When Life Is A Mess Don't Let Anger Control You (5)
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
How To Live When Life Is A Mess
How To Live When Life Is A Mess
This morning we are back in our study in Psalm 37 How To Live When Life Is A Mess.I find it quite amazing how God led Gordon to add to what we have been studying when he shared on how Storms are Normal.It is very obvious God cares about what we are going through.So far we spent to weeks looking at how not to let the Messes we face in life to control us - But learn to trust God.Then we spent two weeks looking at What to do with The Mess. It doesn’t just go away but often the mess remains and so what do we do?Our main take home was to learn to roll your mess to God and wait patiently and let Him deal with it.Today and next week we will wrap up this teaching by looking at two final lessons. This week will be all about something not to do THAT IS VERY HARD, next week will wrap up by learning to get a proper focus on life.According to this Psalm David was old when he wrote it, he had lots of life experiences behind him, you could say David faced a lot of messes by the time he wrote this.What is great for us is some of the messes are recorded for us in Samuel and Chronicles so that we can learn from them.They are “instructions” for us. I have to make a confession when it comes to instructions.The frustrate me. They make me Fret. You go to the store and buy something and it comes with “instructions” to make life easier.How many of you are “instruction readers?”Not me. Often they make me fret. I get worked up by them.Like when I go to the DIY store.Do you know what DIY stands for? DIY: Do it Yourself or Doesn’t Include You
DIY:
Do It Yourself or
Doesn’t Include You
Do It Yourself.For me it means DOESN’T INCLUDE YOU. Or don’t buy it.See what happens to me is buy something that needs to be put together and there are either too many parts or not enough or they Don’t fitLike this, I just bought a new coffee grinder.This came with it. It doesn’t fit anywhere. It doesn’t even mentioned it in the directions.So I start to fret. Get worked up.At times I even get angry. What happens when you try and Do It Yourself when you are angry?You force it and it breaks.Some of you may DO IT YOURSELF - DOESN’T INCLUDE YOU.In our section today we will learn this lesson.We have been given instructions in the first 7 verses.And I know from your feedback these lessons have spoken to many of you like no other series.Week after week for the past five weeks you have left church with the desire to put these teachings into practice.How many of you have left with the desire to put these into practice but also found you have become frustrated trying to fret not and trust God? Any of you there?Here is what we will learn today.Our take home will be to see, Don’t Let your emotions take over.The one you really need to be careful of is Anger.David will show us if you let anger take over, you will break stuff and make a bigger mess.We will also learn what to do when your emotions start to control you in order to calm down.Read
Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.
In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.
But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.
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. 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.
The Lord knows the days of the blameless, and their heritage will remain forever;
they are not put to shame in evil times; in the days of famine they have abundance.
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.
The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever. 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.
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. Wait for the Lord and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land;
The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way;
though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand.
you will look on when the wicked are cut off.
As you all know I love the Bible. I said I don’t like instructions.I don’t like instructions written by man because they often confuse you and leave things out.God thinks of everything.I want to start with some good news right at the beginning.As Gordon shared last week we are all either in a storm, living in the calm after the storm or getting ready to go into another storm.Right? That’s life.When you look at the trials of life or the storms they often bring out some things that you are not always proud of. Bad behavior. Like the disciples in the storm. Jesus is in the boat with them, they panic and they start accusing Jesus of not caring.I’m sure they were not proud of that.I’m sure there have been messes in your life that you wish you could do it all over again.Why, because you messed up.Look what David said,
The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way;
though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand.
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.
When you are trying to follow the Lord, when you are taking delight in Him and trying to please Him.Though you fall: Meaning though you mess up, God is not going to let you be destroyed and will still hold your hand.Isn’t that good news?So if while we have been doing this study you’ve messed up, it’s ok God is here to help. Your off the hook. We will never get it all right. That’s why we need Him.Now let’s look at what the Holy Spirit wants to teach us through David.
Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
has a big statement
8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
When Life Is A Mess - Refrain from Anger. This means leave it. Don’t let it consume and control you.Because if it does it leads only to evil.Let me explain the poetic picture here.It is possible when we see that word evil we start thinking of the devil and may think this is talking about us going into some real wicked and sinful behavior.Yes that can happen but that isn’t really the picture.The word evil in this verse means: to spoil, to break, to hurt and is good for nothing.It’s me with the DIY OR DOESN’T INCLUDE YOU stuff. If I do it, I get angry and I will spoil and break it.In your mess, whether it is a mess like David was facing due to people, which are usually the hardest and most painful, don’t let anger take control or you will spoil it, break it and make a bigger mess.If your mess is because of other circumstances or financial like many of us are facing now, if anger takes control you will make a bigger mess, break it and it’s not going to help.So first of all know that David would not give us this advice if he didn’t know this was ALWAYS going to be an issue.He knows when Life Is A Mess, especially due to evil people Anger is always going to be a problem that we need to guard against.Don’t let it control you.Before we learn how to do that and some great promises given when we do it right, I want to share with you another mess that David faced where He stumbled but God kept His hand in the mess.Never forget this: Even when you mess up God is there to help.This story is found in the book of 1 Samuel.It was a time where David was in a mess because Saul was trying to kill Him.In the mess David fled with 600 people and were living away from their homes.Think of this. Imagine having to feed 600 people everyday. That would be kind of a mess wouldn’t it?Now two messes. Saul wanting to kill him and leading and taking care of at least 600 peopleSo what would happen is David had a lot of people that came to help and give supplies.It may be because they knew how David had helped them and knew perhaps that David would be king one day so they helped.During their time out David also had some men that came and joined him for a while from a wealthy land owner named Nabal. In God’s sense of humor Nabal’s name happens to mean fool.There is a fool’s workers that David took care of.Before a feast David sent some men to this foolish man Nabal and asked if he would give some provisions to him.But foolish Nabal sent words of insult back to David and said you are nothing more than a run away slave and I won’t help you.This is where the story can tie into a Psalm 37 learning experience.David got angry and did not forsake it but let it control him.Let me read you some of the story.
When David’s young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David, and then they waited.
And Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters.
Shall I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it to men who come from I do not know where?”
So David’s young men turned away and came back and told him all this.
And David said to his men, “Every man strap on his sword!” And every man of them strapped on his sword. David also strapped on his sword. And about four hundred men went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage.
9 When David’s young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David, and then they waited. 10 And Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters. 11 Shall I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it to men who come from I do not know where?” 12 So David’s young men turned away and came back and told him all this. 13 And David said to his men, “Every man strap on his sword!” And every man of them strapped on his sword. David also strapped on his sword. And about four hundred men went up after David, while two hundred remained with the baggage.
Now David had said, “Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has returned me evil for good.
God do so to the enemies of David and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.”
21 Now David had said, “Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has returned me evil for good. 22 God do so to the enemies of David and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.”
Here we have the story when David was a young man.Notice David started Fretting. He got worked up when he heard the insults from this foolish man.When you read this story do you see David trusting God? No.Do you see David waiting on the Lord? No.Do you see David rolling his burden onto the Lord? No.Basically David let anger take over.He told his crew put on your swords we will go kill them all.Can you see where maybe David learned this lesson, anger will lead to spoil, to break, to hurt and is good for nothing.Killing all these people would not have been God’s idea and plan.It would be evil. So David was stumbling.JUST LIKE WE OFTEN DO.Messes are hard. They bring out the worst in us.David now had three messes going on at the same time.But you know David’s heart was after God.And God is faithful.God did not let David go down this way but like he promised in His word He gave David a way of escape.This came from some great advice from a woman.This woman was named Abigail. She could be one of the most amazing people in the Bible.Someday we need to do a study on her.Actually let’s do it after Psalm 37.God used her to come be a peacemaker.And do you know the way she did it?She put His focus right back to the Lord, His promises and Word.
Now then, my lord, as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, because the Lord has restrained you from bloodguilt and from saving with your own hand, now then let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal.
And now let this present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord.
Please forgive the trespass of your servant. For the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the Lord, and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live.
If men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the Lord your God. And the lives of your enemies he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling.
And when the Lord has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you prince over Israel,
my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord working salvation himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.”
26 Now then, my lord, as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, because the Lord has restrained you from bloodguilt and from saving with your own hand, now then let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal. 27 And now let this present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord. 28 Please forgive the trespass of your servant. For the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the Lord, and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live. 29 If men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the Lord your God. And the lives of your enemies he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. 30 And when the Lord has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you prince over Israel, 31 my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord working salvation himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.”
God is always the answer. That is where this wonderful woman pointed David. To the past what God had done, to the present where God is trying to stop and evil and to the future of what God had promised.The was putting the focus back on God and for David to Trust God in This Mess.Don’t do this with your own hand. You will make a bigger mess and have regrets later on.You have always been about fighting the Lord’s battles, stay focused there. God will fight for you if you keep fighting for Him.And she reminded David you will be king. Let the Lord do it.And David Listened.People when life is a mess and anger tries to take control.The best way to make sure Emotions especially anger don’t take over is; get focused back on the Lord, by remembering what God has done, looking for what He is doing now - giving you a way of escapeAnd remember what He has promised for the future.It brings you right to peace.As Verse
But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.
says:
11 But the meek shall inherit the land
and delight themselves in abundant peace.
Peace in the mess is THE perfect place to be.Then you will not do something that will make the mess worse, that will break more things or be an embarrassment to you.Of course you will not always get this right. Never.But our goal should be to grow in it.Simple application as we go:I know most of us are in a mess right now for so many reasons.I’m sure we all want to please God as we go through our messes.God sees that. His hand is there so you don’t have to DIYYes you have to read and follow the instructions.But the payoff is worth it.1 That peace2 He will help you inherit His promises.