Returning to Psalm 37. We're not reading it all this evening. It is a long psalm. And so we're just reading the initial verses here in Psalm 37. And as you look up, we do welcome you. Lovely to have you in the house of God. I trust that there'll be something here for you. I know there will be. And we trust that God will bless your heart. So Psalm 37, it is a Psalm of David and it was written when David was an old man. And we know that to be the case because of what we read in verse 25. I have been young and now I I'm old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread." And so we're gleaning from the advice, the counsel of an elderly gentleman when it comes to David here. He's probably been king for quite some time, and now we're reading what he says to us. We're reading the verses 1 through to 11. Let's hear God's word. 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 also 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. Those that wait upon the Lord shall inherit the earth for yet a little while and the wicked shall not be. Yea, thou shall 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. We'll conclude at the verse number 11, the reading of God's precious word. I want to ask you a question at the beginning of this evening's message. Are you a worrier? Are you a worrier? Worry, that sense of insecurity, unease, and fear over what negative events may happen in our lives is one of those unpleasant emotions that we come to experience as a human being. It's one that is most common. While everyone has worried at some point in their lives, many people suffer from chronic worrying in the form of anxiety. Statistics inform us that four out of every 10 people in the United Kingdom suffer from some form of anxiety. Coming closer to home, the Youth Wellbeing Prevalence Survey conducted in 2020 reported around 25% higher rates of anxiety and depression in the child and youth population of Northern Ireland compared to the other three nations of the United Kingdom. It reflected a similar trend in the adult population among the four nations of the United Kingdom. Now what people worry about is multifaceted and varied. There are people and they worry about their finances, others they worry about their future, some people, some students worry about their exams, some don't even cause it any concern about their exam? Some people, they worry about job security. Other peoples, they go a little bit further afield. They worry about global economics or geopolitical instability. Some worry about climate change and relationships and health and old age and family problems. And the list goes on and on. Do I have really any real friends? Will I ever find a spouse? And if I ever find one, will they be faithful to me? Will we be able to have children? What about my health? These are just some of the questions that fuel the fires of worry. If we were honest, we would have to confess that there's always something for us to worry about. And if there's nothing for you to worry about, you'll find something to worry about anyway. You'll probably worry about the fact that you have nothing to worry about, because we're all worriers, or most of us are by nature worry. It's one of the bitter fruits of the fall. You think of Adam and Eve there in their pristine states, having come out of the hand of God. They had nothing to worry about in the Garden of Eden. All things were provided for them. They had sweet and holy and blessed fellowship with their maker and with their creator. However, when that act of disobedience was committed, worry flooded into the hearts and the minds of our first parents. Aware of what the fall brought along with it, God so graciously in his word comes with many, many precious promises that reassures the believer that they have nothing to be overly anxious about. I'm sure you're thinking about some of those promises, some of those verses just as I am. We think of those words in Isaiah 41, 10. Or Paul's words to the Philippian believers in Philippians 4, verse 6. Be careful or be overly anxious about nothing. But in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God." Or what Peter tells us to do in 1 Peter 5 and the verse 7, casting all your care, all that anxious care, all that worry, casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you. This Psalm, Psalm 37, begins with a word of comfort to all who would worry about a specific matter. The worry is concerning the rise of evildoers. The psalmist encourages us in the verse number one, We find this exhortation again in the verse 8. When God's Word is scoffed at. God's law was trampled on when righteousness is a scarce commodity I and whenever the wicked triumph what are we to do as the people of God well I believe this psalm it answers that question in two ways it answers first of all that question negatively we are not to fret what we're not to do fret not thyself this word fret it means to burn to be kindled to be inflamed it's often applied to anger whenever a person gets angry they become inflamed they become heated and hence it means to fret to worry in such a way as we become heated this is what we're not to do when we look at the prosperity Of the wicked around us when we see to their advancement or their advancement. We don't see to it But when we see their advancement and progress in the world, we're not to fret