I. Introduction
This is the final week of our four-week series in the beginning of Psalm 37. Let’s read, one more time, the 7 verses. (Read Psalm 37:1-7). We have already discussed the first three statements that the Psalmist says to do wither in or to the Lord. We have talked about what it means to Trust in the Lord, Delight yourself in the Lord, and Commit your way to the Lord. Now we must take the last piece from the Psalmist. Today, we will discuss what it means to Rest in the Lord.
II. Being silent before the Lord
a. First of all, we need to realize that we spend way too much time talking.
i. Have you ever known a person that seems like they won’t just shut up for a while?
ii. What did you think of this person?
1. Were they annoying?
a. When a person talks to much, it wears on you.
2. Did they constantly speak on subjects they have little/no knowledge about but pretended as if they were an expert on the subject?
a. We all know someone like this.
b. We all tend to ignore that person completely after they have done this for a while, even if they speak on a subject on which they have great knowledge.
3. Did they become divisively opinionated and not be open to discussion with an open mind?
a. Close-minded statements like “I’m always right” or “I’ve already made up my mind.”
iii. Talking too much leads to a one-sided conversation where the person who can’t get a word in edgewise resents the other.
iv. Ecclesiastes 5:2-3
1. God is warning us not to talk too much or be overly talkative. Notice that “a fool’s voice is known by his many words.” This isn’t saying not to have long conversations or anything like that, but rather to listen to others and not have one-sided conversations.
2. Also notice that talking too much and too one-sidedly hurts our reputation with others.
a. This is important when witnessing. When our reputation is damaged, so is our witness.
b. We need to learn to listen more.
i. A wise person once said to me, “God made you with two ears and one mouth, so you should be listening twice as much as you are speaking.”
ii. James 1:19 says, “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.”
iii. What happens when we don’t listen well to God?
1. We may not hear what God is telling us.
a. You might as well be ignoring His word altogether.
2. We run the risk of only hearing part of the message.
a. A partial truth is, sometimes, more dangerous than an outright lie. For example, Satan knew in the Garden of Eden that God forbade eating fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but he twisted it into a partial truth when he asked Eve if they may not eat of any of the trees in the Garden.
3. We are put at risk of believing false doctrine.
a. When we don’t completely listen to God, we run the risk of believing only partial truths, which are not the whole truth, and therefore wrong.
iv. What happens when we do take time to be silent before the Lord and listen?
1. We are able to come to a proper and true faith in Jesus Christ.
a. Romans 10:17 “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
2. We gain instruction.
a. How are we to serve the Lord?
b. How are we to live?
c. What does Jesus expect of us?
3. We gain wisdom and instruction.
a. Psalm 1:1-7
III. Be Still Before the Lord
a. We tend to live in a “go, go, go” society.
i. People are always on the move and always busy doing something.
ii. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve invited someone to Church service or some Church function only for them to tell me “I’m too busy to make it.”
iii. Are you too busy for God?
b. We need to take time to rejuvenate ourselves both physically and spiritually.
i. Why did God institute the Sabbath?
1. Exodus 20:8-11
2. This verse shows that God rested for a day after the work of creation.
a. Did he have to rest? No.
b. He rested to make an example for us to follow.
3. We aren’t God and we do need rest.
4. Medically speaking, not resting can cause high blood pressure, anxiety, depression, heart attacks, as well as many other health problems.
5. We need to rest physically
ii. As important as it is to rest physically, we also need spiritual rest.
1. We live in a society that shoves sin down our throats every single day. (Television, Magazines, Music, Billboards, etc.)
a. When I was in England, it wasn’t anything for a poster in the park to have a picture of a naked woman on it.
b. There is a reason they say “sex sells.”
2. We need spiritual rest from the sin of the world.
3. How do we recharge Spiritually?
a. Philippians 4:6-7
i. Praying and talking to God will allow us to be alleviated of the world’s sinfulness.
b. Lay your burdens at the feet of Jesus.
i. Matthew 11:28-30
c. Spend time in the presence of God and His Word.
i. He promised Moses in Exodus 33:14, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
d. Simply acknowledge God as God.
i. Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”
IV. Finally, we must wait on the Lord.
a. We can do nothing on our own and if we tried, it wouldn’t be good enough.
i. God promises to help us, but we must wait on Him and be patient.
1. Isaiah 40:31
2. Psalm 27:14
ii. God’s timing is perfect and ours is not. Therefore, we must not settle for what we can do, but wait on the Lord and for His perfect plan.
V. Conclusion
Today, we have talked about what it means to rest in the Lord. We must take time to listen and be silent before the Lord, we must be still before the Lord, and we must wait for the Lord. If you do these things, you will be able to fully rest in the Lord. As we end this series through the first 7 verses of Psalm 37, let’s take the things that we have learned and apply them to ourselves. Remember always to Trust in the Lord, delight yourself in the Lord, Commit your ways to the Lord, and Rest in the Lord.
