This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Psalms” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, December 13, 1987.

Tonight we are in Psalm 37, once more. We will be reading the first 11 verses, and then we will be looking at some verses in 1 Peter. 1 Peter 5, in fact. Threat not yourselves because of evildoers. Be not envious toward wrongdoers, for they will wither away quickly like the grass and fade like the green herb.

Trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord. Trust also in Him, and He will do it, and He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your judgment as the noonday. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him.

Fret not yourself because of Him who prospers in His way, because of the man who carries out wicked schemes. from anger, and forsake wrath. Fret not yourself, it leads only to evildoing. For evildoers will be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land. Yet a little while, and the wicked man will be no more, and you will look carefully for his place, and he will not be there. But the humble will inherit the land and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your care upon him, because he cares for you. Be a sober spirit beyond the alert. Your adversary the devil prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith. knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Our Father, we are your servants, and the law or the word for our service is given us in the Scriptures. Therefore, Lord, we ask that we might have the Scriptures laid before us in a faithful manner. Also, Lord, we ask that we might take up the Scriptures and read them and reflect upon their significance for our benefit, for our spiritual well-being. Encourage us then, Lord, with the scriptures, that we might be known as a people of the book. We ask this in Jesus’ name, amen.

In our investigation of Psalm 37, we have been learning our A-B-Gs. That’s how the Hebrew alphabet goes. Not A-B-C, but A-B-G. This is, as we have pointed out an acrostic song, and by that we mean that it is a song divided into twenty-two parts, a part for each letter in the Hebrew alphabet, with the opening word of each part beginning with the successive letters of that Hebrew alphabet. Therefore, verses one and two is the A stanza. verses three and four is the B stanza, and verses five and six, that is the G stanza, et cetera, throughout the psalm.

Our investigation thus far has also been both theological and psychological. Theologically, we have commented upon the tension that appears for us as we reflect upon this particular psalm. A tension brought into sharper focus for us, into sharper relief, by what we hear in other places in the Old Testament.

Do the righteous, we might ask, in reflection upon this psalm, Do the righteous always in time, or more specifically in their own lifetime, prosper so as to inherit the land, inherit the earth? Let me say it once more. Do the righteous always in time, or more specifically in terms of this psalm, what seems to be the focus of this psalm, in their lifetime prosper in such a way so as to inherit the land, inherit the earth. While this psalm And we might add, the Proverbs, you’ve read them, suggest that this may well be the case. Yet, other portions of the Old Testament, for instance, Psalm 73, Ecclesiastes, and some would say Job, conclude otherwise. No. The answer would be, the righteous do not always in time, and more specifically in their own lifetime, prosper in such a way to inherit the land or the earth.

Here, then, is a problem in need of some sort of resolution. And hopefully as we move through this psalm, that resolution will become increasingly clear to us, especially as we reflect upon the difficulty posed by the psalm in light of what we now know through Jesus Christ and his gospel. All right. There is that theological reflection for us. in regard to Psalm 37. But we have also reflected upon this psalm psychologically. We have reflected upon it in terms of the spiritual disposition for which it calls.

The fretting spoken of repeatedly in the opening stanzas of the psalm, the fretting mentioned specifically there at the outset of verse one, that fretting is cast in the light of envy. Now, we tried last week to disassociate it somewhat from what some have considered its cause, namely persecution and oppression. But the particular focus of the fretting of this psalm has its orientation in the envying that is mentioned in the second line of the first verse. Be not envious of wrongdoers.

Here it is then, the desire for what the wicked possess. The desire to us for what the wicked possess. We being envious of them. We want what they have. Now, the temptation goes deeper than that, we recognize full well. Thus the psychological pressure of the psalm being brought before us. You see, We, in desiring what the wicked have, in envying the wicked, are tempted to become like the wicked in order to obtain what they have. The issue, therefore, is imitation. The issue is imitation.

A contrast is established for us, then, in this psalm, between those who delight themselves in the world and those, now to whom the psalmist calls, who would delight themselves not in the world, but in the Lord. delight yourselves in the Lord. The psalmist, David, is making clear that the delight which one has in the world, the wish for the world the setting of one’s affections upon the world, living in terms of the promise and the horizon of the world, comes only to ruin and the loss of that for which one has lived. Delight, however, in the Lord, he tells us, In keeping with the covenantal strains of this psalm, the light in the Lord ends in blessing, and in terms of the language of inheritance, in the gaining of all things. In the gaining of all things. As we try to take apart the spiritual disposition encouraged by this psalm, we recognize that the exposition of that spiritual vision is not exhausted by a mere recognition of a need for us to reject the world and embrace God.

For Psalm 37, moving along the lines that it does, becomes also a classic statement about the posture of faith, the posture of faith and faithfulness to the Lord. This matter of faith then dominates the positive statements that appear in this psalm, and specifically as this psalm expresses itself in its opening statements as we move at least through the first eleven verses.

