill him. Well, it's the Lord. He knows. I don't know how he's going to
do it, but he said he'd do it, so I'll do it. And he did what
God told him, and that's the third precept here, trust in
the Lord and do good. Do good. What is good? God's Word is good. It's good. Do God's Word, not hearers only. Don't be hearers of the Word
only, but doers, doers of the Word. Do God's bidding. I can't,"
you say. Yes, you can. Like a little child,
you know, I can't do it. Try. Try. That's all he demands
of us. And he doesn't expect perfection.
God never has, never will expect perfection. What he expects,
though, is obedience. Right? I can't try. But I'll fail, probably. Try
it anyway. Do good. Spurgeon said this. He said, Doing is a fine remedy
for fretting. Think about it. Doing is a fine
remedy for fretting. When are we the most fretful? When we lie on our bed at nighttime.
Right before we were about to go to sleep, we're laying there,
we're thinking about bills that need to be paid, and we don't
have the money for it, or things that need to be done, and oh,
we fret, don't we, and worry. But when the sun's up, and we
hit the road, and get busy, fretting seems to stop temporarily. The Scripture says, Awake thou
that sleepest. The Scripture says, Go to the
ant thou sluggard. Trust in the Lord, trust in the
Lord, and do good. So shalt thou dwell in the land,
and verily thou shalt be fed." Look at this. You'll dwell in
the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Trust in the Lord with
all thine heart. Lean not to thine own understanding.
Look to him for directions. Look to his word. Then move,
man, and do it. Just do it. That commercial says,
just do it. But I can't do it. That's what
he tells us right there. Trust in the Lord and do good.
I can't. There's none that doeth good. Do it anyway. True trusters are triers. Doers
are dwellers. Now, you know better than to
think that this has anything to do with our acceptance before
God. We're going to see this in a moment. If you read Hebrews
11, though, sometime, of all those people, you'll see that
they trusted the Lord, yet they worked. And read that sometime
and see where you fit in. Scripture says the world wasn't
worthy of those people. I'd like to be numbered in that
group. Wouldn't you? Faithful? Faith. He says, Verily thou shalt be
fed. Trust in the Lord, and do good, and you will dwell in the
land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Trust in the Lord, do good,
and you will be fed. Have you ever considered the
wisdom of that command over in 2 Thessalonians 3 that says,
If any would not work, neither should he eat? Think about that in light of
this verse right here, verse 3 of Psalm 37. If any would not
work, neither shall he eat." Listen to this illustration.
When you were an infant, when you were a little bitty child,
your parents nurtured you and fed you and nursed you and took
care of your every single need. As that child matured, more was
expected of it, right? As it matured, it was given more
and more responsibilities, right, until finally the child is setting
the table, making his bed, picking up his clothes, helping out around
the house and so forth, earning its keep a little bit, right?
What is the sense in which this applies right here? He says,
trust in the Lord and do good. Trust is first, and then be in
his service, do good. and you'll be fed. Thou shalt
be fed." Faith starts with trust, ends with trust, and works by
love in the middle, all the way through. He said,
verse 4, this is the third or fourth precept, "...delight thyself
also in the Lord." Now, I was talking to somebody the other
day about this. Somebody said, what I was just
talking about there, the works of a believer and so forth. I was talking to somebody the other
day and said, just said this about somebody, said they can
receive the spiritual, they can receive the spiritual aspects
of a verse, but they rarely, if ever, comment or receive the
practical applications of the gospel. Now, folks, that can't
be of a child of God. That just can't be. God demands
for salvation, he demands trust. And as a result of that salvation,
he demands obedience, just like any parent does of any child.
Now, it's your reasonable service, right? Doesn't Hebrews 12 say? Make your bodies a living sacrifice?
Is it a reasonable service? It has nothing to do with our
acceptance before God. It can. Disobedience can incur
the displeasure of God. We can grieve the Holy Spirit.
It's very plain from the scriptures that we can grieve the Holy Spirit.
And it's very plain from the scriptures that we can that God will hide his face from
his people to a certain degree sometimes. That's very clear,
very plain. I was talking to Brother Donnie
Bell about a month or so ago, and he said, Paul, he said, I'm
going to start preaching on the practical aspects of the gospel.
