Another very encouraging chapter, similar to Psalm 34, and it's explaining the fact
that even though when we look around at wicked people that seem to be prospering, everything's
going their way, they seem to be on the winning side, and it seems that those that are serving
God and doing the most for God and really suffering for the cause of Christ seem to
have everything working against them.
It can be discouraging, that's the way we find ourselves in life many times, but yet
God is explaining in this passage that if we look at the big picture, eventually the
wicked will be cut off.
They will be destroyed.
God has set them in slippery places, the Bible says in Psalm 73.
They are not one that you would want to look at in envy and say, oh, I wish I were more
like so and so.
Because of the fact that their end is destruction, and according to the Bible, if you serve God,
you're going to end up in peace and prosperity and righteousness in the long run.
Not today, not tomorrow, but eventually God will answer your prayers, God will give you
the desires of your heart, God will lead you into the place that he wants you to be.
Look at verse number one, it says, fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou
envious against the workers of iniquity.
Now you remember what Jesus said in Matthew 7, depart from me ye workers of iniquity.
He said, depart from me, I never knew you, ye that work iniquity, paraphrasing, but basically
what he's saying here is, don't envy the unbelievers of this world that are evil, that harm others.
He's saying, they are going to be cut down like the grass, it says in verse two.
And he says, for they shall soon be cut down like the grass.
You see, our life is just a vapor that appears for a little time and it vanishes away.
I mean, no matter how prosperous someone is in life, what shall it profit a man if he
shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?
I mean, why would you envy someone who's on their way to hell?
No matter how much good they have in this life, no matter how much money or popularity
or pleasure they have, they're going to spend eternity damned in hell.
Why would you envy them?
You ought to envy, look at verse number 37, it says, mark the perfect man and behold the
upright for the end of that man is peace.
That's who you ought to be looking at and saying, boy, that's whose shoes I'd like to
be in.
The righteous man, the godly man, he doesn't have the money, he may not drive a fancy car,
he may not be popular or loved, but the end of that man is peace.
That man's going to heaven.
That man is also going to get the rewards when he gets to heaven and he's going to be
exalted together with Jesus Christ for all eternity.
That ought to be the role model.
That ought to be the person that we're looking to, not the worldly stars and popular people
of this world that are loved today by the world, but tomorrow their name is going to
be an execration and a byword because the memory of the wicked shall rot.
I mean, think about it, you look at people throughout history who've been popular and
loved.
Joseph Stalin, you say, Joseph Stalin, good night.
They worshiped that guy for years in Russia, statues, parades, pictures, I mean, they literally
worshiped him like a god, but today he is hated, execrated, he's looked at as one of
the most wicked, evil people who ever lived, you know, Adolf Hitler, the same way.
There was a time when they worshiped Adolf Hitler, didn't they?
But today his name has just become synonymous with evil.
You see, the memory of the wicked shall rot, the Bible says.
Look at verse number 3.
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 new day.
Now that sounds great because he's saying that if we trust God, if we put our faith
in him, if we don't get caught up in looking at other worldly people's success and saying
let me copy their success, whether right or wrong, let me look to Donald Trump, let me
look to Mr. Kiyosaki, whatever that Japanese guy that has all the money conferences and
so forth.
Let me look to these worldly people and I want to copy their success through usury,
through gambling, through all these other wicked enterprises that people like that are
involved in.
Look, you shouldn't look at them and try to copy the success of ungodly people.
You should say, you know what, I'm just going to trust God, I'm just going to keep doing
what I'm doing, I'm going to work hard, I'm going to go to work, I'm going to go soul
winning, I'm going to read the Bible, I'm going to pray, I'm going to do the right thing,
and God will bless me and give me the desires of my heart.
I believe that.
And God is saying that He will step in and help you and bless you, but here's the part
that we need to get in verse 7, rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him.
See the problem is that God's blessings don't come overnight.
It's not something where you can just try it, like I'm going to try serving God and
see how the blessings come in, I'm going to go to church for a while, go soul winning,
pay my tithe, read the Bible, pray, and I'm just going to see how it goes, I'm going to
test it out for six months.
Don't even waste the six months, just don't even try it, because it's not going to work.
Because God is not a fast food restaurant, it's something that takes time of waiting
patiently and diligently, faithfully, enduring, the Bible says, be not weary in well doing,
He says, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not.
Look at Isaac, he prayed for twenty years that his wife would become pregnant, his wife
Rebecca who was barren, and after twenty years that prayer was answered, and yet we prayed
and expect God to answer it in a week, two weeks, three, Daniel prayed, it took three
weeks to get the answer, three weeks for a very simple answer to prayer.
A child being born into Isaac's household took twenty years, but look at the son that
he had, Jacob was a great man of God, a prince, who's ever heard the name Israel before, do
you think that probably ninety-nine percent of people in this world have heard that name
Israel?
