WEBVTT 00:00:00.629 --> 00:00:04.990 Well, let's look at Psalm 37 for just a moment. 00:00:12.669 --> 00:00:17.089 It's one of those Psalms that describes emotion. 00:00:18.230 --> 00:00:22.109 It begins with verse 1, do not fret. That word 00:00:22.109 --> 00:00:25.149 there has to do with being anger, being angry. 00:00:25.959 --> 00:00:29.780 Do not fret because of evildoers or be angry 00:00:29.780 --> 00:00:36.399 because of evildoers. Again, that's easier said 00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:43.119 than done. I watch a lot of the, or keep up some 00:00:43.119 --> 00:00:45.200 with some of the current news and there's a lot 00:00:45.200 --> 00:00:48.159 that goes on that can make you angry very quickly. 00:00:49.060 --> 00:00:51.619 But he says do not be, don't fret or be angry 00:00:51.619 --> 00:00:56.369 because of evildoers and do not be envious. toward 00:00:56.369 --> 00:01:00.350 doers of unrighteousness. That sounds kind of 00:01:00.350 --> 00:01:04.069 funny. I was thinking about that. But there's 00:01:04.069 --> 00:01:06.349 a lot of people that do unrighteousness and they 00:01:06.349 --> 00:01:10.109 seem to prosper. They seem to live in the limelight. 00:01:10.549 --> 00:01:16.349 And this verse takes that seriously. He goes 00:01:16.349 --> 00:01:19.530 on to say, why? He said that these people that 00:01:19.530 --> 00:01:21.969 seem to be in the limelight and do so well are 00:01:21.969 --> 00:01:26.329 going to wither like grass. and fade like the 00:01:26.329 --> 00:01:29.030 green herb. And if we stop there, that would 00:01:29.030 --> 00:01:33.370 be true anyway. We know that's true. That's Psalm 00:01:33.370 --> 00:01:36.349 1 talks about, you know, delighting in the Lord 00:01:36.349 --> 00:01:40.349 and His Word. And we understand that. But in 00:01:40.349 --> 00:01:43.230 contrast to that, he says, instead of that, trust 00:01:43.230 --> 00:01:51.510 in Yahweh, that's verse 3, and do good. Do we 00:01:51.510 --> 00:01:58.040 do that? Trust in Yahweh and do good. Dwell in 00:01:58.040 --> 00:02:04.099 the land and cultivate faithfulness. Let's see, 00:02:04.680 --> 00:02:09.620 I remember that the reference in the side margin 00:02:09.620 --> 00:02:13.340 says you could translate that feed securely or 00:02:13.340 --> 00:02:16.740 feed own his faithfulness, which I like that 00:02:16.740 --> 00:02:20.199 idea because we know he's faithful and we know 00:02:20.199 --> 00:02:23.050 he's honest and righteous. One of the prayer 00:02:23.050 --> 00:02:26.189 requests that I've heard from this pulpit by 00:02:26.189 --> 00:02:29.289 others on several occasions is thanking the Lord 00:02:29.289 --> 00:02:32.729 for His sovereignty. We're very thankful that 00:02:32.729 --> 00:02:34.909 that's the case, that God is sovereign, He's 00:02:34.909 --> 00:02:38.610 in charge, and that nothing can happen but that 00:02:38.610 --> 00:02:40.990 it comes through, filtered through His will and 00:02:40.990 --> 00:02:45.810 His plan. He says, the verse that I quote so 00:02:45.810 --> 00:02:51.189 often is verse four, Delight yourself in Yahweh. 00:02:51.599 --> 00:02:54.500 and He will give you the desires of your heart. 00:02:55.379 --> 00:02:59.539 And we know that that's not a blank check to 00:02:59.539 --> 00:03:02.860 get whatever we want from the Lord, but it is 00:03:02.860 --> 00:03:06.159 a statement that says if we delight in Him, He 00:03:06.159 --> 00:03:09.340 will change our hearts and our delights into 00:03:09.340 --> 00:03:12.000 things that He gives us. We will find those to 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:18.719 be satisfying. Commit your way to Yahweh, your 00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:23.930 life again. Do we do that? Commit your way to 00:03:23.930 --> 00:03:30.189 Him, trust in Him, and He will do it. He will 00:03:30.189 --> 00:03:34.409 act. He will bring forth your righteousness as 00:03:34.409 --> 00:03:37.430 the light. Isn't that a good promise? Really? 00:03:38.069 --> 00:03:39.909 That if you trust in Him, if you commit your 00:03:39.909 --> 00:03:44.830 way to Him, He will bring forth unfolding your 00:03:44.830 --> 00:03:48.189 righteousness or your life that is in harmony 00:03:48.189 --> 00:03:51.849 with God's will. it will unfold as light in your 00:03:51.849 --> 00:03:57.889 judgment as the noonday sun. And then finally 00:03:57.889 --> 00:04:01.229 we just start with verse 7, which is the verse 00:04:01.229 --> 00:04:05.770 that got my attention when we were thinking about 00:04:05.770 --> 00:04:11.729 these people that are struggling with bad health 00:04:11.729 --> 00:04:15.870 and things of this nature, Hunt Keith and Ted 00:04:15.870 --> 00:04:20.360 Dippy and others. the thinking of Robert. It 00:04:20.360 --> 00:04:27.540 says be still in Yahweh and wait patiently or 00:04:27.540 --> 00:04:33.259 longingly for Him. That is probably one of the 00:04:33.259 --> 00:04:36.639 hardest things to do. It's easy to talk about 00:04:36.639 --> 00:04:39.300 it when the sun