He said, I'm just going to start preaching more on the practical
applications of the gospel. Because this thing, it's got
to, the only evidence, the only way that we can show forth our
testimony and our faith is by fruit and by works. And we don't
despise, we shouldn't despise these things. We're not to look
to them and depend upon them and keep looking for them necessarily. But nevertheless, they will manifest
themselves and if they're not there, We've got serious problems. Serious problems. I'm going to
put an article in the Bulletin Sunday by Brother Joe Terrell
that really does deal with this well. But notice this here. He says, trust in the Lord and
do good. Now that's not a request, is
it? Not a request. None of the things
that God says, whatever God says, is right. None of the things
that God says are recommendations or words of advice, but they're
commands. All right, verse 4. Delight thyself also in the Lord. Delight thyself in the Lord. Like Sunday morning's message
from Psalm 33, rejoicing the Lord. Do you delight in him? Do you delight in him, his person
and the Lord? Who he is and what he's done?
Is he your exceeding great reward? Is he the one that you long for? Is he the one who you desire
more than anything else? It must be. It must be. And I tell you this, in light
of what we were just talking about, verse 3, if he is your
delight, if he is your rejoicing, if he is the one whom you seek
and seek to serve and love, that will that will regulate your
life, regulate your works and your actions. That's the only
motive that God accepts anyway in our service and our work.
Delight thyself in the Lord. Do you walk with and talk with the Lord? Enoch walked with God. He says he walked right up into
heaven. Do you? I know none of you like to, would
like to admit it, but we don't walk with him and talk with him
and enjoy him like we want to, do we? Or like we ought to, do
we? Or like we could, even. But the rare times, now listen,
if you know anything about it, about this, the rare times that
you do enjoy a little bit of communion with the Lord, it's a blessed thing indeed,
I'm telling you. So if you don't know anything
about it, oh my, the rare times, and they're rare, they're few
and far between. If you ever experience a little
thrill, a little joy, a little peace, a little comfort, some
enjoyment, just some inexpressible, inexplicable, unexplainable enjoyment when you hear the gospel
preached or read through the Word, well, there's more of that to
be had. There's more of that where that came from. Delight
thyself in the Lord. Delight thyself in the Lord,
and he shall give thee desires of thine heart." What do you
desire with all your heart? What do you desire? Back in Psalm
27, David said in verse 4, one thing have I desired of the Lord,
and that's what I'm going after. That's what I'm seeking. that
I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life."
Why do you want to go to heaven, David? I want to see him, to behold the beauty of the Lord.
See, I've seen a little glimpse of him down here, and I've got
to have another side of it. I can't get enough. I've got
to see. I want to be with him, to behold
the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. I've got
some questions I want to ask him. and not about where Cain
got his wife. I want to ask him, Lord, tell
me more about this Melchizedek. Lord, preach my fellowship to
me. I want to hear it preached like it ought to be preached.
Ah, Lord, tell me how you, your God, yet became a man. One thing
have I desired. If you desire him, you'll get
him. You'll get him. Delight thyself also in the Lord. And he shall give you the desires
of your heart." Look at verse 5. I like this. This is the fifth
precept. Commit thy way unto the Lord. Commit thy way unto the Lord. Do you have a margin, a number
beside that word, commit? It says, roll thy way upon him. I like that. Roll the whole burden
of life upon the Lord. I've recently started rereading
Pilgrim's Progress, a pilgrim walking along with that burden
on his back. And he got to the foot of the
cross. I mean, he went through this flower of despondency. He
hurt all kinds of counselors and people trying to persuade
him and dissuade him and this and that and the other. He was
so miserable, so miserable with this burden of his sin on his
back, all the cares of this world on his back. He thought, if I
could just get rid of this burden, I sure would like to get rid
of this role, then I could step lightly on down the way. And
he couldn't do it until he got to the foot of the cross. And
when he got to the foot of the cross and looked up at that one
hanging there, he said he just fell off his shoulders. Roll
the whole burden of life upon the Lord, Scripture said. You know, little children have
it easy, don't they? They just got it made. They might not think
so. They think going to kindergarten
is the worst sort of torture you could go through. Oh, what
a rough day they've had, you know. What a rough day. School, wouldn't it be nice to
be back in school? Couldn't you enjoy it now, Stan?
