Senior Bibles to Psalm 37, Psalm number 37. This morning we will be taking a brief break from our normal series on the Gospel of John, and we will be looking at these first 11 verses of Psalm 37. Psalm 37 from verses 1 to 11. Let us hear God's holy and infallible word. A Psalm of David. Fret not thyself because of evildoers, 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 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. For 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. Amen. And may the Lord bless the reading of his holy and his infallible word. Our title for this morning's message as we look at these 11 verses is this, dealing with this wicked world, dealing with this wicked world. We're taking a break this morning largely to do with the very sad and tragic developments in our own nation. very distressing developments in the course of our nation. This past week, we have seen votes that have eroded the sense of the right to life, both at the beginning and at the end of our time in this world. One such law, or one vote that went through, allows a woman, a mother of an unborn child, up to the birth of that child to kill her child without any consequences. We have to ask ourselves in this day and age when it's not very common for people to see a child in the womb as a human being, but we must. Because our nation thinks little of human life. Human life, at times, is treated as of a lesser importance than animal life. In decriminalizing one of the most grievous crimes, a parent killing their own child. It's a dark day. when such things are passed. Now, we know as well that there are mothers and abortionists, the doctors themselves, who have come to Christ and have been forgiven of this sin. All sins can be forgiven in Christ, but it is still a wicked crime. The state has a responsibility before Almighty God. And we also saw later in the week, the House of Commons voted for assisted suicide. The terminally ill can basically be helped to end or kill themselves. Our nation seems to have lost all semblance of the value of human life, and the speed at which it is happening is frightening. I remember three years ago, I was looking at a war memorial in Northern Ireland, and I remember looking at all the names of all the fallen soldiers who passed in World War I and World War II, and I remember seeing the names, the last names, and I recognized the last names, and I knew some of those people with those last names. Perhaps these were grandfathers of these people that I knew. And I remember reading through all the names and thinking through all that would have happened in communities with all these young people, many of them young, gone. And what was so sad about it? Why do we remember such things? Because death is an enemy. It is not a friend. It is always an enemy. And I remember as I read through it, it became quite emotional reading it. War costs many lives. And friends, what our nation has done is going to cost many lives as well. But what should we do in such a moment? Should we fret? Should we just, ah, it's just going that direction, just give up? Maybe we'll just retreat into a monastery somewhere and form a little community with like-minded people and abandon the world. That's tempting. Don't get me wrong, that is tempting. And Christians have done it in the past. However, we cannot abandon the world either. We have a role to play to be salt and light in this world. And this brings us to Psalm 37 and verses 1 to 11, which I hope will be encouraging to you all with the week that has just passed us. We're not the first generation to deal with such evil, and we will not be the last. But I pray that in our focus in dealing with such things, that it will be Christ-focused. that our mourning will be Christ-focused, and that our actions, whatever they may be, will be Christ-focused. Our first point that we're going to look at here this morning, our first point of three, number one, concerns. Number one, concerns. Verse number one, fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. Now, why would we fret? Are there genuine, real things in this world that would cause us to be anxious, cause us to fret, and cause us great anxiety and distress? Spurgeon, when he's commenting on this word, he says, to fret is to worry, to have heartburn, to fume, to become vexed. Now, it's not that we're not to be ever angry or upset, but there's a certain type of fretting that is being spoken about here in this text. It's the type of fretting that says, this is all unfair. I can't believe that the wicked, they seem to be prospering, and things seem to be going so well for the ungodly. What's going on? And so we can be very downcast. and very dismayed and discouraged if we walk by sight rather than by faith. But there are real concerns. We can't just ignore them. We can't just, ah. Have you ever been to somebody who you've been really upset about something and somebody just gives you a pat on the back and just tells you, get over it. It probably doesn't help at the time. Real concerns. real struggles, real doubts, real fears that are there. If we turn to Psalm 73 and verse 3, we sung this earlier, but Psalm 73 and verse 3. For I was envious at the foolish. when I saw the prosperity of the wicked." There's a strange mix, isn't there? We see the prosperity of the wicked, or the seeming prosperity of the wicked, and we both lament, and there's also a strange attraction. We're a little bit envious. We may struggle. You, in taking a stand for Christ in your line of work, you may not get that promotion. And somebody who may not be as good at your job may get it before you. And you may wonder, why not me? But remember, friends, the Lord is in control. The Lord has a purpose in all these things. Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity, because we will be tempted to be envious of them. It will seem to go well. You'll see the film stars and even maybe the Premier League football players, and it looks like they're so happy. And then they've climbed that mountain, And once there's no more mountains to climb, they're like, is this it? Is this all there is? You'll see it, these very successful people. And then they'll say, I've heard people say, I've won all these things, and then I'm depressed. Why? Because this world was never designed to satisfy us. But when we see these people, we think, we can be tempted to be envious of them. But should we be? If we look at the direction that we have in Christ because of Christ, the glory of Christ, versus the direction they have, should we be envious of them? Not at all. Not at all. Psalm 73 and verse 12. Psalm 73 and verse number 12. Behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the world. They increase in riches. And sometimes, if somebody is a bit more wealthy than you, and you're struggling, it can be tempting to envy the wealth of another person. But what you have to realize, friends, if you're in Jesus Christ, you have far greater riches than those people. over whom you may be envious of. You have unsearchable riches, infinite riches in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. But these are real things that happen to real people. Sometimes we will fret, and sometimes we will be envious, inside and out. There'll be moments when we're following a certain course of action, we're following the Bible, we're applying certain truths to our lives for the first time, And then a bump will come along the road. And then we wonder, is this the right thing to do? Have I made a mistake? Am I really doing the right thing? And the devil loves to stir up fears and doubts in our hearts. Well, I'm in the minority. Everybody else is doing something different. But friends, the most important thing is the word of the living God, not what everybody else. is doing, who wants to throw you off mission? Think about it. If you're going in the right direction, by God's grace, it's all of grace, the devil wants to throw you off, doesn't he? The world doesn't enjoy seeing Christians follow the Bible. Why? Because it makes them feel uncomfortable, let's be honest. It's convicting. If you're doing something, you'll see it. You ever see people are doing wicked things? Maybe they're going out and getting drunk and all these kinds of things, and they want you to come with them. And they feel almost very offended when you say, no, I'm not doing that. Oh, really? You think you're better than us? There can be a little bit of that that can happen at times. Satan wants to distract you away from that purity and that joy of Jesus Christ. Now, we're told why we're not to fret in verse number two. And verses one and two very much go together in the Hebrew because throughout this psalm, it's very interesting. It's a bit like an ABCD. It's an acrostic. And in the first verses 1 and 2, we have Aleph. And they're connected with each other. Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. Why? It's not just don't worry about it, get over it. No, because there's a great reason why we have no reason to fret. Verse 2, for they shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither as the green herb. That's why we ought not to fret. Their moment in the sun is but a moment. I want us to think about, as well, what is going on in our nation. As we think about these verses, we can lament. We may think, well, you know, this is just the way it is. But we also have to think of, especially if we get an opportunity to talk to politicians or write to them, which I'd encourage you to do, to remind them of the responsibility before God. They have a divine responsibility before God. Romans chapter 13 and verse 4. Romans chapter 13 and verse number 4. It says this, for he, this is a civil ruler, For he is the minister of God to thee for good, and if thou do that which is evil, be afraid, for he beareth not the sword in vain. For he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. The church has its own separate responsibility, and the state has its own separate responsibility, but both are under God. Both are under God. The politician, the civil ruler, is not there to serve himself. It doesn't matter what we're doing. Whatsoever we eat or drink, let all things be done to the glory of God. Even if you are, at the end of the day, bagging up some rubbish out of a bin, do it all to the glory of God. Everything we do, it's about serving God. In Psalm 82. Psalm 82. Psalm 82, verse 1. Now this portion of scripture can sometimes be misunderstood because it says, verse 1, God standeth in the congregation of the mighty, he judgeth among the gods. What this is really saying is God, who is the mighty one, standeth in the congregation of the mighty. He judges among the gods. The idea is God is the ruler of rulers. He is the mightiest of all ruler. And he will judge all earthly rulers. They are under God. And it says, how long will he judge unjustly and accept the persons of the wicked, defend the poor and fatherless, do justice to the afflicted and the needy, There's examples given here in Psalm 82 of injustices done and very common. Why is the poor and the fatherless and other people mentioned so much? Because they would have the least say in society. You know yourself, if somebody in a rich car comes up, sometimes even to churches, he's going to get treated a little bit different. He shouldn't. Everybody should be treated exactly the same. But it is very tempting for civil rulers to treat people of a certain class differently or better than other people. Defend the poor and the fatherless. Do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy. Rid them out of the hand of the wicked. It's really calling judges, rulers, to their responsibility before God. not to serve themselves. Now it says here in our text, returning to our text verse number two, for they shall soon be cut down like grass. And in this part of the world, we know a lot about grass and it growing and having to cut it down. April every year, it starts growing and it has to be cut down quite quickly or becomes overgrown very quickly. Can you think of anything that is a shorter Life, he could say, than grass that is soon to be cut down. Compared to how