That was the son that he prayed twenty years to have, the child of promise, and so we ought
not think that God's just going to come in overnight, and here's the other thing, sometimes
people will live a life of sin for like twenty years, thirty years, and then all of a sudden
they start doing what's right for three months, it's like, God, what are you doing?
The sad thing is, sometimes you have to pay the price for past sins and lifestyle and
so forth, you can't just expect God to just immediately jump your head to you, let me
give you a perfect example, people will put their wife on birth control pills, for year
after year after year after year, not wanting the blessings of God, not wanting to have
a child, and then after seven, eight years of birth control, okay God, I'm ready to have
a child now, and they just expect to instantly get pregnant, and after eight or nine months
they're crying and God's not fair, and this is horrible, and I need to go to the fertility
clinic and make test tube babies, and so forth, look, wait on the Lord, if you're pumped full
of birth control for eight years, maybe God's going to make you wait eight years to have
a child, or maybe you just lost the opportunity to ever have a child, you know, God doesn't
owe you anything, and when God looks down and sees you saying, no, I'm going to do it
my way, I'm going to do it the world's way, I'm going to do it Walgreens way, then you
know, he might just look down and say, okay, fine, you know, you may have just missed the
window of God's opportunity in your life, you know, and that's not a popular thing to
preach, I'm not trying to rip on anything or be rude, I'm just trying to tell you the
truth, I just want you to know the truth, but the good news is, not that, oh, I guess
I've blown it in life, no, if you do what's right today, I don't care what your past is,
if you'll follow the Lord, if you'll delight yourself in Him, if you'll commit your way
unto Him, He'll give you the desires of your heart, you're just going to have to wait patiently
for it, and it takes patience, if it didn't take patience, He'd just say wait for it,
He said wait patiently for it, because it's never easy to wait, no one likes waiting,
who just loves to wait for things, like, man, I just, don't give it to me now, give it to
me later, I want to wait, I want to earn it, you know, no, people want it now, but
the thing is, when you're serving God, you have to be in it for the long haul, you can't
just have a trial mentality, saying I'm going to try it out, I'm going to try out faithful
word, I'm going to try out soul winning, you know what, to really see the increase, to
really see God's blessings, you have to be in it for the decades, not just a week or
a month or a year, read the Bible, seems like things happen in decades in the Bible, I mean
people waited for things, and sometimes when we read the Bible, it seems like it's moving
really fast, because when we turn the page, you know, 30 years went by, 50 years went
by, and it only took us two minutes to read it, and then we want God to answer us two
minutes later, you know, but it's not two minutes, it's 20 years, it's 30 years, and
so this is an encouraging psalm, because it lets you know that look, maybe things aren't
going your way right now, and a lot of people are going through a hard time right now, a
lot of different types of hard time, health problems, people are going through financial
problems, I mean lots of people are going through financial problems, people are having
marital problems perhaps, or children problems, whatever the problems may be, you've just
got to understand, believe that God will bless you if you do the right thing, seek ye first
the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you,
and don't pattern yourself after all, now as a church, we can say, you know, we want
to have some of the success of the big community church, or the big, you know, bible church,
and the first assembly church, and you know, these big mega churches, I need somebody who
wants to volunteer to go down there and check out what they're doing and come back and tell
me so we can start doing it, can somebody do that, you know, go visit some services,
tell me what they're doing so we can start patterning ourselves, maybe we can duplicate
some of their numerical success, you know, I don't want to, they can have their stupid
success, they can have their big crowd of people, most of whom aren't even saved, you
know what I mean, they can have their big crowd that shows up on Sunday morning on a
little fashion show, never goes out and does any work for God, never knocks a single door,
does not read the bible cover to cover, does not have sweet hour prayer, just has a little
talk with Jesus, hey, I want to have a church that's patterned after the word of God, not
patterned after the word, I'm not going to say, oh man, look at all the, they have to
pick her up, man, we must be doing something wrong, no, they're doing something wrong.
