Okay, again back to Psalm 30-37. I want to remind you again of
a stark, stark contrast that God draws a line of stark contrast
between the abundant blessings upon believers in Christ Jesus. He's given us an eternal inheritance. He's blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in the heavenlies in Christ. Think what we have as
believers in Christ. All wisdom, all righteousness,
all sanctification, all redemption. The certain and sure blessings
the Lord has poured out upon His people. We see that in this
Psalm. He's given us an eternal inheritance
that's reserved in heaven for you here in Psalm 37. We see
the stark contrast between the blessings the believer enjoys
in Christ and the sure and abundant judgment upon the evildoer, the
wicked, and the man outside of Christ, the unbeliever and the
ungodly. Notice beginning at verse 9,
this contrast. For the evildoers shall be cut
off, but those that wait upon the Lord Now aren't His blessings
worth waiting for? Those that wait upon the Lord
shall inherit the earth? Verse 10, For yet a little while
the wicked shall not be, yea, thou shalt diligently consider
his place, and it shall not be, but the meek shall inherit the
earth. This is that new heaven and the new earth, wherein dwelleth
righteousness, and he shall delight, and shall delight themselves
in the abundance of peace. Now again, this contrast is drawn
forth here in verse 18. Turn over there. The Lord knoweth
the days of the upright. You see, the foundation of God
standeth sure. The Lord knoweth them that are
His. The Lord knoweth the days of the upright. He's chosen us. He's blessed us. And their inheritance
shall be forever reserved in heaven for you who are kept by
the power of God. They shall not be ashamed in
the evil day, in the day of trouble, He gives us grace in the day
of trouble, in the days of famine, in the days of famine. God said,
they'll be satisfied, but the wicked shall perish. And the
enemies of the Lord shall be as a fat of lambs. That beef
that's put up, the steer that's put up in a barn and barn kept
and barn fed, being fatted, he's being fattened for the slaughter.
That's what he's saying here, the Lord's enemies. They'll be
as the fat of lamb. They shall consume in the smoke.
They shall consume away. The wicked borroweth and payeth
not again, but the righteous showeth mercy and giveth. Verse
22, For such as be blessed of Him shall inherit the earth,
and they that be cursed of Him shall be cut off. The steps of
the good man are ordered of God, and they delight in His way. You see the contrast that is
given here between God's people in Christ. Look at verse 28.
The Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not His saints. They are preserved forever, but
the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. Notice verse 34. Wait on the Lord, and keep His
way, and He shall exalt thee to inherit the land. When the
wicked are cut off, you'll see it. What a contrast between those
blessed of God in Christ Jesus and those outside of Christ. The Lord also gives to us in
this Psalm, Psalm 37, inspired instructions. You know how to
live in this life as a believer? He gives us here these inspired
words, these wholesome, inspired instructions and wholesome direction
for the believer how to live and how to cope in this life
while waiting for our eternal inheritance in Christ Jesus. Now he tells us about a problem
here in verse 1. And then he tells us a solution
for the problem. Fret not. Fret not, verse 1,
Psalm 37. 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. Fret not. Fret not. Now what
does it mean to fret. He mentions this again in verse
7, fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way.
And again in verse 8, he says, cease from anger, forsake wrath,
and fret not thyself in any way, in any case to do evil. To fret here is to worry, to
fume, to stew, to blaze up, to be overly anxious with actions
and attitude, Contrary to the way of grace. Contrary to the
way of mercy in Christ Jesus. Someone said worry and anxiety
are the natural tendencies of our sinful flesh, and they are.
And they demonstrate a lack of faith. Now I didn't say no faith,
but they demonstrate a lack of faith. Now I'll tell you a story
here. Remember, the Lord Jesus got
on a little boat. and His disciples, they climbed
on with Him. And they started across the Sea
of Galilee. And a great storm came up, and
a great wind came up. Water started coming in the boat.
