There Is A Future For The Righteous

Please take your Bibles and open them up this morning again to the book of Psalms.

We've been walking our way through several of the Psalms this summer and we've come to Psalm

! chapter 37 this morning. If you don't have a copy of God's Word with you, if you didn't bring one,

that's okay. We have them in the seat backs nearby and feel free to make use of that. Our text is

Psalm! chapter 37. It is another Psalm of David and when you've found that, let's stand in honor of

the reading of God's Word this morning. Psalm! chapter 37.

David writes,

Fret not yourself because of evildoers. Be not envious of wrongdoers, for they will soon fade like grass and

wither like the green herb. Trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

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 act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your

justice as the noonday. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him. Fret not yourself over

the one who prospers in His way, over the man who carries out evil devices. Refrain from anger and

forsake wrath. Fret not yourself. It tends only to evil. For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those

who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land. In just a little while the wicked will be no more.

Though you look carefully at His place, He will not be there. But the meek shall inherit the land

and delight themselves in abundant peace. The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes

his teeth at Him. But the Lord laughs at the wicked, for He sees that His day is coming.

The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows to bring down the poor and the needy,

to slay those whose way is upright. Their sword shall enter their own heart and their bows shall be

broken. Better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked. For the arms of

the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous. The Lord knows the days of the

blameless and their heritage will remain forever. They are not put to shame in evil times. In the days

of famine they shall have abundance, but the wicked will perish. The enemies of the Lord are like the glory

of the pastures. They vanish like smoke. They vanish away. The wicked borrows but does not pay back. But the

righteous is generous and gives. For those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the land, but those cursed

by Him shall be cut off. The steps of a man are established by the Lord when he delights in his way.

Though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds His hand.

I have been young and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or His children begging

for bread. He is ever lending generously and His children become a blessing. Turn away from evil

and do good. So shall you dwell forever. For the Lord loves justice. He will not forsake His saints.

They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall

inherit the land and dwell upon it forever. The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom and His tongue

speaks justice. The law of His God is in His heart. His steps do not slip. The wicked watches for the

righteous and seeks to put him to death. The Lord will not abandon him to his power or let him be

condemned when he is brought to trial. Wait for the Lord and keep His way, and He will exalt you to

inherit the land. You will look on when the wicked are cut off. I have seen a wicked, ruthless man

spreading himself like a green laurel tree, but he passed away, and behold, he was no more. Though I

sought him, he could not be found. Mark the blameless and behold the upright, for there is a future for the

man of peace, but transgressors shall be altogether destroyed. The future of the wicked shall be cut off.

The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord. He is their stronghold in times of trouble.

The Lord helps them and delivers them. He delivers them from the wicked and saves them because they

take refuge in Him. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord endures forever.

Father, we pray as we just sang, God, would you show us Christ?

Would you reveal your glory through the preaching of your word this morning? We ask in Jesus' name.

Amen. You may be seated.

One of my favorite games to play as a kid was the game of life. Have you ever played the game of life?

If you've played the game, then you know that you quite literally work your way through many of life's

important milestones. You get an education, you get your first job, you get married, you have kids,

and you work your way all the way through the winding turns until you get to the end of the game and you

retire. And the point of the game is whoever stacks up the most money by the end of the game

wins the game of life. Imagine playing the game of life with someone who has no regard whatsoever for

the rules of the game. So you take a few turns and after a while you realize when nobody is looking,

when they think you're not looking, they slip a couple extra hundreds out of the bank and into

their money pile. And when it comes time for them to pick their career, they stack the cards in their

favor so they make sure that they get the highest paying job in the game. And when they spin the wheel,

they make certain that they only land on all the good tiles. And if they do accidentally land on

something bad, well, they just blame the wheel and they spin again. Meanwhile, there you are trying

your very best, playing the game according to the rules. And yet you are struggling to get by. It's

totally unfair. And their little car is cruising their way through the game of life while your little

car is struggling, moving at a snail's pace, paying off your debts, following all the rules. You

would probably be frustrated playing that game, wouldn't you? In fact, you would probably at

some point wonder, where in the world is mom or dad? Don't they care that the rules are being broken?