They're doing something wrong, and you know what, God will bless Faithful Word Baptist
Church if we stay on the course, if we stay with it, and stay with God's word, stay with
the bible, stay with His methods, His message, His kind of preaching, and don't tone it down
and say, well, let's copy so and so, because He's successful, you know what, if that's
what success is, then my goal is not success, my goal is righteousness, you know, my goal
is soul winning, my goal is for people to be saved, and so I'm just going to stick with
what I'm doing, you know, and the only thing I would do is just get more conformed to God's
word, that's what I ought to be trying to do, but not trying to conform to the evil
doer, not trying to conform to the worldly, and you know what, the wicked, and by the
way, that's what these big mega churches are, and look, I have nothing against a big
church, because there are some big churches that are fundamental Baptist and winning souls,
and they're independent, and they preach God's word, nothing wrong with being big,
I mean look at the bible, they had great big churches right in the book of Acts with thousands
of people in it, you know, man, I hope that someday our church has thousands of people
in it, that'd be great, praise God, hallelujah, nothing wrong with being a big church, unless
you're a big rock concert church, unless you're a big church that's filled with fornicators
and whoremongers, see I'm not interested in that, the bible says you should throw out
every fornicator and whoremonger out of your church, anybody ever read that in the bible,
first Corinthians Bible, it says kick out all these wicked people because a little leaven
leavens the whole lot, first Corinthians 5, wherefore put away from among yourselves that
wicked person, why would I want to go to a church that's filled with fornicators, why
would I want to go to a church that's filled with unbelievers, why would I want to go to
a church where people don't even know what they believe, they don't even know what bible
they're using, they're using all different so called versions, perversions of the bible,
why would I want to go to that kind of a church, let alone pastor it, I wouldn't want to go
there, and so the point is that I'm not going to pattern myself after the world when it
comes to pastoring this church, when it comes to my personal life, when it comes to my marriage,
I'm going to listen to God's word and God's people, I'm not going to listen to some worldly
marriage counsellor, I will not go to a psychiatrist or a psychologist, you say but pastor you're
crazy, I'm not going to go, I won't do it, I don't need marriage counselling from the
world, I don't need marriage counselling from anybody except Jesus, and don't come to me
for your marriage counselling, figure it out yourself for crying out loud, I have my marriage
counseling and that's all I'm going to worry about, you deal with your problems, people
come to me and say do you do marriage counseling, and I'm like no, and they just start talking
to me about it anyways, it's like no, because almost every pastor in the world, oh come
on in, lie down on the couch, tell me how bad your wife is, and then the wife comes
in and says how bad the husband is, you married her, you married him, have fun, figure it
out, hey I figured it out, so anyway, we don't want to ever look at the world and use
them as a role model or a pattern, and you say well they're successful, doesn't matter,
they just look like they're successful, when they're like a green bay tree spreading
themselves, look at verse 35, I've seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself
like a green bay tree, yet he passed away, and lo he was not, yet I saw him but he could
not be found, you know the weed springs up overnight, I'm not talking about weed now,
but the weed springs up overnight, but you know what, it's also gone in the night, you
know how fast weeds can grow sometimes, I mean you'll go out of town for a few days
and come back and the weeds will just grow like you wouldn't believe, but trees take
a long time to grow, they don't just spring up overnight, it's a very slow process, but
then boy they really take off eventually, I've talked about it before but when I was
a child we used to race trees, in my grandparents house, we would go to my grandparents house,
they lived in the pine trees, we would find a tree that was our exact height, and that
would be our tree, and we would race it, and we would see who grew faster, and at first
we'd kind of be growing a little bit faster than the trees sometimes, but then pretty
soon the tree was 30 feet tall, but the trees started out growing slowly, the weed just
springs up, but guess what, just a little weed eater, just gone, you know, a little
bit of round up, it's done, spray a little round up on a tree, it's not going anywhere,
you can't kill a giant tree with round up, I don't know, maybe if you put enough on I
guess, I don't know, and don't get into GMOs, but the point is, you can use a little round
up, go up to a weed eater, or to a big oak tree with a weed eater, you know, you're going
to go through a lot of that plastic cable before you ever cut that thing down, and you
see that's the way it is with anything real, you see things spring up overnight, you know,
you see the big mega church spring up overnight, but then it's gone in the night, when the
fad passes, you know, when the fun church is no longer in style, then it passes away,
you know, same thing with riches, you know, the bible says that riches are temporary,
you know, you can make all the money and have it all, you know, a good friend of my
dad's was very wealthy, he owned multiple houses, multiple fancy cars, I mean, he was
very wealthy, today he lives as a homeless person, literally, I mean he went from being
very wealthy like hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars of property, and today
he lives as a homeless person, okay, because, you know, things don't last when they're of
this world, and by the way, you can't take it with you anyway when you die, no matter
how long you can hang on to it in this world, but even in this world, moth and rust corrupt
and the thieves break through and steal, and so don't set your eyes upon that which is
not, and trust in uncertain riches, but trust in the living God, who richly giveth us all
things to enjoy, the bible says this, verse 7, rest in the Lord and wait patiently for
him, fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, which is the wrong
way, he says because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass, cease from anger and
forsake wrath, fret not thyself and any wise to do evil, now keep your finger there and
look at Ephesians chapter 4, keep your finger in Psalm 37, look at Ephesians chapter 4,
now it says here in Psalm 37, it says in verse 8, cease from anger, now what does that
mean, cease from anger, what does that mean, stop being angry, right, you can say don't
be angry, but really what it means is stop being angry, because cease means to stop doing
something that you were doing, you know, cease from anger, ok, and forsake wrath, fret not
thyself and any wise to do evil, ok, we'll look at Ephesians chapter 4, you'll find the
