Psalm 37, as we continue our Summer in Psalms series. Obey God, be blessed. Disobey God, be cursed. Now that is very simplistic, but this is what we tend to think and teach others about God, His response to our lives and His economy in the world, isn't it? Obey God, be blessed. Disobey God, be cursed. While it is true ultimately. In other words, when all things come to conclusion, it is true, obey God, be blessed, disobey God, be cursed. It is true, ultimately, we as people narrow our view and wonder why it's not true now. Now we've all been in the situation, I would imagine, where we've heard preaching and teaching and maybe even the preacher slammed his Bible or hit a pulpit or stomped his foot or something and spoke about, you obey God or you're gonna be blessed. And if you disobey God, you're going to be cursed. And if we are if we are perhaps somewhat ignorant of God and His workings, or maybe we're a young person who's hearing that, or perhaps we're a skeptic of the truth of God, we think, well, wait a minute. I know some good people who have experienced some great difficulty. And I know some bad people who have experienced some really good things. Where's the truth of God in that? Obey God, be blessed. Disobey God, be cursed. We might tend to believe that God will always protect and provide for us in the ways that we expect. We would say that we do not believe the prosperity gospel. which simply would state perhaps that God promises to bless believers with health and wealth if they have enough faith. But do we actually tend to believe that or at least crave it? One author who is a church historian of sorts looks at church history and deals even with current church trends and the beliefs and the philosophies of churches, discovered that she was diagnosed with terminal cancer at the age of 35. And she had actually written a book chronicling the rise of the prosperity gospel in American culture. She spent years researching this phenomenon and disagreed with it deeply. But when she was diagnosed with terminal cancer because of her failing health, it made her realize that no matter how many times she rolled her eyes at the creed's outrageous certainties, she said, I craved them just the same. This idea of narrowing our view Obey God, be blessed, disobey God, be cursed. When we narrow our view to here and now, what I am experiencing here and now, what I see bad people, wicked people experiencing here and now, and I don't see this obey God, be blessed, disobey God, be cursed, We're craving for something perhaps that we even would say we don't believe. And that's how it is with us many times. If this is true, this simple obey God, be blessed, disobey God, be cursed, why do I experience trouble and at the same time those who are wicked seem to prosper? And this is the question David addresses in Psalm 37. We're going to read the entire psalm. It's 40 verses. It's one of the longer psalms. But as we read the psalm, I want you to pay attention to the reality of the perceived prosperity of the wicked and also how David leads us to respond biblically. to this reality. Psalm 37 beginning in verse 1, he says, fret not thyself because of evil doers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity for they shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither as the green herb. Trust in the Lord and do good So shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him. Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger and forsake wrath. Fret not thyself in any wise to do evil, for evildoers shall be cut off. But those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth for yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be. Yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The Lord shall laugh at him, for he seeth that his day is coming. The wicked have drawn out the sword and have bent their bow to cast down the poor and needy and to slaves such as be of upright conversation. Their sword shall enter into their own heart and their bows shall be broken. A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholdeth the righteous. The Lord knoweth the days of the upright, and their inheritance shall be forever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time, and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied. But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs. They shall consume, and to smoke shall they consume away. The wicked borroweth and payeth not again, but the righteous showeth mercy and giveth. For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth, and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand. I have been young, and now I'm old, Yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread. He, speaking of God, is ever merciful. and lendeth, and his seed is blessed. Depart from evil and do good, and dwell forevermore. For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints. They are preserved forever, but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein forever. The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment. The law of his God is in his heart. None of his steps shall slide. The wicked watcheth the righteous and seeketh to slay him. The Lord will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged. Wait on the Lord and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land. When the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it. I have seen the wicked in great power and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and lo, he was not. Yea, I sought him, but he could not be found. Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace. But the transgressors shall be destroyed together. The end of the wicked shall be cut off. But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord. He is their strength in the time of trouble, and the Lord shall help them and deliver them. He shall deliver them from the wicked and save them because they trust. In him. Now as we look to the word of God here in Psalm 40, I want to give you three biblical responses to the biblical reality of the perceived prosperity of the wicked. Now let me ask you a question. I asked you to really pay attention as we went through that Psalm to the prosperity of the wicked, the reality of it, but then the biblical responses. Does Psalm 37 put forward the reality that wicked people sometimes prosper, or did it deny that? It put it forward, didn't it? You read through that psalm and in several places it speaks of the wicked prospering, not just as a perception that we might have, but it actually is clear that there are times the wicked are in power. There are times the wicked have everything. There are times that the wicked seem to be going on in life without trouble and without problems. The Bible does not deny that. In fact, on the other hand, the Bible actually states that there are times when this is so. And this is where our conundrum comes in. Obey God, be blessed. Disobey God, be cursed. Why isn't that so in the here and now? We've talked a lot about the chaos and the craziness of the world around us. Would you agree with me that as we look on our society today, that it certainly seems as if wickedness is prospering, that those who are doing evil are in authority, that those who are doing evil seem to be succeeding, that those who are doing evil seem to have the power and the sway, that those who are doing evil seem to be successful, As believers in Jesus Christ, how do we respond? Especially when our thought tends to be, obey God, be blessed, disobey God, be cursed. How do we respond in the here and now to this difficulty? Three biblical responses through Psalm 37. Number one is this. Check your anger. Check your anger. The Bible uses an English word that's only used seven times in the Old Testament. It's the word fret. It's used in verse one, again in verse seven, and yet again in verse eight. It's only used seven times in the Old Testament. And when we see this word fret, we might think that the Bible is giving us a command against worry. Have you ever used this word fret? Is that kind of a southern word? Oh, don't fret about it. What do we mean by that? Don't worry about it. Don't be anxious about that. Not a big deal. That's not really the connotation of the word here, though, in Psalm. I've got to tell you, as I've read Psalm 37, I've often thought, Fred, don't worry about it. Don't be overly anxious about what you see in the lives of the wicked and their apparent prosperity. But that's not what the Bible is saying here. In its simplest form, it means do not get excited. but it literally has the connotation of becoming heated or burning with anger. Yes, we should not be anxious over evildoers, that is true, but what God instructs us here is that we should not burn in anger over evildoers. Have you ever paid attention to the primary response of people watching news programs? I've got to just be transparent with you. I've never seen someone who has watched a news program for any length of time come away rejoicing. I just haven't. I've never seen someone sitting down, it doesn't matter what news program they're watching, it doesn't matter if it's Fox News or CNN. It doesn't matter which one it is. I've never seen people sit down and watch an hour-long news program, shut the TV off, and go, well, praise the Lord all that's going on. I've never seen that. What I've seen often with people watching news programs are discussing the current state of events, the current state of affairs, In a community, in a city, in a country, you know what I've seen? Anger. Upset. Upset at that politician. Upset at that party. Upset at that law. Upset at that order. That is what I tend to see. How about you? Is that not true? Anger. we as people, believers or not, tend to get riled up about things. What does God instruct here in Psalm 37, especially in view of looking out at our lives and the lives of those around us, looking out at the events and the circumstances that are going on around us, and seeing the current state of affairs, the success and the prosperity of the wicked? What does God say? Hey, watch your anger. Be careful about your anger. Righteous indignation is certainly permitted in the scripture, and there ought to be an extent to which there ought to be a certain response in our hearts when we see wickedness and hear of evil. That is a response of righteous indignation. But anger that is undirected or misdirected is dangerous. Throughout these early verses of Psalms, as David encourages, exhorts us not to fret, he does not focus on this idea of righteous indignation against sin. No, David focuses on the anger that arises within us that's not directed or it's just misdirected in general. It's not against a particular wickedness or whatever it may be. but it's just anger that wows up within us that we do not deal with, and David focuses on that and its bitter fruit. It's interesting, is it not, that in verses one and seven, David says, fret not against evil doers. Hey, by the way, that speaks of both the doer of the evil and the evil that they do. You catch that? Fret not against evil doers, but in verse 8 he changes. Look at verse 8. End of the verse. Fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. Interesting. No longer is David telling me, hey, don't let anger boil up within you and remain against evil doers, the evil that they do and the doers of the evil. Now, he says, don't allow that anger to boil up and stay undoubt with lest you go into evil, into sin. If you read all of verse number eight, by the way, what does he say? Cease from anger. Forsake wrath. Fret not yourself in any wise to do evil. Friends, the Bible is clear. Anger neither exercises God's righteousness nor deals with the evil that the anger was produced by. James chapter 1 in verse number 20, for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Look, transparently there are things that I see in our society going on around us, the prosperity of the wicked, the anger that angers me. But the Bible is clear, that anger that boils up within us that we allow to remain doesn't lead to anything productive. The wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Romans chapter 12, verse 21, be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with what? Amazing, not anger. Your anger will not produce good. That's viable. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. So when you are facing the reality of the wicked and wickedness prospering, do not allow anger to be the final word in your response. Check your anger. Deal with it. Number two. Not only does David encourage us, check your anger. Secondly, he says, concentrate your activities. Instead of anger, we should respond to our perception through trusting the Lord. And this should come through in our activities. In other words, redirect that energy. Redirect that response. Don't allow the anger to boil up within you and remain. Redirect that response. Concentrating your activities where God tells us to. Well, where is that? Four positives here in Psalm 37 in verses three through seven. First, trust the Lord. I want you to understand this this evening. A fretful heart is not a trusting heart. Anger that arises within you that remains is inward. It focuses inward on self. It doesn't look to God. A heart that becomes and remains fretful is not a trusting heart. The Bible, in fact, declares that a heart of belief is a heart that experiences, produces joy and peace. Romans chapter 15, verse 13. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that ye may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost. If you become and remain fretful, you're not going to experience joy. You're not going to experience peace because a fretful heart is not a trusting heart. Trust God, even as you look around you and wickedness is prospering. Hey, God said it would, at least for a time. In your narrow view of the here and now, wickedness may be prospering, and the righteous might be struggling. Trust God. David said in those words, verse number three, so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Understand David is speaking within the context of the psalm applied directly to Israel. God's covenant to them as recorded in both Leviticus and Deuteronomy about being in the land that he had promised them and how God would bless and curse based on their response to him. David here was speaking of identifying their tendency to abandon the land when difficulties arose. Do you remember Abraham? who was called by God to go to that land. And when a difficulty arose, he went to Egypt. Isaac did the same thing. Elimelech and his family in the book of Ruth did the same thing. It was their tendency to abandon the land that God gave them when difficulties arose. David is saying, no, there are going to be difficulties. Don't flee the land. Stay put. Claiming God's promises to care for us in the land that he's placed us in. As believers in Jesus Christ, the promises, the covenants that God made with Israel do not apply directly to us, but there are applications that do. As believers in Jesus Christ, we can enjoy the light of his presence. And it doesn't matter the wickedness that is going on around us. As believers in Jesus Christ, no matter how dark the wickedness may be, we can still enjoy the light of his presence. we can still depend upon his faithfulness. God is going to be faithful, isn't he? Do you believe that? Do you trust that? Do you think that God is going to be unfaithful? As you look at the wickedness around us, the evil that is prospering, do you believe that God has suddenly become unfaithful? No, we can depend upon his faithfulness and we can find security in his will. Pastor, what do you mean by that? God will not allow anything to touch us outside of what he wills for us. When you are in the center of his will, you are in the best place that you can possibly be. And it doesn't matter the wickedness that you may see around you. You can find security in his will. to trust in the Lord. Secondly, delight in the Lord. I love this. This verse is so familiar to us. Delight thyself also in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. I think that you probably even have a good understanding of the right meaning of it. Bible's not telling us here that God's going to give you whatever you want, necessarily. When you delight in God, he'll give you the desires of your heart. When you're delighting in the Lord, his desires will be your desires, and so God will give you the desires of your heart. But what does it mean to delight in the Lord? To delight in the Lord is to enjoy what we have in God himself, apart from what he gives to us. Do you delight in God for who God is, or do you delight in the Lord simply for what he gives you? Pastor, what do you mean by that? I'm asking you, are you a fair-weather Christian, willing to be close to the Lord when his blessings are bountiful but distant from him in the trials? Is it truly our Christian rights, duties, and privileges that we are concerned about or only Christian comfort? You know, I think that here in America, we've learned how to be very comfortable Christians. But God's not called us to be comfortable. You can delight in the Lord and you should delight in the Lord. I can delight in the Lord and I should delight in the Lord, whether I'm enjoying comfort or not. Whether I'm experiencing God giving to me and pouring out on me, or I may not be, but I can still delight in God simply for who he is. When we delight in the Lord himself, not just what he gives us, we're in the right place to respond biblically to the reality of the wicked prospering. Because our Christianity isn't about what he gives us. It's simply a relationship with him because of who he is. Thirdly, not only trust in the Lord and delight in the Lord, but commit your way to the Lord. He says in verse five, commit thy way into the Lord. Trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass. Literally, this has the idea of rolling the burden off your shoulder onto his. Aren't you glad for that invitation in 1 Peter chapter five, casting all your care, upon him for he careth for you." God doesn't intend for us to carry the burden because it is a burden to look around and see wickedness prospering and righteousness and the righteous seemingly falling and failing. God didn't mean for us to carry that burden around. He's encouraged us to commit it to him, our way unto him, our life unto him, our direction unto him, and he will bring it to pass. He will bring his word to pass. He invites us to take what weighs us down and give it to him. And again, this invitation is not available to make us comfortable or careless, but better able to serve him. in the midst of it. And then fourthly, notice he says, rest in the Lord. Literally, this means to be still, to be silent. It describes