And won't they come and set things right and make certain that things are played by the rules? This

isn't how it should be. And yet sadly, this unfair experience is oftentimes not just a game. For many,

this is how real life goes. You may have experienced some of this frustration yourself in your own life.

Your non-believing neighbors who do not follow the Lord, do not profess faith in Christ, do not seek

to obey his law. They are seeming to have life on easy mode while you face trial after trial after trial

your co-worker lies and cheats his way into yet another promotion while you just keep your head

down and quietly do your job and no one seems to notice. Why is it so? And you may be prone to wonder,

well, where is God in all of this? Does he not see how unfair this is? Will he not step in and make this

right? Does he not care that the wicked seem to succeed while the righteous seem to struggle?

This is the tension that David is dealing with in Psalm chapter 37. He wrestles with this tension

Psalms 37 · chapter mention

of the success of the wicked and the struggle of the righteous. But in the end, he calls all of God's

people to lift up our head from the game for just a minute, take a step back and remember the confidence

that we have in our good God and the promises that he's made to us in Christ. Here's the main idea for us

this morning in Psalm chapter 37 is this. God's promised future produces present faithfulness

Psalms 37 · chapter mention

despite our present frustration. And the Psalm, as you may have noticed, as I read is long as 40 verses

long and it's actually an acrostic poem in the Hebrew. It's one of several in the book of Psalms.

It is a wisdom Psalm and you may have noticed that it, it kind of reads a little bit more like the book

of Proverbs than it does like a Psalm. And in fact, several of these verses, the first verse is quoted

verbatim in the book of Proverbs in Proverbs 24 verse 19. This is family wisdom that's passed down

Proverbs 24:19

from King David to King Solomon and now down to us this morning. And so because this is a wisdom Psalm

and because it is an acrostic poem, it's not really progressing linearly like many of the texts do. It

doesn't go in a straight line from verse 1 to verse 40. And so we're not going to walk straight

through it like we ordinarily would in a more linear text. Rather, we're going to take it in three

clear themes. Now, hopefully you heard, as I read through the Psalm, three clear movements that we

see here in Psalm 37. Again, we're going to see our present frustration, our promised future,

and our patient faithfulness. This will be our outline this morning. If you're taking notes,

our present frustration, our promised future, and our patient faithfulness. First, let's consider

our present frustration. This Psalm, like many of the Psalms, it again, it makes this clear distinction

to us between these two groups of people. There are the righteous and there are the wicked. Two groups

of people, every single person in the world, every single person in this room belongs to one or the

other of these two groups. You either are counted righteous by faith in Christ. That's the only way

to be in this group. Or you are by nature, default, you are in this category of the wicked. There's no

neutral. There's no third category. There's nowhere in between. Two groups of people, the righteous or

the wicked. And that wickedness is seen, David shows us, in the fruit and all sorts of bad fruit in a

person's life. David calls them evildoers, wrongdoers in verse one. He says that they plot against the

righteous. In verse 12, they gnash their teeth at them. They draw the sword. They bend their bows to

bring down the poor and the needy and to slay those whose way is upright. Apparently, these wicked

people, they are plotting and scheming ways to destroy the righteous. They're not indifferent

towards the righteous. They don't ignore the righteous. They are antagonistic. They get ahead

by putting the righteous ones down. Verse 32 says, the wicked watches for the righteous and seeks to put

him to death. We recently finished going through the book of Genesis. Don't you remember? In the Garden of

Eden, this is the ongoing conflict ever since the Garden of Eden between that seed of the woman and the

seed of the serpent. This is ongoing enmity between those who belong to the enemy, that great serpent

Satan, and those who belong to the Lord. Ultimately, those who belong to Christ. Church, we have to remember that

we are not in peacetime. We are in wartime. And Satan and all who belong to him are presently waging war

against all who belong to the Lord. Just last week in Nigeria, you may have seen this, the Fulani people

attacked the village of Neridon in Nigeria, targeting, especially, specifically targeting Christians. I mean, this was not a

random attack. They went from house to house shooting and ultimately killed 30 professing Christians.

