What To Do And Not To Do
Psalm 37:1-7
God has allowed us, this year, to go through some things that you might have said it was the hardest thing you ever had to do in your whole life. But, speaking of God’s faithfulness, God’s goodness, and God’s care, how many times through your life have you said that was the hardest thing I ever had to do? And then another thing comes along, and you say, man, no. That’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. And by experience, we learn, as Paul said, that he knew “personally” that the things that God allowed him to go through prepared you for the next season of your life, any way you want to look at it.
We wonder, why? Why? Why is this going on? Why do I need to go through this? How come they’re not, and I am? All those things that we wrestle with in our personal relationship and our personal walk with the Lord. But in all truth and fairness, God will use every one of those times of your life to prepare you for such a time as this. And some of us have to go through more strenuous times, more heart-wrenching times than others. But God doesn’t waste any of those in your life. He doesn’t waste one tear. He doesn’t waste one broken heart. Never. Never.
And so, whatever it is that God is allowing you to go through right now, whatever is on the horizon that you are looking at, and you’re just thinking, “I don’t know how this is going to go,” go back and think of all the times God was faithful in your life. And stand on those times, and those things. They’re not the ones that I am standing on that you need to stand on, but those are the things that God wants you to grab ahold of.
Maybe last year you couldn’t embrace them because they were so painful. But now, you can embrace them because you know that it’s going to give you the strength. By embracing them right now, it’s going to give you the strength for tomorrow. It will. The moment you embrace them and say, “Okay, God. You knew all along. Your ways are always right. But I know that you love me. I know from experience that you love me from the way that you’ve allowed things to turn out in my life.”
Today we’re going to look at a few verses from Psalm 37.
In verse 1 is the quandary that I was talking about a little bit ago. These kinds of things God has been allowing in people’s lives since the beginning of time. One of the things that happened to us, I really believe with all my heart, is that when God allows things for us to go through that we didn’t plan or don’t understand, and then don’t like when they really hurt. One of the things we begin to do is look around too much. We start looking “out” when we should be looking “up.” The Psalmist, David, writes this in verse 1.
Psalm 37:1 (NLT)
1 Don’t worry about the wicked or envy those who do wrong.
And sometimes we get in this spot where we look around, and we think, “Why am I having to go through this? How come they don’t? How come they’re just going through life, so it seems, we know it’s not true – but we begin to look out at other people and begin to feel sorry for ourselves is what happens. It’s a natural course, but we worry about the wicked. We think, why don’t they get what’s coming to them? And then how come I got what I got, and they don’t get what they should get? We have this problem.
And then, we begin to envy a bit, too. You know, you’ve heard it said, “It’s much easier to look out of a window than it is to look in the mirror.” It’s hard to look in the mirror. The longer you look, the more imperfections we see. If I just get in there and get my hair back, get it done, and get out of there, I think, “Okay. It’s going to be a good day.” But the longer I look in the mirror, and the more I look at, the more there is for me to deal with. There’s more for me to look at, and there are more imperfections, and there’s more that there was last week, and last month, and last year. But looking in the mirror is a great place to start.
Psalm 37:2 (NLT)
2 For like grass, they soon fade away. Like spring flowers, they soon wither.
You know what? God makes things right. And there is an equalizer in life when eternity is in view, where we know that there’s a day coming when God makes it all right. And we have to be okay with the way things go, sometimes. It rains on the just and the unjust, too, doesn’t it? But when we’re having to experience these trials, for some reason, we think there’s a cloud only over us, and we’re the only ones getting wet. But it certainly does rain on the just and the unjust.
Psalm 37:3(a) (NLT)
3 Trust in the Lord and do good…
Trust in the Lord and do good. Be okay with where God has you, and do what God would have you to do. You might say, “Well, it doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t seem right.” To trust in the Lord is to lean back on him. It might not make sense because what you see doesn’t seem right. Or what you think could be true doesn’t seem true. But we are to trust in the Lord and do good. Paul said that godliness with contentment is great gain. That’s doing what God would have you to do and doing it with the right heart. It doesn’t really matter what we want to do. It matters what God would have you to do, and then it’s the way that we do it.
