"Waiting for the Lord"
Psalms 37:34-40
Sept. 26, 2004 PM
Icebreaker:
When are you the most anxious?
34 Wait for the LORD and keep his way.
He will exalt you to inherit the land;
when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.
35 I have seen a wicked and ruthless man
flourishing like a green tree in its native soil,
36 but he soon passed away and was no more;
though I looked for him, he could not be found.
37 Consider the blameless, observe the upright;
there is a future for the man of peace.
38 But all sinners will be destroyed;
the future of the wicked will be cut off.
39 The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD;
he is their stronghold in time of trouble.
40 The LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him. (NIV)
Introduction:
Someone once said:
Patience is a virtue,
Possess it if you can.
Found seldom in a woman,
Never in a man.
To those Christians who are always in a hurry, here’s some good advice from the 19th-century preacher A.B. Simpson:
"Beloved, have you ever thought that someday you will not have anything to try you, or anyone to vex you again? There will be no opportunity in heaven to learn or to show the spirit of patience, forbearance, and longsuffering. If you are to practice these things, it must be now." Yes, each day affords countless opportunities to learn patience. Let’s not waste them.
Patience is recommended.
The elderly appear to have more of this virtue than the young. Waiting for the Lord constitutes an act of faith. This is not an easy proverb to follow since we are such activists. Like Job, we, too, need to learn that it is more important to trust God than to have answers to all our questions.
Those who trust in the Lord find that he helps them, delivers them, and saves them (v. 40). God takes care of his own.
I. Patience give us our reward. (Vs 34-36)
34 Wait for the LORD and keep his way.
He will exalt you to inherit the land;
when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.
35 I have seen a wicked and ruthless man
flourishing like a green tree in its native soil,
36 but he soon passed away and was no more;
though I looked for him, he could not be found.
A. Patience - 34 Wait for the LORD
Heb 12:1
12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. (NIV)
Hebrews 12:1 tells us to "run with perseverance" the race set before us. George Matheson wrote, "We commonly associate patience with lying down. We think of it as the angel that guards the couch of the invalid. Yet there is a patience that I believe to be harder -- the patience that can run. To lie down in the time of grief, to be quiet under the stroke of adverse fortune, implies a great strength; but I know of something that implies a strength greater still: it is the power to work under stress; to have a great weight at your heart and still run; to have a deep anguish in your spirit and still perform the daily tasks. It is a Christ-like thing! The hardest thing is that most of us are called to exercise our patience, not in the sickbed but in the street." To wait is hard, to do it with "good courage" is harder!
Perseverance NT:5281
hupomone (hoop-om-on-ay’); cheerful (or hopeful) endurance, constancy:
KJV - enduring, patience, patient continuance (waiting).
Isa 40:31
31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint. (NIV)
B. The Way - 34 and keep his way
1. Follow the way - read the instructions
Psalms 119:105
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light for my path. (NIV)
Illustration:
Migratory birds in the U.S. were tagged by the Department of the Interior with metal strips reading "Wash. Biol. Surv."--for Washington Biological Survey. The code was changed, so the story goes, after a farmer from Arkansas wrote to the department: "Dear Sirs, I shot one of your crows, My wife followed the cooking instructions attached--she washed it, boiled it and served it. It was the worst thing we ever ate."
At my auto repair shop, I find few people read the owner’s manual and even know how to turn on the air conditioner or heater.
Do you read the God’s instruction manual?
Heb 12:1-3
2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Heb 12:12-13
12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13 "Make level paths for your feet," so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed. (NIV) a quote from Prov 4:26
C. The destruction of the wicked will be witnessed
34b when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.
35 I have seen a wicked and ruthless man
flourishing like a green tree in its native soil,
36 but he soon passed away and was no more;
though I looked for him, he could not be found.
In ancient Israel when someone had broken the Law, they were brought before the whole nation and punished.
I think that today if we saw state execution, we might have less crime.
There is coming a day when the whole world will watch the punishment of the wicked.
Rev 20:11-15
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (NIV)
II. Peace is our future. (Vs 37-38)
37 Consider the blameless, observe the upright;
there is a future for the man of peace.
38 But all sinners will be destroyed;
the future of the wicked will be cut off.
A. Be a man of peace
Heb 12:14
14 Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy
(NIV)
Telemachus was a monk who lived in the 4th century. He felt God saying to him, "Go to Rome." He was in a cloistered monastery. He put his possessions in a sack and set out for Rome. When he arrived in the city, people were thronging in the streets. He asked why all the excitement and was told that this was the day that the gladiators would be fighting and killing each other in the coliseum, the day of the games, the circus. He thought to himself, "Four centuries after Christ and they are still killing each other, for enjoyment?" He ran to the coliseum and heard the gladiators saying, "Hail to Ceasar, we die for Ceasar" and he thought, "this isn’t right." He jumped over the railing and went out into the middle of the field, got between two gladiators, held up his hands and said "In the name of Christ, forbear." The crowd protested and began to shout, "Run him through, Run him through." A gladiator came over and hit him in the stomach with the back of his sword. It sent him sprawling in the sand. He got up and ran back and again said, "In the name of Christ, forbear." The crowd continued to chant, "Run him through." One gladiator came over and plunged his sword through the little monk’s stomach and he fell into the sand, which began to turn crimson with his blood. One last time he gasped out, "In the name of Christ forbear." A hush came over the 80,000 people in the coliseum. Soon a man stood and left, then another and more, and within minutes all 80,000 had emptied out of the arena. It was the last known gladiatorial contest in the history of Rome. Source Unknown.
B. The wicked will be cut off
38 But all sinners will be destroyed;
the future of the wicked will be cut off.
III. Protection is from the Lord (Vs 39-40)
39 The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD; he is their stronghold in time of trouble. (NIV)
A. Salvation comes from the Lord
1. Repentance
Luke 5:32
32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." (NIV)
Rom 3:23
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (NIV)
2. Confession:
Rom 10:8-9
9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.(NIV)
3. Call:
Rom 10:13
13 for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (NIV)
B. A stronghold is our Lord:
he is their stronghold in time of trouble.
He is able even in the time of trouble. We are secure in Him.
2 Tim 1:12
12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day. (NIV)
Heb 13:5
because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." (NIV)
Conclusion:
40 The LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.
John Paton was a missionary in the New Hebrides Islands. One night hostile natives surrounded the mission station, intent on burning out the Patons and killing them. Paton and his wife prayed during that terror-filled night that God would deliver them. When daylight came they were amazed to see their attackers leave. A year later, the chief of the tribe was converted to Christ. Remembering what had happened, Paton asked the chief what had kept him from burning down the house and killing them. The chief replied in surprise, "Who were all those men with you there?" Paton knew no men were present--but the chief said he was afraid to attack because he had seen hundreds of big men in shining garments with drawn swords circling the mission station. (Today in the Word, MBI, October, 1991, p. 18.)
This portion of Psalms 38: teaches us that:
I. Patience give us our reward. (Vs 34-36)
II. Peace is our future. (Vs 37-38)
III. Protection is from the Lord (Vs 39-40)
Where do you stand tonight:
