Psalm 37:12 - The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them;

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1 Text: Psalm 37:1-9 Title: Do Not Fret SERMON BUMPER Let s open our Bibles today to Psalm 37. In case you haven t noticed it there s a lot of anger in the air across our nation, particularly over the issue of immigrants trying to come across our border to the south. On one side people are angry immigrants are coming across the border illegally and laws are being ignored. On the other hand you have people who are angry at how immigrants and their children, legal or illegal, are treated. And as Americans we don t seem to know how to discuss issues like this without being hateful. In fact, someone has called this time in our nation s history the age of rage. Cable news and other media outlets seem to thrive on inciting rage. Politicians create it and then capitalize on it. Social media spews hatred like poisonous gas. There s a loss of civility in our land as our rhetoric gets angrier and uglier. Unfortunately, many religious, church-going people are just as filled with rage as people who claim to have no faith at all. We have to remember that as followers of Jesus we are first citizens of the Kingdom of God and Christ s ambassadors in our culture in this age of rage. And Psalm 37 shows us how we are to behave as the people of God in an age of rage. Read Psalm 37:1-9. This psalm actually reads more like a chapter from the Proverbs. In fact, it may have been composed by David for his son Solomon to prepare him to become the next king of Israel. If so, David gives his son and us wise counsel as to how we deal with injustices without being overcome by rage. Beginning with v.1 three times in the verses we just read David says, Do not fret That s not a word that is commonly used today, but it means to burn or to be greatly irritated to a point of rage. What has ignited this burning? David looks around and he sees evil people taking advantage of others and getting away with it. Psalm 37:12 - The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them; I get the picture of a snarling dog baring its teeth. Psalm 37:14 - The wicked draw the sword and bend the bow to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright.

2 They get away with murder and with cheating others. Psalm 37:21 - The wicked borrow and do not repay Psalm 37:32 - The wicked lie in wait for the righteous, seeking their very lives; This may hit close to home for you and you ve been a victim of injustice a less qualified person was promoted ahead of you, you were wrongly accused of something or someone cheated you in a business deal. How do we keep from being overwhelmed with bitter hatred toward those who commit injustices? In the first nine verses of the psalm David gives us an action plan to help us from being overwhelmed by rage to fret not. 1. CONTROL YOUR EMOTIONS. As I said earlier to fret means to burn with ugly emotions. And the construction of this word shows that it is something we do to ourselves and that we can control. One of those feelings is envy. It says in v.1 to not be envious of those who do wrong. To envy is to resent others who have something we don t have. The last thing we should want is what evil people gain from being evil. Control your emotions. Psalm 37:7 - Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret Literally be silent. It means to rest. No tweets. Don t yell at the TV. Wait patiently for God to take care of it. Control your emotions. Psalm 37:8 - Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret it leads only to evil. ILLUSTRATION Last week we had all three of our grandkids with us and one day we took them to Six Flags. It was 103 degrees with a heat index like the surface of the sun! That s when you thank God for the indoor shows where you can get in the air conditioning and cool off. That s David s counsel here. Literally, relax your anger. Chill! Turn away from wrath, which is rage. Reserve your anger for what truly deserves your anger. Sin and injustice should cause us to have a righteous anger that propels us to try to help. But we need to remember Ephesians 4:26 - In your anger do not sin : Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,

3 There s a way to be angry about sin without being angry in sin. Control your emotions. Next 2. TRUST IN THE LORD. Psalm 37:3 - Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. The word trust here describes someone who is completely secure. It s when we come to the end of ourselves that we can trust God and let Him do what only He can do. Get on your face before God in prayer. We can t change the hearts of others, but God can. Then David puts it a little differently in v.5. Psalm 37:5 - Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: Commit is another word for trust. It means to roll. Just roll that care, that burden, over on to the Lord. It s so much easier that way. ILLUSTRATION When I was a college student I worked for a moving company. One day my partner and I were trying to get a piano out of a house and into the moving truck. He had hold of one side and I had hold of the other, but we were making little progress. The driver (our boss) saw us struggling and he walked over and said, Here, try this. He handed us what s called a piano dolly a low platform with wheels on it. It s better to be smart than strong and my buddy and I were neither. We simply lifted the piano onto the dolly and rolled it right on to the truck. Roll those burdens over on to the Lord. 1 Peter 5:7 - Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. God is perfecting us for glory, not protecting us from inconveniences or even injustices. We have to learn to trust God. In His time and in His way God is perfectly capable of dealing with evil. And here s the next way to keep from fretting. 3. MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS. Psalm 37:3 - Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