Psalm 37:3 (NLT)
3 Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.
So, what are you trusting in right now? Where’s all your weight at? What’s on the horizon that you’re hoping that is going to come to pass? What ship are you looking for that is coming in? Is it a phone call? Is it something in the mail? Where are you resting all your faith, and hope, and trust right now?
To do what’s right even if you’re not sure. If we’re not sure what to do, let me encourage you to go back and do what you know to do. You don’t know how to deal with this thing; you don’t know what to do about that opportunity that God has given you. You can see it coming. If you don’t know what to do, then just go back and do what you know to do.
When we worry and are envious over other people, that’s a distraction from what God would have us to do. Do you realize all of the energy that we put into that, at times? When you look around, and you’re busy with a scoreboard and they’re doing all this, this, and this is me… That is a distraction from what God would really have you to do.
Psalm 37:4 (NLT)
4 Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.
We can look for pleasure, and even healthy distractions in all different ways, but what are you hoping for every day? What do you spend the most time in a day thinking about?
He will give you your heart’s desire. When you take delight in the Lord, you re-align your heart with God’s heart. Nothing has really changed in your life, but you make a commitment within your heart, unto the Lord. You say, “I’m good with whatever it is you have for me right now. I don’t like it, necessarily. And I don’t understand it. But I’m going to purposefully re-align my heart with your heart.” And then, he gives you your heart’s desire. That’s how that works.
It’s not rubbing a lamp and asking God for something and him giving you what you want. Instead, we look at this circumstance in our lives and we say, “Lord, I trust you that your ways are right, and that your ways are good, and that you have a plan and a purpose for me in this. And I’m going to commit my life to you with this plan.” And then he says, “I’ll give you your heart’s desire.” God’s heart didn’t change. Our hearts changed.
This is not God giving us everything we want. Pray for what God wants. Pray that God will remove your selfish desires. And then be willing to let the Word of God transform your life, surrendering my will to God’s will.
Psalm 37:5 (NLT)
5 Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.
It’s a conditional promise there. Our part, commit everything to the Lord. Our part, trust him. His part, and he’ll help you. The word commit means to transfer the care and concern that you’re carrying to God. Or commit “to make a pledge to God.” No matter how much it hurts.
Devote yourself to God’s steadfast care. Everything you do to the Lord – we need to make a prayer list (I know this is common, easy, basic stuff). A list helps us keep it in order. It doesn’t take us long to commit things to the Lord, in prayer, and then open our eyes, and the world starts swirling all around us, and before long, we’ve forgotten. We’ve gone on our way for the day. So, physically write out a list of what you are going to hand over to God. So, you make a prayer list. You write out physically what you are going to hand over to God.
Ask God to help you make good decisions. Do you do that? We don’t always do it. We just “decide.” And so, we have to ask God to help us make good decisions. Be brave and ask God, “What changes do I need to make in my life right now?” Be brave… that’s difficult to ask God.
Psalm 37:6 (NLT)
6 He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.
Your innocence. You might say, “Well, I’m no angel. And I am by far innocent.” But you know, 1 John 1:9 says if we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Through the years, I’ve talked to a lot of different people, and I’ll say, why don’t you come to this event. And they’ll say, “I’m really not walking with the Lord. I’m not doing good.” Or I’ll see people pass on communion. I’ll see it go by them, and I’ll say, “Hey, you know. What was going on there?” “I’m not right with the Lord.” You know what? We are always just one prayer away from being right with God. You can’t be too far away. You haven’t crossed a line. If you’re breathing right now, then you have not crossed the line. You can come back to God.
