Study – Grow – Know

Psalm 37: Rest in the Lord

October 15, 2020 at 12:15 PM 4 comments

Last time in this series, we highlighted verses four through six of Psalm 37. This time, we’re going to look at verses seven, eight and nine.

⁷ Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

⁸ Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.

⁹ For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. (KJV)

Admittedly for me, the above verses can be difficult to do. It’s not that we have a problem controlling our frustration at things in life (though that can be a common problem for many). It’s that we see things in society that make our heads spin and often, our response to these things is frustration and in some cases, even anger.

The Psalmist is saying that unlike the way we might be tempted to act, we must do what we can to recognize the potential to sin in our anger and flee from it. This can be difficult to do in the heat of the moment, however, if we look through the Gospels and the situation where Jesus is before Pilate and dealt with what came His way without anger, without remonstrance, and without a desire for vengeance, it clearly behooves us to seek to model this same approach in life (cf. Matthew 27-28).

Looking at verse 7, the natural question is “how does the Christian ‘rest’ in the Lord?” How do we learn to wait patiently for Him to work in and through us and reject our fretful attitude toward evil?

The simple answer is it can only be done through prayer and sometimes, concerted prayer. While that is the simple answer, putting it into practice is not always easy. Let me give an example that happened yesterday.

I recently had to go to a lab for a blood draw. As I approached the door, the signs clearly noted that I must wear a mask. I had the mask in my hand and I figured I’d put it on after I quickly signed in. The reason was because when I wear a mask, my glasses often fog up, not allowing me to see what I am trying to do. Since you have to sign in on their computerized system in the lobby, I didn’t think this would be a problem.

Well, the manager of the lab greeted me and then immediately asked me if I had a mask. I tried to respond that I did and would put it on just as soon as I signed in, but she interrupted me to tell me that if the CDC came in, they would be shut down. I tried to explain that my glasses tend to fog up so I wanted to quickly sign in and would then place my mask on, but she kept interrupting me. Then it turned into a lecture even after I had placed my mask on. She kept repeating that I needed to wear a mask that I had already placed on.

I pointed to my mask letting her know that I had put it on and then she said that I would not be able to be taken to the back to have my blood drawn with that “attitude” that I was apparently displaying. By this time, my anger was rising but I did my level best to control it.

I kept repeating to her “I am fine” and she finally relented. The troubling part of this is that this is essentially her “domain” and she controls it, so she was going to ensure that I did things her way. Some people are highly impressed with their own position in life. Had I been left alone, I would’ve signed in and placed my mask on quickly and that would have been that, but she simply appeared to be in the mood to dictate and lecture.

The situation I encountered at the lab threw me for a bit of a loop and colored a good portion of my day, unfortunately. It was not until later in the day that I really spent some time with the Lord explaining what I knew to be a problem of my inability to let things go and to rest in Him.

This morning as I read Matthew 27 and 28, I was struck with just how much Jesus put up with as He stood before sinful people and accepted their false allegations, their brutality (being slapped, spit upon, crown of thorns and verbal insults), and ultimately one of the most painful ways to die. As I read the narrative, I compared Jesus’ response with mine. Most of my response had been internal. I didn’t say anything wrong outwardly. However, my eyes at one point would’ve fired darts if they had been loaded with them, so that was sinful.

I had to confess these things and once again, I was reminded by His Word that I am not the most humble man alive. We often compare ourselves with other human beings (there’s always someone more arrogant than we are, right?), but the only Person we should be comparing ourselves to is our Lord, who was the epitome of humility all the time, even in His anger. When it comes to Him, none of us compare. We all fall short. Life is a learning process in all things, especially where our Christian growth and maturity is concerned.

Notice the remainder of verse 7 echoes the sentiment of the first part of that Psalm; that we should not “fret” over the wicked person who prospers and does so through wicked or evil schemes. The world is filled with these people.

I just read that the investigation by the DOJ into the Obama administration is over. Turns out DOJ Barr found no evidence that would indict anyone for spying on the Trump campaign. It would be hilarious if it wasn’t absurd.

