Don’t Fret The World
Psalms 37
May 5, 2019
Well I suppose the best way to introduce this Psalm is to ask:
• Have you ever been frustrated by the victories of the wicked?
• Have you ever been envious of the successes of the wicked?
I would suppose that most will easily answer yes to that first question,
But would likely prefer to answer silently to the second.
And yet, if we are honest, both are true.
We can so easily slip into that mindset of Asaph on the 73rd Psalm.
Psalms 73:3-9 “For I was envious of the arrogant As I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no pains in their death, And their body is fat. They are not in trouble as other men, Nor are they plagued like mankind. Therefore pride is their necklace; The garment of violence covers them. Their eye bulges from fatness; The imaginations of their heart run riot. They mock and wickedly speak of oppression; They speak from on high. They have set their mouth against the heavens, And their tongue parades through the earth.”
It’s just called temptation. And at times it plagues us all.
But we can also get frustrated by the victories of the wicked.
• We see laws passed and political agendas that directly defy the revealed will of God.
• We see a vote to legalize the sale of alcohol overwhelmingly pass in our community.
• You know what I mean.
And it gets frustrating when you have a majority
Who can so easily vote for immorality.
The tension is real.
We know about the reality of the current landscape.
• We are children of God living in a fallen world.
• We are citizens of heaven living as strangers on earth.
That frustration is seen in that parable of the Wheat and the Tares
Matthew 13:24-30 “Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. “But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. “But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. “The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ “And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ “But he said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. ‘Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.”‘”
I think many of us understand that mindset where at times we think
It would just be easier if we could eradicate all the tares
And finally live in a world that doesn’t call evil good and good evil.
Sometimes it just gets frustrating to see the wicked thrive
While the righteous just sort of have to sit back and take it.
Now, we know it’s not permanent.
• We know God wins in the end.
• We’ve read the back of the book.
Revelation 11:15-18 “Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, “We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign. “And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”
We know that day is coming,
But it doesn’t always make this day easier to swallow.
We can identify with Paul in the Scripture reading this morning:
2 Corinthians 5:2-4 “For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.”
We understand that desire.
How great it will be when we live in a world without wickedness.
Well, if you’ve ever felt those frustrations or if you’ve ever felt that envy, Psalms 37 is for you.
IT’S A PSALM THAT DAVID WROTE IN HIS HOLD AGE.
I sort of like to view it as David’s Ecclesiastes.
You are familiar with Ecclesiastes,
• The book of Solomon’s old age where he wrote to the young man
• To take off his rose colored glasses, recognize the presence of evil,
• And to understand that judgment is coming.
That’s sort of David’s purpose here as well.
By this point he is an old man and he is writing to the young
Telling them to settle down and look at this world through eyes of faith.
ONE THING to help you understand it better.
As you read this Psalm you’ll see continual references to “the land”
You are aware of the significance of land to the children of Israel.
• That was their inheritance from God.
• That was the symbol of His favor.
But they were frustrated to see the wicked
Being the ones who owned most of it.
It was backward to them and they didn’t know how to handle it.
Psalms 37 was written to calm them down.
It is quite lengthy, but the message is very direct
And concise and even repetitive.
It is not difficult to grasp the point.
Let’s break it down into 3
#1 THE ENCOURAGEMENT
Psalms 37:1-11
In these first 11 verses there are actually 2 pieces of encouragement.
1) DON’T FRET; TRUST GOD (1-6)
The Psalm certainly begins direct enough.
“Do not fret because of evildoers”
“fret” there is CHARA
It means “to burn or be kindled with anger”
And the implication here is NOT that you are angry at the wicked.
• We know that even God is angry at the wicked every day.
• We all understand righteous indignation.
The implication here is that your anger is at least
Indirectly pointed at God for letting them be so successful.
It is a frustration that ultimately trickles up to God,
Who in His sovereignty allows the wicked to flourish.
Have you ever been there?
The Psalmist says DON’T
“Be not envious toward wrongdoers”
It has to do with wishing that you could have the comforts they have
(sort of like Asaph in Psalms 73)
And in both cases David says, “Don’t”
And here is what he wants you to know:
(2) “For they will wither quickly like the grass and fade like green herb.”
We know the cycle of nature.
• We’ve recently had rain and everything is green,
• But we all know how quickly that can change with a few months of drought.
So it is with the wicked.
They may flourish for a season,
But don’t be fooled into thinking they will last.
