Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction (v.

3a)

As we all know, Pastor asked us all to choose a word that we were “Pursuing” for this year.

Well back in November, before we even knew the theme for the year, my wife had sent me a text saying that she had been reading in Psalm 37 and felt like she had her word for 2023, the word “Trust”.

So when Pastor introduced the theme to us on Vision Sunday and had us all pick a word, I just couldnt seem to get away from that word.

Every time I would pray about it, that word kept coming back up… Trust

A few weeks into the year, my wife’s transmission died.

And I knew it was going to be expensive, and we didnt have a whole lot of money saved up, but immediately when it happened it was like the Lord kept audibly saying “Trust Me”

So, at that point, there was no question what our Word was going to be.

My wife and I both decided to choose the same word this year to Pursue, and that is simply Trust… Trusting the Lord for everything this year throws at us

And I have absolutely loved the fact that the theme verse is Matthew 6:33… it has over the last several years become one of my favorite passages of Scripture because it has gotten me through the biggest stages of worry and anxiety in my life.

That brings us to our passage in Psalm 37. Which has a very similar theme to what Christ said in Matthew 6… Pursuing Trust

The Psalmist is David, who is in the latter stages of life writing to Solomon and the leaders of Israel.

A. “Trust in the Lord and do good” instead of worrying the advice The Psalmist gives is simple… Trust the Lord and keep doing good.

Keep doing what we know we ought to do.

It is remarkable how easily distracted from serving the Lord we can get when we get caught up in other things… especially worry

Faith and works go together so we should also do good as we wait on the Lord.

Dont allow worry to keep you from trusting God and continuing to do what you know He wants you to do

So the question becomes… How do we Pursue a Life of Trust?

B. “So shalt thou dwell in the land and verily thou shalt be fed” simply enjoy the blessings God gives.

Don’t worry, God will take care of you

God provided Israel a land to enjoy and His faithfulness was like food for them every day.

There were many who were tempted to leave the land because they saw how seemingly easier the wicked lived and they thought theyd be better off leaving Israel and going and living in those lands, but doing that wouldve been the same as saying that God wasnt faithful and isnt to be trusted.

God had promised to care for Israel so long as they were obedient to Him, and He wasnt going to break that promise.

Don’t allow worry, fear, envy, or anxiety to cause you to quit.

Don’t leave the land.

The promised land is a picture of living within the will of God.

Stay in God’s will, He’ll keep feeding you

These verses sound an awful lot like what Jesus said in Matthew 6.

I. Dont Worry About the Wicked (1-2)

A. “Fret Not Thyself” - this means “Dont get hot/heated” or could also be translated “Don’t get yourself worked up about this”

How many of you would agree that News Media is more often than not very discouraging?

I dont have cable so I dont really watch the news anymore, but I do keep up with things through social media, online articles, etc. and often after reading them ill get heated.

Lets be honest, in today’s day and age, the thing we get the most heated and worked up about is politics and government corruption.

We just think “how in the world can they keep getting away with this?” “Why does God allow such wicked people to be in charge?” and we get all worked up over it.

I’ll be honest, after the last presidential election, I was just internally frustrated and upset, but God had to remind me that He was in control and that I needed to just TRUST Him.

Or even sometimes i’ll see the most anti-God people who mock His name and make light of the Bible and the Gospel and they are the most wealthy, influential, and powerful people in our country and to be honest that gets me frustrated and worked up.

Just last week at the grammy awards we saw a disgusting display of this at work and we think “Why God?

Why do they get to live luxurious care-free lives?” “Why are they allowed to curse and mock your name with no repercussions?”

But the Psalmist here is telling us to FRET NOT! Dont get worked up about it!

God is going to handle them all in due time.

B. “Neither be thou envious” - this means dont be jealous of them either.

Dont allow yourself to be jealous over what they have

It becomes real easy if we arent careful to look at the wicked and how they prosper and become jealous.

Not necessarily because we want to be like them or do what they are doing, but because they usually seem to have it all.

