If you have your Bibles, please turn with me to Psalm 37 and we’ll read the first 9 verses.
This is one of many psalms from David, and I don’t think he ever realized how the challenge of fighting off prey as a shepherd would impact the way in which he would someday be king; and that his playing the harp and singing in the fields would be so treasured that today, we would read and glean from thousands of years later. And I just want to say, as an aside, that as an encouragement, that we don’t know what we do now or where we have been can become a stepping stone in God’s grand scheme of things as a preparation for a future that God may have for us, no matter what our age.
Scripture: Psalm 37:1-9
1 Do not fret because of those who are evil
or be envious of those who do wrong;
2 for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.
3 Trust in the Lord and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pastures.
4 Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him and he will do this:
6 He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
your vindication like the noonday sun.
7 Be still before the Lord
and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.
8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret—it leads only to evil.
9 For those who are evil will be destroyed,
but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.
Like some psalms, there’s a lot of bitter and sweet mixed in. And I think that’s because, like many psalms and proverbs, there is a distinction between righteous and unrighteous people. And this psalm is an encouragement for righteous people living in a world where it seems the unrighteous are getting an unfair advantage.
There’s a new Superman movie out. I haven’t seen it, but you know the standard Superman movie–the bad guy comes and kidnaps Lois, and Superman sweeps down, rescues Lois and grabs the bad guy, and sends him to jail.
Why can’t real life be simple like that?
Why can’t God do that? Why can’t he be a superhero? Swoop down out of the sky and save everyone any time there’s trouble?
While the world isn’t simplistic, and God doesn’t operate like a superhero, simplicity is really the way for us to live.
I think, in a nutshell, that’s what this whole passage is trying to tell us. The world is full of the unrighteous. The world is an unfair place. But the Lord is asking us not to dwell on what they’re doing. Not to dwell on the news. We should be informed citizens, but what happens in one major news story doesn’t necessarily affect our personal lives.
For us, we should get up in the morning, go to work, love our families, love our neighbor, and even love the unrighteous. But when it comes to things that are out of our control, let God take care of that in his way in his time. It’s a lot like I’ve said before. We, along with the unrighteous, will stand before God someday. We only have to account for ourselves.
After the Sandy Hook school shooting, Rev. Vaughan Smith preached on this psalm. He called his sermon, “Trusting God in Troubled Times.” He opened his sermon by saying this:
“The righteous relate rightly to God by seeking to know God and to obey God. But the wicked reject God and God’s ways. The wicked reject God because the wicked want to be their own gods. And the wicked reject God’s ways because the wicked want to do things their own way.”
He also said:
“Among other things, Psalm 37 recognizes the frustrating reality that the wicked often prosper, and the righteous often suffer. This seems unfair. The righteous try to live God’s way. The wicked reject God and live their own way. And yet… the wicked often seem to have it better than the righteous.”
But what David is saying is to wait and be patient. It’s hard to do, we feel like we’ve waited our whole lives. Maybe we have. Maybe we’ve waited half our lives. And it’s like, God, when are you going to come through for us? When are my prayers going to be answered? Why do the unrighteous seem to be getting away with their wicked schemes while I’m here, living as I should, but spinning my wheels?
The prophet Jeremiah grappled with this issue when he asked the Lord: “Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease? You have planted them, and they have taken root; they grow and bear fruit. You are always on their lips but far from their hearts” (Jeremiah 12:1–2).
Job struggled similarly: “Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?” (Job 21:7). And the psalmist expressed envy when he saw the prosperity of the wicked, wondering if living righteously was worth the trouble not only in Psalm 37, but also––if we invert the numbers––in Psalm 73. How does a holy God of love allow His people to suffer while the wicked thrive?
I think we can reference a passage in the New Testament that might answer that. In speaking about the second coming of Christ, Peter tells his audience that God’s coming is not a delay. It’s not slow. God is not behind. He is waiting patiently to gather his family together. And he is waiting patiently for the unrighteous to come to repentance.
What Peter is saying and what David is saying is essentially the same. God works in His timing, and His timing is perfect. Remember, in the scope of all eternity, these few thousand years are but a blip on the scale. For God to endure all of this evil is but a blink of the eye. And in the end, when we are all in God’s eternal kingdom, it will have been worth it.
God’s judgment on us all is on his calendar. After there has been ample time for everyone to repent.
I’m reminded, once again, of the Son of Sam serial killer who came to Christ. I’ve always been okay with capital punishment, but now I wonder. What would have happened if he had been executed before he had a chance to repent?
C.S. Lewis said, “God created things which had free will. That means creatures which can go wrong or right. Some people think they can imagine a creature which was free but had no possibility of going wrong, but I can’t. If a thing is free to be good it’s also free to be bad. And free will is what has made evil possible. Why, then, did God give them free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. A world of automata -of creatures that worked like machines- would hardly be worth creating.”