willing, calm surrender to the Lord. In our day and age, we are so accustomed to busyness and noise, aren't we? If everything's quiet, we think something's wrong. I don't know about you, but that's the way we are at our house. When the kids are making noise, that's normal. When everything's quiet, something is dreadfully wrong. It's amazing how there can be lots of noise and we pay no attention to it, but when it's quiet, we go looking for the problem. In the midst of being accustomed to busyness and noise, we have nearly lost what it means to truly rest in the Lord. To be still, to be quiet in his presence, waiting patiently for the Lord, finding the calm reassurance that comes when we do. When we look around and see wickedness prospering, we are so ready to boil over with anger. And the Bible tells us to check our anger and redirect those, that energy into the activities of trusting in the Lord, delighting in the Lord, committing our way to the Lord and resting in the Lord. And then I want you to see thirdly, I believe David tells us to correct our attitude. This psalm recognizes the reality of the wicked prospering. But do you know what else it does all throughout? It reminds us of the truth that the righteous will be blessed and the wicked will be cursed. Now again, the problem is we tend to narrow our view to the here and now. Is that what God does? No. The majority of this passage is taken up with the recognition that what is present is not what will always be. Friends, God is not limited to what is now. God does not take the short view. God takes the long view. We need to adjust our attitude, our focus to match His. The reality is we cannot simply stop being angry with the wicked and their prosperity. It's not simply about switching off our anger. We need a change of focus. One writer said it this way, an obsession with enemies and rivals cannot be simply switched off, but it can be ousted by a new focus of attention. How do I deal with that anger that comes when I look and see the wicked prospering? Zoom out. Stop living with a narrow focus of the here and now. Oh, obey God, be blessed. Disobey God, be cursed. Why isn't that what I'm seeing here and now? Because you're not looking as God does. You're not looking where God does. God's not looking just at 6.50 p.m. on August 2nd, 2020. God's looking at eternity. And in an eternal perspective, in an eternal view, the righteous will be blessed. The wicked will be cursed. Let me challenge you to replace your negative outlook with a positive uplook. Can I encourage you with that tonight? Don't just have a negative outlook. In fact, get rid of that negative outlook and instead have a positive uplook. Stop looking just at the here and now and the prosperity of the wicked. Take the long view, recognizing that God is not limited to today, but he is working through the perspective of eternity. The passage itself views this dichotomy of attitudes that are present in those that are eternal. Verse number 18, and in particular, the Lord knoweth the days of the upright. And their inheritance shall be what? Forever. It's not about the here and now. It's about eternity. It's about eternity. Take the long view. Don't continue on in a negative outlook. Instead, replace it with a positive uplook. Look with God's perspective. Correct your attitude. As a believer in Jesus Christ, it would be the wrong practice to deny that wickedness is present and in some cases prospering. Wickedness and those who do wickedness do prosper. However, we also declare that God is in the business of taking the long view and that the wicked will face his judgment while the righteous will be blessed. That's the reality of scripture. Let me challenge you as you're looking at the world around you, check your anger. deal with anger that perhaps is there and remains and is undoubt with, it's not going to lead to anything productive or good. Concentrate your activities on trusting the Lord, delighting in the Lord, committing your way to the Lord, and resting in the Lord, and then correct your attitude. Take the long view, the positive up look, rather than the negative outlook. Will you respond biblically to the reality that the Bible presents in Psalm 37? Would you bow your heads and close your eyes with me this evening? No one looking around. And for just a moment, I'll ask you to reflect on the truth of scripture that's been proclaimed. We do a disservice when we are not honest with reality. It's not enough to say, obey God, be blessed, disobey God, be cursed. Why then in the here and now do I see wickedness prospering in the righteous struggling? That may be what we see in the here and now. Maybe that's the way you feel at times. And you question God. Don't live with that narrow view. Check your anger. Concentrate your activities where God tells us to. Correct your attitude. Take the long view, the upward view. Not just the outward view. Maybe you needed the message tonight, the reminder perhaps for you or the truth. of the reality but our biblical response. If so, would you just cry out to the Lord there in your own heart, God, thank you for the truth that I've heard. Help me to check my anger to be cautious not to allow anger to continue in my life, undirected, misdirected, but to deal with it biblically, to concentrate my activities, my energy on trusting in you, delighting in you, committing my way to you, resting in you, and correcting my attitude. Not just living with a focus on the here and now, but with eternity in view and how that should change my perspective and my practice. Cry out to the Lord if he's working in your heart. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for your truth, for the recognitions that we've gleaned from the word of God this evening. I pray that we would have a biblical response to this, what can seem to us as a contradiction, There is no contradiction because your word is clear. Evildoers sometimes prosper, but it won't last. The righteous sometimes struggle, but it's not finally. Though they be cast down, they shall not be utterly cast down. It's not final. Lord, we know what eternity has in store. I pray you'd help us to live with that view in recognition. And we'll be sure to give you the praise and honor for it in Jesus' precious name. Amen.