They do whatever they want without any fear of repercussions.

Its not fair!

we live for the Lord and endure hardships… they dont and have carefree lifestyles

“Why do they get to have whatever they want?”

“Why do they get to live that lifestyle despite what theyre doing?” “Why do they get to live carefree and I have to go through hard stuff?”

But the Psalmist is clear, Dont Envy them, because when you do, it leads to fretting, and fretting is the opposite of TRUSTING

A Fretful heart is not a trusting heart, because it lacks joy and peace.

C. Why should I not fret or be envious?

“For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb”

Simply put… God will take care of them.

Don’t you worry about them, God’s keeping tabs and He’ll deal with them.

The wicked are temporary and will one day be gone.

They are like grass that either fades away or is cut down and burned.

“wither as the green herb” the Jews listening to this would’ve understood this completely.

In that part of the world, vegetation is abundant during and immediately after the rainy season, but can wither and die within just a few days due to the dryness of the desert.

Dont worry about the wicked because God is going to take care of them.

Their actions arent unnoticed and God will deal with them swiftly one day.

The First Step to Pursuing Trust is to Stop Worrying about the Wicked

II.

Delight in the Lord (4,6)

A. “Delight thyself also in the Lord” this means to cheer one’s heart and mind by considering and by faith receiving the multiple blessings of God.

This is more than just enjoying the things He gives us, this is to enjoy the blessing of having the Lord Himself!

Several Commentators have commented on what this means

Expect all your happiness FROM Him, and seek all your happiness IN Him

A Deliberate redirection of one’s emotions… such as how Paul and Silas did in the prison, singing as well as praying

Fastening and fixing our eyes on Him and not on things of this earth (Colossians 3:2 “2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” )

By truly delighting in the Lord, then the chief desire of our heart will be to know Him better so we can delight in Him even more.

Thus leading us to the next part of the verse...

B. “And He shall give thee the desires of thine heart” Notice the order.

Delight in the Lord, He shall give thee the desires of your heart.

Many of us have it mixed up… we think “If i want to get what i want, then i need to put the Lord first and delight in Him” but thats not the Spirit of the verse.

We dont delight in Him in order to gain something from Him… When we delight in Him, our desire BECOMES Him… and God never refuses that desire!

When we truly Delight in the Lord (Enjoy the Blessing of the Lord Himself) We wont want anything else… the more we know of Him, the more we will desire Him.

C. v.6 “And He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday” As God fulfills the desire of your heart (More of God), Your righteousness is brought to light, shining forth like the noonday sun

When we delight in the Lord, He takes care of our testimony and reputation

It was once said “There goes Martin Luther, the man who could get anything He wanted from God” and when people asked “Why?” “Because His delight is in the Lord” - Spurgeon

The Second Step to Pursuing Trust is to Delight in the Lord

III.

Commit Your Way Unto the Lord (5)

A. “Commit thy way unto the Lord” the word ‘Commit’ means to roll off your burden… it is a similar verb used in 1 Peter 5:7 “Casting all your care upon Him” and when Jonah was cast into the Sea

What is the burden?

Worry, fret, Anxiety, envy, etc

When we trust the Lord, we are essentially rolling off the burden of us worrying about it and finding peace, protection, and satisfaction.

Give Him the Burden and Trust Him with it… dont try to take it back, dont try to help Him carry it… God’s got it!

God has much bigger and stronger shoulders than you or I do… let Him carry it

Part of trusting the Lord means to let the Lord take care of it.

We give Him our burden, and we TRUST Him to “bring it to pass”.

God will take care of what you are worried about!

Karsyn and I have seen this played out in our marriage… Transmission and car issues… medical bills… a place to live, etc

We will have to continue “committing our way unto Him” with trying to find a house, having a family, etc

God has ALWAYS come through for us and taken care of our concerns.

God has never lost a battle that was left up to Him

The Third Step to Pursuing Trust is to Commit Our Way unto the Lord

IV.

Rest in the Lord (7)