we may grow and continue, in Jesus' name, amen.
Man, Psalm 73, I wanna preach tonight
on the subject of envying the wicked.
I'm not starting up the Psalm series again,
kinda seems that way since I just preached
all the way up through Psalm 72.
But I just really wanted to preach
on this particular Psalm right now
because I feel like this is something
that a lot of people need to hear
from time to time, especially young people.
So the Bible says in Psalm 73, verse one,
"'Truly God is good to Israel,
"'even to such as are of a clean heart.'"
So the author here, who is Asaph,
he's just telling us right away,
he understands that, he gets it,
that God is good and that God blesses
those that are of a clean heart.
But he's gonna tell us a story
about some bad thoughts that he had
or a wrong attitude that he had,
a bad phase that he went through.
He says in verse two,
"'But as for me, my feet were almost gone,
"'my steps had well nigh slipped,
"'for I was envious at the foolish
"'when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.'"
So he's talking about the fact that
even though now that he's writing the Psalm,
he realizes that God is good,
there was a time when he had this thought
of envying the foolish when he saw
the prosperity of the wicked.
So what he's doing is he's looking around
and looking at people that are without Christ,
they're not Christians, they're not saved,
they don't love the Lord, they're not following God,
and he's looking at them and saying,
"'You know what?
"'I think I'd like to have that life
"'that they have over there.'"
And of course, as the saying goes,
the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence,
so sometimes it's possible for this kind of
a foolish thought to enter into a Christian's mind
of looking at wicked people and thinking,
"'Hey, you know what?
"'Actually, maybe I'd rather be living like them,
"'or maybe I'd rather be like unto them.'"
And especially, this could be a thought
that Christian young people could have.
You know, it's possible, it's very likely
that Asaph probably grew up in a God-fearing home
or whatever, so maybe he's never really
even experienced that other side of life,
and so he's looking at it as an outsider,
not actually having experience with it,
but just looking at what it looks like on the outside
and thinking, hey, that looks pretty good
because I'm looking at the prosperity of the wicked.
I'm looking at the wicked doing well
or seeming to flourish, seeming to thrive.
Now, many people in this auditorium tonight,
they've actually lived a wicked lifestyle in the past,
and they're not looking at it and envying it
because they've been there and they know
it's not what it's cracked up to be,
there's no joy there, there's no real pleasure there,
it's just pain and suffering and sorrow,
it's not what it's cracked up to be.
But here's the thing, for Christian young people,
you know, they haven't experienced that,
they look at that, and it could be tempting unto them.
You know, and me personally, I grew up in a Christian home.
You know, I was born and raised
an independent fundamental Baptist,
and so I've never had experience being out there
drinking, partying, fornicating, taking drugs,
you know, those are all things I've never done.
And I don't know what it's like
to not go to church every single week.
I mean, that's just what I've always done my entire life,
go to church, read my Bible, you know,
we've just always been Christians.
You know, the longest I've ever gone
without attending church was like less than three weeks
and it was due to sickness.
So this is just something that I've had my whole life.
So people like me that could grow up like me,
they could fall into this trap that Asaph was falling into,
where they look at the wicked and think,
hey, maybe I'm missing out on something,
or maybe the wicked are actually prospering.
He says, I was envious at the foolish
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
Envying means you want what they have,
you wanna be like them.
For there are no bands in their death,
but their strength is firm.
They're not in trouble as other men,
neither are they plagued like other men,
therefore pride compass at them about as a chain,
violence covered them as a garment.
He said, I mean, these people do a lot of bad stuff,
but yet their eyes stand out with fatness.
They have more than heart could wish.
So he's looking at the cars, the clothes, the houses,
and here's the thing,
that's how the world measures prosperity and success.
You know, he says, well, I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
What's that prosperity?
He saw financial prosperity.
He saw the vehicle.
He saw the nice food, the car.
And here's the thing, when you look at that,
don't be deceived by that
because there's a lot more to life than that.
Is not life more than meat?
Is not the body more than raiment?
And when you look at financial prosperity,
realize that that will never satisfy anyone.
It doesn't satisfy the people who have it.
And it won't satisfy you when you get it.
Because the Bible says,
he that loveth silver should not be satisfied with silver.
And it's just human nature to want those things,
but what good are they to the owners thereof,
the Bible says,
except just the beholding of them with their eyes.
You know, eventually,
I don't care what kind of car you drive,
you drive it for a couple of weeks, it's just your car.
It's just transportation.
It's not gonna feel that cool anymore
as when you first got.
So you might as well get a sensible, reliable vehicle
that's easy to maintain
because at the end of the day,
that's what you want is just to get from point A to point B.
And sure, the car that's fancy
is gonna be fun for a little while,
but you know what?
Have you ever noticed how pretty much everything in life,
the newness eventually wears off?
And the only thing that's gonna provide
lasting satisfaction in life is serving the Lord.
In his presence is fullness of joy.
At his right hand, there are pleasures forevermore.
But the world's prosperity looks great on the outside,
and especially children
because they don't really understand life yet,
they think, oh, if I just have that and X and Y and Z,
I'll just be so happy, it's gonna be so great.
But here's the thing, those of us who've grown up
and we've gotten X, Y, and Z,
we realize, hey, it's all vanity.
The Bible is right when it says everything's vanity.
You know, and it's our walk with God
that actually means something in life.
And that's really the only thing
that has ultimate meaning in our life
is our walk with God.
But Asaph is looking at the fact
that they have more than heart could wish.
I mean, these people are doing great.
They're healthy.
They have prosperity.
In verse eight, it says they're corrupt
and speak wickedly concerning oppression.
They speak loftily.
They set their mouth against the heavens.
He's like, look, I hear them blaspheming God.
They're blaspheming Jesus Christ.
Obviously, I'm modernizing this into the Christian era
because of the fact that that's where we live.