The clear point is not to get mad at God or envious of the wicked in the day of their prosperity, IT WON’T LAST.
Instead David encourages us:
(3-6) “Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light And your judgment as the noonday.”
You’re likely familiar with part of that passage.
We’ve often heard verse 4 to “Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.”
To understand that verse you simply need to understand the desire here.
• The desire is for the land.
• The desire is for the righteous to be rewarded for their righteousness.
• And it is a desire for that reward to come in a tangible and obvious way.
They understood the land to be a symbol of God’s favor.
• And they wanted it.
Their frustration came that despite their faithfulness,
It seemed like the wicked where the ones being rewarded.
David here encourages the righteous,
• Don’t get mad at God.
• Instead, continue to faithfully serve God.
• Trust that He will properly reward you in due time.
And that is what that passage is about.
Your obligation?
“Trust in the LORD and do good;”
“Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness” (there’s a crop to grow)
“Delight yourself in the LORD”
“Commit your way to the LORD”
“Trust also in Him”
That is your obligation.
Don’t get angry, don’t get envious, don’t abandon God.
Trust Him, stay faithful to Him, serve Him.
And the promise is that God will reward you.
“He will give you the desires of your heart”
“He will do it”
“He will bring forth your righteousness as the light”
1 Thessalonians 5:24 “Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.”
It’s the end promise of that parable of the wheat and the tares.
Remember our Lord promised that at the end of the age
The angels will reap this world and burn up the chaff.
And look at the final result:
Matthew 13: 43 “Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”
So the encouragement?
• Don’t get angry at God.
• Don’t envy the wicked.
• Just trust God. He will bring about the reward you seek.
The second piece of encouragement:
2) DON’T FRET, WAIT ON GOD (7-11)
David says, instead of fretting:
“Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him”
Rest is the result of trust.
• You don’t have to fret or be disturbed, just know God has it covered.
• And all you have to do is “wait patiently for Him”
And again the encouragement
“Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes. Cease from anger and forsake wrath; Do not fret it leads only to evildoing.”
There are those anger words again:
• “Fret” we’ve seen CHARA
• “anger” APH – “a nostril, a nose, anger” (to flare the nostrils)
• “wrath” CHEMA – “heat or rage”
They all speak of a frustration
With God’s lack of urgency to handle the wicked.
They speak of anger with God
For not handling the situation differently.
David says DON’T
Instead rest in Him and wait on Him.
Don’t fret “it leads only to evildoing”
• That is, if you get angry at God, you aren’t likely to make a wise decision.
• You’re far better off to trust Him and wait on Him.
And David again reminds:
(9-11) “For evildoers will be cut off, But those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land. Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more; And you will look carefully for his place and he will not be there. But the humble will inherit the land And will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.”
It is that same encouragement.
And here we get our first reference to the land.
You’ll see it again in (11, 28, 29, 34)
Yes the wicked are currently thriving,
But “Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more”
“But the humble will inherit the land.”
We’ve heard that before:
Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.”
So, WAIT ON THAT.
• Don’t get angry at God.
• Don’t do something foolish like follow the pattern of the wicked.
• Just trust that God will do what He said and wait on Him to do it.
That’s the encouragement to the righteous who live in a wicked land.
#2 THE EXPLANATION
Psalms 37:12-15
Here is the theology of the situation
And something that we would all do good to understand.
• Certainly we have here a world where the wicked view the righteous as the problem.
• Certainly they would rather just remove us altogether so that they can live their carnal lives unchecked.
And so “The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes at him with his teeth.”
The hostility is real.
The hatred is real.
But let me show you what else is real:
(13) “The LORD laughs at him…”
So the LORD thinks it’s funny when His people get attacked?
No, the LORD thinks it’s ABSURD, (i.e. laughable)
He did the same when they attacked His Son
Psalms 2:1-4 “Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!” He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them.”
It is absurd that sinful men would try to overthrow God’s king.
And it is just as absurd that sinful men
Would try to stomp out the righteous or steal his inheritance.
God laughs because it is such a foolish and futile attempt.
“The LORD laughs at him, For He sees his day is coming.”
God knows what is around the corner.
(14-15) “The wicked have drawn the sword and bent their bow To cast down the afflicted and the needy, To slay those who are upright in conduct. Their sword will enter their own heart, And their bows will be broken.”
That is to say that all their plans are going to fall on their own head.
They won’t win, they can’t win; God will overthrow them.