same concept, it says in verse 26, be ye angry, see anger is not a sin, if it is a sin then
Jesus sinned, because Jesus was angry, the Bible spells out many times that Jesus was
angry, it even used the word Jesus looking on them with anger, you know, Jesus was angry,
and the Bible says here be ye angry and sin not, so apparently it's possible to be angry
and not sin, and then God tells us how, let not the sun go down upon your wrath, so it
is a sin to just constantly harbor anger in your heart, right, because if God is saying
let not the sun go down upon your wrath, and I let the sun go down upon my wrath, have
I not violated God's word and have I not therefore sinned, if I'm angry from day to day, am I
not in sin, because I did not heed the commandment to not let the sun go down on my wrath, and
so it's a command of God here in Psalm 37, the same thing, cease from anger and forsake
wrath, why? Because if we let anger fester with us, within us, day after day and from
day unto day, then we will end up eventually doing evil, do you see that, because he says,
you know, cease from anger and forsake wrath, fret not thyself in any wise to do evil, for
evildoers shall be cut off, but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the
earth for yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be, yea, they shall diligently consider
its place, and it shall not be, but the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight
themselves in the abundance of peace, and so if you just let yourself just be angry
from day to day, maybe toward a specific person, who's done you wrong, or maybe toward just
the way our country's going, you know, or just toward your job and the way they mistreat
you, whatever it is, if you let anger fester, eventually you're going to want to take vengeance,
you want to take revenge, you know, you're going to want to settle the score and you're
going to show them and take things into your own hands, whereas God said, look, just let
it go, you know, and by the way, you'll live a longer life, you'll be healthier too, because
stress and anger and rage in you, it actually is detrimental to your health. People who
can't relax, I've noticed that when I've had a very stressful day, let's say if I were
a little bit sick, and then stress enters in, you get worse. You know, my neck has been
injured in the past, so my neck gets sore, I've noticed that when I get stressed out
and agitated and angry about something, it gets worse. Headaches get worse, everything
gets worse. You've got to learn to just relax, and peace comes from God. The peace, the Bible
says, be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving,
let your requests be made known unto God, and the peace of God which passeth all understanding
shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. So basically you can have peace in
your life where no matter how angry you are, and sometimes, you know, we ought to be angry.
God said, be ye angry. You know, there are times when anger is justified, but you know
what, you have to be able to put off anger, as the Bible says, to give place unto wrath,
not to just live as an angry person. The Bible says you don't want to even hang around people
that are just angry all the time, because it will rub off on you and you'll become a
very angry, bitter person. You've got to be able to, at the end of the day, when the sun
goes down, just say, you know what, I had a really bad day at work not too long ago,
terrible day at work, but you know, when it was time to go home from work, I did the best
I could to just forget about it, relax, take it easy, enjoy the evening, enjoy a meal,
you know, enjoy the relaxation, and just take it easy and just have peace. Because I just
say, you know what, God's going to take care of it. It'll be all right. And that peace
is always something that a Christian can really have, and to know that it really is going
to be okay, because they're trusting in God. He's going to take care of it, and they don't
have to fret and worry. That's what fretting means, to be able to worry or just to become
all bent out of shape about something. And so, don't let anger fester in you, don't just
have this root of bitterness springing up in you that just grows and just festers. Let
things go. And when people do you wrong, let it go. Forgive. Just let it go, don't worry
about it. Be like Stephen, you know, Lord, laying out the sin under their charge. Like
Jesus, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. You know, and when things
are going horrible, you've got to be able to just say, you know what, I'm saved, I'm
going to heaven, so what, whatever, you know. The Lord gave and the Lord had taken away,
blessed be the name of the Lord. And just be able to just be at peace. And you know,
He's, oh man, just make me so mad at these people, you know. It's like, you know what,
they're going to get what's coming to them. Everybody will get what's coming to them eventually.
Accept your brother in Christ. But you know what, if you're mad at Him, just let it go.
You know what I mean? Just lighten up. Forgive Him 490 times, Jesus said. He said 70 times
seven times you forgive your brother in Christ. And the one who's not your brother, you don't
have to get bent out of shape about Him because He's going to hell, okay. And the one that
is your brother in Christ, just forgive Him again. That's what the Bible teaches. And
so this will actually add years to your life, literally. Because when you're all worked
up and everything, it's bad for your health. You've got to be able to put off anger and
just relax, take it easy and calm down. You know, I remember when I've been to the doctor
a long time ago and they have a little questionnaire, you know, when you're a first time patient.
And any time I've ever been to the doctor, I was always a first time patient. Because
I go to the doctor so seldom that it's been like a decade and I'm in a different state
and you know, I don't know who my doctor was, you know. I kind of know what his name kind
of rhymed with but it was so long ago, type of thing. You know, you fill out that new
questionnaire. I remember I was filling out one of these one time and it asked me if I
had a prayer or meditation, you know, prayer or meditation or you know, it was like listing
these different things, you know. And it's just funny because obviously I'm not doing
transcendental meditation. You know, if you do yoga and all this stuff, tai chi. But you
know what, even the medical world is just recognizing the fact that people who know
how to just take it easy and relax for a little bit, whether it be praying to God, you know,
which is the right way obviously to cast all your care upon Him. But even the world knows
that people who just never get something off their chest at all can never relax, you know
and have peace in their life are going to be less healthy. That's why the doctors even
ask me about that. And obviously, you know, again, I'm not saying that meditation and
yoga is a substitute. That's just the devil's cheap imitation for, you know, the real peace
that comes from God. Because you know, if you're an unbeliever anyway, you can have
all the peace you want but you don't know that everything's going to turn out right.