But, you know, he hears all them blaspheming
and he says in verse nine,
they set their mouth against the heavens
and their tongue walketh through the earth.
Therefore, his people return hither
and waters of a full cup are rung out to them.
And they say, how does God know?
And is there knowledge in the most high?
Behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the world.
They increase in riches.
Psh, verily, I've cleansed my heart in vain
and washed my hands in innocency.
For all the day long have I been plagued
and chastened every morning.
So he's saying, look, I'm going through
all kinds of problems in my life.
I'm looking at these people.
They look healthy and rich.
They're blowing off their mouths.
They're blasphemous.
They're sinful.
Here I am.
I wake up every morning sick to my stomach
or pain or whatever the ailment that he was going through.
But he's saying, look, I'm plagued all the day long.
I'm chastened every morning.
I wake up in the morning feeling like garbage
and I'm looking at these people on the Budweiser ad
and they look like they're having a great time.
I'm looking at these worldly people over here
and they seem to have life by the tail.
And he says, man, I've cleansed my heart in vain.
What's the point?
Why am I even living the Christian life?
I'm miserable.
They're doing great.
But then in verse 15 he says,
if I say I will speak thus,
behold, I should offend against the generation
of thy children.
Because this is an adult.
Keep in mind, this is an adult who's having these thoughts.
Asaph is having these thoughts as an adult
and he's envying the wicked and thinking
that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.
But then when he thinks about what it would be like
to actually voice these things out loud,
these things that are going on in his head,
he says that he feels like that would offend
the generation of the children.
And when I thought to know this,
it was too painful for me.
So he's saying, look, I don't wanna start talking this way
because I don't want the Christian kids
to hear me think this and then they'll think,
well, maybe we should go out
and just live a wicked life and a simple life.
So isn't it funny what he's saying?
He's like, I don't want other people living a simple life.
I'm just thinking maybe for me, I could have a good time.
Now stop and think about that.
That doesn't really make sense, does it?
But this is, remember, this is his foolish thinking.
He's talking about having these foolish thoughts
when he's on the verge of being really backslidden
and going off into sin.
So he's having this thought of like,
man, maybe I should just go out and do some of the partying
and have a good time and see how the other side lives.
But then he's like, well, I don't want kids to do that.
I don't want the young people to do that, you know?
And that's kind of when he starts to think about it
and get his head screwed on straight here.
Like, wait a minute.
I don't want other people to live that way.
How can I live that way?
But notice what the solution is in verse 17
because he says, when I thought to know this,
it was too painful for me.
Verse 17, until I went into the sanctuary of God,
then understood either end.
And here's the thing,
the equivalent of that in our day would be church
because the sanctuary of God
is talking about the tabernacle.
It's talking about the temple.
So it's the house of God in the Old Testament.
So he's basically saying, then I went to church,
then understood I their end.
Now, this is one of the important functions
that church performs in our lives
is that a lot of times,
we could drift a little bit spiritually
and then going to church is like a reset button
that kind of gets us back on track,
gets our mind right
because we can start getting distracted
with the cares of this world
and just start getting busy with everything else
or maybe even just getting a bad attitude.
I can't even count how many times
I was just depressed and down
and then I came to church
and then I just felt great and was happy, renewed, excited,
or just getting a little backslidden
and then come to church and boom.
It's like a reset button spiritually.
You're filled with the spirit.
You're ready to go.
You're ready to live for God.
And that's what we see with Asaph.
He's having these dumb ideas.
Then he goes to church and he understood their end.
Now, here's what the idea is.
Let's say we look at worldly sinful people
and let's say that they actually are having a good time.
Maybe they actually are having fun and enjoying life
and they're healthy and prosperous.
What we need to understand though
is that the end thereof is gonna be bad.
When you're blaspheming God,
when you're blowing off your mouth,
when you're hurting other people,
when you're doing sinful things,
eventually the bill is gonna come due.
Eventually you're gonna have to pay the piper.
Eventually you're gonna have to suffer the consequences
of what you're doing.
And so he says, I understood their end.
Now, let me say this though.
A lot of what you're seeing with the worldly people
enjoying life and having a good time is an illusion
because those that are in this room
who've lived a sinful worldly life in the past,
they could tell you, hey, outwardly I seem fine
but then I go home and I'm crying, I'm scared, I'm upset.
And the Bible says, even in laughter, the heart is sorrowful
and the end of that mirth is heaviness.
You know what heaviness means?
Depression would be our modern word for that.
Being depressed, being sad, being miserable.
So just because you see, you know,
whatever the Instagram influencer, you know,
smiling and happy and look at me, I'm glamorous,
I'm traveling the world.
How do you know that that person's
not living a miserable life?
And look how many Hollywood types and rock and roll types
end up committing suicide even though outwardly
seems like they got it all going for them
and they're so cool and they're so fun
and they're so glamorous and they're traveling
to Europe this week and Asia next week
and they're on tour and everything's great,
the new album and then they kill themselves.
Why?
Because those things aren't actually satisfying
and a lot of people put on an outward show of happiness
but it doesn't really mean that they have
real joy in their heart.
You know, I know that I have joy in my heart.
You know whether or not you have joy in your heart
but when you look at someone from the outside,
as long as they can put on a pretty good facade
but on the inside they're in a lot of pain
and they're not satisfied and they don't like their life.
And the thing is social media makes it especially easy
to perpetrate an illusion and a lot of times
people could envy people on Facebook
and they, oh man, you know, I wish I had that marriage
or I wish I lived in that place or I wish I had that job
or I wish I had that lifestyle.
You know what, it's so fake on social media.
You don't even begin to compare your life
to what you see on social media because you know what,
everybody puts their best foot forward on social media.
And by the way, the couples that kind of lay it on
the thickest on Facebook are probably the couples
with the most problems.
You know, it's like, oh, look at us, we're so in love,
every single day, everything's perfect.
You know, it's like, come on,
nothing's ever gonna be that perfect.
