Psalm 37 «1*) Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. (1-2) © Arrecurring theme in both the Old and New Testaments: “Do not worry” (or “fret”) — 365 times © In this case we are challenged not to “fret” about evil doers, and especially not to “be envious of those who do wrong” — both anxiety over them and jealousy of their temporal success would be an inappropriate and harmful focus for us * David reminds us that God will deal with them in due time — they will “wither” and “die away” © In this day of such unrestrained evil, we would do well to have an eternal perspective and remain confident that God in Christ will “reconcile all things to Himself” (Colossians 1:20) * “God will repay each person according to what they have done” (Romans 2:6, I Corinthians 5:10, Hebrews 4:13, Psalm 28:4, Psalm 62:12, Proverbs 24:12) ‘© Where then is the grace of God? That is the Good News of the Gospel — those who put their trust in Christ are judged not by their deeds, but are judged based on the righteousness of Christ * “God made Him who knew no sin to become sin for us, so that in Him we would become the righteousness of God” (II Corinthians 5:21) © In Christ we are declared righteous (justification), and as we walk with Him in faith (Colossians 2:6) we are continuously made righteous and conformed to His image (sanctification) © We are to right wrongs as God gives us opportunity (Isaiah 58:6, Matthew 25:31:46), live at peace “if at all possible” (Romans 12: 18), but remain confident in God as the ultimate judge Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. (3-6) © Our nature is such that we cannot resist worry simply by “turning it off” — we must have something to turn to ‘* Just as Paul taught the Philippians: “Do not be anxious about anything” (4:6) but instead to pray, so in this passage David tells us “do not fret” but instead “trust in the Lord and do good” © So Paul's antidote for worry is “prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, and David's advice is to “trust in the Lord and do good”. . . “delight yourself” . . . “commit your way to the Lord” © To “trust in the Lord and do good” are inseparable concepts ~ when you entrust your life into God’s care and seek Him with a whole heart, you find yourself acting in obedience to Him © God promises through this psalm of David that He will meet our needs, for we will “dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture” (comparable to rest, security and safety describing in Heb 4) © Not only are needs by met by God, but He wants to “give you the desires of your heart”To “delight yourself in the Lord” means to know Him by faith and to enjoy Him — as is written in the Westminster Confession: “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever” David encourages us to “commit your way to the Lord” and to “trust in Him” — when we commit to God to follow Him in obedience, we trust Him to accompany us and empower us What will He do? “He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn” and “the justice of your cause like the noonday sun” — notice the order that righteousness comes first, then justice Our commitment should be to God and His righteousness, and then we trust Him for justice