Oh, now you sit back and relax and learn and eat what your mama
fixed you and, you know, we could do the same. Little children have it so easy.
Not a care in this world. Daddy will take care of it. The other day we were talking
about doing something. I think going on a vacation.
Mindy and I were talking about where we were going to get the
money. Hannah said, just go to the bank. They got plenty of
it. Honey, we've been there too many times already. We can get plenty of that, that
money, no problem. She said, I got plenty. I got
four dollars. Cast your care upon him, for
he careth for you," Peter said. Cast it. He's going to take care
of it anyway. Might as well let him have it
all. Why share a little bit of the
burden? He's going to take care of it all anyway. He can't take
care of any of it. He's got to take care of the smallest. So why worry about it? You just
make yourself miserable. You know this thing of self-pity. We're just like our children.
Has your child, has she ever been, he or she, ever been sad?
And while they're crying, they're looking in the mirror. And that
makes them cry all the harder, you know. They're looking at
themselves. Oh, they just make themselves, they're just self-pity,
you know, just full of it. Just makes them cry all the much
harder. And that's us, isn't it? That's us. Until finally
we tell our children, you better stop that crying, or I'm going
to give you something to cry about. God needs to tell us that
sometime. Now, quit your crying, it's not
worth crying about, I'm going to give you something to cry
about. But, listen to this, though, for our encouragement, that's
Psalm 103, verse 13. It says, as a father, pity of
his children. So the Lord pityeth them that
fear him. He knows our frame. He knows
what is truly sorrowful and hurtful and unbearable to us, and he
lends his shoulder, a kind shoulder to cry on. Yeah, he does. Commit your way. Delight thyself
in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of your heart.
Commit thy way unto the Lord. Trust also in him, and he'll
bring it to pass. Commit and trust. Trust and committal. They go hand in hand. They go
hand in hand. Trust and committal. If you trust
him, you've got to commit to him. If you distrust yourself,
you've got to commit it to somebody who's able. If you can say with
Paul, I'm persuaded. that I'm unable and that he's
able. So why? I don't want this. Lord, please, you take care of
it. Trust and commit will go hand
in hand. You see that? They should trust in him. It came, oh, to pass. Whatever comes will pass. Right? Trials, troubles, they
come. Oh, and like, once again, we're
like little children, you know, we stump our toe or skin our
knee, and it's a major trial, but it'll pass. It'll pass. Verse 6, and he shall bring forth
thy righteousness as the light, thy righteousness, and thy judgment
as the noonday. He'll bring forth thy righteousness.
Now, in the context here, you remember he's been talking about
not fretting because of evildoers, because of workers of iniquity
and so forth. And you people who work under
unregenerate employers and hard taskmasters and so forth, the
cruel world out there that's not fair. It doesn't deal fairly. Bosses, companies that don't,
that muzzle the ox, you know, that treads the corn. This is,
in the context here, this is what he's talking about. He says,
concerning being wrongfully treated by an evildoer or evil workers,
God will vindicate you. You don't have to take, you don't
have to stand up in your defense. God said, this is not your fight. It's not your fight. He said,
I'll fight for you, and I'll declare the right, and I'll declare
what's right. Yet spiritually here, and primarily
here, I believe he's saying here, trust in Christ, and he'll give
you his righteousness. Trust in Christ. Commit your
way to the Lord. Trust in him, and he'll bring
it to pass. What? He'll bring forth your
righteousness. as the light. He'll show you,
He'll open up your understanding to see Him as the Lord your righteousness. And thy judgment justice, He'll
justify you. He'll shed light upon you. The
sun of righteousness will arise with healing in His wings like
the noonday, like high noon. So trust in Him and He'll bring
forth your righteousness, His righteousness, and make it your
own. Verse 7, precept number 6, rest
in the Lord. Rest in the Lord. Oh, we need this man. Can you
rest? Can you relax and go along for
the ride? That's what we are. The world
would have us in the driver's seat and God doing the co-piloting.
That's not the way it is. The child of God is not even
up front. He's not even in the front seat.
He's way on back. He's in the back seat. Now, don't
do any back seat driving. God's got her under control.
