He Will Not Forsake His Saints - Part 3 (Ps 37:27-40)

Welcome and Announcements

Outreach Ministry opportunity on October 29, 2022, from 12:30pm-3:30pm. We could use 4-5 volunteers; talk with Natalie for more details.

We’ll be collecting some winter materials (hats, gloves/mittens, scarfs, socks, etc.) for Ukrainian refugees who fled from their homes this past summer. If you can help, please place the items in the backpack(s) at the entrance. The deadline for items is November 2, 2022.

Annual Business Meeting on November 6, 2022 after Sunday AM Worship followed by lunch—check the sign-up sheet to volunteer to bring food.

Seeking a new treasurer starting immediately. Must be a member in good standing with the ability to utilize a computer and must be willing to work on behalf of the church with the bank. Contact Pastor Daniel for more information.

Let me remind you to continue worshiping the Lord through your giving. To help you give, we have three ways to do so, (1) cash and checks can be given at the offering box. Checks should be written to Grace & Peace; debit, credit, and ACH transfers can be done either by (2) texting 84321 with your $[amount] and following the text prompts or (3) by visiting us online at www.giving.gapb.church. Of course, everything you give goes to the building up of our local church and the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Prayer of Repentance and Adoration

Preaching of God’s Word (Ps 37:27-40)

If you have your Bible, please turn it to Psalm 37.

Over the past few weeks we’ve been working through Psalm 37 together and we’re to the point now that we’re at the end of the psalm and really what we see David doing is wrapping up everything that he has taken the psalm to say. And the message in the remaining fourteen verses is the same as it has been throughout the remaining weeks—don’t get worked up about the evildoers and don’t be envious of those who do wrong—the reasoning for it is simple—they only appear to prosper for the moment, but they will be held accountable.

David reemphasizes this in the last remaining verses, but before we start digging into the text, I would like for us to read the full psalm to help us keep it in context.

Let’s read Psalm 37 together:

Psalm 37 ESV

Of David. 1 Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! 2 For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. 3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. 4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. 6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. 7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! 8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. 9 For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land. 10 In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there. 11 But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace. 12 The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him, 13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming. 14 The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose way is upright; 15 their sword shall enter their own heart, and their bows shall be broken. 16 Better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked. 17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous. 18 The Lord knows the days of the blameless, and their heritage will remain forever; 19 they are not put to shame in evil times; in the days of famine they have abundance. 20 But the wicked will perish; the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures; they vanish—like smoke they vanish away. 21 The wicked borrows but does not pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives; 22 for those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the land, but those cursed by him shall be cut off. 23 The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way; 24 though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand. 25 I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread. 26 He is ever lending generously, and his children become a blessing. 27 Turn away from evil and do good; so shall you dwell forever. 28 For the Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. 29 The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever. 30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice. 31 The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not slip. 32 The wicked watches for the righteous and seeks to put him to death. 33 The Lord will not abandon him to his power or let him be condemned when he is brought to trial. 34 Wait for the Lord and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on when the wicked are cut off. 35 I have seen a wicked, ruthless man, spreading himself like a green laurel tree. 36 But he passed away, and behold, he was no more; though I sought him, he could not be found. 37 Mark the blameless and behold the upright, for there is a future for the man of peace. 38 But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed; the future of the wicked shall be cut off. 39 The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble. 40 The Lord helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him.

As we study this last section of Psalm 37, we’re going to break it into two parts: (1) Do Good; Reject Evil (27-36) and (2) Salvation is from the Lord (37-40). Our last study of this psalm will wrap up the whole psalm in such a way that we can walk away with David’s primary point and apply it to our lives well.

Prayer for Illumination

Do Good; Reject Evil (27-36)

David continues his psalm with an exhortation found in v. 27. And really what this exhortation is, is a response to all that David had already stated in his psalm concerning the difference between good and evil. V. 27, “Turn away from evil and do good; so shall you dwell forever.”

What David says here really does suit what he’s been saying throughout the rest of the psalm. Remember that David has spent a considerable amount of time discussing the difference between those who are righteous and those who are wicked.

We see it throughout the rest of the psalm. Remember, David contrasts the wicked with the righteous over and over:

V. 2, the wicked will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb; v. 3, those that trust in the Lord will dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

V. 9, “the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.”

V. 10, “In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;” v. 11, “But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.”