4 There are some things that only God can do, so trust Him. But then there are things that God wants us to do. He wants us to do good. Trust God, then mind your own business take care of the things you have control over. Love God and love others. Do good. I thought about Micah 6:8 - He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. When there are injustices you can do something about, do good. ILLUSTRATION I ve recently become acquainted with a lady who has given her life to helping victims of abuse. She s become an advocate for women who have experienced that the trauma of abuse. That s the good that God has given her to do. She can t stop it all, but she can do her part. When you feel the urge to go off in a fit of rage, find the good that you can do. Show mercy to those who are suffering. Keep yourself humble. 1 Peter 4:19 - Those who suffer according to God s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good. David says in Psalm 37:3, dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Don t run from your problems. Settle down where you are. Stay in your lane. Feed on the faithfulness of God. Do not fret. And that leads to the next way to keep from fretting: 4. DELIGHT IN THE LORD. Psalm 37:4 - Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Allow yourself to be satisfied in the presence of the Lord. Focus on Him, not on the evil and injustices around you. When you delight in the Lord you delight in His will and you will want what God wants. So if all your life all you want is what God wants then all of your life you ll have all you want. ILLUSTRATION I recently read something written by Kay Warren, the wife of Pastor Rick Warren. Kay and Rick s son committed suicide a few years ago. You can imagine how devastated they were. She said that people ask her how she survived her son s suicide she tells them, I ve sent my spiritual roots deep into the

5 character of God for more than 50 years. Circumstances tried to brutally rip out the tree of my faith, but the roots held. That s what it means to delight in the Lord. Sink your roots deep into the character of God. And then 5. TRUST GOD WITH YOUR REPUTATION. Psalm 37:5-6 - Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. You know, it s a humbling thing when God shows us that often times when we re mad about something it s because we re concerned about what people think about us. We want to succeed; we want to be on the winning side. We want to be right. But it s such a freeing thing to let God take care of defending your reputation. Trust God and one day you will be vindicated. Maybe you were unjustly fired from your job or someone smeared your name in a lawsuit or you didn t get credit for something you deserved. David says, Roll that burden over on to God. Stay on your face before God. One day you ll look up and find that God has vindicated your righteousness. I think about Jesus: 1 Peter 2:23 - When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. God is a righteous judge and He will ultimately take care of your cause. And to go along with that 6. TRUST GOD TO PUNISH THE WICKED. Now David is the king at this point, but apparently he can t stop the injustices and evil that are going on. Yes, there are times when we trust ruling authorities will be able to punish and restrain evil. That s why we submit to the Lord by submitting to ruling authorities. But some evil will always persist. People will find ways to break the law and take advantage of others and elude punishment for now. But the Bible says that one day the wicked will get what s coming to them. Psalm 37:2 - for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. Psalm 37:9a - For evil men will be cut off

6 Psalm 37:10 - A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found. Psalm 37:13 - the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he knows their day is coming. God will see to that. I can trust Him to punish the wicked. I don t have to take matters into my own hands. And then I can 7. TRUST GOD TO REWARD THE RIGHTEOUS. Psalm 37:9 - For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land. For David to say this to an Israelite, Those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land, was another way of saying, Trust the Lord and you will enjoy the fullness of God s blessings. Now here s the challenge for us. We have to keep controlling our emotions, trusting in the Lord, minding our own business, delighting in the Lord, trust God to vindicate our reputation, punish evil people and to reward the righteous even if we don t see that reward in this world. In fact, we will only see the fullness of God s blessings when we get to heaven. In the meantime life may stink. But our real inheritance is not a place but a Person, Jesus Christ. Christ endured the greatest injustice ever known to men. He was treated unjustly by the religious leaders of His day who subjected him to false charges and executed Him without cause. But God was bringing about His perfect justice through the injustices committed against Jesus. 1 Peter 3:18a - For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. You see, we are all part of the unrighteous. Yes, we are cheated, but we are guilty of cheating others. Yes, we are hurt, but we are guilty of hurting others. We all need Christ.