Eleven of them were children. The youngest was three years old. Church, it's hard for us to fathom that

sort of hardship and persecution here where we live. I mean, my goodness, in Allendal and Mount Pleasant,

we can hardly even wrap our minds around this, but this is very real and is happening to our

brothers and sisters throughout the world, even right now. And what's worse, those who gave an

interview afterwards, they said that the local police refused to come in time to help.

Our brother Sampson in Ghana is still on the run for his life. His church is still scattered. His people

are still being hunted and they have made appeal after appeal after appeal to every form of authority

that they can think of, and yet every form of authority has turned them a blind eye to their

struggles and their persecutors. Get away with it. Why is this so? Do you ever get frustrated by this?

How the wicked just seem to succeed and they get away with whatever they want to do while the righteous

struggle? How is it fair that so many false prosperity gospel teachers are living in luxury and abundance,

while so many gospel preaching church planters are struggling to make ends meet? How is that fair?

This is the frustration that we often face here in a fallen world. And then you add to it the confusion

that we feel because God's word often paints a different picture than what we see in front of

our eyes, doesn't it? And don't you remember what God said in Psalm chapter one? Blessed is the man who

walks not according to the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat

of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord. And on his law, he meditates day and night.

In all that he does, it says he prospers. And yet, what do we see with our eyes? It's the wicked who seem to be blessed.

It's the wicked who seem to prosper. It's the wicked who have the money and the comfort and the luxury.

And it's the wicked who get ahead while the righteous fall behind. Everything seems to be upside down.

It's frustrating. It's frustrating. And to play by the rules and yet to constantly feel like you're falling behind.

Church, look how David calls us to respond here in verse one.

He says, fret not yourself because of evildoers.

Be not envious of wrongdoers.

Fret not yourself because of evildoers.

He says in verse seven, fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,

over the man who carries out evil devices.

He says in verse eight, fret not yourself.

It tends only to evil.

This word fret, it essentially means anger not.

Don't get yourself so angry and so anxious and so agitated,

so bothered over the wicked and their success.

Don't fixate on it so that you get so hot under the collar and bothered by it.

The Christian standard Bible translates it,

don't be agitated by the evildoers.

Church, when you see the injustice done to our brothers and sisters throughout the world,

do you fret?

Or do you envy their success?

And when you jump onto social media and you see the luxurious life of a non-believer,

are you tempted to envy?

When you see a clip like what I saw this week of Tom Brady sailing down the river on his $12 million yacht,

right, not a care in the world,

are you ever prone to think,

man, that would be nice to have what he has?

David says,

be not envious of wrongdoers.

But church,

how in the world is that type of response possible?

How in the world is that even possible?

How can we look on at the success of the wicked here

and not get upset?

And how can we look at what they have

and not be envious

and wish that that were us and not them?

Well, David tells us,

second,

he says,

fix your eyes on our promised future.

Fix your eyes

on our promised future.

I know that it is frustrating

to play a losing game.

I am more competitive than most.

I promise you.

I guarantee you,

I'm more competitive than you.

How would you feel, though,

if you knew that in the end,

church,

that you won

and the wicked lose?

How would it change things for you

to know with certainty

that the end of the game

has already been decided?

That whatever twists and turns

life takes you here and now,

it does not ultimately matter

because soon and very soon

the game will be over

and you will have won.

How would it change things

for you to know

that the success of the wicked

is short-lived

and momentary?

Your suffering,

the suffering of the righteous

is also short-lived

and momentary.

Christian,

don't you realize

this is the advantage

that we have here and now?