V. 16, “Better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked” because “the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous.”

V. 18, “The Lord knows the days of the blameless, and their heritage will remain forever;” v. 20, “But the wicked will perish.

V. 21, the wicked borrows with no intent to pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives.

We could actually go a little further in depth with this, but for sake of time, I’ll leave it here.

We see David point out all these differences with the understanding that those who are righteous ought not get worked up or even envious of those who are evildoers or wrongdoers because the wicked’s apparent prosperity is only for a moment.

In light of this, David’s exhortation comes into play in v. 27.

And the exhortation is simple and easy to apply, “turn away from evil and do good.’

Now, of course, this is assuming that the reader of the psalm recognizes that the reader doesn’t choose what’s right and good; God has already determined what is right.

This isn’t a moral philosophy question where we can ask “what is right?” or “what is good?” God has made the decision for us, we simply need to obey Him.

In light of the differences between the righteous and the wicked; and in light of the wicked’s eventual end, David’s exhortation is for us to “turn away from evil and do good.”

Or put another way, reject sin and obey God.

Now, he does make a statement that might be a little confusing, “so shall you dwell forever.”

It might be a little confusing because you might hear it and think that God is promising a long earthly life—that is what the word dwell means in a context like this.

And it might be a little confusing because we can all think of people who sought to do good and whose live’s were ended in a way that we would cry out “too soon.”

There’s two ways that we could potentially look at this and either way makes complete sense:

Remember, all the way back in the introduction, I mentioned that Psalm 37 shares some similarities with proverbial statements. If we look it in that frame of mind, then what we’re seeing in David’s statement is that if you seek to do good on this side of eternity, typically the return is that you see longevity in life. I think that this is the best way to understand this verse.

We could also think of this verse in light of eternity. That those who reject evil and seek good will dwell forever or live forever. The issue with looking at this verse in that light is simple—no amount of good that you do on this side of eternity can give you eternal life, but note that v. 28 continues by pointing to God’s preserving work to preserve His people even to eternity.

Vv. 28-29 speak of the persevering work of God—God preserves His people, “for the Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever.”

Why reject evil and do good? Because God loves justice—it’s actually an extension of one of His attributes, that He is just. This means that God is perfectly righteous in His treatments of all His creation, He shows no partiality, and He is completely righteous in all His judgments.

Or in other words, we reject good and evil because God has already determined what good and evil are.

And if we are His people, we ought to accept and seek after what He has called good and reject what He has called evil.

If you notice thought, that hasn’t actually spoken of God’s preserving work.

David continues by speaking of God’s preserving work next, “he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever.”

Unlike the wicked who shall be cut off, vv. 28-29 tell us that God will not forsake His people. The word forsake simply means to cast aside or leave behind.

God does not leave His people behind; they are preserved forever. Preserved in our modern-day sense typically refers to how we keep food in our homes—or we take it another way and talk about preservation, where we’re trying to protect the nature that is around us.

Both ideas are partially right, but I think what might help us understand what David means by being preserved is by looking at something that Jesus says in John 10. Jesus in John 10:25-30 “25 Jesus answered them, ‘I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me. 26 But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep. 27 My sheep listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.’”

Do you catch what Jesus is telling the Pharisees? They don’t believe because they aren’t His sheep. His sheep listen to His voice, He knows them, and they follow Him. He gives them eternal life, and they will never perish.

And this is where the idea of preservation comes into play, “no one will snatch them out of My hand . . . no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”

God doesn’t leave His people behind, He never casts them aside—He keeps them in His hand and they are protected, they are preserved, they are forever in His hand.

And in His hand there is an inheritance—in David’s reminder of this inheritance, he speaks in terms of land to dwell upon forever.

But really, we know that the spiritual inheritance that God promises to His people is far beyond just inheriting land.

Now in vv. 30-36, David gives some examples of how exactly the idea of do good and reject evil comes into play. He describes what that looks like.

In vv. 30-31 he speaks of what the righteous are like—those who seek to do good.

“Those mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,” which simply gives the truth that a righteous person speaks wisdom and the reason for that is simple, it’s v. 31, because “The law of his God is in his heart.”

Or in other words, because the righteous person knows God’s law, he speaks with wisdom—he knows the truth and proclaims the truth.

It might seem like this ought to be common sense, but let’s be honest, whenever a person is truly dedicated to the cause of Christ and has taken significant time to study Scripture accurately and well—you can tell.

