Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction
is attributed to David, who by his own declaration in verse 25, is “old” as he writes.
It an acrostic; each two-verse stanza begins with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
So, it’s kind of hard to outline.
It is a string of proverb-like statements, imparting the wisdom of a mature man of God.
We’re going to spend this week and next letting this mature wisdom speak to our current situation.
Thankful for rain.
It’s been so long we nearly forgot what it was.
Maybe you felt like Chicken Little...
“The sky is falling!”
Do we have any Chicken Little’s here today?
Do you tend to draw the worst conclusions and get worked up into a contagious frenzy?
Or maybe you tend to get increasingly angry?
Or restless, inwardly and outwardly.
It’s difficult not to fret.
The daily news is troubling.
Your aches and pains might be your age, but you can convince yourself it’s more likely to be far worse.
Financial uncertainty.
Our children—we fret for them more than for ourselves.
We tend toward a r
Occasionally we need
In your more fretful times, who do you turn to (or wish you could turn to)—parent, grandparent, etc.
We need mature wisdom, sometimes called “graybeard wisdom.”
Illustrate the need for mature wisdom
is graybeard wisdom.
It is attributed to David, who by his own declaration in verse 25, is “old” as he writes.
We’re going to spend this week and next letting this work of mature wisdom speak to our current situation—today, to our tendency to fret.
Ps. 37
Don’t Fret
We lean in close to listen to the old king and he says:
“Do not fret—it leads only evil.”
“Don’t give in to worry or anger; it only leads to trouble.”
GNB
“…cool your pipes—it only makes things worse” (The Message)
It’s kind of a funny thought to imagine and old man saying: “cool your pipes”.... but that’s not too far off.
The word translated “fret” has to do with “getting heated”—hence, “Simmer down!
Cool it!
Be cool.
Fretting won’t do any good, only harm.
How to “be cool” (biblically speaking)
It an acrostic; each two-verse stanza begins with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
So, it’s kind of hard to outline.
It is a string of proverb-like statements, imparting the wisdom of a mature man of God.
Restlessness.
Read
What: Don’t fret
Long-run perspective.
Why: God’s justice and righteousness prevails in the end, and your fretting is pointless.
Describe fretting / Don’t fret = Be cool!
Simmer down!
Chill out!
How:
How?
To those of us who tend to get all worked up, he instructs us:
1. Trust
In a word, the remedy for a life of fretting is trust.
We’ll consider this more in a few moments, but for now:
God is trustworthy.
Trust is not idle.
“Doing beats stewing.”
“Doing beats stewing.”
“The human heart is like a millstone in a mill; when you put wheat under it, it turns and grinds and bruises the wheat to flour; if you put no wheat, it still grinds on, but then ‘tis itself it grinds and wears way.”
Martin Luther
“The human heart is like a millstone in a mill; when you put wheat under it, it turns and grinds and bruises the wheat to flour; if you put no wheat, it still grinds on, but then ‘tis itself it grinds and wears way.”
Martin Luther
Not “busywork,” but activity that “shepherds faithfulness.”
(protect / keep)
Matured confidence in God (trust) does not come merely by having believed God for a long time, but rather by having obeyed God for a long time.
Living faithfully fosters the kind of trust that—in time—pens a psalm like this one.
2. Delight
This is a favorite verse of many; it is also a greatly misunderstood verse.
This doesn’t mean that God will give you all the silly or foolish things you desire.
It means, rather:
What truly satisfies the human heart is found in God.
It is in delighting in him that you find real satisfaction.
“You have made us for Yourself; and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” - Augustine
God is delightful.
God is the sovereign, awesome, holy God not to be trifled with, yet also “the perfection of grace, compassion, mercy, kindness, patience, and love.”
Where are you currently looking for satisfaction?
(relationships, possessions, accomplishments, entertainment, experience) The more we expect these to deliver, the more frustration, angst, anxiety, and even anger surfaces.
Boice, J. M. (2005).
: An Expositional Commentary (p.
317).
Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.
We have a tendency to over-consume things that can never deliver what we wish.
I read something interesting last week about technology.
It’s where we go when we are bored, right?
Andy Crouch: “Boredom is actually a crucial warning sign—as important in its own way as physical pain.
It’s a sign that our capacity for wonder and delight, contemplation and attention, real play and fruitful work, has been dangerously depleted.”
When we turn to technology, we engage in an over-consumption of distraction.
It is as unsatisfying as over-consumption of junk food.
That’s not to make you feel guilty about your devices.
It is to remind you that your Creator knows you better than Apple.
He is more creative, more beautiful, more engaging, more lasting.... Go for a walk.
Talk to him.
Be more aware of and engaged with the things that draw you to him or reveal his goodness, his heart, his splendor.
In a passage that mirrors the fret-fighting wisdom of this psalm, Paul says:
Delight yourself in the Lord.
3. Commit
Here we pick up the idea of trust again, with very practical instruction:
Psalm
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