Faith. What is faith? Nation writes a book of over 300 pages, endeavoring to answer that question. Luther agonizes it, agonizes over it, in a monastic cell, trying to come to grips with that question. What? in the end, is faith. How elusive it seems to be. How slippery it seems to be. Yet, in its definition, in its expression, how wonderfully this psalm will bring faith into focus for us.

Does the question of faith perplex you? Have you tried to define it for yourself? Have you tried to express exactly what faith may be? Well, you certainly could do worse than looking at Psalm 37, as it expounds for you that spiritual disposition encouraged of the saints of the Lord, in contrast to the life and the lifestyle of the wicked. What is faith?

You see, according to the psalm, faith is the ready rejoinder to the difficulty posed in verse one. Trust or faith, that trust or faith mentioned in verse 3, is for us the antidote to fretting envy. Trust, faith, is defined here in terms of that which would negate it. that which stands in the form of this psalm as its opposite. Trust and faith is introduced to us here as the antidote to fretting envy.

It is opposite. It is opposite that life, that disposition of life in which we would be drawn away to imitate evildoers. You see, evildoers do not trust the Lord. they trust themselves, they trust in their plans, they trust in their plots, and they trust in their schemes, but they do not trust in the Lord. Threatening envy of the wicked is inclined in the same direction.

It is inclined to trust in the plots, in the schemes, in the plans that are contrived, invented so as to gain what the evil, the wicked have. Faith, then, this trusting of the Lord, brings to an end the plotting, the scheming, the planning that is designed after the pattern of the wicked, whereby we might obtain what the wicked have.

But notice further how this trust, this faith, is defined for us. It is a living and lively trust, a living and lively faith that expresses itself by doing good. Trust in the Lord and do good, David said. just as the energies of the wicked are directed toward a sort of perfecting of evil, actions that deliberately do just that, so the energies of those who trust are devoted to the doing of good.

Do not become weary in well-doing. that takes stock of the imagery intended by this third verse. It arises out of a pastoral setting. There is, you see, the feverish exertion by the wicked, and the equally feverish exertion of the fretting envious. But these are contrasted by a beautific serenity in this third verse. Expounded here by David is that quiet contentment which you would find in an unperturbed flock, an undistressed flock, safely grazing. That’s the force of the latter line in verse three.

Dwell in the pasture and feed yourself upon God’s faithfulness. Expounded here then, as faith itself is expounded, is that quiet contentment that you would find in the rural setting with an unperturbed and undistressed flock safely grazing at peace. This kind of language finds its counterpart in the New Testament, for Paul, in speaking about the life of faith, tells the Thessalonians, make it your ambition Make it your aim to lead a quiet life, attend to your own business, and work with your hands contentedly. 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 11.

That’s the way in which trust in the Lord faith in him expresses itself. This beautiful serenity and contentment. A people at peace with themselves and with their God. Now while it would be improper for me to impugn the motives and the actions of the Christian activists with which our generation abounds, for certainly the faithful are to be extending themselves in the doing of good, still one wonders, occasionally, as he observes the religious rat race just how much is motivated by the sort of trust and faith we hear of here, which has as its aim quiet contentment, or how much is hatched from envy having as its aim equal footing in the world and even a gain of the world. Trust in the Lord. Extend yourself in the doing of good. Dwell in the Lord’s pasture. and feed yourself with his faithfulness.

Verse four then sets before us, even more starkly than verse three, the only proper object of our faith, the Lord himself, all of our desire. Set upon him, delight yourself, says David, in the Lord. Here, then, the only proper object of our faith, the Lord himself, and the only proper ordering of the life of faith. First, the Lord. Above all else, first, the Lord. Then, whatever he wishes to give us.

One way to determine whether your faith has gone astray is to review your assessment of faith’s proper object and the place of the fruit that has come to you because you have set your faith on its proper object. The Lord Do you get mixed up? Why it’s the things that I want? Why it’s all that I have thought was promised, not God himself?

Before long, we’re utterly confused. It’s the world we want. not God at all. And God himself becomes expendable to our faith. The proper object of our faith If we let things go awry, we discover increasingly that the Lord Himself, no one less than the Lord, is eclipsed.

How well this fits with what we have found to be true for many in their understanding of faith. Recently, I read a book on evangelism and church growth, certainly legitimate topics. Unfortunately, the general line of too many of the chapters of that book was expressed by the font I found in one of those chapters. As this particular chapter was coming to a conclusion, a chapter on the use of small groups within the church I was told by the author that the proper object of my faith was the methodology employed in the development and deployment of those groups.

