Sermon Tone Analysis

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:

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.”