He goes on to say: “Of course God knew what would happen if they used their freedom the wrong way: apparently, He thought it worth the risk.”
So what about the meantime? Well, it’s stated right off the bat. The very first phrase David said repeats throughout this psalm: “Don’t fret.”
Warren Wiersbe said, “The word “fret” means “to burn, to get heated up.” David’s message was, “Cool down and keep cool!””
In these immediate first seven verses, David gives us four positive instructions: trust in the Lord (v. 3), delight in the Lord (v. 4), commit yourself to the Lord (vv. 5-6), and rest in the Lord (v. 7).
I could go on a whole other sermon just breaking those four things down, and maybe someday I will, but I’ll continue by saying, as we do those four things we can be assured of these next three things: that God understands our situation; that God blesses his people in spite of what goes on around us; and eventually the Lord righteously and perfectly judges everyone.
I know we didn’t read this, but if we skip down and look at verse 25, we’ll catch a glimpse of an observation David made about living the righteous life.
“I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging for bread.”
Now, this doesn’t mean that Christians don’t go through tragedy. Just look at the Christian camp that was devastated in Texas, and the Christians who lost their lives in that flood.
But the point is that God’s people are not left without any hope at all. Those Christians who lost their lives are now in their eternal reward. And because we know that, we can rejoice and have joy in the midst of such tragic sorrow. We have peace that passes understanding in the midst of something so sad and horrific.
I remember hearing my dad say that there is a striking contrast between doing a funeral for a Christian family and doing a funeral for someone who wasn’t a Christian. The Christian funeral is a bit more hopeful, isn’t it? His funeral and my mom’s are probably going to be the easiest funerals I’ve ever done. Because I knew them, and I rejoice that they are experiencing their great reward.
For us, still suffering on this earth, we have faith that God is watching and providing.
We may live from paycheck to paycheck, but God still provides. How many times have we seen it with this church building? I’ve said this before, but the older I get, the more grateful I am to have heat, a roof over my head, and running water. Why am I more grateful? Because I know what it’s like to go without water and heat for a few days.
Maybe God brings hardships to us to wake us up to his simple blessings. Maybe God brings those hardships to us so that we can be humble, compassionate, and understanding toward those who suffer as much, if not greater than we. I’ve said this many times before, but can you imagine how worthless God’s people would be if we didn’t suffer? We would be like the Pharisees. How could we care for those less fortunate if we haven’t gone through some of the same things? Look at how many hymns and psalms, and ministries were born out of personal grief?
As I was typing this, there was a song that came on my computer from 40 years ago. It’s called, “Who will save the children?” by Randy Stonehill and Phil Keaggy.
The lyrics go like this:
Cry for all the innocent ones Born into a world that’s lost its heart
For those who never learn to dream Because their hope is crushed
Before they can start And we shake our fists at the air
And say, “If God is love How can this be fair?”
But we are His hands We are His voice
We are the ones Who must make the choice
If it isn’t you, then tell me Who will save the childrеn?
Wе count our blessings one by one Yet we have forgotten how to give
It seems that we don’t want to face All the hungry and homeless
Who struggle to live But heaven is watching tonight
Tugging at our hearts to do what’s right
Now we decide that nothing can change And throw up our hands in numb despair
And we lose a piece of our souls By teaching ourselves just how not to care
But Christ would have gone to the cross Just to save one child from being lost
God brings hardships to us to wake us up to his faithfulness, and to give us a testimony of His unfailing love for those who need to hear it, and a chance for us to be His hands and His feet here on earth. Many ask, Why doesn’t God swoop down like Superman and save the day?
God put that responsibility on us. That’s one of the things we’ll be judged for, remember the parable of the sheep and the goats?
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you as a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
And then the unrighteous? This is why we must pray for their salvation, and why God does not want any to perish. The punishment of the unrighteous in God’s eyes is so much more severe than any punishment we have here on earth. And even though we may not fully understand, it is still God’s perfect justice.
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
So when you read or watch the news, and it seems like the bad guys are winning, just remember, God is being patient so that everyone may come to repentance. Maybe, we should pray for those shysters. Maybe, instead of getting angry and wanting to see their comeuppance, we should pray that they would see the light and repent.
One more verse as we close. This comes from Matthew 5:43-48
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Can we be perfect? That’s a whole other sermon. But I’ll give you a hint, the answer is no. But you can see that God gives us the challenge, however, to be like Him, who loves those who are unrighteous. In fact, Jesus even called his own audience evil. Think about that. As we discussed in our Romans series, God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin.
Therefore, let’s pray for those who are unsaved. Maybe it’s not the huge crimes that are in the news; maybe it’s just someone who has wronged you in the past, or even continually. We need to love, forgive, and pray for those who have wronged us, that they too might come to eternal salvation and be redeemed by the blood of Jesus.
Featured Image by WorldSpectrum from Pixabay
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