You know what I mean? These promises don't apply to you. But if you're trusting the Lord,
if you're delighting in Him, then you can claim these promises and say, you know what,
God's going to give me the desires of my heart. God is going to make it come to pass for me.
And you know what, sometimes the desires of your heart today are not really the desires
of your heart tomorrow anyway. If you think about it, the righteous person has right desires.
And the ungodly person has the wrong desires. God's not saying, you know, you know that
car that you always wanted? Just stay in church, eventually you'll drive that car.
You know that house that you always wanted to live in? That big mansion? You know, just
stay with serving God, you'll get there. That's not what he's saying. Because you know, the
righteous person is not just lusting after money and coveting things. You know what I
mean? Get the right desires. Desire that which is right and God will give you the desires
of your heart if you faint not. You know, there are a lot of righteous desires that
we have though. You know, and obviously there are a lot of right things that we could want
out of this life. And God will take care of us. God wants us to be happy and to have joy.
He's not trying to withhold from us. The Bible says he'll not withhold from his servants
any good thing. And so, just stay with it is what he's saying. Let's keep going in the
chapter a little bit. The Bible says in verse 11, but the meek shall inherit the earth.
You remember that from Matthew chapter 5, blessed are the meek for they shall inherit
the earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. The wicked ploddeth
against the just. Now get that through your head, okay? The wicked ploddeth against the
just. The wicked of this world have a plan. They just love to destroy the just. It's not
an accident. They're not just going about their business. No. Cain wants to kill Abel.
Ishmael wants to persecute Isaac. It's always been that way. It always will be that way
that the wicked ploddeth against the just. The Bible says in Psalm 11, behold the wicked
bend their bow. They make ready their arrow upon the string that they may privily shoot
at the upright in heart. I mean, the Bible says that they are out to be. The Bible says
in Proverbs chapter 6, I believe, that the adulterous will hunt for the precious life.
I mean, the devil is out to get and his people are out to get God's people. It's just like
Haman. Haman can have all the success in the world, but not until Mordecai is bowing down
and worshipping man will Haman be satisfied. And so he says, the wicked ploddeth against
the just and gnash the bottom of his teeth. The Lord shall laugh at him, for he seeeth
that his day is coming. Don't worry, this is all part of the service. I think it should
be. Hello? It's my wife tuning in from home. She's sick at home, so don't mind her. I don't
know why she hung up on me earlier, because she was already tuned in earlier. I don't
know if it was something I said, something I preached, but at least she's not here to
stop me from saying what I need to say. Now she just hung up again. What happened? No,
I'm just kidding. So anyway, it says in verse number 13, the
Lord shall laugh at him, for he seeth that his day is coming. Now think about what that
verse says. Basically, God's up in heaven looking down, and he sees all these wicked
people like, yeah, we're going to destroy the righteous. We're going to get these guys.
We're going to persecute. We're going to make them fall. Yeah. And look at our success.
We're winning the battle. God's just looking down. I'm just laughing. You idiot. You fool.
I mean, it's a joke. The wicked of this world are truly a joke. I mean, they look so important,
don't they? I mean, think about the wicked people of this world, Barack Obama. Let's
get on him for a while. You know, he looks so important, doesn't he? He's got his fancy
suits on. You know, God's looking down at him, and he's just laughing at him. You know
what I mean? With God, one day is like a thousand years. He looks at Barack Obama's little couple
of years in the sun. You know, a couple of years in the limelight. You know, wow, your
face is on a plate in Bed Bath and Beyond. You know, commemorative Barack Obama plate.
And now the price has been marked down. You know what I mean? God's laughing at that plate
right now. He looks down from heaven and laughs at these people who just think that they've
got the world by a tail. He looks at Donald Trump's haircut and laughs tonight. Okay?
He looks down and just says, you know, you fool. He looked down at the man in Luke Chapter
11, I believe it is. It might have been Chapter 12, where he was going to build a bigger barn,
and he's just going to lay up all these treasures, and he just said, I'm just going to eat, drink,
and be married. He just retired. I mean, he worked his whole life. He paid into his 401K.
He worked and saved and scrimped and been stingy and kept all of his money and just
hoarded it to himself. And he just finally had enough. He's like, this is going to be
great. I can retire and enjoy it. And God just looked at him and said, thou fool, this
night shall thy soul be required of thee, and what shall become of all for which thou
has labored. I mean, isn't that sad? Not really. It's what he deserved. Let's turn to that
story, because there's a statement that Jesus made right after he tells that story, and
I think it fits in well with Psalm 37. Let's look at that story. I believe it's in Psalm,
I mean, Luke 11 might be Chapter 12. Somebody help me out if you find it faster than I do.