What are you trying to hide?
The point is that don't look at what you see on Facebook
and think it's reality, nothing's real
that you see on social media
because you know, that picture, that pretty picture,
you didn't see the 57 bad pictures before they got
to the one that actually looked good.
They tilted that camera every single possible angle
until they finally were able to look decent for that camera.
You know, all the homely pictures went in the trash.
And you know, they got that perfect picture
and then that was before all the filters
and effects went on it.
And then it was even, the Apple was even further polished.
So the point is, we don't want to believe,
we don't wanna fall into the trap of just believing
everything we see like, oh, look how happy these people are.
That's the fun life.
My life as a Christian is meh, look at that great life.
Folks, it's a lie.
The Christian life is the best life that there is by far.
Now look, obviously we're going to heaven
and unsaved people are going to hell.
But even just the Christian life itself is filled with joy
and it's a blessed life, okay?
And doing things God's way is a blessing.
You know what the Bible says,
the way of transgressors is hard.
The way of transgressors is hard.
You ever see people that say they live a hard life?
Oh man, she looks like she's lived a hard life.
It doesn't mean she really read the Bible a lot
and prayed a lot and she was real active in church.
She lived a hard life living for, no, no.
Hard life equals partying.
And why?
It takes its toll because it's a destructive lifestyle.
And so he went in the sanctuary of God
and understood their end.
So number one, don't be fooled by what you see
because it's not an illusion.
But let's just assume for a minute that it is real
because I'm sure there are some people out there
living a simple life that actually are happy
and having a good time.
Okay, I'll grant you that.
They're having a good time, they're living it up,
they're enjoying life, but you know what you need
to understand is their end.
You need to understand what the end thereof
is gonna be like.
The Bible says in verse number 18,
surely thou didst let them in slippery places.
Thou casteth them down into destruction.
How are they brought into desolation as in a moment
and are utterly consumed with terrors?
As a dream when one awaketh so, O Lord,
when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.
He's saying, man, these people are gonna get destroyed
and it's gonna happen fast.
It's gonna be just boom, they're just gonna get nailed.
And he realizes this when he goes to the house of God.
Verse 21, thus my heart was grieved
and I was pricked in my reigns.
Verse 22, so foolish was I and ignorant.
I was as a beast before thee.
So he just realizes, man, what an idiot I am.
How could I have envied these people for one second
when I know that they're set in these slippery places,
they're gonna crash and burn, they're gonna be wiped out,
they're gonna be destroyed.
Even if they are enjoying it now, it's not worth it
because of how it's gonna end up.
Oh man, look at the people, they're partying in their 20s.
Okay, but you have to pay for those consequences later.
And so he says, man, I was such an idiot,
how foolish I was, I was as a beast before you.
He's just like, I'm just like a big dumb animal.
Why would I think these stupid thoughts?
He says, I was foolish, ignorant,
I was as a beast before thee.
Verse 23, nevertheless, I'm continually with thee.
Thou is holding me by my right hand.
Thou shall guide me with thy counsel
and afterward receive me to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but thee?
And there's none upon earth that I desire beside thee.
My flesh and my heart faileth,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
For lo, they that are far from thee shall perish.
Thou has destroyed all them that go whoring from thee,
but it is good for me to draw near to God.
I've put my trust in the Lord
that I may declare all thy works.
Now go to Psalm 37.
It's kind of easy to remember these two
because 73 and 37,
and they're both kind of about envying the wicked, right?
Psalm 73, Psalm 37.
Look at Psalm 37, verse one, it says,
fret not thyself because of evildoers,
neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.
And look, it's the same reason given in Psalm 73.
For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, right?
I mean, basically they're whatever is as grass
and God is the lawnmower, right?
And he's saying, they're gonna be cut down like 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 my heart.
Now look, isn't that what we all want?
The desires of our heart.
If God says, I will give you the desires of your heart,
what is it that you really want?
Not just on the surface, but deep down,
what is it that you really want?
Well, you know what God's saying?
I'll give it to you.
I will give you what you want.
God will give you what you want.
You know, the Bible says that God
will give good things unto his children,
just like a father gives good things unto his son.
You know, if a son has bread,
he's not gonna give him a stone.
If he asks a fish, he's not gonna give him a serpent.
If he asks for an egg, he's not gonna give him a scorpion.
He knows to give good things unto his children.
And so God doesn't want to just kind of mess with you
and just torment you and torture you for no,
look, when it comes to what you really want deep down,
God has promised to give you the desires of your heart
if you delight in him.
Now here's the thing, the people out there
that are living the worldly and sinful life
that you stupidly would covet or envy
or look at that as somehow better than the Christian life,
they will not get the desires of their heart.
They're not gonna find it.
They're gonna keep searching, they're gonna keep looking,
they're gonna keep trying.
They're never going to achieve this.
But yet the Christian is guaranteed
to receive the desires of their heart
if they delight in the Lord.
If you trust in the Lord and do good,
you're gonna dwell in the land and you're gonna be fed.
Isn't that what we all want?
I mean, look, we all want to live in peace.
We all want to have safety, security, and we wanna be fed.
We wanna eat, we wanna have a secure dwelling place,
and we want the desires of our heart to be met.
And God says, hey, I'll take care of it.
You just gotta trust me.
Now is God gonna bring us through some pain along the way?
Of course.
But life is filled with pain,
and pain makes us a better person,
suffering, no pain, no gain, okay?
Think about people who go out and run marathons.
They don't do it because there's no pain involved.
If there was no pain involved,
then running across the finish line would be meaningless.
The whole joy of making it across the finish line
is the pain that you've endured to get there, okay?
And so a life free from pain,
no one's gonna experience that.
Obviously, we're gonna go through trials and tribulations.
The Christian life involves suffering, it involves sorrow,
it involves mourning, it involves bad times,
but in the end, you come forth as gold.