strong and powerful God is, they are like grass. There is none that can compare unto God. We have nothing to fret. We have nothing to be envious of the workers of iniquity about, because why? We have the Lord. We have the Lord. Their efforts are weak. Their efforts will fail. Yes, we lament this past week, but their efforts ultimately will surely fail. Now, that's not an encouragement. Well, you know, they're not going to succeed anyway, so we just do nothing. No, but to encourage us to do good. It says in verse 3, trust in the Lord and do good. So shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed." Trust in the Lord and do good. Spurgeon said this, patience then, believer. Eternity will right the wrongs of time. In the midst of these things, in the midst of, we may see precious little evidence of it in society around us, but be patient. In eternity, all these things will be set right. Do not expect everything to be set right in this world. Everything will be set right in the world to come. None will escape justice. None. This brings us to our second point, contentment. So number one, we looked at concerns. Number two, we're going to look at contentment. How do we face this? It's always very important in a Christian walk, we're not all about what we're against or we're not all about what we don't like. There can be groups like that and they all unify how they don't like a certain personality or a certain doctrine. What do we believe positively? Verse three, trust in the Lord and do good so that thou shalt dwell in the land and verily thou shalt be fed. Verse four, delight thyself in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. We all have concerns. We all have worries. We all have things that upset us. We all have things that cause us to struggle. We all have doubts and despairs, but we have to have our confidence somewhere. we have to have our place of contentment somewhere. You see, you're not going to find contentment, friends, in this world. It's never gonna happen. You may as well go down to the beach, go find the coast, and start drinking all the seawater and thinking it will satisfy your thirst. It will not. It will not satisfy. And when we speak of being content, We speak of being content and happy, dare I say, in God's ways. Satisfied in God's ways. God's ways are best. We delight ourselves in the Lord. We delight ourselves in his moral character. We delight ourselves in his acts. We delight ourselves in his providences, what he does. We say to ourselves in our hearts, God decides right and wrong. Not me. My opinion doesn't matter, especially if it contradicts the Word of God. And there will be times in your walk, dear friends, when you'll come to the Word of God, and you may not completely understand, and your heart may not be completely aligned with what is said in Scripture. But what needs to change is you, not God's Word. Oh, Lord, help. My unbelief. We realize we're not the finished article. And the more we are thinking like God's ways, the more we're changed by God, the more content we will be, and the more we will delight ourselves in the Lord. and the more we will be encouraged to continue. Trust in the Lord and do good. Some of these things may seem obvious. Of course you do good, what are you gonna do, do evil? But it's, to keep going isn't always easy. How many of us, at the beginning of a year, New Year's resolutions come along, you start something, new gym membership, and within a week, it's become two weeks, three weeks, You've forgotten all about it. It's easy to start something new. The difficulty is often continuing. Now, how do we continue in the Christian walk? Only in Christ, only by the grace of God. And especially what will happen is, you'll see this at times, people will come along to church thinking this will fix all their problems in the here and now, and it doesn't. Because the Bible never promised to fix all your problems in the here and now. It doesn't promise to give you a happy life from here until you pass. In fact, it actually promises you to pick up your cross and follow after him. But it does promise a peace that passes all understanding. It does promise there'll be storms. There'll be wind, there'll be rain that will crash against your life. Things will happen unexpectedly. The wicked will seem to prosper as we even see in our own day. And you wonder, what's the point of all this? We wouldn't say it out loud, but sometimes we say in our hearts, don't we? We're all like that. Oh, it's unfair. I've been treated wrongly. Perhaps, and this can be very hard, you know, you've, I've had this in the past, a friendship that you've had for many, many years, but that person is dragging you away from the Word of God. The thing is, you're so content and happy and satisfied in the Word of God, you cannot leave the Word of God behind. And the more satisfied you are in something, the more you will not have an appetite for other things. You must be satisfied in God. You must have a contentment in God, or these things are impossible. You cannot do it in your own strength. You cannot. See, Christianity sometimes can be presented like this, you know, through doing all the things we can't stand. We know it's the right thing to do, but we're going to do it anyway. And sometimes we can pass on that impression to the next generation. Now we're to delight ourselves in these things. Now we don't do it perfectly, of course, but we ought to delight ourselves in the Lord. So then when we do go through difficult things, when we do seeing these things, that we have the encouragement we need to keep going, to trust in the Lord and do good. And we must do it prayerfully. John 15 and verse 5. John 15 and verse number 5. None of these things are possible without the Lord. It says, I am the vine and ye are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me ye can do nothing. Without me ye can do nothing. You may have a temporary happiness for a short period of time going in your own way, going in your own strength, it will end quickly. You can't do it in your own strength, so what we must do is independence upon the Lord, which is our lives soaked in prayer, our decisions soaked in prayer. All that we do, asking for the Lord's assistance because we realize without God, we can do nothing. Trust in the Lord and do good. And that food is of the Lord, verse 3. Now, what happens If you're not a content person, if you're not content in the Lord, you will be a covetous person. A covetous person. An idolater. In 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 9. 