When I was a teenager, I had a pastor who had been pastoring that church for over thirty years (at that time). I always knew him to be extremely gracious, very knowledgable, and hyper-fixated on what God’s Word said.

It was never about his own opinion, it was never about political ideology, it was always about what God’s Word said.

He has since passed into glory, but I think anyone who knew him well would say the same statement that I am today, “the law of his God [was] is his heart.”

V. 31 tells us because the righteous has “the law of his God” in his heart; his steps do not slip.”

You might question that statement because v. 24 speaks of the righteous falling, but remember that even when a righteous person falls, God still upholds Him; and that’s the mindset that David is reiterating in v. 31.

Because God’s law is on his heart, his steps ultimately don’t slip.

Again, not that the righteous never slip or fall, but rather that ultimately, God still holds you and ultimately, God still keeps you upright.

I can’t help but to think of Proverbs 24:16 “16 For a righteous person falls seven times and rises again, But the wicked stumble in time of disaster.”

In vv. 32-33 speaks of how the wicked seek to harm the righteous, but David reminds us that God doesn’t abandon the righteous.

We see in v. 32 that “the wicked watches for the righteous and seeks to put him to death.” I wish I could say that this is hyperbole, that David is expressing how the wicked act towards the righteous by exaggerating, but the reality is that David is speaking truth with little to no hyperbole.

We see it in our own lifetime, that the wicked try to silence those who are righteous—and the reasoning for that is simple; wicked people hate it when their wickedness is pointed out to them as unrighteous.

This is why in countries like China, you have the government-approved church and the actual church, which is condemned by the government.

The government-approved churches are able to continue functioning without fear because they’ve essentially become puppets of the government—they teach the propaganda that the government wants them to teach.

The true, Christian church has been driven underground into secrecy because they refuse to preach any false gospel—they only preach the truth.

The wicked try to silence those who are righteous.

That could be fear-inducing, but the reality is that it ought not be. Why?

Because of v. 33, “The Lord will not abandon him to his power or let him be condemned when he is brought to trial.”

Now, the pronouns here can be a little confusing, but let me help with that. “The Lord will not abandon [the righteous] to [the wicked’s] power or let [the righteous] be condemned when [the righteous] is brought to trial.”

Or in other words, David is pointing back to the idea that God doesn’t forsake or abandon His own people.

Even when all seems lost and it seems as if the wicked have power over you, God will not leave you.

And instead of getting worked up during times of distress in which the wicked seem as if they’re winning, v. 34 is an exhortation from David to “wait for the Lord and keep his way.” And when you do this, God “will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on when the wicked are cut off.”

Or in other words, David exhorts you even in times of great struggle with those who are wicked, to “wait for the Lord,” which also means to simply trust in the Lord, which includes “[keeping] his way.”

Or put differently—show your trust in the Lord by obeying what He has said.

Then God will exalt you with the inheritance that’s guaranteed to those who are His.

Then you will see when the wicked are cut off.

David describes what this will be like. Those who are wicked will be no more vv. 35-36, “I have seen a wicked, ruthless man, spreading himself like a green laurel tree. But he passed away, and behold, he was no more; though I sought him, he could not be found.”

Note the difference between the righteous who though facing suffering because of the wicked now, will inherit the land and dwell forever; and those who are wicked being gone forever.

Note how the wicked is described as ruthless. Note also how the “spreading himself like a green laurel tree” probably refers to his boasting of himself. He was well-known, he had a reputation, everyone knew him, but once he passed and was no more, he could not be found.

Or in other words, the wicked seem to prosper and they boast in their own work and ability, but when they are no longer living, they’re gone and really, they’ll be forgotten.

See this deep contrast between those who are righteous and those who are wicked—see how righteous aren’t just living a completely different lifestyle from the wicked, the result of their lives end in completely different ways. The wicked are abandoned, but the righteous are held in God’s hand. The wicked seek to do harm to the righteous, but God protects the righteous. The wicked seek to puff himself up, but ultimately he will be forgotten; the righteous seeks to exalt God and to obey the Lord and the Lord exalts him and gives him his inheritance.

It’s a vastly different result—you can see why David starts this psalm with, “Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be no envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb.” David then ends this psalm with four verses, which makes it abundantly clear that true salvation comes from God alone. Let’s re-read vv. 37-40:

Salvation is from the Lord (37-40)

Psalm 37:37–40 ESV

37 Mark the blameless and behold the upright, for there is a future for the man of peace. 38 But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed; the future of the wicked shall be cut off. 39 The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble. 40 The Lord helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him.