In the end, you receive the desires of your heart,
you win, you prosper, you succeed.
Look at the end of Job.
The guy who went through the worst misery,
but in the end, everything was perfect.
Everything was great.
He received everything.
And so the Bible says, delight thyself also in the Lord,
and he shall give thee the desires of thy heart.
Commit thy way unto the Lord.
Trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass.
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 his.
Don't look at that guy.
Don't look at that wicked jerk that's prospering
and doing well, and everything's going great.
Don't even think about that guy.
Don't fret for him.
Don't think about that guy who prospers in his way
because the man who brings wicked devices to pass
is the one who's going to do the right thing.
Don't even get mad at that guy.
Don't even get angry and just worked up about that guy.
For sake, wrath, cease from anger.
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.
Look, here's what he's saying.
Don't fixate on wicked people.
There's two ways you could fixate on wicked people.
Number one, you could fixate on wicked people thinking,
huh, maybe they have something that I could have.
Maybe they're enjoying life more than I am.
Maybe it's not so bad.
Maybe I could live that lifestyle a little bit.
I'm saved, I'm a Christian.
Maybe I could go and live that life too.
He's saying, you're an idiot.
It's stupid.
It's brutish.
It's the thought of a beast.
Are you serious?
That's what Asaph taught, right?
But he's saying, look, don't fixate on the wicked
to envy them and think, oh man, must be nice.
But also he's saying, don't fixate on the wicked
to be angry at them and hate on them.
And look, I'm known as a hate preacher.
I mean, that's the moniker that I've been given.
But here's the funny thing about that.
Here's the ironic thing about that
is that I have so little hate in my life, ironically,
for being Mr. Hate Preacher, leader of a hate group,
certified and everything.
But the point is, do you really think that Mondays
and Tuesdays I'm just sitting around just seething
and just angry and just burning in my rage and wrath
toward the sodomites of this world,
toward our wicked government, toward the weirdos.
Now look, I get up behind the pulpit
and I rip face on these things and you know what?
All the emotion that you see is real.
When I do think about these people, man, that's how I feel.
And I'm enraged and I'm just super angry
when I think about these things.
But here's the thing, I don't sit around thinking
about these things all day.
Because the Bible says whatsoever things are true,
whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just,
whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of good report,
if there be any virtue and if there be any praise,
think on these things.
And so the majority of my life is spent
on dwelling on positive things.
And here's the thing, people who actually know me,
people who actually live with me,
my wife and my 11 children, they know me
to be a very joyful and positive person,
rarely angry, rarely upset, rarely am I down or seething.
Now look, are there things that we should get mad at?
Absolutely.
And you know what, over and over again in the Bible,
we see righteous anger, righteous indignation.
I'm for it.
I mean, does anyone doubt my anger and wrath
and hate credentials?
I've got them.
But you know what, I'm not gonna sit there
and go through life angry.
Because that's not what God wants me to do.
Because the Bible says anger resteth in the bosom of fools.
Now look, Jesus Christ got angry.
He got angry in the synagogue about the Pharisees
trying to attack him for healing someone on the Sabbath day.
All the guys do is just stretch out his hand
and it's healed and they think that's work or something.
And it says that Jesus looked on them with anger.
I mean, Jesus got angry when they're selling things
in the house of God and he made the whip and chased him out.
You know, God is angry with the wicked every day.
But here's the thing about that.
The Bible says make no friendship with an angry man.
Don't learn his ways.
Don't become an angry person.
Because have you ever known people
that are just angry people?
It's like Monday they're angry,
Tuesday they're angry, Wednesday they're angry.
They're just constantly angry.
You know, that's a bad attribute.
If that's you, you need to change.
You need to get that attribute out of your life.
Now is there a time for anger?
Is there a situation?
Of course.
But you know what though?
I'd rather spend the majority of my time
meditating on righteous things, godly things,
pure things, lovely things.
Look, do we have to deal with sin?
Yeah, we have to deal with sin.
Do we have to deal with the wickedness of our world?
We don't want to just stick our heads in the sand
and just kind of hear no evil, see no evil,
and just pretend that everything's good
and everything's fine.
Look, we need to confront these issues.
We need to confront the issue of the sodomites.
We need to confront the wickedness of our day,
the adultery and the drunkenness.
But here's the thing though.
We don't want to fixate on that.
We need to spend more time fixating on the right things,
the things of God.
Does everybody understand what I'm saying?
We just don't need to fixate on the wicked period.
We should spend more of our lives
meditating on the word of God, enjoying our families,
thinking about good things, being positive,
and then spend some time dealing with the negative
as it comes up, as we need to.
We go to church and we deal with these things.
But you don't want to become obsessed with that.
And you know what, some people just get obsessed
with the negativity and they're just so negative
and it's just every day, it's all they can talk about.
And you know what, there are people on Facebook like that
where it's just how many negative things
they post every day.
It's just like everything's doom and gloom,
doom, gloom, doom, gloom.
You know what, eventually, you're not gonna be able
to handle that anymore, or the people around you
aren't gonna be able to handle that anymore.
That kind of negativity, it can be too much.
You know, and look, do you see Jesus Christ
get angry a couple times and really just go off?
Yeah, but do you see Jesus just in a continual rage?
Is the book of Matthew just this rage fest?
And the book of Mark is just a rage in chapter one,
rage in chapter two, rage,
that's not really how Christ was, is it?
There was a time for anger,
there was a time for some face-ripping preaching,
but then there were a lot of other times
of just being a peaceful person and getting along
and thinking about the nice things and the good things.
So don't fix it, he's saying, look,
don't fixate on the wicked to envy them,
which is what a lot of people do,
they follow all the celebrities and they idolize them
and wanna be like them, but then he's also saying,
don't fixate on them just to be mad at them and hate them.