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and verses 9 to 11. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abuse themselves of mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous. Now, for the believer in Jesus Christ, it says, verse 11, and such were some of you, but you're washed. You're no longer those things. You've turned from those things. And of course, some of these things will creep back into our lives and other things, but we're no longer those things. The 10th commandment, thou shall not covet. The positive side of that is contentment. If we're content, we won't covet. Covetousness is very, very dangerous. It's just one place that's very dangerous is within the marriage. If we turn to Exodus 20 and verse 17, Exodus 20 and verse number 17, it says this, thou shall not covet thy neighbor's house. Thou shall not covet thy neighbor's wife. nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's. And why would you covet? Because the grass always looks greener in other places, doesn't it? Covetousness within the marriage will wreck the marriage. Friends, if you're so blessed to be married here, delight yourself in your spouse, your husband or your wife. Thank God for that person. Keep your eyes upon that person. Think about that person, that person whom you love. Because when we think that the grass is greener somewhere else, we're never settled, we're never satisfied. The sin of coveting, it destroys. But in the place of coveting, we must find satisfaction. Delight thyself in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Much better than the things we lust after, much better than the things we'll covet after, God gives us better things. God gives us wonderful things, things that we actually need, things that will actually help us. When you're a child, You'll want, mommy, daddy, can I have all the Smarties in that box? And you'll say, no, because if you eat all those, you're going to feel very sick, aren't you? A parent is going to know better than the child what is good for that child. But as we think about our Father in heaven, sometimes the answer to prayer in certain situations will be a no or a not yet, but always remember that the answer that the Lord gives us, if we're children of God, is the best possible answer for us and for our sanctification and for our growth and for the glory of Almighty God. In Luke 11 and verse 11, Luke chapter 11 and verse 11, Down to verse number 13. If a son ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? I'm sure the boys and girls know here that if you ask your mommy and daddy for a piece of bread, they're not going to, hey, here's a stone. Because your father and your mother love you. How much more, as it says in verse 13, if ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask? Delight thyself in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thy heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord, and trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass. Why? Why will he give you desires? Because your desires will be different. Your desires will be better, holy, sanctified, wonderful. You see, it is not God that needs to change. It's us. That God would be our delight, that God would be our rest. Verse seven, rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him and fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way. If you have rest in the Lord, It doesn't matter what's happening around you. If you are in the most fortified, strongest high tower and refuge, but you hear of a very, very bad storm coming along, but you know that that refuge, that high tower, is strong enough to deal with something far greater than that storm coming your way, will you be worried? You'll probably be able to sleep. because you know that the walls of that protection are able to deal with what is coming. God's way brings rest, refreshment, peace. Verse 11 says, but the meek shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. It doesn't mean that you won't be surrounded by evildoers and things that will cause you to grieve. You will. But there'll be a peace in your heart that none can take from you. In Psalm 12, we see some of this lamenting. Psalm 12, verse 1. Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth, for the faithful fail among the children of men. They speak vanity every one with his neighbor. With flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak. There are difficult days, but we need contentment in the Lord to face them. Brings us to our third and final point, condemned. Number one, concerns, number two, contentment, number three, condemned. Again, as we said earlier, things only seem, they only seem to be going well for the wicked, but friends, If we walk by faith and not by sight, we will see the end for which they go. Actually, even by sight, there's many examples of the people who follow their lost and do whatever you want attitude. We will see many tragic examples of such a lifestyle. Do what you want, live as you please, follow your heart, and you will see many tragic examples. because that way leads onto death. That way leads onto, we even see it, addiction, sorrow. But we also have to remember, as we look at this third and final point, for the believer in Jesus Christ, but for the grace of God, there go we. That's us, that's our nature. The wicked is us by nature, but we have been declared righteous in Christ, by faith alone, through Christ alone, to the glory of God alone. Friends, I know from my own experience, but for the grace of God, these things that lament my heart this day, over this past week, are