Vv. 37-38 gives us almost like a concluding thought concerning the wicked’s and the righteous’ end result.

It says that you ought to “mark” or to notice or keep track of the “blameless and behold the upright.”

Keep an eye on those that have been made righteous because they have a future—and of course, this future of course speaks of a future on earth, but also future in an eternal sense.

Those who are what David calls “men of peace” experience this future. There’s two ways to look at the idea of a “man of peace:”

Either David is referring to persons who live in such a way that they seek peace and exude peace to those around them.

Or David is referring to the peace that genuine believers have between themselves and God—or in other words, those that have genuine peace with God have a future.

So, keep an eye on them, watch them, see what happens.

However, those that are wicked won’t have a future, v. 38, “Transgressors shall be altogether destroyed; the future of the wicked shall be cut off.”

Again, it could be speaking of this in an earthly or temporal sense, but considering the idea here is that they will be altogether destroyed, it’s probably meaning a more eternal destruction reserved for those who don’t believe.

Really, in these two verses, David is trying to get at the crux of the entire argument for the entire psalm and it’s really simple—don’t get worked up about wicked people and don’t envy those that do wrong because ultimately the future result of the wicked is destruction; whereas the future result of the righteous is peace, and inheritance, and everlasting life.

Now hearing that could cause the righteous to get puffed up and think that they’ve earned this or attained it by their own working, but that’s simply not true. And David clarifies that in the remaining two verses by reminding us of what enables the righteous to have a few future—the answers simple, God.

Vv. 39-40 spell this out, “The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble. The Lord helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in Him.”

The righteous didn’t earn the future that they have, they didn’t attain their salvation from wicked people. This isn’t a works-based solution, but rather they’ve been given this future and they’ve been given this salvation from the Lord.

As Paul says in Ephesians 2:8-10 “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord because they take refuge in Him.

And because they take refuge in Him, He helps them, He delivers them, and He saves them.

The salvation that David speaks of in vv. 39-40 isn’t based on what the individual does or what they can do; it’s based on what God does for them.

God helps and God delivers and God saves.

The reality is, as David wraps up this psalm he basically sums it all up by stating that the wicked trust in themselves and their desires—this is why they reap destruction; the righteous trust in God and in God’s desires—this is why God saves them.

Allen Ross, “The psalm closes reassuring the believers of their salvation. The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord—so faith and not fretting is appropriate . . . No matter what the difficulty might be, the Lord helps his people and delivers them from wicked people, and saves them. The reason that he does so is their faith, specifically, [because] ‘they take refuge in him.’ (Allen Ross, A Commentary on the Psalms, Kregel Exegetical Library, 816)

In our remaining few minutes, let’s take some time to apply this text to our lives. To do this, I want us to start with specific application for the last fourteen verses and then I want us to look at how we can apply the whole psalm to our lives:

Application

So, starting with specific application for the last fourteen verses, I think you can already tell what the application is going to be and it’s really simple, it’s two-fold and we can sum it up in one sentence: God saves only those who take refuge in Him—so take refuge in Him, do good, and reject evil.

Take refuge in God (37-40)—we see this throughout the psalm, but particularly in the last 2-4 verses in which David specifically makes the statement that you need to take refuge in God because God saves those who take refuge in Him.

Now, of course, part of this taking refuge in God is for salvation itself.

Or in other words, if you’re an unbeliever this evening, take very literally the idea that God saves only those who take refuge in Him. Without taking refuge in God, you cannot be saved.

Because the implication of taking refuge in God is that you’ve rejected your sin, you’re following Him, and you’re trusting in Him for protection, for safety, for deliverance, and for salvation.

The implication in going to God as your refuge is that you take seriously the Gospel of Jesus Christ, you repent, and you believe.

Until you do, you can’t go to God as your refuge, because you’re not His. You aren’t part of His people—you are what David describes as the wicked, the evildoer, and the wrongdoer.

Repent of your sins and believe in God through Jesus Christ—then you can start seeking God as your refuge.

For those that already believe, you might be asking, how do I take refuge in God? Because typically when we talk about taking refuge in something, it’s like a building or a shelter to protect us from a storm. So, let me give you a few simple ideas as to what it means to take refuge in God:

Pray that God will be your refuge, your shelter in the time of the storm, and your protection.

