Why Worry

Why Worry?

Psalm 37:1–7 (NKJV)

1 Do not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.

2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, And wither as the green herb.

3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.

4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.

6 He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday.

7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.

Intro: When you worry you are risking your health.

Weakening of immune system.

High blood pressure.

Upset stomach. (Ulcers) Increased rapid heart best.

Panic attacks.

Headache

Sleep problems.

When we worry we are disobedient. Philippians 4:6 “6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;”

When we worry you show unbelief. Mt 6:25-34

Matthew 6:25–34 NKJV

25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

I. Trust in the Lord. VS 1-3

Psalm 37:1–3 (NKJV)

1 Do not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.

2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, And wither as the green herb.

3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.

1. Fret: Blaze up/to be kindled. It refers to the point just after a fire has been ignited when the flame is at its hottest. Think about what happens when you light a match.

a. The initial point after ignition is what David is talking about. He says not to fret ourselves, or burst into a flame of emotion, because of evil doers.

b. Evildoer: To be good for nothing/a person that shows themselves to be friendly.

c. Why is that the wicked seem to prosper and good people suffer in life? It seems unfair, I don’t have an answer. Solomon the wisest man that ever lived wrote of this. Ec. 8:16-17

Ecclesiastes 8:16–17 NKJV

16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to see the business that is done on earth, even though one sees no sleep day or night, 17 then I saw all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. For though a man labors to discover it, yet he will not find it; moreover, though a wise man attempts to know it, he will not be able to find it.

d. What he is saying is that God is control of what happens here on earth. It is not up to us to figure out why God does what he does. Our responsibly is to God for who he is and trust in what he does or what he allows.

2. We are told what not to do.

Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.

Envious: Jealous/to provoke jealous to anger. Pro. 14:30

Proverbs 14:30 NKJV

30 A sound heart is life to the body, But envy is rottenness to the bones.

VS 2

1. cut: To become clipped. Same Hebrew word use for circumcise. God will take care of the evil doers.

a. God’s word is the final authority. And God says in His word that the wicked will be cut down like the grass, and that is what is going to happen.

b. We may want to get even with people, or do them wrong in the way that they have do us.

But we can put our trust in the Lord in knowing that He will deal with them in a way that we could never imagine.

c. But he will deal with them in a way that is both righteous and holy. Romans 12:19

Romans 12:19 NKJV

19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.

2. We need to stop wasting our time worrying over what others have done against us, or even against God. (This does not mean that we have no concern)

a. One day they will stand before God and answer to him for their actions, and he will repay their evil deeds.

VS 3

1. Trust: To be confident. To be secure. To lean on.

a. To trust in the Lord means to put faith knowing that he will always be there.

b. He will be there in times of trouble. He will there when you are having a bad day. He will be there when you get bad news. He will be there lift you up when you stumble.

c. Be good: Act right.

“ so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.”

1. When we accept Jesus as our Lord we have put our trust in God. By placing our trust in God we gain access to the promise that he has given us in the verse.

a. We are not promised great riches and wealth like some teach today. READ VERSE AGAN AND ELAB

b. It comes down to trusting God in whatever may come our way. Pro. 3:5-6

c. If we trust in the Lord, if we take refuge in him, if we lean on him, if we stand on his promises, then he will gives us the strength, and guidance we need to deal with this wicked world.

II. Delight in the Lord. VS 4

VS 4

1. Delight thyself: To take pleasure in/to enjoy.

a. We can take pleasure in his creation. We can take pleasure what he does for us. We can take pleasure seeing Him move. We can take pleasure in knowing that he is in control so we don’t have to worry.

b. The greatest thing that we should delight in (pleasure in) is salvation, in the sacrifice he made for us.

Read last part of verse

1. Desires: Request.

a. This does not mean that God will give us everything we want.

b. I do believe that God will give us the desires of our heart; I also believe that the closer we get to God, the more we know his will he will change what those desires are.

c. When we spend time alone with God, in his word and meditate on all his has done for us than his desires will become our desires.

Phil 2:13

III. Commit to the Lord. VS 5-6

VS 5

1. Commit: To roll/To be rolled in blood/to be dyed red.

a. This is a beautiful prophecy of Jesus here.

b. Hymn “There is a fountain filled with blood

“There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel’s veins,

And sinners plunged beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains”

c. To commit to the Lord is to trust him by trusting in the blood of Jesus, to be washed (rolled) in the blood that covers our sins.

d. It is a commitment that means we give our life over to him, putting our trust in, not worry about what is to come, or what has happened.

“he shall bring it to pass”

1. What will he bring to pass? Our desires, peace, understanding, wisdom, joy.

VS 6

1. We may not understand all that the Lord does or what he allows. But there will be a day when it will be a clear as day. (noonday) Elab

a. Even while we are here the Lord will revile to us. We may not know everything, but he help to have a better understanding.

IV. Rest in the Lord. VS 7

1. Rest: To be silent and be still.

2. Wait patiently:

John 11: 20 (Elab on the content of this verse)

a. Mary sat quiet and still and waited in the Lord. (Elab she knew what he was capable of doing. Why fret? Just wait)

b. We can learn a great lesson from Mary here.

c. Resting in the Lord is accomplished through trusting, delighting, and committing.

d. If do these three things than resting in him is easy.

3. Again we see the term fret not: (To blaze up)

a. Fret not because of those who prospereth (to rush in advance/push) someone who does anything to get ahead. Elab

b. Wicked devices: Scheme/plan (most likely evil) Mischievous. Its any attacks that may come our way. Satan will attack in many ways in hopes to get us to worry. A worrying Christian is a weal Christian.

Pro. 3:5-6

1. When we trust in the Lord we find rest because God has become our place if refuge in times of trouble. Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble”

2. We can lean on the Lord when our bodies and spirit is weak. He is the solid ground we stand on when the ground underneath us gives way. (Old Hymn “Leaning on the everlasting arms)

3. When we commit to the Lord we find rest because the Lord blesses us with the desires of our hearts.

4. We can rest because our thoughts have become more in line with his thoughts.

5. We can rest because looking through his eyes everything becomes clearer.

j. When we commit to the Lord we find rest because we know that we no longer have to worry about the sin that is in our lives. We can rest knowing that we are clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.