The Lord Jesus Christ, do you know what He was doing? He was
on the back part of the ship, sleeping. He wasn't fretting.
Do you know what the disciples were doing? Fretting. Worrying. And they went and shook the master,
woke him up and they said, don't you care that we're going to
perish, we're going to drown? Remember what he said? He said,
O ye of little faith. Now he didn't say no faith. Now,
little faith is saving faith. But he said, O ye of little,
little faith. Someone said this, fretfulness
and worry are sins of their own punishment." Now, you think about
that. They are. They are sins of their own punishment.
Therefore, in kindness to ourselves, we ought to be warned against
them. Remember who is in charge. Go
back to that story. The Lord in the boat with the
disciples. He arose, rebuked the wind, and there was a great
calm, and the waves stopped, and the wind stopped, The Lord
can do that in our life. When we have a storm of trial
going in our life, when the winds blow and the seas coming in,
the sea of trouble, the Lord speaks, everything is calm. You remember what they said?
What manner of man is this that even the waves and the seas obey
him? We ought never as believers to
be overly anxious and fretful. And I confess, I have a great
tendency in that area to be fretting and to worry. I remember one
time I put an article in a newspaper and it was an article about God's
sovereign mercy in Christ Jesus and I used the ark of Noah as
an example. How God had mercy on Noah and
those inside the ark. Salvation was inside that ark.
Well, a local preacher, a false preacher, Got a hold of that
newspaper article and took me to task on it in a most public
way. He had a radio show. And he called
me or sent me an email somehow. He communicated with me and told
me that I better listen to his radio program that Sunday morning.
He's going to line me up. Well, just out of curiosity,
I thought to myself, I wonder what this bird is going to say.
Well, he got on there and he did a most unprofessional thing. I wouldn't mind so much if he
just would have used the article in a general way, but he used
my name and tried to discredit my ministry, and then he invited
everybody in my congregation, in our congregation there at
Zebulun, to leave. And then he referred to me as
a false prophet. Well, I'll tell you what, I was upset. It was just before the Sunday
morning service. I was fuming. I was upset. If I could have
got a hold of the man, I'd have strangled him. I was mad. I was upset. I tell you what,
it was all for nothing. Absolutely for nothing. I found
out later that this man who had a radio program there for a number
of years on a big, big station. And I found out later from some
of the people that work at that radio station that I was talking
with them one day wondering about this prominent preacher in this
area where I live. And they said that the man went
crazy. He's in a mental institution. See, I didn't need to fret about
him. God judged him. God cut him off and God put him
out of business. Didn't need to fret. Didn't need
to worry. The Lord will take care of his own. But I tell you,
that Sunday morning, I was upset. I was an upset camper. Because
he attacked me personally. Well, the Lord took care of him. And that's what we need to remember.
Who's in charge? Who's in charge? Sometimes we
talk a pretty good game, but sometimes I wonder if we really
believe that God is God on the throne. Absolutely sovereign.
And everything that He brings to pass in our life is for our
good, on purpose, and for His glory. Fret not. Fret not. Now, He gives us here seven precepts. Seven precepts. Words for a believer
to live by. Are you interested? If you don't
have a problem with worry and fretting, you're probably not
interested. But if you do, you'll probably be interested. Look
at verse 3. Here's the first one. Trust in
the Lord. Just trust in the Lord. Don't trust yourself. Trust in
the Lord. In the Lord Jesus Christ. Trust in Him. The One who is
Lord of heaven and earth. The One who has all power in
heaven and earth. Now you can trust Him. Don't
trust me. Don't trust yourself. Trust Him.
Trust Him with all things and trust Him at all times. Now turn
to Psalm 146. Psalm 146. Psalm 146. Now look
at this. Psalm 146, trust in the Lord,
it's a sure cure for fretting, to trust in the Lord. Psalm 146,
verse 1, praise ye the Lord, praise the Lord O my soul, while
I live I'll praise the Lord, I'll sing praises unto my God
while I have any being. Put not your trust in princes,
don't trust the prince, nor in the Son of Man, that means the
best of men, in whom there is no See that word there, help? What's the sinner reference?