Here we go, Chapter 12. Watch what it says here. Let's just read the whole story. It's
a great story. Verse 16, he says, well, let's look at verse 15. And he said to them, this
is Jesus speaking, take heed and beware of covetousness, for a man's life consisteth
not in the abundance of things which he possesses. It's not the one with the most toys wins.
And he spake a parable unto them, saying, the ground of a certain rich man brought forth
plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, what shall I do, because I have no
room where to bestow my fruits. And he said, this will I do. I will pull down my barns
and build greater. And there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods, and I will say
to my soul, soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thy knees, eat, drink,
and be merry. Isn't that great? But God said unto him, thou fool, this night, thy soul
shall be required of thee. Then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?
So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. So that could
be you, he's saying. He's saying that's anybody who layeth up treasure for himself, and is
not rich toward God. Isn't that kind of mean-spirited of God? Call him names. Because we never want
to do any name-calling. But hold on a second. I've got to tell you a funny story. You know
my little niece Erica? I've been telling stories about her a lot lately because my sister's
been feeding me some funny stories about the battle going on between her and her teacher,
Mrs. Dinh. Ha Dinh is her name. You remember the illustrations about the environmentalism
and the notes home and all of that. And I read the letter that my sister wrote back
and so forth. Well, same little niece Erica. She's at the library and my sister is picking
out some books for her to read from the library. This is just the public library. My sister
said there's two libraries. One of them is just like the left-wing communist library
and the other one is the more normal library. So they're at the more liberal left-wing library.
And my sister walks up to the register with this book for Erica to read. And she sets
down and the lady who's working at the library scans the books and she gets to this book.
And I think the book was called Toothless Wonder. And it was just like a book about
a kid losing a tooth. I mean it was just a benign little book. And the librarian said,
yeah, are you sure that you want to get this book? Because most parents don't want their
kids reading this book because it uses some really offensive words in it. And my sister
is like, you know, like what? Like what offensive words does this book use? Because it's a little
kids book. It's not like first grade. It's about a kid losing his tooth. Okay? So she's
thinking, what could it be? And she's like, what words? So the lady leans forward to her
and kind of cups her hand over her mouth and says, you know, like, dumb, stupid. Idiot.
And my sister's like, no, I think I'm just going to go ahead and get it. Yeah. So then
the next time she went to the same library, she found one in the same series that actually
had dumb in the name and brought it up. Like, oh, because you know, it's wrong to say that.
And basically in the book, I guess somebody was talking about the tooth fairy and another
kid said, hey, that's dumb. You know, the tooth fairy's dumb. Let me tell you something.
There are a lot of things in this world that are pretty dumb. You know, Islam is dumb.
Mormonism is dumb. You know, liberalism is dumb. The NIV is dumb. You know, and it's
just like, everybody's just afraid to say anything negative. You know, and they picture
God as just this warm and fuzzy, you know, big Santa Claus, a big, you know, a big old
happy jolly, you know, he knows whether you've been bad or good, but he's going to give you
the presents anyway. You're not going to get a lump of coal in your sock. You're going
to get a lump of coal burning on your head if you don't trust Jesus Christ as your savior.
It's not Santa Claus. You're going to be rained in lumps of coal and fire and brimstone. And
you know, people just have this image of God just all positive when God looks down and
laughs at the wicked and mocks them when he sees their day coming. He says, here's a little
reading assignment for you in case you don't know what God is really like. Read Proverbs
chapter one. Proverbs chapter one. Here's your next assignment. Psalm chapter two. Here's
your assignment. Proverbs one, Psalm two. Both talk about how God's going to look down
and mock and make, and this is in Proverbs one, he'll mock and make fun of and ridicule
and laugh at the wicked when the day of wrath comes. Because God is yes, a God of love.
Yes, he's plenteous in mercy. He's long suffering. He's not willing that any should perish, but
that all should come to repentance. He is not up there just wanting what's wrong. But
you know what? To those who just despise God and just completely blow off God and hate
everything that's right, you know what? He's going to laugh and call them names and send
them to hell. It's true. It's the truth. And if it's not true, then I don't know what we're
doing here tonight preaching out of Proverbs or Psalms or any of these books. So that's
what he said. Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee. Then who shall
those things be which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself
and is not rich toward God. We ought not just lay up treasures for ourself and not be rich
toward God. You know, we just work and work and work to make money and then we don't have
any time to go slowly. Right? We're not rich toward God. We're rich toward our job. We're
rich toward everybody else. And when it comes to financially, we buy all the toys, we buy
everything we need and we rob God. We don't give God his portion. We don't give God the
first fruits of our increase because we're just too busy just laying up treasures for
ourself. You know what? That makes God angry. He looks down and sees that selfishness. And
it's not even just the selfishness that bothers God about that. It's that God looks down and
sees it as a lack of faith. Because if you understood what Psalm 37 is teaching, you'd
know that that time that you spend out soul winning is going to help you succeed in life.