If we confess our sin – we just have to agree with God about our sin. We say, “Lord, you’re right.” he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
We can’t make right – God will make it all right. There are those things that you and I all need to own. They are our responsibility. They are up to us to take care of. And then there’re those things that only God can do. And we need to be able to say, “Okay, Lord. I am going to take care of the things that belong to me and are my responsibility. And then these things that are over here, that only by your power you can change, I give it to you. You’re the only one that can change my kid’s heart. You’re the only one that can restore my marriage. You’re the only one that can mend the broken heart I have right now.”
While we’re waiting on God on the things that only belong to him, God has given you the Holy Spirit that lives inside your heart to respond correctly to those things that only God can do. We wait for God, we trust in God, but then God gives us the Spirit to live right while we’re waiting, while we’re doing it. He gives us the power to do it. He gives us the understanding and the comfort and the strength, and the courage to respond correctly to the things that only God can take care of in our lives.
So, we’ve looked at a nice break-down here this morning, and there’s a recipe in Psalm 37. And it’s to trust in the Lord and do good. It’s to dwell in the land and feed on his faithfulness. It’s to commit all your ways unto the Lord, and he’ll give you the desires of your heart. And as we step through those things right there, then eventually we get to verse 7.
Psalm 37:7 (NLT)
7 Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act…
Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes.
You might say, “Well, I’m not good at waiting. I haven’t been very patient at all.” Then we need to take a step back and say, okay, have I committed everything to the Lord? Have I truly committed it – or did I do it and take it right back? Or maybe I haven’t really delighted myself in the Lord. Maybe I just don’t like it. And I’ve been struggling and fighting with God over this thing, and I’m not happy where God has me. I’m not happy in the place where God has allowed me to be right now.
Or maybe you have to go back to the beginning and say, well, Lord, I guess really, I don’t trust you because I am taking all of these matters into my own hands. I say I trust you, but the way that I’m doing this, or the way that I’m acting, or the way that I’m behaving, it’s kind of like saying, I guess I don’t.
Trust in the Lord and do good.
Dwell in the land and feed on his faithfulness.
Commit all your ways unto the Lord, and he’ll give you the desires of your heart.
And then, you can rest. You can buy sleep at the pharmacy, but you cannot buy rest, not what we’re talking about here. You can’t buy it. This comes only from trusting the Lord, delighting yourself in the Lord, committing all your ways to the Lord, and then, you can rest in the Lord.
We wonder, why? Why? Why is this going on? Why do I need to go through this? How come they’re not, and I am? All those things that we wrestle with in our personal relationship and our personal walk with the Lord. But in all truth and fairness, God will use every one of those times of your life to prepare you for such a time as this. And some of us have to go through more strenuous times, more heart-wrenching times than others. But God doesn’t waste any of those in your life. He doesn’t waste one tear. He doesn’t waste one broken heart. Never. Never.
And so, whatever it is that God is allowing you to go through right now, whatever is on the horizon that you are looking at, and you’re just thinking, “I don’t know how this is going to go,” go back and think of all the times God was faithful in your life. And stand on those times, and those things. They’re not the ones that I am standing on that you need to stand on, but those are the things that God wants you to grab ahold of.
Maybe last year you couldn’t embrace them because they were so painful. But now, you can embrace them because you know that it’s going to give you the strength. By embracing them right now, it’s going to give you the strength for tomorrow. It will. The moment you embrace them and say, “Okay, God. You knew all along. Your ways are always right. But I know that you love me. I know from experience that you love me from the way that you’ve allowed things to turn out in my life.”
Today we’re going to look at a few verses from Psalm 37.
In verse 1 is the quandary that I was talking about a little bit ago. These kinds of things God has been allowing in people’s lives since the beginning of time. One of the things that happened to us, I really believe with all my heart, is that when God allows things for us to go through that we didn’t plan or don’t understand, and then don’t like when they really hurt. One of the things we begin to do is look around too much. We start looking “out” when we should be looking “up.” The Psalmist, David, writes this in verse 1.