No salvation. No salvation. His breath goeth
forth. He returneth to his earth. In
that very day his thoughts perish. Happy is he that hath the God
of Jacob for his salvation, whose hope is in the Lord his God. He's a God of Jacob. He's a God
of sinful men. He came to save sinners. So trust
in the Lord. Psalm 62, turn over there. Psalm
62. Trust in the Lord. When? When should we? Well, see what
it says here, Psalm 62. Psalm 62. When should we trust
in the Lord? Psalm 62, 5. My soul, wait thou
only upon God, for my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock,
my salvation. He's my defense. I shall not
be moved. In God is my salvation, my glory,
the rock of my strength, my refuge is in God. I trust in Him. What does that say there? At all times, ye people, pour
out your heart before Him. God is refuge for us. Isn't that word there, Selah?
Stop and think about that a while. God is our refuge. Trust in Him
at all times. At all times, ye people. Back
to Psalm 37. David said in verse 25, I've
been young, now I'm old, yet I've not seen the righteous forsaken,
nor his seed begging bread. All through the Scripture, our
Lord said, I'll never leave you, I'll never forsake you. We can
trust Him. He's worthy of our trust. Great
is thy faithfulness. And we trust Him for all things. Psalm 37, verse 39. But the salvation of the righteous
is of the Lord. He is their strength in the time
of trouble. The Lord shall help them, deliver them, and save
them. They trust in Him. So, what do
you do to cure fretfulness? Trust in the Lord. I want to. I desperately want to. I want
to trust the Lord. And I'm ashamed. I say with that
one man, Lord, I believe. I do believe. Help my unbelief. Help my unbelief. Trust in the
Lord. Second thing is this. Words to
live by. Fretfulness. Yeah, I'm plagued
with it. I'm a sinner. I confess. I'm
weak. Weak. Look at verse 4. Here's another word to help us. Delight thyself also in the Lord. Delight in Him and He shall give
thee the desires of thy heart. Delight. Delight in the Lord. Delight in Him. Delight in His
way. It says over here in verse 23, The steps of a good man are
ordered of the Lord and He delighteth in His way. So delight in His
way. That is His gospel, His word,
His truth, His way. You see, His way is the believer's
joy. It's a way. It's not a burden.
It's a delight to serve the Lord. We are the true Israel which
worship God in the spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no
confidence in affliction. We do rejoice in Him. We do delight
ourselves in Him. To you who believe, He is precious. We delight in Him. Turn over
here to Psalm 40. Psalm 40 verse 8. Now this is said of the Lord
Jesus Christ, but it ought to be something that's said of the
believer as well. Psalm 40 verse 7 and 8, Then
said I, Lo, I come in the volume of the book, it's written of
me, I delight to do thy will. That ought to be our prayer,
our guide. Not my will, thy will be done.
I delight to do thy will, O my God, yea, thy law is within,
written within my heart. Delight in the Lord. Now notice
this, chiefly, chiefly it's this. Turn back to the text again.
Delight thyself in Him. Joy in the Lord. We delight in
Him. The wise man Solomon said, he
is altogether Lovely. We delight in Him. He is Jehovah
Jireh. He is the Lord who will provide
for us. And He provides for us according
to His riches in glory through Christ. We delight in Him. He is our Savior. He is our Lord.
He is Jehovah Jireh. The Lord will provide for us.
He is Jehovah Sid Canoe. He is the Lord our righteousness.
Don't you delight in the righteousness that He has provided for us in
the Gospel? You see, what He provides, and
only what He provides, will He accept in Christ. He is not only Jehovah Jireh,
Jehovah Sid Canoe, but He is Jehovah Raya. Jehovah Raya is
the Lord our Shepherd. Turn to Psalm 23. Psalm 23. He is Jehovah-Raya. You see,
with delight. You see the sheep delight in
the shepherd. He's a good shepherd, Psalm 23.