Not to mention that you're getting other people saved and they're going to go to heaven. And
they're going to be rejoicing for all eternity instead of suffering in hell. But God knows,
the person who has faith knows that even their life will turn out better if they spent that
time out soul winning. If they made that sacrifice. Because God is able to give you the desires
of your heart. God is able to promote you at your job or cause you to be demoted or
cause you to lose your job or cause you to get a better job. God can pull those strings
in heaven. Promotion coming from the North, the Bible says, and God is the one who's really
controlling your destiny. And so if you really believed that, you'd spend the time to read
the Bible and pray and win souls and not shortchange God. And you'd put your money in the plate
and say, you know what? God's going to take care of me. Instead of just saying, no, no,
my name's Jimmy, I'll take all you give me. And it's just all about me and it's all about
letting up and the 401k and the safe and the goods and everything that I can store up.
You know, and people today are thinking about storing things up. You know, I understand
where they're coming from because, you know, we live in uncertain times. People are saying,
man, you got to stock up on food and guns and ammo and gold and silk and nickels. You
know, roll nickels and get a big bag of them, you know, and fill your mattress full of nickels.
You know, I'm not going to be able to sleep that way. You know, I couldn't sleep like
that. My wife couldn't sleep like that. But in reality, the best insurance plan that you
can have, and we live in a day where everyone's obsessed with insurance, aren't they? They
want insurance upon their insurance. You know, they want to go to the rental car and rent
a car and buy like four different insurances because, you know, what if I'm driving down
the road and there's a terrorist attack, you know, I'm going to need this additional coverage.
You know, what if there's a flood and during the flood, there's also an earthquake and
a chasm opens up and the car just descends into that chasm. You know, I'm going to need
a special rider for that, you know. I'm going to need an umbrella policy, you know, just
in case my insurance doesn't cover it. And then, you know, I've got my insurance that's
$1,000 deductible, so I'm going to buy insurance that covers the deductible. You know, then
I'm going to get gap coverage to get the gap between my deductible and what, you know,
it's just like insurance upon insurance. We just want to have just everything protected.
You know, why don't you just live in a white padded room with a bubble and whatever. But
the point is, the point is this. You want to have insurance that you can really take
to the bank. It's just serving God and being right with God. Because watch what he says
here. And really this whole chapter, it's a long chapter for the book of Psalms. It's
got 40 verses in it. But there's a theme, really the whole chapter is on this one theme
though. He's really explaining this one thing. But watch this. He says in verse 25,
I have been young and now am old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor is
seed begging bread. So right there, God's telling you, look, He will feed you. He said,
look, behold the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven,
and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of
these. Wherefore God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow
is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O you little faith? He said, behold
the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet
I say unto you, that your, something about the Heavenly Father feeding them, I don't
know. Try standing up here in front of people, they won't be able to quote verses either.
But anyway, the point is, it's in Matthew chapter 6, but the point is that God's going
to take care of you. He promised not to give you health and wealth and prosperity, but
He did promise to feed and clothe, didn't He? Now He might make you go three days without
food, like He did to the children of Israel and the wilderness, then He might suffer them
to hunger and teach them that man does not live by bread alone, by every word that proceed
with God. But you will not starve to death, and you will not be naked forever. God will
clothe and feed you and keep you, He's promised to do that. And so whether you have it all
stored up and laid up and your seeds and your freeze-dried goods or not, you know what?
How's your soul in it? How's your viral? I'd rather be laying up Bible memory passages
in my mind, than to lay up gold and silver that will rust and canker and sour, and where
thieves can break through and steal. And so really, instead of just worrying about laying
up and hoarding, what we ought to be doing is, as it says in verse 26, we just read verse
25, He is ever merciful and lendeth, and His seed is blessed. So according to the Bible,
if I'm always merciful and lending, you know, if I'm a giving person, if I'm a generous
person, not just laying it up for myself, but as verse 27 says, depart from evil, I
am good, I'm going to dwell forevermore, my seed is going to be blessed. My children
will be blessed if I keep doing what's right and be generous and help others, rather than
hoard up. I've got to hoard up for my children's college fund. You know what the college fund
would be in my house? The amount of money I'm going to pay my kids if they promise not
to go to college. That's the college fund in my house. You say, you have a college fund
here? Oh yeah. I'm saving up money that I'm going to offer them and say, son, I will give
you this money if you please do not poison your mind at college. That's the only college
fund I need in my house. But you know, I'm not laying up some huge nest egg to give to
my children someday. You know what I'm doing? I'm just lending. You know what I mean? I'm
just giving. I'm just generous, I'm just trying to do what I can for God, and you know, I
just believe my seed is going to be blessed because of that. I just believe God's going
to bless my children and that I will not be forsaken and that my seed will not be begging
bread. My children will not have to beg bread. They will be taken care of. You've got to
just decide whether you believe the promises of God or not. Live by faith or live by sight
or live by the Wall Street Journal and live by your portfolio or just live by faith in
God from day to day. Give us this day our daily bread. It says in verse 28, for the
Lord loveth judgment and forsaketh not his saints. You see how he forsaketh not his saints.