Can we rest knowing that the Lord is working all things after
the counsel of his own will? Can we? We ought to. Can we rest Knowing that all
things work together for our good, can we? We ought to, because they are
good to them that love Him. Can you rest your soul, your
life, your all upon the Lord Jesus Christ and not worry about
it? And not try to work your way
into God's favor? Can you? If you can, there's
some real peace. There's some real peace to be
had. You know, the true disciples, a true disciple never rests in
himself. He never rests in himself, yet
he rests in Christ. And he knows all is well. All
is well. And the Holy Spirit bears witness
with our spirit that we're His. And look at this, and wait patiently.
Rest in the Lord. This is number seven. And wait
patiently for Him. Rest and wait. Not only watching,
looking, and waiting for His coming, ready, be ready at His
coming, because you don't know when He's coming, but wait. Wait
on His providential dealings and directions and provisions. Wait before you do anything,
and above all, wait before you say anything. Say anything or
do anything rash. Wait. Wait. Wait. And then he reminds us again
to quit fretting as if we needed it. Wait patiently and fret not
thyself, fret not thyself because of him who prospers in the way.
Don't fret because we're the ones that are suffering. Nobody else
is suffering but us. We're making ourselves miserable.
fret not thyself because of him who prospers in the way, because
of the man who brings wicked devices to pass." Don't worry. Don't fret about other people. Do you remember when, was it
Peter again? I believe it was. Peter said,
what about him, the Lord? The Lord was talking to Peter,
telling him what was going to happen and so forth. And Peter,
what about him? What are you going to do with
him? I've got to go through all that.
Don't worry about him. Don't worry about him. The Lord
has given you your lot. Don't worry about anybody else.
Don't worry about it. Don't worry about the threat
about another man or another person because of the man who
brings wicked devices to pass. Don't worry about him. His end
is coming. He says this all the way through this song. He's coming.
It's coming. Verse 8, cease from anger. Cease
from anger. Turn with me over to Ephesians
chapter 4. I need to hurry a little bit. Ephesians chapter 4. I've said this before, and I
need to say it again. A quick-tempered man or woman,
I just don't believe, based upon the scriptures, that a quick-tempered
man or woman If they are a saved person, I
doubt it, but at least they don't know the Lord very well or haven't
known Him very long or are very, very childish and very immature.
I'm just inclined to believe that one who is really, really
quick-tempered is just not a child of God. There are just too many
scriptures which condemn anger and wrath and malice and so forth. Look here at Ephesians chapter
4. Begin with verse 17. Listen to these things. This I say therefore and testify
in the Lord, that you henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk,
that is, as unregenerate people in the vanity of their mind,
their wicked, useless way of thinking and doing, having the
understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God
through the ignorances in them because of the blindness of their
heart, who being passive feeling, they don't have any conscience
or feeling about what they do. They've given themselves over
in a lasciviousness to work all uncleanness with greediness.
You have not so learned Christ. If so be that you have heard
him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus, that
you put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which
is corrupt according to the deceitful lust. and be renewed in the spirit
of your mind. And put on the new man, which
after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore,
putting away lying, speaking every man truth with his neighbor,
remembers one of another. Be ye angry and sin not. Let
not the sun go down upon your wrath. Be reconciled one to another. Neither give place to the devil."
You see that? Anger is giving place to the
devil. He's got you. Wrath, envy, malice,
got you. He can get you mad at somebody,
especially one of God's people. He's got you, doesn't he? He's
sown—there's a root of bitterness that has sprung up, and he's
sown discord between you and your brother or sister. He's
got you. It's the place of the devil there. Read on, verse 30, "...and grieve
not the Holy Spirit of God." Do you see that? Grieve not the Holy Spirit of
God, whereby you are sealed under the day of redemption. Let all
bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking
be put away from you with all malice. And be ye kind one to
another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for
Christ's sake, hath forgiven you." Not a request, is it? Not a request,
not a suggestion. Two Sundays ago, under the merciful
thou wilt show thyself merciful. Forsake wrath," he says here.
Cease from anger and forsake wrath, or God will forsake you. That's right. What right do we
have? Now listen. What right do we
have to get mad or angry with anybody? We say, and most of the time
we probably say this in hypocrisy to sound good, we say, I'm the
chief of sinners. How can anybody offend you then?
How can you offend the chief of sinners? The chief of sinners, yet we
rail on and look down on and judge somebody. We say things
like, oh, I'm unworthy, yet we act like a spoiled child when
we don't get what we think is coming to us. Unworthy? I thought you said you were unworthy.