This ought to radically transform

the way we go through our life.

We don't know

when this will happen,

but we know with certainty

because the Lord has told us

what will happen

soon and very soon.

The Lord Jesus will return

and He will make

all things right.

We've seen that there are

two very different groups

of people in the world,

but here,

David points us to now

the radically different future

for these two groups of people.

The radically different future

for the wicked

and for the righteous.

Let's think first

about the future

of the wicked.

David says that

the wicked person

who lives this luxurious life

here and now,

verse 2,

he says,

they will soon fade

like the grass

and wither

like the green herb.

Church,

right now,

the wicked are watered

and fed

and nourished

by the common grace

blessings of the Lord.

But what happens

when those common grace

blessings are removed

and all that's left

is the scorching heat

of God's wrath

against the wicked?

He says that wicked person

who lives in open rebellion

against the Lord

and seems to get away with it

here and now,

who seems to have it all together,

who seems to have no worries

in this life,

verse 20,

says like smoke,

they vanish away.

Just like that.

The wicked seem like

they're rooted

and stable now,

like nothing can shake them.

But David says

in verse 35,

I have seen

the wicked,

ruthless man

spreading himself

like a green laurel tree,

rooted

and stable

and strong

and secure.

And yet,

what does he say?

They passed away.

And behold,

he was no more.

Though I sought him,

he could not be found.

And we should remember

that the appearance

of stability

and security

and success

that the wicked have

here and now,

it is all momentary

and fading

in light of eternity.

It simply will not last.

In fact,

you ask,

where is God

in all of this?

David tells us

the Lord is not absent.

He's not ambivalent.

He's not indifferent.

He's not ignorant

of what's happening

in his world.

Rather,

verse 13,

it says,

while the wicked

plot against the righteous,

the Lord laughs

at the wicked.

Why?

For he sees

that his day

is coming.

Yes,

everything is upside down

right now.

But again,

church,

one day soon,

our God

will come

and make it

right.

we confess this

in our statement

of faith

and what we profess

to believe together

as a church.

We say,

we believe

that the end of the world

is quickly approaching,

that at the last day,

Christ will descend

from heaven

in glory

and raise the dead,

both righteous

and the wicked,

from the grave

to final judgment.

A solemn separation

will then take place,

which will fix forever

the final state of men

on principles

of righteousness.

The wicked

will be adjudged

to endless

conscious punishment

in hell.

Those belonging

to Christ

will have eternal life

in the new heavens

and the new earth

and will dwell forever

with God

in righteousness,

peace,

and joy

to the glory

of God.

These are sobering

words,

aren't they,

church?

It is not fun

and it is not popular

to talk about

the reality of hell.

In fact,

several popular

Bible teachers,

public figures,

have recently come out

denying the reality

of a true,

eternal place

of torment

for the wicked.

The truth is unpopular,

but friend,

we're not wiser than God.

Paul tells us

in 1 Thessalonians 1.9,

they,

the wicked,

will suffer

the punishment

of eternal destruction

away

from the presence

of the Lord

and away

from the glory

of His might.

Jesus Himself

tells us

in Matthew 25,

46,

and these,

the wicked,

will go away

into eternal punishment,

but the righteous

to eternal life.

Do you see

the radically

different destination

here between these

radically different

groups of people?

The righteous

will look to the place

where the wicked

stood,

harassing God's people,

living in common

grace blessings

while denying

the God

who made them,

and in that day

they will be

no more.

Ask yourself,

why would I envy

that person?

Why would I want

what they have?

Why would I fret

over their success

here and now?

It's going to be

gone like that,

like smoke in the air.

It'll vanish.

It'll go away

like in an instant.

Why would I envy

that person?

Church,

we shouldn't envy them

and we shouldn't

fret over them.

You know our response?

It should be

we should have

compassion on them.

We should long

for them

to come to know

the grace of the

Lord Jesus Christ

as we have.