I was to believe in the method. The statement was unmistakable. It was overt. It was blatant. Not the Lord, but the method. and the method would ensure the results. We move from our private lives and the eclipsing of God from before our eyes to the general state of the church, where God is also eclipsed, and no longer the delight of our souls. The proper, the only proper object of our faith.

We have then the next four stanzas. Verse four brings us to the conclusion of the second stanza, but then we have stanza three, verses five and six. We have stanza four verse seven. We have stanza five verses eight and nine, and we have stanza six verses ten and eleven. And these stanzas are adding to our definition of faith and its expression by those who truly, sincerely believe. Verse five is wonderfully graphic.

I know how it reads. It reads in your English translation. It says, commit your way to the Lord. But in the Hebrew, it’s better yet, for there literally it says, roll your way up upon the Lord. In other way, in other words, your way or your life is viewed from the standpoint of its cares and its worries. It is viewed as a great burden, as a huge boulder, that now you, in your faith, roll up upon the Lord because He has invited you to do just that.

And He will bear it. You understand why we read from 1 Peter this evening, the fifth chapter? that marvelous seventh verse, a verse that is indelibly imprinted upon many of our hearts. Truly, as Peter tells us, cast all of your care, all of your anxiety, all of your worry upon Him, because He cares for you. Roll it up upon That’s how faith behaves. That is the action of trust. To be sure the doing of good, but also the casting of all care upon the Lord in the knowledge that he cares for you.

Verse seven moves us into the fourth stanza. It tells us that faith is arresting. That’s the place out of which the catechism definition comes, a receiving and resting upon Christ alone, as he is offered to us in the gospel. You remember the catechism definition, the two R’s, receiving and resting. Here, you see, the translation given us for the opening of that seventh verse, rest in the Lord, wait patiently for him. But the power, you see, of that opening sentiment in the seventh verse is more than just a resting, it is a being still. At rest. Undistressed. Unperturbed. at peace. Be quiet. Be still.

Our faith, a waiting upon God, a longing for Him, a longing that sets itself upon Him, rather than a longing for those things that the wicked have, upon which our envy may well be set. Verse eight, moving into the fifth stanza, sets faith, and here very important, sets faith in contrast to anger and the pursuit of wrath. Yes, faith does good. Faith pursues goodness. Faith expresses itself in a commitment of the way or the rolling up of the way upon God, a cessation of worry, a being at rest, a being still, a being quiet. But faith now is also expressing itself in terms of a cessation of anger and a cessation of the pursuit of wrath. Cease from anger. Forsake wrath. For anger and wrath, look for opportunities for gaining what you believe has been denied you. Not only is it incensed that others prosper, it looks for the opportunity for gaining the advantage and pressing the point, while faith waits for God and the inheritance that he will bestow.

Verse eleven, at the conclusion of the sixth stanza, identifies those who have faith as the meat for the hunger. And this picture is given us against the background of the figure of Moses. You remember the story. Numbers twelve, the revolt of Miriam and Aaron against their brother. envious of him. But Moses, who is described in that passage as the meekest man in all the earth, commits his case to the Lord, and it is the Lord who pleads his cause. Faith finds its expression in the meek and in the humble. Those who commit themselves to the Lord and His justification of them.

It is then, in conclusion, the life of faith that transcends the trap of the wicked and the enemy, the envy that is attached to that trap for faith perceives the unseen God beyond all that is seen beyond all that would ensnare faith, perceives the unseen God, and even an unseen reward that awaits that one who trusts in the Lord. a reward that will more than compensate for any lack presently experienced. And of course, as we look at these eleven verses in light of what we now know, the glory of our faith is that we realize the true character of that reward, that inheritance, that is ours. Treasures, we are told, in heaven, laid up, reserved, incorruptible, above. Jesus makes it all clear, doesn’t He not only lives the life of faith perfectly, refusing to be envious of the wicked, but he charts the course for the faithful unto the clearing of the clouds, clearing of the fog, the penetration of all that obscures, unto the reward that awaits those with faith.

His death is the sacrifice. It is the sacrifice that clears away all that hinders. But as well, his death is that sacrifice even for the envious who have misunderstood, misconstrued, and misapplied the word and the power of God. By way of his death even the sin of envy is removed as eyes are opened and people by faith live for the unseen God and be yet, be yet to be made visible, glory, inheritance with glory.

Let us pray. O Lord, what is faith? What is the life of faith? Would we not then live in the thought and in the realities of which the psalmist spoke? And would we not live in the fulfillment of everything of which he spoke? Lord, we pray that our faith may be active and energetic in the doing of good, but also expressing itself through the cessation of anxiety and worry, the forsaking of wrath and anger, the adopting of the mode of meekness the manner of humility that we would wait in our faith as those who are quiet and still because of the patience that is part and parcel of it. For these things we ask, reminding ourselves that Our faith is focused upon that which is unseen, but the day comes when our faith will be made sight.

The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.