things I once supported. I didn't think anything of abortion 20 years ago or over. I was very selfish. I didn't care as long as it didn't affect me. I still remember to this day, I think it was about 25 years ago, a classmate of mine came to me and said to me that he was going to change his gender. And I was very supportive of it. But for the grace of God, I would still be on that road to hell. Thankfully, that person never did it. But why was I so supportive? Because I didn't love God. I didn't love His ways. I didn't care. But God, in His mercy, when it pleased the Lord, He set me free, no longer condemned with the wicked. See, we come when we see passages about the wicked and say, we don't think, yeah, let them have it, let them get what they deserve. We all deserve this. Verse nine, for evildoers shall be cut off, but those that wait upon the Lord shall have, shall inherit the earth. It's not because those who wait upon the Lord are better people or have anything to boast of in themselves. The only difference is the grace of Almighty God. The grace of Almighty God, verse 10, for yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be. Yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. The wicked are not blessed. The wicked are condemned. They're condemned. In Adam, all die. Now, we think, well, how are the wicked bad? Why? What makes the difference? Well, the wicked have broken the law of God and continue to fight against God's rule and reign. And that's what we saw in Westminster a few days ago, open, overt rejection of the law of God. I'm not saying it's the first time that this has happened in our nation. It is not. But we ought to pray and plead with our representatives in government that they would turn from their sins. We hope, essentially, that they will go from being no longer condemned to being in Christ where there's no condemnation. Currently, they are enemies of Christ, but we wish it not to be so forever. We want them to be reconciled with God. See, it's not just our representatives in government who have a bad record by nature. I have a bad record by nature. You have a bad record by nature. We all do, in thought, in word, and in deed. How are any of us blessed? Only in Christ Jesus. Psalm 1 and verse 1. Psalm 1 and verse 1 describes the blessed man. Blessed is the man that walketh not on the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. Who is that man, that perfect man? who has kept that law perfectly, who walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." Or it could also be translated, the wicked. Christ and Christ alone. And how can you be blessed in him? It's only in Christ, by faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone. And then verse 11 becomes your verse. But the meek shall inherit the earth. And what does it mean to be meek? Meek does not mean weak and cowardly. The idea of meek is meek and submissive toward the will of Almighty God. that we would not fight and be hostile to the will of God, that would be meek, submissive, not my will, O God, but thine be done. But the meek shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." It says here, they shall inherit the earth. That word can also be translated the land. In Hebrew, it's the word haretz. There's an Israeli newspaper called that as well. And depending on the context, it can be land or earth. In Matthew chapter 5 and verse 5, Matthew chapter 5 and verse 5, it speaks of the meek. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. And in, there's a Hebrew translation that exists, they shall inherit the haretz, they shall inherit the land or earth. And when you go through the scriptures, it depends on the context. In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth, the haretz, the whole earth. You see, when they were in the Old Testament given that land, It was not just a land for the land's sake. It was special because God was there in a special way, but it was also the point beyond the land. It was the point to heaven. It was the point to a place of purity, holiness. When they crossed over the Jordan River and went into the land of Canaan, Remember they were to, in Joshua, the book of Joshua, they were to drive out all the enemies. Why? Because it was to be a land submissive unto the law of God. It was to be a place that they were given to obeying God. It was a picture of heaven to come, which is what the gospel does. It changes us. to subdue our enemies, and we begin with our own hearts. Our weapons are not carnal, but mighty, pulling down of strongholds raised against the knowledge of the truth. Friends, in many ways, yes, we should be very grieved at what is happening in our nation. but also be looking forward to our inheritance, the whole earth. The whole earth. There's a wonderful blessing, and it's the new heavens and the new earth where righteousness will dwell. Wonderful, glorious, and true. As we conclude here this morning, friends, do you have Christ? I caution you, you can be against abortion, You can be against killing of the elderly. You can be against the trans movement and all the horrible things that have been done in Westminster in our day and still not know Christ. Do you know that? It is possible to be on the right side, we could say, of history on certain cultural issues, but yet not know Jesus Christ and yet not delight in the ways of God. It won't help you in the day of judgment. Our greatest deeds are but filthy rags. We are sinners just as much as anyone else. Friends, you need Christ. You need to be forgiven. You need to bow the knee to Christ and to take him as your Savior. Oh, that the Lord would give you eyes to see and ears to hear, that you would see that he's altogether lovely, that you would hear the voice of the shepherd and come running, running away from the wrath to come, and running toward the good food, the eternal food that Christ has for all who will come to him. As it says in our text, but the meek shall inherit the earth, Friends, is that you? Come, call upon the name of the Lord while he may be found. Seek the Lord while he is near. Amen.