We say we're concerned with God's glory, yet we seek our own. We
seek our own. We say we love God, yet we hate
our brother or sister or husband or our wife. Oh, no. No, no, no, no. No, no, no, no. That person's living a lie. I
never did understand Why John the Baptist? You remember when
he was preaching to those Pharisees? Think about this. This hit me
like a sword. This sword just like a sledgehammer
between the eyes. Like a light turning on. I never
did understand why John the Baptist preached what he did to those
Pharisees. Remember when Herod and the Pharisees and all came
out? They all came out to hear John. Everybody liked to hear
John. He was a great preacher. And what did John preach to the
Pharisees? He said, Bring forth fruit, meat
for repentance, didn't he? Snakes, hypocrites, vipers, bring
forth fruit, meat for repentance. Oh, John, that's works. You're
not preaching works, are you? Then Herod came along and said,
Herod heard him gladly. Herod liked to hear John. Herod
came to church every Sunday. What did he say to Herod? You've
got to put away that woman you're living with. It's adultery, isn't
it? It's not lawful for you to have
your brothers. Why? Why did he say that? Because
these people came to hear him preach all the time. They came
to hear him preach all the time, yet there was no change in their
lives. Now they heard everything else
he had to say about him who would come, whose shoes he wasn't worthy
to tie, the Lamb of God. They heard him preach all the
time, yet there was no change, right? And he looked at those
Pharisees and said, bring forth fruit and meat for repentance. And Herod heard him gladdened.
If you're going to hear the Word, you've got to be a doer, too.
And this applies to every one of us. In the context here, it
applies to every one of us. Trust and do good. You see that? Now, the believer,
he says, cease from anger and forsake wrath. Threaten not thyself
in any wise to do evil. Threaten not thyself to do evil.
It will come back on you. The believer shouldn't get mad
at anybody or anything because ultimately we're getting mad
at God. Yes, we are. God's in control. Ultimately,
we're getting mad at God. And fret not thyself to do anything
about it because it will come back on you. Live by the sword,
you'll die by the sword. Verse 9, evil doers shall be
cut off. Those that wait upon the Lord,
they'll hurt and hurt the earth. There you have a promise. God
will take care of it. Quit fretting. Leave it with
him. Yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be. You'll
consider, you'll diligently consider. I remember, and he'll be gone. I remember old so-and-so, and
he's not around anymore. Died of a heart attack. Forget
about it. Quit fretting and leave it with
God. Because, besides, we have here no continuing city. This
is not our home. We can't expect any happiness
here. We look for one who's builder and maker is God. We look for
a new earth, and he says, we'll get that. We'll get that. The meek shall inherit the earth
and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. You
see that? Verse 11. Abundance of peace. Delight. There won't be no more
tears. Christ said, no more tears. No
more sorrow. Nothing to disturb the peace.
Nobody disturbing the peace. A land wherein no more sin, no
more burdens. A land wherein dwelleth righteousness. Righteousness. The wicked plots
against the just, though, and gnashes upon him with his teeth.
The Lord laugh at him. He sees his days coming. You
know, there's nobody I get more upset with than these TV preachers.
Every time I turn them on. I was watching these guys. I don't know why I stand there
and watch them sometimes. There's another spirit, I think.
There's another spirit that captivates you. You ever seen Robert Templeton?