We're not to panic. We're not to become anxious We're not to become envious when the wicked prosper because god goes on to tell us That such people will soon soon be cut down verse number two like the grass and they'll wither like the green herb instead of fretting causing your blood pressure to rocket to unhealthy levels. The child of God is encouraged in this psalm to do a number of simple things that will enable them to deal with what is undoubtedly upsetting for any genuine child of God when they see the evildoer parade around like a proud peacock. What are we then to do? We want to look at what we're to do positively. Yes, we're not to fret but we're also to do other things instead of fretting. The first thing that we're to do, and the message is very simple tonight, the first thing that we're to do is find in the verse number three. We're to trust in the Lord. Trust in the Lord. This is repeated again in the Psalm about this trusting in the Lord. We are to trust in the Lord. The word trust here can be translated to hide for refuge, or to be confident, or to be sure. John Henry Jowett was a congregational minister, and this is what he wrote concerning this particular word, this word trust. It is perhaps, he said, helpful to remember that the word which is here translated trust is elsewhere in the New Testament translated careless. Be careless in the Lord. Now, not careless in what we would think about being careless whenever a child is being careless with regard to their homework, but care-less, care-less. The thought is, he went on to say that instead of carrying a load of care, let care be absent. The carelessness being spoken of is the carelessness of little children running about the house in the assurance of their father's providence and love. Children don't care about the electricity bill. They don't care about the rates bill coming through the door. All they care about is what's for tea. And whenever they're eating their tea, they're wondering what's for dinner and then what's for supper. That's all they care about. They have no burdens, no cares whatsoever. They enjoy living a carefree life or a careless life. And this is how we are to be as God's children. We are to be careless, free from care, trusting in our God, the living God. The God who giveth us all things richly to enjoy. The God who has our good at the heart of all that He does within our lives. And more importantly, has His glory at the very forefront of all things. And therefore, we are to trust Him. And this is within the context of evildoers being promoted and being advanced within society. The Christian is to trust in the Lord. They are to be those who are careless. Now, the Christian is not to trust in themselves, and they're not to trust in others. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. And sadly, we in Northern Ireland slip into this old habit of trusting in others and men. But we are to trust in the Lord. There's where our confidence is to be exclusively in the Lord. And notice who it is we're to trust. For it's the capital L-O-R-D. It is Jehovah. And who is Jehovah? Jehovah is the covenant making and the covenant-keeping God. No better one could we trust in this evening than the God of the covenant, the independent, the self-sufficient, the all-knowing, all-powerful, all-present God. Instead of fretting, we are encouraged to exercise faith in our God. George Mueller, a man of great faith, who saw many an orphan fed, In the city of Bristol, George Mueller, he said this, the beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety. This is how we as Christians are meant to live. We are to be people who live by faith. and not by sight. Habakkuk 2 verse 4. The just shall live by his faith. We are to have an unshakable, unswerving belief in our God, believing that he is doing all things well, and that all that falls out in this world is ordered and ordained by one who is working all things after the counsel of his sovereign will. Instead of allowing your mind to be disturbed because of evil doers, You and I, we are to calmly confide in our God. Albert Barnes gave this sound advice in his Bible commentary when writing on this entreaty, trust in the Lord. This is what he wrote. He said, leave all this in his hands. Feel that he rules and that what he permits is wisely permitted. And whatever may occur, it will be overruled for his own glory and the good of the universe. The prescription for fretting is faith. Instead of fretting, it is faith. A greater faith, a greater trust in our God. Thomas Spurgeon. Thomas Spurgeon was C. H. Spurgeon's son. His son became a minister as well. This is what Thomas Spurgeon said. He said, faith cures fretting. I believe in the faith cure, he said. not as some administer it, but as God administers it. It's the only cure for worrying. If thy trustest, all shall be well. The way to fuel our faith, brethren and sisters, is not by pulling up, as it were, the straps or the boot laces and saying, I'm going to believe God more. No, the way to have a greater faith in God is to become better acquainted with Him. And that happens whenever we come to read about Him in the Scriptures of truth and as we have fellowship with Him on a day-by-day basis in prayer as we walk and commune in a fellowship with our God. And so when the wicked prosper, trust in the Lord. The second thing