Psalm 37:1 (NLT)
1 Don’t worry about the wicked or envy those who do wrong.
And sometimes we get in this spot where we look around, and we think, “Why am I having to go through this? How come they don’t? How come they’re just going through life, so it seems, we know it’s not true – but we begin to look out at other people and begin to feel sorry for ourselves is what happens. It’s a natural course, but we worry about the wicked. We think, why don’t they get what’s coming to them? And then how come I got what I got, and they don’t get what they should get? We have this problem.
And then, we begin to envy a bit, too. You know, you’ve heard it said, “It’s much easier to look out of a window than it is to look in the mirror.” It’s hard to look in the mirror. The longer you look, the more imperfections we see. If I just get in there and get my hair back, get it done, and get out of there, I think, “Okay. It’s going to be a good day.” But the longer I look in the mirror, and the more I look at, the more there is for me to deal with. There’s more for me to look at, and there are more imperfections, and there’s more that there was last week, and last month, and last year. But looking in the mirror is a great place to start.
Psalm 37:2 (NLT)
2 For like grass, they soon fade away. Like spring flowers, they soon wither.
You know what? God makes things right. And there is an equalizer in life when eternity is in view, where we know that there’s a day coming when God makes it all right. And we have to be okay with the way things go, sometimes. It rains on the just and the unjust, too, doesn’t it? But when we’re having to experience these trials, for some reason, we think there’s a cloud only over us, and we’re the only ones getting wet. But it certainly does rain on the just and the unjust.
Psalm 37:3(a) (NLT)
3 Trust in the Lord and do good…
Trust in the Lord and do good. Be okay with where God has you, and do what God would have you to do. You might say, “Well, it doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t seem right.” To trust in the Lord is to lean back on him. It might not make sense because what you see doesn’t seem right. Or what you think could be true doesn’t seem true. But we are to trust in the Lord and do good. Paul said that godliness with contentment is great gain. That’s doing what God would have you to do and doing it with the right heart. It doesn’t really matter what we want to do. It matters what God would have you to do, and then it’s the way that we do it.
Psalm 37:3 (NLT)
3 Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.
So, what are you trusting in right now? Where’s all your weight at? What’s on the horizon that you’re hoping that is going to come to pass? What ship are you looking for that is coming in? Is it a phone call? Is it something in the mail? Where are you resting all your faith, and hope, and trust right now?
To do what’s right even if you’re not sure. If we’re not sure what to do, let me encourage you to go back and do what you know to do. You don’t know how to deal with this thing; you don’t know what to do about that opportunity that God has given you. You can see it coming. If you don’t know what to do, then just go back and do what you know to do.
When we worry and are envious over other people, that’s a distraction from what God would have us to do. Do you realize all of the energy that we put into that, at times? When you look around, and you’re busy with a scoreboard and they’re doing all this, this, and this is me… That is a distraction from what God would really have you to do.
Psalm 37:4 (NLT)
4 Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.
We can look for pleasure, and even healthy distractions in all different ways, but what are you hoping for every day? What do you spend the most time in a day thinking about?
He will give you your heart’s desire. When you take delight in the Lord, you re-align your heart with God’s heart. Nothing has really changed in your life, but you make a commitment within your heart, unto the Lord. You say, “I’m good with whatever it is you have for me right now. I don’t like it, necessarily. And I don’t understand it. But I’m going to purposefully re-align my heart with your heart.” And then, he gives you your heart’s desire. That’s how that works.
It’s not rubbing a lamp and asking God for something and him giving you what you want. Instead, we look at this circumstance in our lives and we say, “Lord, I trust you that your ways are right, and that your ways are good, and that you have a plan and a purpose for me in this. And I’m going to commit my life to you with this plan.” And then he says, “I’ll give you your heart’s desire.” God’s heart didn’t change. Our hearts changed.
This is not God giving us everything we want. Pray for what God wants. Pray that God will remove your selfish desires. And then be willing to let the Word of God transform your life, surrendering my will to God’s will.
Psalm 37:5 (NLT)
5 Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.
