The wisdom of Trusting the Lord
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Welcome everyone, it’s great to be preaching to you this morning as a part of our series of psalms this summer. We’ve been blessed by various psalms so far and if you’d like a reminder of each message, head to our Facebook group where you will see the recordings.
This morning we’ve listened to Psalm 37, a longish psalm that speaks about two types of people and the Lord, and how they all interact with each other you’ve got the wicked, the righteous, and the Lord as our key characters of this poem. The author, David, also shares his own experience which tells us that he was in his later years when he penned this Psalm.
We are going to look at what this psalm says about these three characters as we unpack it, taking note that it is in fact written as a poem. The psalmist makes some striking claims and we ought to take notice of the warnings and instructions he gives.
We will be looking at the psalm in nonlinear fashion as this is a poem written in Old Testament Hebrew, it’s not structured from beginning to end, rather the main point is found directly in the middle. We will then comb back and forth to understand what the Psalmist has to say about it.
So to be clear with you from the beginning, the purpose of this Psalm is to urge us to trust in the Lord as our righteousness and salvation. This sermon will have three key points for you to follow that build up to that purpose. Those points are the three main character mentioned earlier: Wicked people, righteous people, and the Lord.
Wicked people
The first character type we will look at is the wicked. That is those who are in rebellion with God. The psalm has much to say about the wicked, evil doers:
Beginning at verse 20 -22: The pinnacle of the poem, the wicked will perish, Psalm 37:20-22
But the wicked will perish;
the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures;
they vanish—like smoke they vanish away.
The wicked borrows but does not pay back,
but the righteous is generous and gives;
for those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the land,
but those cursed by him shall be cut off.
These are enemies of the Lord. In other words they are in rebellion with God. Unlike the blessed, the wicked will be cut off cursed.
And when we comb back from the center of the poem we read more about the end to come for the wicked.
Their arms will be broken 17
Using battle language, the wicked will draw swords, bend their bows to slay the upright. However these will be used against themselves. 14-15
The wicked plot but the Lord laughs 13
The wicked will be no more 10
They will be cut off, Notice this is mentioned a number of times 9, 22, 28, 34, 38
Transgressors shall be altogether destroyed 38
The depravity of the damned is strikingly bold. there’s no mistaking the reality for the wicked with the descriptions used by the psalmist. He is making it clear that those in rebellion with the Lord are destined for a final end cut off from the peace of God. That much is clear.
Then on the other hand the Psalmist records a contrast that is the polar opposite. He speaks of the righteous.
Righteous people
The second character type is the righteous, that is those who live according to God’s word. According to the way the psalmist describes the righteous should live.
Going back to the middle, looking at the pinnacle contrast, verses 18-19 tell us the main point of what the psalmist is saying about this character.
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.
Aren’t those comforting words. In fact this particular section of the sermon is a great comfort to speak about, let’s look to all of what the psalmist is saying about the righteous. There’s two sub groups of information here, blessings and commands.
The blessings are:
The Lord upholds verse 17, God helps the righteous
Inheritance of the land, mentioned a number of times 9, 11, 22, 29, 34
abundant peace 11, peace that I could barely describe
The Lords comforts 33
Receive the desires of your heart 4
Just a quick note on verse four, the meaning of this word today is quite different to its use in Hebrew. Like today we would say, follow your heart, meaning follow your passions and emotions, terrible advice by the way. Rather the word heart has little to do with emotions for the Hebrew writer, rather he speaking of character and will power. To receive the desires of your heart is to grow in character, increase in will power.
Lastly the final blessing at the end of the poem is salvation, both from times of trouble in the present and from the day of judgement, the end that the wicked face.
Such amazing blessings,
These blessings however, come after the commands for the readers:
Fret not 1, 7, 8 Fret not because of wrongdoers, fret not over those who prosper, fret not it tends only to evil.
Don’t be envious of wrong doers 1
Trust in the Lord 3
Delight yourself in the Lord 4
Noting that this is not a momentary delight, like an ice cream on a sunny day, rather an intentional way of living, having nothing else that draws your focus away from the Lord
Commit your way to the lord 5
Be still and patient 7
Refrain from anger 8
turn from evil 27
do good 27
wait for the Lord and keep his way 34
Such great commands that someone could write a sermon or a book on each of those, drawing out why each is so good. the purpose here is to see that the psalmist is making a bold declaration for the listeners to heed these commands.
But that's not the end of the sermon, I’ve one more point to make, one more character to talk about.
You see, the danger of this passage is to fall into the trap I fell into when was reading this, I got the wrong impression about who this Psalm was speaking about. I missed it, and I don’t want you to miss it too. So hear this, in light of the New Testament, we learn some insights about who we are, that is you and I, that reveal much about this Psalm. Please turn to Romans 3:10
as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;
The writer there, is talking about how all people both Jews and Greeks, that is God’s nation and the rest of the world, are under sin. It goes onto say Romans 3 :11-12
no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
So understand that no one here is righteous, not one of us. We cannot read this psalm and declare ourselves on the side of righteousness for that is self righteous. We cannot read this and assume it is talking about us as righteous and look at all the bad things coming to the wicked. No we cannot,
The Lord (Jesus)
For the hero of this psalm isn’t you or me. The psalm is about Jesus. We are in fact the wicked in this Psalm. We are the ones in rebellion with God, on our own we are destined to be cut off and destroyed.