is shining and like I'm up here 00:04:39.300 --> 00:04:43.860 talking and we can lay that direction out. But 00:04:43.860 --> 00:04:46.730 when you're in the middle of the storm and it's 00:04:46.730 --> 00:04:50.689 your life that's fading away and it's your possessions 00:04:50.689 --> 00:04:55.529 that are being stolen or it's your friends that 00:04:55.529 --> 00:05:00.709 are suffering or it's the plans that you have 00:05:00.709 --> 00:05:05.850 been planning and setting up over the years for 00:05:05.850 --> 00:05:10.250 as a budget or as a goal or as a retirement or 00:05:10.250 --> 00:05:13.779 whatever and those plans now. fall apart. It's 00:05:13.779 --> 00:05:15.959 very hard to be still and wait patiently for 00:05:15.959 --> 00:05:19.980 God to do His will in that. But life is filled 00:05:19.980 --> 00:05:25.639 with what we might call disappointments to our 00:05:25.639 --> 00:05:31.519 way, to our will, and the only option is what 00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:37.259 God does. It's hard to wait for Him. I don't 00:05:37.259 --> 00:05:39.959 know if this is a true axiom, but it seems to 00:05:39.959 --> 00:05:42.339 me that the things that I prayed for, that I 00:05:42.339 --> 00:05:44.959 wanted the most, are the things that he said 00:05:44.959 --> 00:05:51.100 no about. That's why I've prayed and talked about 00:05:51.100 --> 00:05:55.459 asking the Lord to save me from myself, because 00:05:55.459 --> 00:06:00.980 the things that I want, the things that satisfy 00:06:00.980 --> 00:06:05.379 my, maybe I could say the word lust, or my cravings, 00:06:05.370 --> 00:06:08.449 or my passion, or whatever. Those things are 00:06:08.449 --> 00:06:11.550 not things that glorify Jesus. They're things 00:06:11.550 --> 00:06:16.410 that make me comfortable, perhaps, make me popular, 00:06:16.410 --> 00:06:20.189 or whatever, but they don't glorify Jesus. And 00:06:20.189 --> 00:06:23.810 so they're really prayers that are aimed in the 00:06:23.810 --> 00:06:27.709 wrong direction. God knows, and He knows what 00:06:27.709 --> 00:06:31.449 He's doing, and so He tells us to be still, to 00:06:31.449 --> 00:06:34.660 wait patiently for Him. I'm going to open in 00:06:34.660 --> 00:06:38.680 prayer, but I'm not going to close the prayer. 00:06:38.779 --> 00:06:43.300 I'm going to sit down, and when everybody has 00:06:43.300 --> 00:06:45.639 had a chance to pray, wants to pray, Bob, do 00:06:45.639 --> 00:06:48.759 you mind closing that time in prayer? Sure. Okay. 00:06:49.279 --> 00:06:53.379 Let's pray. Father, we thank you. This time that 00:06:53.379 --> 00:06:58.379 you have ordained, we are here by your invitation. 00:07:00.360 --> 00:07:05.019 It is a strange thing that we... need these reminders 00:07:05.019 --> 00:07:08.959 of your grace and of your mercy and your sacrifice. 00:07:09.420 --> 00:07:12.680 It's not strange, it's really sad in a way. But 00:07:12.680 --> 00:07:15.180 yet at the same time it forwards an opportunity 00:07:15.180 --> 00:07:17.620 to gather together your people have gathered 00:07:17.620 --> 00:07:22.939 around food and the elements of eating, having 00:07:22.939 --> 00:07:26.500 a fellowship and a close time with each other 00:07:26.500 --> 00:07:30.000 and with you. And this has gone on for centuries. 00:07:33.550 --> 00:07:38.790 and it's really a very special time. I don't 00:07:38.790 --> 00:07:42.389 know if this kind of thing is taking place at 00:07:42.389 --> 00:07:47.930 this time in heaven, but I do know that you rejoice 00:07:47.930 --> 00:07:52.430 in our worship of you and that you are delighted 00:07:52.430 --> 00:07:56.529 when your people delight in you. And you've promised 00:07:56.529 --> 00:08:00.529 that in the light of that you would respond to 00:08:00.529 --> 00:08:03.810 us. and the way that helps us display your righteousness 00:08:03.810 --> 00:08:07.930 and your grace and your glory. So we thank you 00:08:07.930 --> 00:08:11.050 so much for the privilege of coming together 00:08:11.050 --> 00:08:15.189 here tonight. Bless this time. Open our hearts 00:08:15.189 --> 00:08:20.110 to you and our lives to you. Bring things that 00:08:20.110 --> 00:08:22.790 need to be brought to mind to mind that we can 00:08:22.790 --> 00:08:26.910 confess them. Let the Lord make this time very 00:08:26.910 --> 00:08:31.240 special of real time. a real time of real communion 00:08:31.240 --> 00:08:35.799 with our Savior. And I ask that you would work 00:08:35.799 --> 00:08:39.960 in my heart. I confess to you as I can the things 00:08:39.960 --> 00:08:43.120 that come between us that I'm aware about. I'm 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:44.879 sure there are a lot more that I'm not aware 00:08:44.879 --> 00:08:51.899 of. But I just want to bring my heart to you 00:08:51.899 --> 00:08:56.019 and our fellowship, your people, bring them together 00:08:56.019 --> 00:09:02.000 before you. tonight that we might worship our 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:02.860 blessed Savior.