We should pray

for them

that the Lord

would be gracious

to them

as He's been to us.

We should pursue

them with the

gospel of Christ.

We should call

them to repentance

and to faith in Jesus.

But we should

never,

ever,

envy them.

If we're prone

to fret

or envy the wicked,

we should know

that our frustration

here and now,

it often stems

from a lack

of eternal

perspective.

That's the future

for the wicked.

Look,

look at what David

says about the future

for the righteous.

Five times

here in Psalm 37,

five times,

David assures us

the righteous

will inherit

the land.

Did you hear that

promise repeated?

Verse 9,

the evildoers

shall be cut off,

but those who

wait for the Lord

shall inherit

the land.

Verse 11,

the meek

shall inherit

the land

and delight

themselves

in abundant

peace.

Verse 22,

those blessed

by the Lord

shall inherit

the land,

but those cursed

by Him

shall be cut off.

Verse 29,

the righteous

shall inherit

the land

and dwell upon

it forever.

Verse 34,

wait for the Lord

and keep His way

and He will exalt

you to inherit

the land.

You will look on

when the wicked

are cut off.

David holds out

this hope

for God's people.

He assures

his people,

yes,

it may look bleak

now,

but the righteous

look ahead

to God's promises.

The righteous

remember,

God has promised

this time

and this place

when you will be

with me

in the land.

This land promise

we know for Israel,

that's much more

than just a piece

of property.

This was the hope

of God's people.

This was their hope.

This was a place

like a new Eden.

It was a place

where God's people

would again dwell

with God,

where He would be

their God

and they would be

His people,

where they would

worship Him together,

where they would have

peace from their enemies.

David says,

the wicked

will not be there,

but the righteous

and the meek

will inherit

the land.

But church,

of course,

we know

this land promise

is ultimately

fulfilled

in the new Eden

to come,

the new heavens

and the new earth

and not just a patch

of land

in the Middle East,

but all the world

renewed

and restored

for all of God's people.

This is our hope

in Christ.

A place

in a day

where there is

no sin,

where the wicked

are no more,

where all of God's people

can dwell with Him

forever,

where He will be

our God

and we will be

His people.

This is what John saw

in Revelation 21.

He says,

I saw a new heaven

and a new earth

for the first heaven

and the first earth

had passed away

and the sea

was no more.

And I saw

the holy city,

New Jerusalem,

coming down

out of heaven

from God,

prepared as a bride

adorned for her husband.

And I heard

a loud voice

from the throne

saying,

Behold,

the dwelling place

of God

is with man.

He will dwell

with them

and they will be

His people

and God Himself

will be with them

as their God.

He will wipe away

every tear

from their eyes

and death

shall be no more.

neither shall there

be mourning

nor crying

nor pain

anymore

for the former

things have

passed away.

Church,

this is our

future in Christ.

Can't you endure

a little suffering

here

to know

that that day

is coming soon?

Friend,

if you are

still

amongst

the wicked,

if you have

not yet

put your faith

in Christ,

the call

here is clear.

The response

of this passage

for the wicked

is turn from

your sin

and put your

faith in Christ

and you too

will have

this confident

future ahead

of you.

And the response

of the righteous

is to respond

here and now

until that day

with patient

faithfulness.

this is what

we see in our

third and final

point this

morning.

Third,

in light of

all of this,

in light of

this glorious

promise that we

have ahead of

us,

third,

we are called

to patient

faithfulness

here and now.

Again,

if you knew

that at the

end of this

game,

while the

cheater sat

and counted

up his

money,

at some

point,

dad is

going to

come,

he's going

to take

away

everything

that he's

gained,

he's going

to hand

it to you,

he's going

to pick up

your little

car,

he's going

to bring

it all

the way

safely to

the finish

line,

he's going

to declare

you the

winner and

him the

loser,

how would

that transform

the way

you go

through life?

You could

play this

game with

a smile,

knowing that

no matter

what happens,

the end

is secure.