He's a good shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep.
He's a great shepherd. He's a chief shepherd. He's a
good shepherd. We delight in Him. Look at Psalm
23. The Lord is my shepherd. He's
Jehovah-Raya. I shall not want. He maketh me
to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside still waters.
He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of
righteousness for His name's sake." You see, we delight in
the Lord our Shepherd. We delight in the Lord who provides
all things for us. We delight in the Lord our Righteousness. Those who delight in the Lord,
they have the desire of their heart as it says there in Psalm
37. He shall give thee the desires
of thy heart. If you delight in Him, what is
the desire of your heart? Him? Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. Well, move down to verse 5. Here's
the fourth word to live by. Words to live by. Commit thy
way unto the Lord. Now notice, it's always trust
the Lord, delight thyself in the Lord, commit thy way unto
the Lord, trust also in Him, and He'll bring it to pass. Trust
in Him. Commit thy way unto the Lord.
Now notice the center reference there on the word there. Commit
means to roll thy whole burden upon Him. Peter put it this way
in 1 Peter 5, 7, Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth
for you. Roll the whole burden of everything
upon Him. Commit it all to Christ. I want
you to find 2nd Timothy, 2nd Timothy chapter 1. And here's a good definition
for faith. True, saving faith, the faith
of God's elect, here's a good definition. 2nd Timothy, 2nd
Timothy chapter 1, Luke verse 12. And this talks about, you
see, faith is committal unto Christ. Faith is committal unto
Christ. 2nd Timothy 1.12, For the witch
cause, I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed,
for I know whom I have believed." Knowledge of Him. Faith looks
to Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. I know whom I have believed.
Secondly, confidence in Him. I'm persuaded that He is able,
able to do all that He promised. He is able, able to keep, able
to save, able to keep us from falling. I'm persuaded He is
able. We have confidence in Him. And
then the third thing, and this is a good definition of faith,
knowledge of Him, confidence in Him, and then it says, which
I've committed unto Him against that day. True saving faith commits
everything in salvation and everything in our life unto Him. Committed
unto Him. Commitment unto Him. And that's
what saving faith is. It's commitment to Christ. Now
look back to the text. Words to live by. Trust in the
Lord. Delight thyself in the Lord.
Commit thy way unto the Lord. And then look at verse 7. It
says to rest. Rest. Don't work. Rest. Rest. Rest. in the Lord. Salvation
is not received by doing, it's received by believing Christ.
Rest, rest in the Lord. And notice this word in the center
reference, rest, on rest it says be still, be silent, be silent. Rest, rest in the Lord. Rest
in Him. Turn to Psalm 46.10, look at
this, Psalm 46.10. Rest in the Lord, be still. It says this here in Psalm 46.10,
Be still and know that I am God. That's a good reason to sit still,
isn't it? I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen.
I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Now be still. Let me give you
a good example of that. Turn to Exodus 14. Exodus chapter
14. Here's a good example. Good example
of what he's talking about. Be still and know that I am God. Exodus 14. Here's the children
of Israel. They've been delivered out of
Pharaoh's bondage, out of Egyptian darkness, idolatry and bondage. Verse 13, Exodus 14. And here
they're going out Across the wilderness, but before they get
there, they're faced with a problem. The Red Sea. In front of them. You remember what's behind them?
Pharaoh and his armies. Swords and chariots and horses.
About to run them down. They can't turn their right hand
to the left because of the hills. They can't go back. Certain death. They can't go forward. What are
we going to do? Well, they were fretting. They
were fretting. Look what he said. Verse 13.
Exodus 14, Moses said to the people, fear ye not, don't fret,
stand still. Be silent, be still. Stand still
and see the salvation of the Lord which He will show to you
today. For the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall
see them again no more. The Lord shall fight for you
and you shall hold your peace. That's a good, good, Illustration. Be still. Be still. Rest in the Lord. Fret not. Rest in the Lord. Rest in Him.