You know, you need to just trust in the Lord,
rest in him,
and cease from anger, forsake wrath,
fret not thyself in any wise to do evil,
and why is it that we don't need to fixate on the wicked
to idolize them and we don't need to fixate on the wicked
to just be mad and angry at them all the time
and hateful toward them all the time?
Because he says in verse nine,
for evildoers shall be cut off,
but those that wait upon the Lord,
they shall inherit the earth.
Verse 10, for yet a little while,
and the wicked shall not be.
And this is exactly what Asaph taught in chapter 73.
And I love this next part.
Yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place
and it shall not be.
You know, whatever happened to that guy?
Whatever happened, you know, he's like, what?
You're trying to figure out what happened to them.
You know what, they got wiped out, they got destroyed,
they crashed and burned is what he's saying.
You're not gonna be able to find them.
But the meek, verse 11, shall inherit the earth
and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
The wicked ploddeth against the just
and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.
The Lord shall laugh at him,
for he seeth that his day is coming.
The wicked have drawn out the sword
and have bent their bow to cast down the poor and needy
and to slay such as be of upright conversation.
There's, it's like, well, what are we gonna do?
I mean, they're after us, they've got the bow bent,
they've got the sword drawn, they're out to get us,
they're out to destroy us.
Persecution of Christians is coming, what are we gonna do?
And you know, I love what it says in verse 15,
their sword shall enter into their own heart.
You know who they're gonna destroy?
It's not me, it's not you.
You know they're gonna destroy themselves.
And folks, this is a relevant message right now
because of the fact that right now,
there are a lot of wicked people
pulling a lot of wicked shenanigans
and everybody right now is wondering, where is this going?
You know, we look at everything that's happened in 2020,
we're rolling into 2021,
and we've got all of these things that concern us
and that we're worried about.
And look, are there wicked people behind the scenes
plotting a new world order?
Absolutely.
But guess what they're gonna do?
Guess what that sword that they've got in their hand
is gonna do, they're gonna plunge it into themselves.
And you know what?
At the end of the day, I'm gonna be okay
and you're gonna be okay because we love the Lord
and all things work together for good to them to love God.
We're gonna be blessed, we're gonna be fine.
So that's why we don't need to fixate
on the rulers of the darkness of this world
because they're ultimately gonna destroy themselves
and we're gonna be great, we're gonna be fine.
So I'm not, you know, some people might think
I'm pessimistic about 2021.
You know, going into 2019,
I said, it's gonna be the best year ever.
And it was the worst year ever.
Going into 2020, I was like, okay, that was a bad year,
this is gonna be the good one.
It was worse.
So now I'm going to 2021 just like, it's gonna be bad.
You know, I'm trying a new approach, you know?
I'm trying to use a little reverse psychology here.
So I'm going into 2021 with an attitude
just to kind of expect.
But here's the thing, some people are like,
well, that's pessimistic.
But here's the thing, when I say 2021 is gonna be bad,
to me, that's not a bad thing because I don't care.
Because I'm like, 2021 is gonna be bad.
Let's do it.
Because I'm just ready for anything because you know what?
I know that all things work together for good
to them that love God.
So I'm not worried about it being bad.
I just kind of know it's gonna be bad
and I'm just like, it's gonna be bad, you know?
I'm okay with it.
I'm at peace with it, okay?
Why?
Because I know that, oh man, these wicked people,
what are they gonna do?
You know what they're gonna do?
Their sword is gonna enter their own heart.
Just remember that.
Their sword will enter their own heart.
You know, all the people that you're worried about,
you're worried about the bankers and George Soros,
and you're worried about Joe Biden and Kamala Harris,
and you're worried about Bill Gates and everybody else.
You know what?
They're gonna do what God's gonna do.
It's gonna go into their own heart.
They're gonna wipe themselves out.
They're gonna destroy themselves.
They can't destroy me.
It's impossible.
I'm invincible.
You know, only God is the one who controls my destiny.
No one else.
You know, and here's the thing.
What can they do?
They could kill the body.
They can't kill the soul.
And they can't even kill my body unless God allows it.
Unless God up in heaven says,
all right, it's time for Steven Anderson to go.
Then I'm not going anywhere.
Then I can't die until God decides that I'm ready to die.
So why would I worry about it?
If that's what God decides, well, you know,
am I gonna argue with God?
And so don't worry about these people.
They're gonna destroy themselves.
What a great verse.
Their sword shall enter into their own heart.
I mean, that alone is worth the price of admission tonight
at Faith Forward Baptist Church.
And their bows shall be broken.
A little that a righteous man hath
is better than the riches of many wicked.
How about that?
You know, you young people, you teenagers.
Oh, look at that car.
Look at those clothes.
Hey, the little that your mom and dad have
that actually love the Lord,
your parents are richer than they are.
Because the little that the righteous man has,
the little that your pastor has and your mom and dad have
and other godly people in your lives have,
grandparents or aunts and uncles
that are living for God, friends.
You know, the Christians of our church,
the little that they have,
that is better than the riches of many wicked.
Okay.
For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
but the Lord upholdeth the righteous.
The Lord knoweth the days of the upright
and their inheritance shall be forever.
They shall not be ashamed in the evil time.
In the days of famine, they shall be satisfied.
Oh man, what about the economic downturn?
I'm gonna be satisfied.
You know, I guarantee you one thing that's gonna happen.
I will not starve to death
and my family will not starve to death.
No matter what happens, it will not happen.
It's impossible.
David said, I've never seen the righteous forsaken.
I've never seen his seed begging bread.
The Bible said, my God shall supply all your need
according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus.
I don't know how I'm gonna die.
There are multitude of ways I could die.
Starving's not one of them for me or my children
because God has promised to give us our daily bread
and to feed us and take care of us.
Now sometimes we might have to be a little lean.
Sometimes it might be a vegetarian meal
or rice and beans or whatever,
peanut butter and jelly sandwiches,
but you know what?