You ever turn him on? You can't take your eyes off
that guy. You think, this is unreal. Don't you? It's another spirit. It really
is. It's captivating. I was watching
old Kenneth Copeland the other day. I hate that man. I seriously do. I can say with
David, God is my witness, do not I hate them that hate thee. That man is a blasphemer of the
worst kind. He mocks God. He was saying stuff
like, he said, you know how he talks, tries to put on air like
an old country boy and down-home, you know, tater-row type of wisdom,
you know? He said, You don't have to go
up to God and ask God for mercy. I said, Oh, Lord, don't save
me, please. I'm a sinner. He said, You don't
have to do that. Just ask Jesus into your heart. I'd like to take a .357 Magnum
and blow him between the eyes. I really would. I'd like to call
down fire from heaven. But God says, don't worry about
that dude. His end's coming. He's coming. The Lord will laugh at him. He
sees his day coming. So I need to just, you know what
I need to do, Sam? Turn the TV off. Turn it off. You don't have to watch him. The Lord sees. The Lord hears these fools spouting
off. And you can imagine what he thinks
about it. But he's laughing. He sees her
in. He sees them both. He sees that
same dude begging God for mercy. He's going to see Kenneth Copeland
someday and say, Lord, please have mercy on me. Isn't it? The same man that said, you don't
have to do that's going to be screaming bloody murder for mercy,
and God's going to be laughing. You mocked me. You told people,
the poor people, that's what he says on down here, the wicked
have drawn out the sword. They take the Bible, the sword
of God's Word, don't they? They use it. I heard old Robert
Tipton the other day saying this, "'Trust in the Lord, and he'll
give you the desire to your heart.' Well, you want a new car, he'll
give it to you, if you send me a thousand first." They've taken the word, aren't
they, and they're lying on God. They've taken the wicked, have
drawn out the sword and bent their bow to cast down the poor
and the needy, to say such as be of upright conversation. Butcher
the gospel. Butcher men's souls. But, look
at this, verse 15, the spore is going to enter their own heart.
It's going to turn back on like a boomerang. It's a gun that's
going to backfire and misfire on them. Their bowels will be
broken. Now remember this, you widows, you people that live on meager
means, remember verse 16 now. Don't listen to these dudes.
You might have a tendency I hope nobody here has been tempted
to say, well, I'll try her out. You know, he says, let's try
it. Don't, oh, it's another spirit
now. You're messing with danger. But you people, you remember
this, verse 16, a little that a righteous man has. And if you're
righteous, Terry, that ain't little. That's a whole lot. That's exceeding riches. But
a little that you have here on earth is better than the riches
of many wicked. Why? You remember studying James?
Oh, weep and howl, you rich man, for the judgment that's coming
upon you. Weep and howl. You have all you need. Food and
raiment, you have all you need. And Christ too. And Christ too. The wicked have all they want,
and hell, too. Now, verse 17 and 18, we'll hurry. For the arms of the wicked will
be broken, and the Lord upholds the righteous. The Lord knows
the days of the upright, and their inheritance shall be forever.
He said, I'll never leave them, no forsaken. They shall not be
ashamed in evil time, never ashamed before God, before the angels
in the end, never truly ashamed if we uphold the truth of God's
gospel. We'll never truly be ashamed.
I'm not ashamed of what I preach, my soul. I'm ashamed myself,
but I'm sure not ashamed or embarrassed or shy about or have the slightest
doubt about what I'm preaching. It's the truth of the gospel.
It's the only gospel. I really, I can say this before
God Almighty. But God is my witness. Now, I'm
not shunned to declare the whole Council. I've kept back anything
profitable. I'm not shunned to declare the
whole gospel, and the gospel I preach is the gospel that God
uses. It's the gospel of God's Word.
It's the true gospel, the only gospel, the only way that a man
or a woman will be accepted by God Almighty. And I don't ever
expect to be ashamed before God for having preached what I preach.
I don't ever expect to be guilty or to be held guilty or accountable
for giving God too much glory. If anything, I'd be held accountable
for not giving them enough. But the wicked will perish. As
it says in verse 19, they shall not be ashamed in evil time.
In the days of famine they shall be satisfied. Satisfied. Satisfied. I like that. Never
hungry for a good word. That's what Psalm 34.10 says. Young lions do lack and suffer
hungry, but they that seek the Lord shall not want, shall shall
not lack any good word or promise. The wicked are perished, though,
and enemies of the Lord shall be as a fat of lambs." There
it is again. They'll consume, and the smoke shall they consume.
The wicked borroweth and payeth not again. What is that? Like
we were saying Sunday, they take, take, take from God and never
repay Him with thanks and honor and praise. Thank. But the righteous
showeth mercy. Look at there. It's throughout, isn't it? You
see, the terrible, tremendous responsibility we have as believers
because of the mercy, to whom much is forgiven, they'll love
much, right? You just can't separate this,
Stan. You can't separate faith and words. You can't separate
mercy from God if someone's truly received saving mercy with giving
mercy. You can't separate the love of
God which gives his son that unspeakable gift. You can't separate
that from us giving of ourselves. Somebody said you can tell a
man's spiritual state by the condition of his wallet, what
he does with his wallet. You freely receive, freely give,
the Scripture says. Scripture says we'll reap what
we sow. Sow anger, we'll get anger from God. Sow to the flesh,
we'll get flesh. We'll reap what the flesh gives.