When the Lord finished all creation, He rested. When the Lord Jesus
Christ accomplished our salvation, He rested. When He by Himself
purged our sin, He sat down. He rested. It's finished! Salvation
done! Rest in Him. I'll cure fretting. The more we learn of the sufficiency
of our salvation in Christ, The sweeter the rest. The Lord said,
Come unto Me, all ye that are laboring and are heavy laden,
I will give you... What's the rest of it? Rest. Sweet rest. We are instructed
in the book of Hebrews to come boldly unto the throne of grace,
that we may obtain mercy, find grace to help in time of need. I tell you, this is a sure cure
for fretting, is to rest in the Lord God Almighty. Here's another word, verse 8.
Word is to live by for the believer. Cease from anger. Cease from
anger. Forsake wrath. Fret not thyself
in any way. Don't stir yourself up to do
evil. Cease from anger. We read in
the Epistle James records this, the wrath of man does not work
the righteousness of God. It just doesn't work the righteousness
of God. I want you to find Romans chapter
12. You see, God will take care of our enemy just like that preacher
I told you about. I was getting ready to stir myself
up to wrath. I was going to do him in. Well,
I didn't need to. God took care of it. The Lord
took care of it. So cease from anger. It will
sure cure fretting. Lord, help us. Romans chapter
12. Look at verse 17. Recompense to no man evil for
evil. When someone rails on you, don't
rail back. Provide things honest in the
sight of all men. Romans 12 verse 18. If it be
possible, as much as life in you, live peaceably with all
men. Don't be a troublemaker. Don't stir it up. Blessed are
the peacemakers. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourself,
but rather give place unto wrath. For it is written, Vengeance
is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore, thine enemy
hunger, feed him. Feed him. Give him the gospel.
If he thirsts, give him more of the water of life. And in
doing so, thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. God might
use that to convict him. Be not overcome of evil, but
overcome evil with good. One other scripture on that.
Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4. Look at
this. Be ye angry? Ephesians 4 verse 26. Ephesians
4 verse 26. Be ye angry? Well, often times,
yeah. Well, sin not. Let not the sun go down upon
your wrath. You need to give place to the
devil. Don't let the devil stir you up and agitate you and cause
you problems. Don't let the sun go down upon
you. Don't go to bed mad. I tell you what, you'll never
sleep. Get it settled before you go
to bed. Cease from anger. Oh, I tell you, it'll help us.
It'll help us and it'll honor God. It'll honor God. Rest in
the Lord. Cease from anger. Now, back to
Psalm 37. Verse 27, and this goes right
along with that. Verse 27 says, depart from evil.
Depart from evil and do good. Dwell. Dwell forevermore. Depart from evil and do good.
And dwell forevermore. Depart from unbelief. Depart
from evil. Turn to God from your idols."
This is the believer's desire, to forsake that which is not
honoring to the Lord, His gospel, and to do that which is honoring
to God and to His Master. I think of the story of two things. Abraham. Abraham, what did he
do? When God called him out of idolatry
and from his homeland, he departed. God said, get out. And he left. He departed evil. That's what
we're to do. Depart. Depart from evil. And I think
of another example, old Saul of Tarsus. God turned his world
upside down. I preached a message on that
this morning. Our religion, Saul's religion, Saul of Tarsus, his
way of Phariseeism and Judaism, God turned it upside down, destroyed
it. and made Him a new creature in
Christ Jesus. When God unhorsed Him and put
Him in the dust, and made His headquarters in His dust, instead
of going around and threatening, out-breathing and slaughtering,
breathing out slaughter and threatening against the Lord and against
His disciples, when God put His head in the dust, turned His
world upside down, remember what He said? Lord, what would You
have me do? I see by His grace, He departed
from evil and He did much good. preaching the gospel all over
the Roman Empire, in Greece, Athens, Turkey, and Rome eventually. Fretfulness. Now the last word
to live by is this, and this is for believers, verse 34, wait
on the Lord. Wait on the Lord and keep His
way, keep His way, and He shall exalt thee to inherit the land.
