Well, let's look at Psalm 37 for just a moment.
It's one of those Psalms that describes emotion.
It begins with verse 1, do not fret. That word
there has to do with being anger, being angry.
Do not fret because of evildoers or be angry
because of evildoers. Again, that's easier said
than done. I watch a lot of the, or keep up some
with some of the current news and there's a lot
that goes on that can make you angry very quickly.
But he says do not be, don't fret or be angry
because of evildoers and do not be envious. toward
doers of unrighteousness. That sounds kind of
funny. I was thinking about that. But there's
a lot of people that do unrighteousness and they
seem to prosper. They seem to live in the limelight.
And this verse takes that seriously. He goes
on to say, why? He said that these people that
seem to be in the limelight and do so well are
going to wither like grass. and fade like the
green herb. And if we stop there, that would
be true anyway. We know that's true. That's Psalm
1 talks about, you know, delighting in the Lord
and His Word. And we understand that. But in
contrast to that, he says, instead of that, trust
in Yahweh, that's verse 3, and do good. Do we
do that? Trust in Yahweh and do good. Dwell in
the land and cultivate faithfulness. Let's see,
I remember that the reference in the side margin
says you could translate that feed securely or
feed own his faithfulness, which I like that
idea because we know he's faithful and we know
he's honest and righteous. One of the prayer
requests that I've heard from this pulpit by
others on several occasions is thanking the Lord
for His sovereignty. We're very thankful that
that's the case, that God is sovereign, He's
in charge, and that nothing can happen but that
it comes through, filtered through His will and
His plan. He says, the verse that I quote so
often is verse four, Delight yourself in Yahweh.
and He will give you the desires of your heart.
And we know that that's not a blank check to
get whatever we want from the Lord, but it is
a statement that says if we delight in Him, He
will change our hearts and our delights into
things that He gives us. We will find those to
be satisfying. Commit your way to Yahweh, your
life again. Do we do that? Commit your way to
Him, trust in Him, and He will do it. He will
act. He will bring forth your righteousness as
the light. Isn't that a good promise? Really?
That if you trust in Him, if you commit your
way to Him, He will bring forth unfolding your
righteousness or your life that is in harmony
with God's will. it will unfold as light in your
judgment as the noonday sun. And then finally
we just start with verse 7, which is the verse
that got my attention when we were thinking about
these people that are struggling with bad health
and things of this nature, Hunt Keith and Ted
Dippy and others. the thinking of Robert. It
says be still in Yahweh and wait patiently or
longingly for Him. That is probably one of the
hardest things to do. It's easy to talk about
it when the sun is shining and like I'm up here
talking and we can lay that direction out. But
when you're in the middle of the storm and it's
your life that's fading away and it's your possessions
that are being stolen or it's your friends that
are suffering or it's the plans that you have
been planning and setting up over the years for
as a budget or as a goal or as a retirement or
whatever and those plans now. fall apart. It's
very hard to be still and wait patiently for
God to do His will in that. But life is filled
with what we might call disappointments to our
way, to our will, and the only option is what
God does. It's hard to wait for Him. I don't
know if this is a true axiom, but it seems to
me that the things that I prayed for, that I
wanted the most, are the things that he said
no about. That's why I've prayed and talked about
asking the Lord to save me from myself, because
the things that I want, the things that satisfy
my, maybe I could say the word lust, or my cravings,
or my passion, or whatever. Those things are
not things that glorify Jesus. They're things
that make me comfortable, perhaps, make me popular,
or whatever, but they don't glorify Jesus. And
so they're really prayers that are aimed in the
wrong direction. God knows, and He knows what
He's doing, and so He tells us to be still, to
wait patiently for Him. I'm going to open in
prayer, but I'm not going to close the prayer.
I'm going to sit down, and when everybody has
had a chance to pray, wants to pray, Bob, do
you mind closing that time in prayer? Sure. Okay.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you. This time that
you have ordained, we are here by your invitation.
It is a strange thing that we... need these reminders
of your grace and of your mercy and your sacrifice.
It's not strange, it's really sad in a way. But
yet at the same time it forwards an opportunity
to gather together your people have gathered
around food and the elements of eating, having
a fellowship and a close time with each other
and with you. And this has gone on for centuries.
and it's really a very special time. I don't
know if this kind of thing is taking place at
this time in heaven, but I do know that you rejoice
in our worship of you and that you are delighted
when your people delight in you. And you've promised
that in the light of that you would respond to
us. and the way that helps us display your righteousness
and your grace and your glory. So we thank you
so much for the privilege of coming together
here tonight. Bless this time. Open our hearts
to you and our lives to you. Bring things that
need to be brought to mind to mind that we can
confess them. Let the Lord make this time very
special of real time. a real time of real communion
with our Savior. And I ask that you would work
in my heart. I confess to you as I can the things
that come between us that I'm aware about. I'm
sure there are a lot more that I'm not aware
of. But I just want to bring my heart to you
and our fellowship, your people, bring them together
before you. tonight that we might worship our
blessed Savior.