God is going to sustain us and the Bible says right here
that in the days of famine,
it's not that we're just gonna have enough food
to just barely get by.
Hey, in the days of famine, we're gonna be satisfied.
We're gonna eat until we're stuffed.
We're gonna be okay.
We're gonna have enough.
I'm not worried about it.
I'm not stockpiling anything
because I know that in the days of famine,
I'm gonna be satisfied.
You might not have toilet paper,
but you're gonna be satisfied with food.
You're gonna have enough food.
And toilet paper isn't a necessity.
It's a luxury, amen?
That's right.
He says in verse 20,
but the wicked shall perish and the enemies of the Lord
shall be as the fat of lambs.
They shall consume into smoke.
They consume away, just sit like,
think of fat like sizzling on the grill.
It's just gone.
That's what's gonna happen to the wicked.
The wicked borroweth and payeth not again,
but the righteous show with mercy and giveth.
Verse 22, for such as be blessed of him
shall inherit the earth
and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off.
The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.
Now notice what the Bible does not say there.
Does the Bible say,
the steps of every single man are ordered by the Lord?
Is that what it says?
That's what the Calvinists thinks, right?
Calvinists just kind of think everything that's happening
is God's will and God's in control.
Here's the thing.
The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.
You know what?
The steps of a bad man
are not necessarily ordered by the Lord.
So here's what you do in life.
You focus on being the good man.
You focus on being the good woman
and then God will direct your path.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, he shall direct thy paths.
If you want your steps to be ordered by the Lord
and you don't wanna just be kind of going this way,
that way, I don't know what to do,
I don't know what to decide,
I don't know which way to go.
Hey, if you be a good man,
the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.
And then you know what you do?
You live a couple years of life
and then you look backward and you say,
wow, everything just fell into place.
It's like God was leading me.
Everything just worked out.
Even the bad things ended up being good.
This bad thing, I thought it was bad,
it actually helped me.
It was better, it was a bonus.
Why?
Because you're being a good man.
So you focus on serving the Lord
and then you have that assurance
of knowing my steps are ordered.
Look, what is that worth?
Just to know I'm on track, I'm going somewhere.
God's got a plan for my life and I'm on it.
That's what it means to be a good man.
And God delights in our way, the Bible says.
But no, he does not delight in everyone's way
and no, everyone's steps are not ordered by the Lord.
The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.
Though he fall, he should not be utterly cast down
for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.
I've been young and now I'm old,
yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken
nor his seed begging bread.
He's ever merciful and lendeth and his seed is blessed.
Depart from evil and do good and dwell forevermore
for the Lord loveth judgment and forsaketh not his saints.
They're preserved forever
but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.
The righteous shall inherit the land
and dwell there in forever.
The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom
and his tongue talketh of judgment.
The law of his God is in his heart.
None of his steps shall slide.
The wicked watcheth the righteous and seeketh to slay him.
The Lord will not leave him in his hand
nor condemn him when he's judged.
Don't worry about the enemies
and the wicked people plotting against us.
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.
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.
Yeah, 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.
Notice the end is peace.
But the transgressors shall be destroyed together.
The end of the wicked shall be cut off
but the salvation of the righteous of the Lord,
he is their strength in the time of trouble
and the Lord shall help them and deliver them.
He shall deliver them from the wicked
and save them because they trust in him.
Now look folks, this is powerful stuff.
In Psalm 73 and Psalm 37,
I mean you should walk away from these two Psalms
and look, remember these two Psalms.
They're easy to remember because again,
they're just, you just invert the two numbers, right?
You got 37, 73.
This is your dynamic duo of chapters to tell you,
hey, you wanna go see what it's like
living like a worldly, sinful, wicked person.
Guess what?
That's a stupid thing to think about
and why don't you just trust the Lord.
I guarantee you that if you follow Christ,
your life will turn out the way that you want it to turn out.
It might not turn out the way that you expect.
It might not turn out maybe the way you would have chosen
but in the end, you will like the way it turns out.
You'll be glad, you'll say,
you know what, my life turned out perfect.
It turned out exactly the way I want it to turn out.
You would not trade,
I guarantee you get to the end of the Christian life,
you wouldn't trade it for some skank,
some whore, some whoremonger, some derelict.
You wouldn't trade with them.
You really think that wicked people when they get old
are just like, man, I'm so glad I partied so hard
when I was young.
You think they're just in the nursing home
just wishing that they would have partied a little more?
Is that what you think?
Because they're not.
But you know what, people, when they get older,
they're glad that they did right.
You know, look, where I'm at in life,
I'm glad for all the good things that I did,
all the righteous things I did,
and I regret all the bad things I did.
I don't just, man, I wish I would have partied more.
Man, why didn't I get into drinking?
Why didn't I fornicate, you know?
Why did I take some drugs?
No one thinks that way.
That's stupid, it makes no sense.
You're glad that you stayed clean and pure and did right.
And you know what, if you're sitting there as a teenager,
a young person, and you're just thinking,
well, you know, that's what Pastor Harrison says,
what does he know?
Let me tell you something, you're a teenager,
you don't know anything about life, okay?
I'm not trying to insult you or anything,
but it's just true.
I don't care how smart you are.
I was a smart teenager, okay?
I didn't know anything about life.
Okay, but thankfully, I was smart enough
to just trust the people who told me,
don't fornicate, don't drink.
You know, I didn't understand everything about life,
but at least I just trusted in the Lord.
I just trusted what God was saying,
and I just said, you know, I gotta follow God's rules.
And obviously, I wasn't perfect,
but at least I was able to stay on the right path
because I just trusted the Lord
because I didn't know very much about life.
But you know, I sure thought I knew a lot about life
when I was 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, but you know what?
Looking back, I knew very little.
Here I am at age 39, looking back at 20 years ago,
just thinking, man, you knew nothing 20 years ago
compared to what you know now.
And I'm sure every older person in the room
feels the same way.