Wait on the Lord. Wait on the Lord. In this word
here, wait means to look. Look. Look to the Lord. Keep His way. Now, a couple of
Scriptures. Turn back to Psalm 27. Psalm
27. Wait on the Lord. Just wait. Don't get in a hurry. Wait on
the Lord. Psalm 27. Verse 13, I had fainted,
unless I believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land
of the living. Verse 14, wait on the Lord, be of good courage,
and He'll strengthen thy heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. And that word there, waiting,
means to look to Him, look for Him. Now let me show you another
example, a good example of this. In Luke chapter 2, turn over
there. An old timer named Simeon. in the temple, going about, maybe
he was a priest, going about his priestly duties. But in Luke
chapter 2 verse 25, Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose
name was Simeon. This is Luke 2.25. The same man
was just and devout, waiting, looking, for the Messiah, the
consolation of Israel. And the Holy Spirit was upon
him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Spirit that he
should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And
he came by the Spirit in the temple. And when the parents
brought in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of
the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said..."
See, he's waiting. He's looking for the Messiah.
God promised him, don't fret. You'll not die till you see salvation,
till you see the Savior. And he said, Lord, now let us,
thy servant, depart in peace according to thy words. For mine
eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before
the face of all people, a light to lighten the Gentiles and the
glory of the people of Israel. Wait on the Lord. looking unto
Jesus, who is the author and finisher of our faith. I tell
you, if we keep our affection, our heart set on things above,
looking and waiting for Him, it'll cure our fretting. At least I know this, it'll help.
It'll help our fretting. Wait on the Lord and keep His
way. You see, we're waiting. We're
waiting. A couple more Scriptures on this.
Turn to 1 Thessalonians 10. We're waiting. You see, believers
are waiting for His coming, His return. 1 Thessalonians chapter
1, look at this. Look at verse 9. It talks about
those who turn to God from their idols to serve the living and
true God, and to wait. 1 Thessalonians 1 verse 10. And to wait for His Son from
heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivered
us from the wrath to come. Oh, the wrath to come. For the
ungodly, the unbeliever, oh, the wrath to come. But for those
who are in Christ Jesus, no condemnation. Now turn to Titus chapter 2. Wait for the Lord. We look for
His coming. When's He coming back? He's on
His way. Did you know that? He's on His
way. He said, Behold, I come. He's
on His way. Now look at this here, Titus.
The book of Titus, verse 13. Looking for that blessed hope
and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior. That's
what we're waiting for. His soon return. And as I said,
turn to Revelation. Let's see if I can make good
on that. Revelation, I said, He's coming. He's on His way. Now, how do you think not the
Son of Man coming? Revelation chapter 1. We sing
unto Him who loved us and washed us from our sin in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests
unto our God, Revelation 1, 6. And His Father to Him be glory
and dominion forever and ever. Behold, He cometh. That means He's on His way. We're
looking for His coming. Every eye shall see Him, and
they also which pierced Him. And all the kingdoms of the earth
shall wail because of Him. Even so, come, I'm Alpha, I'm
Omega, I'm the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which
is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. A sure cure for fretting. Now, next time, maybe tomorrow,
maybe tonight, I know there's a day coming when we'll be faced
with this very thing. fretting, worry, anxiety. Next time that happens, pick
your Bible up and look at these seven or eight things and remember
what the Lord says, to trust in Him, delight in Him, commit
thy way, rest in the Lord, cease from anger, depart from evil
and wait. Wait on the Lord. Now that's
a good prescription. That's a good prescription. for
anxiety. And He will, it says there, He
will exalt thee to inherit the land in Christ Jesus. We are exalted in the heavenlies
in Christ.