We are condemned to suffer for our rebellion against God. We look around at the world and see injustices, Corporations, Governments and perceive the evil that we feel is wrong and goodness me some of it is really wrong, headlines that read Euthanasia has been legalized, Abortions have been liberalized. Gender has been sterilized. And I could go on. Yet we don’t look to our own hearts. Our sin is rebellion against God. We cannot stand here and call ourselves righteous. Not one person was righteous in all of time, not you and not I.
In our psalm the writer declares, in Psalm 37:37
Mark the blameless and behold the upright,
for there is a future for the man of peace.
Who is this man of peace? the blameless and upright?
There is only one answer to that question. Only one that is correct I should say.
That answer is Jesus the son of God.
Only Jesus is the righteous one. He is the only person to not rebel against God. The only person to live the perfect life. This Psalm is describing Jesus. Look to all the commands for the righteous and realize that Jesus is the only person to fulfill all that is written. Look to the wicked, plotting, gnashing of teeth, drawing swords, living in abundance. That’s describing us.
Such a tragedy to read this psalm and believe otherwise. We don’t get to simply hold this psalm and declare ourselves righteous and point at others and say HA, you shall perish! Rather we look to the one who the Psalmist is writing about, we look to the one who perfected righteousness.
Why can I say that, look at the end of the psalm verse 39 and 40. Psalm 37: 39-40
The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
The Lord helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.
Now a quick jump back to Romans 1:16-17
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
The Gospel is the good news of Jesus’ work on the cross, his life, death, resurrection and ascension.
Jesus, he is The promised savior. He is the one who is our stronghold in time of trouble, Jesus helps us and delivers us from the wicked. He does this because we take refuge in him. We take refuge in Jesus as our risen savior. And some of our comfort comes from knowing that the wicked hated Jesus, the wicked plotted and cursed. But even though evil seemed to be winning Jesus was obedient unto death, even death on a cross. 1 Peter: 4: 12-13
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.
Life as a Christian is not an easy walk in the park. This Psalm tells us that the wicked will plot and plan against the righteous, against Jesus. As a Christian in Jesus you will share in the sufferings of Christ. Don’t be surprised, and don’t fret. For Jesus defeated death and evil by rising from the grave and ascending to heaven.
Looking at this psalm now in light of Jesus being our savior and comforter we can see two key elements that the psalmist is telling us that is what we are saved from and saved for, in Jesus we have been saved from:
Being cut off
Being laughed at by God
Fading like grass / Withering like herb
Our own sword and bow
Brokenness
perishing
Vanishing
Even death
and conversely in Jesus we have been saved for
Doing good
Dwelling in the land of the Lord
Trusting him
being patient
Calmness
Keeping his way
Being blameless
We are only saved in Jesus, for our hearts are wicked above all things. You see it is only through Jesus that we can have righteousness, for it is his righteousness that we receive through faith in him. The Lord upholds us, through the blood of Jesus, we are renewed and forgiven of our rebellion. He delivers us and saves us because we take refuge in him, that is we believe in Jesus.
If you are here this morning as a believer of Christ then rejoice for the blessings to come are joyous and eternal, therefore do good in this world and be blameless.
However, that shouldn’t just leave us with joy, rather we should Lament over the end to come for the wicked. God does not rejoice at the death of anyone. Nor should we. It terrible to know that those who are not in Jesus will be cut off and destroyed. Your being in Jesus is what has saved you from the dreadful fate of the wicked. So be concerned for those who are not in Jesus.
Therefore if you’re listening this morning and you don’t believe that Jesus is your salvation then I urge you to reconsider I urge you to pray and take refuge in the lord, heed the warnings that are written here. Destruction and death are a guarantee, sorry to say it so blunt, but our Psalmist does not dance around this fact.
If you’re here today as one who is taking refuge in the Lord, What are you to do?
Live according to God’s word,
Trust in Jesus and do good in this world so that all who see your good works will experience the love of Jesus and come to know him and receive salvation. Pray for the wicked, don’t rejoice over their reckoning, pray for their hearts and minds to be open to the fullness of Christ that they too may be found in Jesus at the end of days.
Let pray
Lord you are good and faithful, you have promised us peace in your land.
May we be forgiven for our fretting and anger towards others. Forgive us for our sin and wickedness.
Thank you that Jesus has provided the salvation for all to receive his righteousness. Lord we pray for those who are living carefree about their rebellion against you, we pray that all will come to know you and love you.
Help us to follow your commands, help us to grow in character and will power for living a life set apart from sin in this world. Lord help us to be shaped by your word and grow in Jesus name, forever and ever,
Blessed be your holy name
Amen.