Sow the Spirit, we'll reap Spirit. If we sow strife, God will strive
with us. If we sow mercy, we'll reap mercy. It's just the way it is. It's
just the way it works. And for such, for such as be
blessed of him, verse 22, they'll inherit the earth, and they that
be cursed of him, they'll be cut off. For such that be blessed of him.
would inherit the earth, the new earth, the new heaven and
earth. It says that three or four times through there, the new
heaven and the new earth, but such as be cursed. Oh, my, there's
no misery and sorrow like that. a faithful and true witness to
God. I want to preach the gospel. I want to uphold and glorify
Christ in no uncertain terms. I want to exalt Him with every
fiber of my being when I step behind the pulpit or podium I
want to bring out Christ from every passage of Scripture. I
want to point everyone to Christ. I want everybody to look to Christ
and Him alone for salvation. And I also want you to be, and
I want myself to be, true disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, true
followers. I want us to be like Him. Three
things I desire of the Lord. Three things. I want total commitment
to, trust, faith in, total. I'm not satisfied. Lord, help
my unbelief. I believe that I sure want more. I don't have much as it is. I
want total commitment. I want communion with the Lord. I want to walk with Him, talk
with Him. He's real. He's alive. He can. He's alive. You can walk and talk with this
living Lord. I want that. I want to be like him. I want
to walk with him, commune with him. And I want complete and
total conformity to him. I want to be like him. This is
a mark. This is an evidence of a true,
saving, regenerating work in the heart of a child of God. They hate themselves, and they're
making every effort to be like Christ. And it requires a concerted,
diligent effort. It really does. We look to Him
for our strength, look to Him and Him alone, ask Him to help
us, and do the best of our ability
according to the strength and the grace that He gives us. That's
just good advice. And when we've done all that's
required of us, even if we never have, we never do, never will,
we still must say we're unprofitable servants. And if we feel like
we've made any progress at all, we still have to say, by the
grace of God, I am what I am. I want more grace, more grace,
growing grace in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. complete communion and total
conformity to the Lord Jesus Christ. Those are my desires
for you and for me. All right. Stand up and I'll
dismiss this in prayer. Dear Lord, we thank you for your
blessed, sweet psalmist of Israel, David. We thank you that you
used him to pen these words, that you put him through the
things you put him through. We thank you for making his tongue
the pen of a ready writer. We thank you for penning this
psalm. It comforts, it exhorts, it admonishes,
it rebukes, it teaches, it leads, it guides. We need all these
things, Lord. We've come so short in the glory
of God, and herein is our Father glorified. You've said Yourself
that we bear much fruit. So, Lord, this is our desire.
We want to look to Christ and be found in Him, and we want
to be just like Christ. Let this mind be in us. If there
be any consolation, any bowels of mercy, Lord, we want this
mind in us. We want to be like Christ. and
we truly want to glorify Him in our lives. Grant it, Lord,
according to your promise to give the Holy Spirit to them
that ask Him. Whittle us, work upon us, do whatever it takes
to conform us to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not to
merit anything. No. Our merit, our righteousness
is only in Him. But because it's our reasonable
service, and because we see the beauty and the glory and the
wonder, because we love the Lord Jesus so much, we see that he's
beautiful in holiness, and we want to just be like him. Because
our God is holy, we want to be holy, too. Lord, grant it. Lord, grant it. Until that day,
you make all things new. Be with us throughout this week,
Lord, and take these words and apply them to our hearts and
then apply them to our lives. For Christ's honor and glory,
we pray these things. Amen. There you go. Right now? Yeah. I know. I can read that. I can think about it. You do
every night. I'm glad. I don't know if I'm going to
be able to do it. Thank you very much.

Psalm 37

What does the Bible say about self-pity?

How do we know God's promises are true?

Why is trusting God important for Christians?

What does it mean to delight in the Lord?

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Psalm 37

What does the Bible say about self-pity?

How do we know God's promises are true?

Why is trusting God important for Christians?

What does it mean to delight in the Lord?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

Comments

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