It’s a conditional promise there. Our part, commit everything to the Lord. Our part, trust him. His part, and he’ll help you. The word commit means to transfer the care and concern that you’re carrying to God. Or commit “to make a pledge to God.” No matter how much it hurts.
Devote yourself to God’s steadfast care. Everything you do to the Lord – we need to make a prayer list (I know this is common, easy, basic stuff). A list helps us keep it in order. It doesn’t take us long to commit things to the Lord, in prayer, and then open our eyes, and the world starts swirling all around us, and before long, we’ve forgotten. We’ve gone on our way for the day. So, physically write out a list of what you are going to hand over to God. So, you make a prayer list. You write out physically what you are going to hand over to God.
Ask God to help you make good decisions. Do you do that? We don’t always do it. We just “decide.” And so, we have to ask God to help us make good decisions. Be brave and ask God, “What changes do I need to make in my life right now?” Be brave… that’s difficult to ask God.
Psalm 37:6 (NLT)
6 He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.
Your innocence. You might say, “Well, I’m no angel. And I am by far innocent.” But you know, 1 John 1:9 says if we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Through the years, I’ve talked to a lot of different people, and I’ll say, why don’t you come to this event. And they’ll say, “I’m really not walking with the Lord. I’m not doing good.” Or I’ll see people pass on communion. I’ll see it go by them, and I’ll say, “Hey, you know. What was going on there?” “I’m not right with the Lord.” You know what? We are always just one prayer away from being right with God. You can’t be too far away. You haven’t crossed a line. If you’re breathing right now, then you have not crossed the line. You can come back to God.
If we confess our sin – we just have to agree with God about our sin. We say, “Lord, you’re right.” he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
We can’t make right – God will make it all right. There are those things that you and I all need to own. They are our responsibility. They are up to us to take care of. And then there’re those things that only God can do. And we need to be able to say, “Okay, Lord. I am going to take care of the things that belong to me and are my responsibility. And then these things that are over here, that only by your power you can change, I give it to you. You’re the only one that can change my kid’s heart. You’re the only one that can restore my marriage. You’re the only one that can mend the broken heart I have right now.”
While we’re waiting on God on the things that only belong to him, God has given you the Holy Spirit that lives inside your heart to respond correctly to those things that only God can do. We wait for God, we trust in God, but then God gives us the Spirit to live right while we’re waiting, while we’re doing it. He gives us the power to do it. He gives us the understanding and the comfort and the strength, and the courage to respond correctly to the things that only God can take care of in our lives.
So, we’ve looked at a nice break-down here this morning, and there’s a recipe in Psalm 37. And it’s to trust in the Lord and do good. It’s to dwell in the land and feed on his faithfulness. It’s to commit all your ways unto the Lord, and he’ll give you the desires of your heart. And as we step through those things right there, then eventually we get to verse 7.
Psalm 37:7 (NLT)
7 Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act…
Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes.
You might say, “Well, I’m not good at waiting. I haven’t been very patient at all.” Then we need to take a step back and say, okay, have I committed everything to the Lord? Have I truly committed it – or did I do it and take it right back? Or maybe I haven’t really delighted myself in the Lord. Maybe I just don’t like it. And I’ve been struggling and fighting with God over this thing, and I’m not happy where God has me. I’m not happy in the place where God has allowed me to be right now.
Or maybe you have to go back to the beginning and say, well, Lord, I guess really, I don’t trust you because I am taking all of these matters into my own hands. I say I trust you, but the way that I’m doing this, or the way that I’m acting, or the way that I’m behaving, it’s kind of like saying, I guess I don’t.
Trust in the Lord and do good.
Dwell in the land and feed on his faithfulness.
Commit all your ways unto the Lord, and he’ll give you the desires of your heart.
And then, you can rest. You can buy sleep at the pharmacy, but you cannot buy rest, not what we’re talking about here. You can’t buy it. This comes only from trusting the Lord, delighting yourself in the Lord, committing all your ways to the Lord, and then, you can rest in the Lord.