Like, yeah, when I was a teenager, man, I didn't get it.
But every teenager thinks they get it.
So here's the successful teenager,
you know what they're gonna do?
They're gonna trust the wisdom of the Word of God,
ultimately, trust the wisdom of their pastor
that's telling them there's nothing out there
worth experiencing in that bar or that strip club
or that casino.
There is nothing in those places that's worth it.
Well, how do you know, Pastor Anderson, did you try?
No, I don't have to try it, okay?
Because I trusted the people who taught me that.
But there are plenty of other people in this room
who have been in those places and experienced them,
and they could tell you from experience,
there's nothing there that's worth doing.
There's nothing there that's worth experiencing.
There's nothing there except pain and suffering and misery,
and it's foolish and it's wicked,
and there's no joy to be found there.
Okay, but look, I'm telling you, you've got to trust
Pastor Anderson telling you that.
You've got to trust the Word of God telling you that.
You've got to trust your mom and dad telling you that,
because I'm sure that if you're here with your parents,
I'm sure your mom and dad tell you these things, right?
And if not, mom and dad, what are you doing?
Because you know what?
I shouldn't be the only person preaching to your kids.
You need to preach this to your kids.
You need to tell your kids, hey kids,
there's nothing out there in that cesspool
of sin and iniquity called the casino or the bar
or the strip club or whatever, night club,
whatever places that people go to indulge in sin.
You know, you need to trust your parents
when they tell you that.
You need to trust your pastor, trust the Word of God,
because you know what?
Frankly, you as a teenager are not going to have the wisdom
to fully grasp all these issues of life
and understand why God's way is best, okay?
But that's why, isn't it interesting that chapter 37
is all about how the wicked are doomed
and the righteous are going to be super blessed.
What's the word that keeps coming up over and over?
It's just like trust, trust me, trust the Lord, trust God.
Why?
Because of the fact that they're, you know,
they say experience is the best teacher,
but you know, with a lot of these things,
someone else's experience is the best teacher
because you know, you don't want to have to go
learn everything yourself the hard way.
Eventually, you Christian young people will know
someday you will know that everything I'm saying
is true right now.
Someday you will know that, period.
20 years from now, you will know,
but you'll either know it one of two ways.
You'll either know it because A, you listened to me,
you listened to your parents, you listened to the Word
of God and you actually lived a clean and godly life
and went the Lord's way and you're blessed and prosperous
and you see all these other people crashing and burning,
you see all these other people suffering,
you understand more about how life works,
you understand more about the Word of God
and then you're like, you know what,
Pastor Anderson was right.
I'm glad I did things God's way
and followed Psalm 73 and 37.
Okay, or B, you're gonna be 20 years from now
and you disregarded the sermon
and you disregarded the warnings
and you went out and screwed up your life
and you went out and you had fun for a while
down at these wicked places
and then you hit rock bottom and you felt the emptiness
and the vanity and the worthlessness of it all
and you'll get there and you've already done
permanent damage to your life,
permanent damage to your body,
permanent damage to relationships,
permanent damage to your walk with God
and then you're gonna say, you know what,
Pastor Anderson was right, I should have listened to him
but you know what, you will eventually know
that what I'm saying tonight is right.
So don't be an idiot that has to go
experience it for yourself.
I mean, do you think I just have to experience
everything myself?
Like, you know, I just have to touch that electric fence
just to see, I just wanna step on a landmine myself
just to see.
You know, I think I'm just gonna put my hand
on that hot stove plate and just see what happens.
You know, I'm just gonna swallow that Tide Pod
and just see what happens.
You know what I mean?
I'm just gonna eat that spoonful of cinnamon myself
and see if I die.
Do I just have to just test everything myself,
experience everything myself?
You know, no.
I'm gonna learn from other people's mistakes.
No, I don't have to try drugs or try alcohol
or try all these illicit things because I already know
that it's not worth it.
How do you know that?
Well, you know what, because the Bible said so.
And you know what, I'm trusting the people who raised me
and taught me, the pastors that I had,
the parents that I had, the word of God,
and so I don't have to learn everything the hard way.
You know, it's an idiot who has to go out
and learn everything the hard way
instead of just listening to other people.
Right, just listening to advice.
Just listening to people who are older,
people who've made the mistakes,
telling you, don't do it.
People who've done it right, telling you, do it right.
Don't do that.
But you're just like, no, no,
I think I'm just gonna just reinvent the wheel
and just figure it all out myself.
Well, you know what, the problem with that is
that when you're a Christian,
you're held to a higher standard by God.
And unto whom much is given of him shall much be required.
And so some of the people in this room
who lived a pretty wicked or sinful life in the past
and now they're living for God,
you know, part of the reason why they kind of,
you know, they ended up okay,
because you might look at them now and say,
hey, they're okay.
Yeah, but here's the thing,
that's because a lot of them were doing that
out of ignorance.
They weren't necessarily raised in a church
where it's all being just put out there,
shown to them, taught to them.
You know, it's very likely
that you won't be here 20 years from now
saying Pastor Anderson was right, like I predicted.
Let's add option C,
because we've got option A, option B, right?
How about option C?
You're up in heaven saying Pastor Anderson was right,
because you died.
Right?
You think that that's possible?
Because you know, I've seen Christian young people
get killed, and you know what?
God will chastise and chasten his children,
and if they get too bad, he'll just,
it'll be like, he'll just do like he did to King Saul.
He'll just take you out.
And look, I'm telling you, you know,
you might think, well, I'm gonna go out
and sow my wild oats or whatever.
Yeah, okay, you might just get a disease
that just never goes away.
You might just get infected with something
that you have permanently.
Or, God might just snap his fingers
and put you in a car wreck
where you're just disfigured permanently, you know?
And you know, you're so prideful and proud
about your pretty face.
You know, God could mutilate your face in a moment,
it's called a car accident,
and you know how many car accidents happen every day
in America?
It's a lot.