that we're to do instead of fretting about the ungodly, again it's found in the verse number 3, is that we are to do good. Trust in the Lord and do good. In contradistinction to the ungodly, who you are in verse 1, they're called evildoers. So there's a contrast being made here between verse 1 and the verse number 3. These are people who are filled. These are individuals with a sin nature. But we who are children of God, we who are possessed with a new nature, the divine nature, the new nature, we are, instead of doing that which is evil, we are to do that which is good. Do good. Whenever we do that, we are first of all following the example of our Lord Jesus Christ. Brethren and sisters, the Lord Jesus Christ lived in a generation where there were many evildoers. We think of the Roman emperors who existed at the time, Julius Caesar. We think of Herod, his man on the ground in the land of Israel. We think of Pontius Pilate, another man, Herod to the north in Galilee, Pontius Pilate in the region surrounding Jerusalem. These men were evildoers. Remember what was said concerning those who were slain in Luke's gospel in the chapter number 13, the Lord Jesus Christ, he spoke about, except you repent, you shall all likewise perish. It tells there in verse number one, there were some at that season, some that told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And so Pilate, he was certainly not a doer of good, but the Lord Jesus Christ, despite living among evildoers, he went about doing good. We're told that in Acts chapter 10 in the verse 38, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil for God was with Him. The Lord Jesus Christ spent much of His earthly ministry going about doing good, and we are to do the same. Not to merit salvation, but to manifest salvation. Not to earn salvation, but to exhibit or to evidence salvation, that we have been saved. Because you know, There in Ephesians chapter 2, and we know it so well, for by grace are ye saved through faith. And I've pointed it out many times to you. It goes on to say in the verse number 10, that we're not saved of works, lest any man should boast. But it goes on to say, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God before hath ordained that we should walk in them, in good works. And so James, really his epistle is all about this, faith and works. Not that we're justified by our works, we're justified by faith, but the evidence that we've been justified by faith is by our works. That's why James says, show me a man who proclaims, and I paraphrase, show me a man who says he's a Christian and he does know good works. And he says that man's religion is vain and it's empty and his profession is false. The evidence that we know the Lord is that we go about, we go about doing good, but we not only follow the example of Christ, we also follow the exhortation of Christ in this matter of doing good. Matthew 5, 16, Jesus Christ said, For the ungodly to see your good works, well, you're going to have to do good works. You have to do good works before they see good works. There are many avenues, brethren and sisters, that we can do good. I've been round a few homes in recent weeks and recent months and recent days, and there's certain things have caught my eye. One of the things that have caught my eye in people's homes are little cards and mantelpieces. There's been individuals, and they've taken the time to send a little card with regard to maybe someone who's ill or someone who's maybe bereaved in the congregation. It's a way of doing good. Others, they take shut-ins to do their shopping. It's a way of doing good. Some purchase food and they drop it to the door of someone who's sick or is known bereavement in their family circle, or maybe who's just had a child. It's a way of doing good. Others pick up a phone, send a text message, When they miss someone at church, it's a way of doing good. Some buy bunches of flowers and deliver them to widows and the infirmed. It's a way of doing good. There's many ways that we can do good. We just need to do it. You know, sometimes doing good makes a greater impact than talking good. Now, it's good to talk good, but sometimes it's better to do good. makes a greater impact you see we need to back up our talking by our doing just because the ungodly do evil does not mean that we are to follow suit but rather in distinction to them when the evil doer he prospers doing good the child of god is to counteract that by doing that which is good while they do evil we are to do good This is what we're to do when the ungodly are promoted on every hand. Instead of fretting about the ungodly, thirdly, we are to delight in the Lord. Verse number four. The Christian ought to seek their happiness in God alone, in his being, in his perfections, in his friendship, in his love. Notice that the verse does not say that we are to delight ourselves in what God gives us. We're not to delight ourselves in what God has done for us, what God is doing, what God is yet to do for us. Now we can delight ourselves in these things, but rather we are to delight ourselves in Him. In Him, just who He is, who our God is. You see what the psalmist is doing here, he's drawing the attention of his readership away from the evildoer because obviously that's where their minds were. That's what they were thinking about. That's what