• How foolish it is for men to boast in their obtaining the world.
• How foolish it is for men to boast when they win their victories for carnality.
• How foolish it is for men to boast when they vote in some sort of immoral freedom.
They won’t win.
Remember the rich man who had so much grain he tore down his barns and built larger ones?
Luke 12:20-21 “But God said to him, ‘ You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ “So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
Remember the rich man who used to skip the poor man Lazarus and give the table scraps to the dogs?
Luke 16:25 “But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.”
Remember James’ scowling words for those who hoard the wealth of this world?
James 5:5 “You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.”
They seem so confident and sure of themselves
As they gain the world and scorn God’s people.
Their confidence and boasting is so absurd
That God actually laughs at their misplaced confidence.
He knows what is coming for them.
Psalms 73:18-20 “Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. How they are destroyed in a moment! They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors! Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when aroused, You will despise their form.”
Just know that God doesn’t fret them.
And that is good for us when living in this world to know that
God isn’t the least bit concerned about what to do with them.
HE IS IN TOTAL CONTROL, AND HE SEES THEIR END.
David wants you to know that.
• The encouragement is don’t fret, just trust God and wait on Him.
• The explanation is because God sees their day and will deal with them.
#3 THE OBSERVATION
Psalms 37:16-40
And obviously this is a lot of content, so let’s break it down into 4 easier points.
These are the observations of David in his old age.
After having lived this life, here is the wisdom he would pass down.
1) RIGHTEOUSNESS IS BETTER THAN RICHES BECAUSE THE LORD SUSTAINS THE RIGHTEOUS (16-22)
David begins by making one of those
Backward statements from the world’s perspective.
“Better is the little of the righteous than the abundance of the wicked”
Now, when we sit in church and our minds are on spiritual things
We can all “Amen” that statement.
But when the bills are due and we are out of money, it’s harder to say that
And yet David wants you to know that he has seen that it is true.
Well David, why would you say that?
(17) “For the arms of the wicked will be broken, but the LORD sustains the righteous.”
What is David’s point?
• The abundance of the wicked isn’t sure because God can break their arms.
• And the little of the righteous isn’t disastrous because God sustains them.
Remember Jesus sermon?
Matthew 6:31-33 “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
God knows how to take care of the righteous.
And it is far better to be on God’s side than to have a bank full of money.
(18-19) “The LORD knows the days of the blameless, And their inheritance will be forever. They will not be ashamed in the time of evil, And in the days of famine they will have abundance.”
Do you see those promises?
God knows how to take care of the righteous, even when it appears like they are in trouble.
But look at the flipside:
(20-21) “But the wicked will perish; And the enemies of the LORD will be like the glory of the pastures, They vanish — like smoke they vanish away. The wicked borrows and does not pay back, But the righteous is gracious and gives.”
You can hear Jesus’ sermon there can’t you?
• I know they look good, just like a green pasture, but can I remind you how quickly that can all fade away?
• He even paints a picture of the rich man’s wealth being all a show for he isn’t even able to pay off his debts. It was all a sham.
• Whereas God cares for the righteous and not only does he have enough, but he has a surplus to help others.
And then the promise again.
(22) “For those blessed by Him will inherit the land, But those cursed by Him will be cut off.”
So again David says righteousness is better than riches
Because the Lord sustains the righteous.
• Look past today.
• Look who gets the land in the end.
• Look who is left standing.
It is the one the LORD sustains, and He sustains the righteous.
So don’t fret, don’t be envious.
Trust God, wait on Him, He will reward you in due time.
That’s the first observation.
2) RIGHTEOUSNESS IS BETTER THAN RICHES BECAUSE THE LORD ESTABLISHES THE RIGHTEOUS (23-26)
That is to say, not only does He care for them through the famine,
But He makes their footsteps firm so that they are never moved.
“The steps of a man are established by the LORD, And He delights in his way. When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, because the LORD is the One who holds his hand.”
What does that mean?
Especially when we’ve seen believers struggle at times.
It means they won’t fail TOTALLY or FINALLY
He may at times fall, but he will not be totally forsaken.
The LORD has a hold of his hand.
And here is the observation.
“I have been young and now I am old, Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread.”
And do a little mental jogging back through the pages for a moment.
We aren’t saying that things were never hard for the righteous.
Certainly the righteous life is not all abundance and ease.
But can you find one whom the LORD forsook?