They are preserved forever, but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous
shall inherit the land and dwell therein forever. The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom
and his tongue talketh of judgment. The law of his God is in his heart. Did you get that?
The law of his God is in his heart. That's talking about memorizing the Bible, committing
it into your heart. Have you ever heard of learning something by heart? He says the law
of his God is in his heart. None of his steps shall slide. That's a great promise. The one
who backslides is not the one with all of God's word meditating. No, the one who meditates
on God's word day and night, everything he does shall prosper. The one who's always sliding
around and slipping and sliding is the one who does not have God's word in his heart.
That's the one. And so you want a promise that you can take to the bank that you'll
continue to be here in church, that you'll be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,
to bring forth his fruit in his season. His leaf also shall wither and whatsoever doest
shall prosper. It's when you walk not in the counsel of the ungodly, stand in the way of
sinners or sit in the seat of the scornful. But your delight is in the law of the Lord
and in his law do you meditate day and night. That's it right there. That's how you don't
slide. That's how you be planted. Day to be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish
in the courts of our God the Bible says. And so the Lord will not leave him in his hand,
it says in verse 33, talking about being turned over to the wicked who are watching
for the righteous, it says in verse 32, and seeketh to slay him. The Lord will not leave
him in his hand nor condemn him when he is judged. Wait on the Lord. Notice the emphasis
on waiting. Waiting patiently. Trusting. You see how this is a process that takes time?
He says wait on the Lord and keep his way and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land.
When the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it. Now look, I'd like to see that, wouldn't
you? You know, I'd like to see the wicked cut off eventually. That's why the Bible says
in Psalm 58, another one of those warm, you know, fuzzy verses that people like, it says
in verse 10 of chapter 58 of Psalms, the righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance.
He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. So it says in verse number 35, I have
seen the wicked in great power and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed
away and lo he was not. Yea, I sought him but he could not be found. Mark the perfect
man and behold the upright. For the end of that man is peace but the transgressors shall
be destroyed together. The end of the wicked shall be cut off but the salvation of the
righteous is of the Lord. He is their strength in the time of trouble and the Lord shall
help them and deliver them and shall deliver them from the wicked and save them because
they trust in him. Now look, spiritually, why are you saved? Because you trust in the
Lord, right? If you're saved it's because you're trusting in the Lord to save you. You're
trusting in Jesus Christ to save you, not by works of righteousness which we have done
but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing the
Holy Ghost. It's not anything that we've done. It's not trusting in my church or a priest
or baptism or whatever. It's trusting in the Lord to save you that saves you. That's how
they got saved in the Old Testament by the way. They trust in the Lord. They called upon
the name of the Lord. How do we get saved in the New Testament? We trust in the Lord.
We call upon the name of the Son of God, of the Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament.
Abraham called him by the name of God Almighty. Moses knew him by the name of Jehovah and
we know him today as the Lord Jesus Christ. We must acknowledge the Son or we have not
the Father it says in 1 John chapter 2. And so the bottom line is this. Psalm 37 is an
encouraging chapter because when things are going bad we know that it's temporary. That's
why. Because we read Psalm 37 and we can know hey, brighter days are ahead. Today I'm suffering.
Today I'm in heaviness perhaps. Today things are not going my way. God has not answered
my prayer. God has not stepped in. If the Bible is true, which we know it is, God will
give you the desires of your heart. God will bless you. God will take care of it eventually.
That's what Psalm 37 teaches. And we can look at the wicked and the ungodly and not
get all mad. Yeah, let's get mad about it for a while. Let's get mad. But when we're
done being mad, just go to bed and sleep like a baby tonight. Because you know what? He's
going to be cut off and destroyed so bad eventually you're probably going to feel bad for him.
You know what I mean? When you see how bad he gets it from God. And so don't get bent
out of shape and don't fret and worry. Really the Christians should never be worried. Never
be stressed. We should be casting all our care upon him. We should be careful for nothing.
We should be able to go to bed tonight and not toss and turn about finances. Not toss
and turn about the economy. Not toss and turn about politics. Not toss and turn about anything.
We should just go to bed, the Bible says, for so we give his beloved sleep. Just go
to bed tonight. Just go to sleep. Just get up and do right. Just get up and read the
Bible. Get up and give the gospel to somebody. You know what I mean? And you know that it's
going to work out. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you
so much for this great chapter, dear God, the promises. God, I thank you that we don't
have to wonder and bite our fingernails and say, oh man, I don't know what's going to
happen and the economy and the deficit. God, thank you so much for the peace that we can
find just by trusting you, doing right, reading the Bible, winning souls, giving you the glory,
and knowing that we will be fed and our children will be fed. God, many people today, they
don't want to have children because they don't know how the children will be fed. Food prices
are going through the roof. But God, thank you for the promise to feed and to clothe.
Help us to trust you and rely upon you. And in Jesus' name we pray, amen.