they were concerned with. That's what they talked about in the home, in the family, when they met their neighbor, when they were out and about doing their business. That's all they thought about, the evildoer. David's telling them to think upon the Lord. delight yourself in the Lord, focus your mind on the Lord. One preacher said every attribute of God should become a fresh ray in the sunlight of delight. I wonder where do you find your delight? Where do I find my delight? We all delight in something. We all delight in something. Some of you delight In cream cakes, that's what you delight in. Some delight in their family, some in their fame, some in food, some in football, some in free time, some in farming. But our greatest delight ought to be in the Lord. We sing a hymn. All that thrills my soul is Jesus. I wonder, is it true? I wonder, is it true as I sing it? Is that all that thrills my soul? Christ, it ought to be. Oh, those out in the world, other things will thrill them, but for the Christian it ought to be Christ. Allow yourself to delight in God when the enemies of Christ advance. Remind yourself that he sits in the heavens and he laughs. He laughs at man's puny attempts to overthrow him and his purposes. Notice the person who comes to delight themselves in the Lord is the one whom God grants the desires of their heart to. Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Matthew Henry said we must make our hearts delight. We must make God our heart's delight, and then we shall have our heart's desire. When the wicked prosper, what happens? Our joy, it drains away. Our joy evaporates. Our joy vanishes. But here we're told to delight ourselves in the Lord. Child of God, don't be looking at the ungodly, for that'll depress you. But look to the Lord, that'll delight you. Mr. Spurgeon said, bad men delight in carnal objects. Do not envy them if they are allowed to take their fill in such vain idols. Look thou to thy better delight and fill thyself to the fill with the sublimer portion. Look to the Lord, delight yourself in him tonight. In the fourth place, the psalmist is encouraged to commit our way, we're encouraged to commit our way onto the Lord. Verse 5, This committing of all things into the hand of the Lord, it really flows out of our trusting in the Lord and our delighting ourselves in the Lord. Because whenever we trust in Him and we delight ourselves in the Lord, then we will have confidence then to commit our ways onto the Lord. There will be times when we will not understand why the wicked prosper. In such times, thank God we can commit what we do not know to him who does know. Out of the 18 times that this Hebrew word commit appears in the Old Testament, 11 of those times it's translated in one of these ways, roll, rolled, or rolleth and therefore we could read psalm 37 verse 5 in this way roll roll thy way onto the lord trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass the idea is behind the word is that of being under the pressure of a heavy burden and then rolling it off or casting it aside in order for another to take up the burden The word is often used in the sense of committing, committing to another or entrusting to another or confiding in another a burden that we're carrying. William D. Broome said, roll thy way upon as one who lays upon the shoulder of one stronger than himself a burden which he is not able to bear. Are you here tonight, mother, with a burden? Roll it upon the Lord. Father, roll it upon the Lord. He upon whose shoulder there rests the government of the world, because upon his shoulder, we read there in the book of Isaiah, the government of the world shall rest upon. Roll your burden upon the Lord. I tell you, and I say this reverently, the God of heaven has large enough and broad enough shoulders to carry every Christian's burden in this house tonight. Roll your burden. Commit your burden, throw it over to him, throw it to him. This thought of rolling, committing our ways, our works, our cares, our burdens is spoken of in other scriptures. Psalm 55, 22, cast thy burden upon the Lord and he shall sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. Proverbs 16, 3. Commit thy works unto the Lord and thy thoughts shall be established. And then that verse again that Peter has in 1 Peter 5, 7. Casting, casting all your care upon him for he careth for you. How much unnecessary worry believers would save themselves if they would only but commit their concerns and their course of life and their cares onto the Lord. Brother, sister, have you begun a new job in recent days? And you're worrying about all that that entails? Why not, whenever we come to the time of prayer, why not commit your way unto the Lord? Are you soon to marry? You may be worrying about that. Well, why not come in the time of prayer to commit your way unto the Lord? Is there some big change maybe coming into your family and you're concerned about it? Why not in the time of prayer? Why not commit your way onto the Lord? Maybe you're going to be moving school. Maybe not this year, but in a few years' time. and maybe down the road you're being asked well what are you going to do and what subjects are you going to choose for GCSEs and A-levels and then where are you going to go? Are you going to go into employment? Are you going to do an apprenticeship? Are you going to go into third tier education? And maybe tonight you don't know and it concerns you and you're fretting about it. Why not tonight? Why not roll and commit your way onto the Lord? Is there some doctor's appointment, maybe some medical procedure on the horizon, and you're fretting about it and you're lying on your bed, worried about it at nighttime when everyone else is sleeping? Well, why not come in the time of prayer to commit your way onto the Lord? Maybe you've been gone seeking God's will for your life, and you're worried what God might ask you to do. Well, why not, when we come to the time of prayer, commit your way onto the Lord? May God help you to do that. And then whenever you do that, you'll be able to do something else. Because it goes on to say now in verse number seven, point number five, we are, when evil men, whenever they rise and whenever they prosper, we are to rest in the Lord. Rest in the Lord. The word means keep silent, be dumb. Hold your peace. Be still. The idea behind the word rest is not that we go to sleep, but rather that the Christian doesn't murmur. He doesn't repine. He doesn't argue with God with the seeming prosperity off the wicket. Why can the child of God rest? Why can they be quiet when the Lord or rest in the Lord when the wicked prosper. Well, they can do so because of what we read in verse number nine. For evildoers shall be cut off, but those that wait upon the Lord shall inherit the earth. The mindset of resting, it's followed on or followed up by then in the verse number eight saying that we are to cease from anger. God is instructing us that we're not to be overwhelmed with bitterness because of the state of the world. Ultimately, his purposes will be fulfilled, and those who do evil will be punished, and the believer will come to what? To inherit the earth. And so, child of God, here's the antidote for your fretting. When wicked men prosper, remember their end, but at the same time, remember your end their end is that they will be destroyed cut off your end is that you'll inherit the earth remember their end remember your end and then one final quick thought when evildoers prosper we are to wait patiently for and we are to wait on the lord verse number seven No, it's not verse number 7, it's verse number 34 anyway. What verse is it? Number 7, the second part it is. seven fret not thyself ah yes sorry rest in the lord and wait patiently for him there it is and then look at verse number 34 wait in the lord and keep his way he and shall exalt you to inherit the land with the when the wicked are cut off thou shalt see it folks you come to learn very early on in your christian life that god doesn't work to your schedule and that God doesn't work to your timetable. We are impatient beings. We like things to happen now, today, immediately. We're the generation of instant things, instant photographs, instant coffee, instant meals. And that rolls into our lives and into our thinking. with regard to how God works and God's timing, God's delays. But we must remember that God has his timetable that he is working to, brethren and sisters. And in the intervening time, we are to wait on the Lord in prayer, and we are to wait then for the Lord by faith. Thomas Watson gave this advice to those who have waited and waited, and yet nothing seems to be happening. He said this, while we are waiting, let us take heed of wavering. Don't allow your faith to waver while you wait. Pray on. Mother, pray on. Father, pray on. Brother, sister, pray on. Wait patiently, yes. also wait expectantly. We're to wait patiently for the Lord, and we are to wait on the Lord. And so while evildoers and workers of iniquity prosper in the world, we're not to fret, but instead we're to trust in the Lord. We're to just keep on doing that which is good, We're to delight ourselves in the Lord. We're to commit our ways unto the Lord. We're to rest in the Lord. We're to wait patiently for, and we are to wait patiently on the Lord. May God help us. May God help us and enable us to follow the directives given to us here in the psalm. And may he deliver us from our fretting and deliver us from our worrying as we do so. May the Lord bless his word and may it be a comfort and a help to all of our hearts even in these days. Let's bow our heads in a word of prayer briefly. Our gracious and our good God in heaven, we thank thee for counsel and instruction given here in the psalm to what we're to do when evil abounds. and the workers of iniquity find themselves promoted and advanced in society. O God, we cry to Thee that Thou wilt help us to follow this counsel. And Lord, we pray that we'll remember it. Lord, whenever we turn our radios on, whenever we read the news headlines, whenever we sit and listen to the news reporters and we see the advancement of wickedness in our nation and in our world, We pray that we'll remember these things, that we'll trust in our God. We'll commit the matter into God's hand. We'll wait for Him, for His intervention. Lord, for God to come and deal with our enemies, and then for God to exalt the righteous. O God, we believe Thy Word. We live by faith, and Lord, we pray that we'll continue to do that even in these days. And so bless thy good word to our hearts, and encourage us now as we come soon to seek the Lord. We offer prayer in and through your Savior's holy and precious name.