We now know that the entire Russian collusion narrative was created by Hillary and approved by the Obama administration.[1] They knew it was fake and did it anyway because they did not want Trump to become or remain president. In spite of the fake dossier, the millions spent, the illegal spying, etc., AG Barr has indicated no one did anything indictable. Interesting.

This is a perfect example of how the wicked prosper. They do so because Satan is the god of this world and he has a final world empire to bring about, one that his spiritual son, Antichrist, will rule over. The ultimate goal of that empire will be to keep Jesus from physically returning to this planet, if you can believe that. I cannot emphasize this enough.

But even though wickedness, evil and criminality often seem to go unpunished in this life, it won’t in the next when the perpetrators of said evil stand before God and give an account. They won’t be able to lie their way out of anything. Liars fool people all the time, but they won’t fool God.

This is ultimately, I believe, what the Psalmist is getting at here. Because all things will come out into the open and because God Himself will issue perfect justice, the Psalmist reminds us in verse 8 that we should, “Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.” Because God and God alone is perfectly righteous, only He can mete out true justice. He will do so in His way and in His time. Because of this knowledge, we can “cease from anger.” It’s not ours to worry about or have to deal with, is it? We can “forsake wrath” which is born of a desire for vengeance, knowing that God will judge perfectly and no one will get a way with anything. Finally, we should not “fret” or worry about trying to pay back those who commit evil with justice. Many of these things are reiterated by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7).

Laws are in place to deal with the treachery of evil people. Sometimes, people escape justice in this life because they have a lot of money and with it, tremendous power. They also escape justice because of the many people who they may have blackmailed. Wickedness knows no bounds for some folks and God keeps track.

The Psalmist brings us to his main point in the next verse when he says, “For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.” Those who traffic in evil as a matter of course, will be cut off. What does that mean? It simply means like it says in the first few verses of this same Psalm that there will come a day when evil people will no longer exist on this planet.

When Jesus establishes His Kingdom rule in the future, He will deal with evil and do so with a rod of iron. Once that Millennial Kingdom is over, Satan will be released for a short time and will gather all evil people on earth at that time to himself for one last chance to overthrow the King of Kings, Jesus. Jesus will be quickly deal with Satan and cast him into the Lake of Fire. There will then be the Great White Throne Judgment where all humans who spent their lives rejecting God in Christ will stand before Him to fully understand why they are going to the same Lake of Fire as their “spiritual father.” This is all highlighted in the last few chapters of the book of Revelation.

I cannot imagine a world without sin, can you? I cannot imagine my life without sin. I cannot imagine never having an evil thought or being tempted to have one. It is impossible for me now to understand what it will mean when not only my sin nature is gone, but everyone else’s sin nature is gone. It is difficult to comprehend what life will actually be like.

The closest we can come to it is when we read about Adam and Eve before the fall. It was harmony. They had no fear of anything, including animals. The animals did not eat meat. They did not harm. There was no bad weather. God’s Creation was in perfect harmony…until the day sin entered the world.

I spent part of this morning praying that God would help me from within to let go of things that don’t matter, to rely on Him so that I can say with Paul that He works “mightily” in and through me (Colossians 1:29). Here’s the rub though. God can only work in and through us when we become and remain compliant to Him. We must be in a constant state of submission to Him, His will, and His purposes.

Does knowing Him mean that much to you? Does it mean that much to me? It is a question we all must answer and the Bible provides great reasons why we should endeavor to do this all the time.

[1] https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/allegation-hillary-clinton-orchestrated-collusion-hoax-to-distract-from-her-emails-according-to-russian-intel/

Entry filed under: Atheism and religion, christianity, Cultural Marxism, Demonic, Eastern Mysticism, emergent church, Emotional virtue, eternity, new age movement, Political Correctness, Politically Correct, Politics, Religious - Christian - End Times, Religious - Christian - Prophecy, Religious - Christian - Theology, salvation. Tags: delight in him, psalm 37.