Even those like the poor man Lazarus
• Who used to sit at the gate and the dogs licked his sores.
• By all appearances it would seem that this man was forsaken by the LORD, but was he?
• No, for we find him sitting in Abraham’s bosom receiving his good things for all eternity.
And that is why David again says that righteousness is better than riches.
God doesn’t establish the steps of the rich,
But He does establish the steps of the righteous.
A third observation
3) RIGHTEOUSNESS IS BETTER THAN RICHES BECAUSE THE LORD EXALTS THE RIGHTEOUS (27-34)
There again is the encouragement.
“Depart from evil and do good, so you will abide forever.”
And here is the reasoning.
(28-29) “For the LORD loves justice And does not forsake His godly ones; They are preserved forever, But the descendants of the wicked will be cut off. The righteous will inherit the land And dwell in it forever.”
• There again is a reference to the land.
• The rich may currently enjoy it, but they do not inherit it.
“The righteous will inherit the land and will dwell in it forever.”
It’s the same promise restated again and again and again.
You are far better off to live this life in a manner that pleases God.
Don’t fret and get angry when you think the wicked are flourishing,
You just keep your focus on pleasing God
Because when all this thing shakes down at the end,
It is those who are pleasing to God who get it all.
It is that same tension as Peter watched the Rich Young Ruler walk away with all his money.
Matthew 19:27-29 “Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?” And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.”
You see it there again.
And just to make sure you understand
Who David is talking about here when he references the righteous.
(30-31) “The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, And his tongue speaks justice. The law of his God is in his heart; His steps do not slip.”
When David speaks of the righteous,
He is talking about people who speak truth and justice
And who love God’s Laws.
They are the ones who inherit the land, not the ruthless wicked.
(32-34) “The wicked spies upon the righteous And seeks to kill him. The LORD will not leave him in his hand Or let him be condemned when he is judged. Wait for the LORD and keep His way, And He will exalt you to inherit the land; When the wicked are cut off, you will see it.”
It’s that same promise.
• There is a rich man who congratulates himself and boasts about his victory over the righteous, but don’t let him fool you.
• God has determined that the wicked do not get to keep their lofty status, they are brought down into condemnation and true exaltation is reserved for the righteous.
You just see it over and over and over.
“When the wicked are cut off, you will see it.”
• Man can take bribes and cut deals and promote immorality
• And boast in their success and wealth,
• And high five each other when the move the world to more freedom for immorality.
But it won’t last,
They will fall, you’ll see.
That is David’s reminder and it is a third reason
Why righteousness is better than riches.
God doesn’t exalt the rich, but He does exalt the righteous.
4) RIGHTEOUSNESS IS BETTER THAN RICHES BECAUSE THE LORD SAVES THE RIGHTEOUS (35-40)
There you have it again, “I have seen a wicked, violent man spreading himself like a luxuriant tree in its native soil. Then he passed away, and lo, he was no more; I sought for him, but he could not be found.”
See how transient he is.
Acts 12:21-23 “On an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel, took his seat on the rostrum and began delivering an address to them. The people kept crying out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.”
He just wasn’t as important or permanent as he thought he was.
Think about all the men of old who set out to conquer the world, but where are they now?
• Where are the Nebuchadnezzar’s?
• Where are the Alexander the Great’s?
• Where are the Napolean’s?
• Where are the Hitler’s?
Men who laid great siege to the world in hopes of gaining all they could.
Where are they?
They are dead and they have nothing.
But if you want to look over this world and lay odds
As to who you think might end up possessing it,
David has some advice.
(37) “Mark the blameless man”
That is to say, “That’s who I’d keep my eye on.”
“behold the upright; for the man of peace will have a posterity. But transgressors will be altogether destroyed; the posterity of the wicked will be cut off. But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; He is their strength in 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.”
• Do you see who has the future?
• Do you see whose lineage is preserved?
And we remember promises
• Like that to Abraham that his descendants will be like the sand of the seashore.
• Like that to David that his son will reign forever on the throne.
We also remember statements like to Jeconiah (the wicked king) whom God said, “write this man down childless”
And the whole point is that God does not save the wicked,
But He does save the righteous.
SO DON’T FRET
DON’T ENVY
JUST TRUST AND WAIT
That is encouraging for us in the world in which we live.
• You don’t have to fret evil winning, it won’t.
• So you just focus on living a life that is pleasing to God.
Just follow the advice of David
And keep trusting and keep waiting on God.