When that storm starts to pick up, don’t start by trying to fix the problem yourself—start by running to Jesus. This means, instead of immediately turning to your own ability to fix your problem—run to Jesus through prayer, through Scripture, through fellowship with other believers.

Jesus is the answer to all situations in life, which means that whenever we find ourselves in situations that are deserving of a refuge, we need to run to him for that refuge—that safety.

We do this again, through prayer, through Scripture, through fellowship with other believers, and what we typically refer to as the means of grace.

You need to take refuge in God through Jesus Christ.

Do Good; Reject Evil (27-36)—particularly in vv. 27-36, but really throughout the whole psalm, we see this contrast between good and evil. And v. 27 specifically gives us a command that needs to be taken seriously, “Turn away from evil and do good.”

This is a repeated command throughout Scripture and it really negates the concept that salvation is like a “get-out-of-jail free card,”

The idea of salvation that’s presented throughout Scripture is a reliance on Jesus to save you from your sins, which ought to compel you to continuously repent from sinful behavior and continuously choose to follow Jesus.

Or put differently, the idea of salvation that’s presented throughout Scripture inherently includes the statement that you need to do good and reject evil.

For instance, James speaks of this in his letter—that those who claim to have faith, but don’t have good works, really don’t have faith. It isn’t that good works save, but rather good works is a fruit of genuine salvation.

Not to mention both the Old and New Testaments make it clear that if you genuinely love God, you’ll follow His commands—or in other words, if you actually love God, you’ll do good and reject evil.

And of course, this means doing what God says is good and rejecting what God says is evil

And really, Scripture makes it abundantly clear that you can tell whether someone actually believes or not based on whether they do good and reject evil—Jesus says you will know false teachers by their fruit. The same can be said concerning all who claim to believe.

You’ll know whether they actually do based on their fruit.

Just like they know whether you do based on your fruit.

If you claim to believe, though you will stumble and fall (even as v. 24 says), your overall fruit will show genuine belief in jesus Christ.

You need to be sure that you’re doing good and rejecting evil.

And lastly, this is the overarching application for the psalm—trust God (1-40)

Though the wicked seemingly prosper today, Christians need not get worked up about it and they need not envy it because God is still just and they will be held accountable for their sins.

Though the wicked try to harm those that are called righteous by Jesus, there’s no reason to fear because holds you in His hand.

Though at times it may feel as if God has forgotten you, abandoned you, or forsaken you; if you are His, you can rest in knowing that God preserves you, He cares for you, He delivers you, and He saves you.

Though your life may seem directionless, you can trust God because He will direct you if you delight in His way.

Really, the best way to end this psalm is to remind ourselves of how the psalm started, Psalm 37:3-5 “3 Trust in the Lord and do good; Live in the land and cultivate faithfulness. 4 Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.”

You need to trust God—even when life seems like it’s completely against you.

Put simply, what we learn from Psalm 37:27-40 is (1) that we need to take refuge in God—both salvifically and for our daily need, (2) we need to constantly seek to do good and reject evil, and (3) we simply need to trust God—He is our refuge, our deliverance, our strength, and our salvation.

Pastoral Prayer

Prayer Requests

Natalie Arter — started a new job this week; pray for a quick adjustment.

Deane Herbst — Pray for continued healing from COVID-19.

Sean Herbst — Addiction

Mahlon and Melanie Kester (Sadie Dickson’s brother and sister-in-law) — Mahlon was in a severe motorcycle accident Monday night. He’s currently in an ICU on a ventilator with internal bleeding. Melanie is expecting with their first child within two weeks. Pray for Mahlon’s healing and the family to experience comfort and peace.

Wes Lovell — Injured in a work-related accident. Currently at home, but has a long road of recovery.

Tom Medzie:

Pray for Alexus and for doctors to have the wisdom to help her.

Caleb Miller — Medical Issue

Alan Wisor — Medical Issues

Pray for the church’s building fund.

Pray for Michael and Jessica Dunlop and their kids Amelia and Jack.

French language learning (they started a new language class with a Christian woman from France over Zoom)

They’re hoping to be fully financially supported by the end of the year. They’re approximately 80% with what they need monthly and 90% with the initial lump sum that they need to move and settle in.

Wisdom as they embark on the process of moving overseas.