Okay, he could just mutilate your pretty face
just like that.
If you're gonna be all proud and puffed up
and that's all you care about,
you know, all those stupid carnal things.
You know, and look, I'm just telling you the truth.
I mean, he that being often reproved,
hardened at his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed
and that without remedy.
You know, you can ruin your life in ways
where there's no fixing it.
I don't want that for your life.
I want you to, you know what, I want you to live a happy,
I want you to be as happy as I am.
I want you to have a happy life.
I want you to have joy in your life.
You know, and I'm talking to the young people.
You know, I want you young people to enjoy life.
Yeah, I want you to serve God.
I want you to do great things for God,
but you know what, I love you,
and I don't wanna see you suffer either.
I don't wanna see you just in misery and pain
and ruining your life.
I don't want that.
Your parents don't want that for you.
It's not that your parents and your pastor,
it's not that we're just, you know, out to spoil your fun
and we're just these fuddy duddies
and we're just sorta like ASAP where, you know,
we just don't want the kids doing bad stuff.
You know, it's like, but we're thinking about it.
No, my friend, we want you to live a righteous life,
yes, for the kingdom of Christ,
but also for your own benefit,
because we love you and we don't wanna see you.
We don't wanna peel you off the pavement either.
We don't wanna go in the hospital
and, you know, change out your feeding tube, okay?
We don't wanna have to see you, you know,
divorced for the fifth time and paying a bunch of alimony
and paying a bunch of child support
and we don't wanna see you married to an unbeliever.
And by the way, let me just throw this out there too,
you know, just cause I'm kind of just talking
to the young people.
Let me explain some of you young people.
If you marry an unsaved person,
here's the problem with marrying unsaved people.
Every single unsaved person has the potential
to become a reprobate.
I mean, how would you like to be, you know,
and look, obviously lots of unsaved people
will go through their whole life
without ever becoming a reprobate.
It's obviously a minority of people that are reprobates,
but just keep in mind, any unsaved person has the potential
to eventually become a reprobate.
And think about it, don't you think that unsaved people
as life goes on might kind of get worse and worse
without Christ?
They could get worse, you know?
I mean, that's probably one of the scariest things
about marrying an unsaved person
is that they could have the potential,
and even if it's just a one in, you know,
a one in 50 chance or something.
That's a scary thought.
Maybe it's a one in 20 chance or one in 50 chance.
But you know, how would you like to be married
to a reprobate?
That's horrible, right?
But you know, you're dating unsaved people?
You're playing with fire.
Oh, God's gonna protect me.
Hey, God's gonna protect you when you're doing his will.
When you get outside the will of God,
it's a jungle out there.
You know, don't play with that.
You don't wanna be married to a reprobate.
You know what, and you know what, forget reprobate.
You just don't even wanna be married
to an unsaved person anyway.
You know what, you want, man, you wanna have a godly wife.
You know, and so don't just be enamored
by all the bimbos out there
and just thinking about only physical appearance.
Don't be an idiot.
That's like if you just bought a vehicle
based only on the appearance.
And you don't even think about the fact
that this car only has two seats.
You know, or look at the back seat.
Look how tiny the back seat is.
Where's the car seat gonna go?
This is not a family vehicle.
Or the fact that every time you need to do maintenance on it
it costs a fortune.
Because you're driving some weird sports car
instead of a sensible car, right?
And look, you girls, you know,
you wanna be married to a man
who's gonna provide for you, right?
I mean, do you want a guy that's gonna pay the bills or what?
Or do you want him just taking all the money
and spending it on himself?
Do you think there are husbands out there
who spend all the money on themselves?
Okay, do you think there are wives out there
who blow all their husband's money
and they get ahold of their credit card
and they max it out on stupid, vain things for themselves?
You know what, that's called selfishness.
A husband who spends all the money on himself.
A wife who blows all the money on herself.
You know what, I don't wanna be married to a selfish person.
I don't wanna be a selfish person.
You know what?
Marry a Christian that loves the Lord.
And you know what it means when somebody loves the Lord?
They're not gonna be selfish.
Someone who loves the Lord is gonna love you.
You wanna have a husband that loves you.
You wanna have a wife that loves you.
Someone who loves the Lord.
Trust the Lord.
Do not stupidly envy the wicked.
Marry an unsaved person.
Live a worldly life.
It's garbage.
Marry a Christian.
Live a godly Christian life.
You will be much happier.
Let alone the fact that you're earning rewards in heaven,
you're blessed, but even just on this earth,
you're gonna be a lot happier.
Do not be fooled by the devil's lies, my friend.
Trust what the word of God is saying.
And you know what?
It's probably enough.
Word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for this great psalm
by Asaph, Lord, and sharing some of his feelings
when he admitted to having some stupid thoughts, Lord.
And truth be told, we've all had stupid thoughts like that.
We've probably all thought the same thing at some point.
That's why it's in the Bible,
because we can relate to it.
But Lord, help us, like Asaph, to go to church
and hear sermons like this and get our thinking right
and push that reset button and not be fooled into thinking
that this world has anything genuine to offer.
And in Jesus' name, we pray, amen.
Man, let's grab our hymnals
and let's turn them to number 423.
Number 423, Joy to the World.
Number 423, let's sing it out on that first verse.
Number 423.
Joy to the world, the Lord is come.
Let earth receive her King.
Let every heart prepare Him room.
Let heaven and nature sing.
Joy to the world, the Savior reigns.
Let men their songs employ.
What fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
repeat the sounding joy, repeat the sounding joy,
repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
No more let sins and sorrows grow.
No more to cast the crown.
He comes to name His blessings.
Look far as the curse is found, far as the curse is found,
far as far as the curse is found.
He rules the world with truth and grace
and makes additions prove the glories of His righteousness
and wonders of His love and wonders of His love
and wonders and wonders of His love.
Let's sing it tonight.
Let's sing it.