Our

promised

future

ought to

produce

present

faithfulness

despite

our present

frustration.

David calls

us to

several

practical

responses

here in

this

psalm.

It is

so full

of

imperatives

and commands

for us,

directing us

what to

do.

I just

want to

group them.

I want us

to think

in five

categories

here as

we close

by way

of response.

The first,

protect

your heart.

Protect

your heart.

In other

words,

do not

join them

in their

game.

when you

see the

success

of the

wicked

Christian,

do not

fret,

do not

envy,

he says

in verse

1.

Do not

be

wrathful,

do not

be angry,

he says

in verse

8.

Do not

be tempted

to join

in with

them,

and they're

evil,

he says

in verse

27.

You're

going to

feel

tempted

from

time

to

time

to

wish

that

you

had

what

they

have.

Right?

But remember

the promise,

church.

Remember

what lies

ahead of

you.

Remember

that this

present

moment

will be

over

before

you

know

it,

and so

protect

your

heart

from

envy.

The

second,

put your

trust

entirely

in the

Lord.

Put

your

trust

entirely

in the

Lord.

Fix

your

eyes

on our

great

and

sovereign

God.

And

remember

who

is

in

charge

of

this

world

even

when

things

look

bleak.

So

David

says,

trust

in the

Lord.

Verse

three,

do you

trust

him?

Do you

trust

him to

do

what's

right?

Do

you

trust

him

that

he's

in

control?

Do

you

trust

him

to

bring

justice

in

the

end?

Delight

yourself

in

the

Lord.

Verse

four,

and

he

will

give

you

the

desires

of

your

heart.

Commit

your

way

to

the

Lord.

Trust

him

and

he

will

act.

You

know,

the

wicked

take

this

as

a

prosperity

promise.

If I

just

delight

in

him

enough,

I'll

get

whatever

I

want,

right?

But

the

righteous

know

better.

We

know

that

the

Lord

himself

is

the

greatest

treasure

in

all

the

world,

far

better

than

riches,

far

better

than

luxury,

far

better

than

momentary

success.

We

know

Psalm

1611

in

his

presence

there

is

fullness

of

joy.

At

his

right

hand

are

pleasures

forever

more.

So the

call to

God's

people

here and

now,

delight

yourself

in

him.

Trust

in

him.

Commit

yourself

to

him and

one day

soon

he will

bring

you

into

the

land

to

be

with

him

forever.

Do you

delight

in

him?

Third

category,

David

calls us

to

pursue

what

is

good.

Pursue

what

is

good.

One

of

the

common

mistakes

that we

can

easily

walk

into

because

we

know

what

the

future

holds

is

that

might

lead

us

to

passivity.

We

know

what's

going

to

happen

anyway.

God

is

going

to

come.

He's

going

to

set

things

right.

We'll

be

with

him

soon.

Why

not

just

sit

back

on

our

hands

and

wait?

I

love

that

David

no

believer

do

good.

Verse

3

Dwell

in

the

land.

Befriend

faithfulness.

Lend

generously

and

give.

He

says

verse

21

Utter

wisdom.

Speak

justice.

He

says

verse

30

In

other

words,

Christian,

we are

called

to be

active

in

pursuing

good

here

and

now

while

we

wait

for

the

Lord

to

come.

We

don't

just

sit

back

on

our

hands

and

do

nothing.

We

pursue

good.

We love

our

neighbor

as

ourselves.

We put

our hands

and our

feet

and our

mouths

to the

pursuit

of

righteousness.

The

certain

future

that we

have

ahead of

us

ought to

produce

in us

a radical

commitment

to live

for the

glory of

God

and the

good of

our

neighbor

here

and

now.

Are we

doing

this,

church?

Does

your

future

hope

shape

the

way

you

speak?

Does

your

future

hope

shape

the

way

you

think

about

money?

Does

your

future

hope

shape

the

way

you

think

about

the

way

that

you

live?

Pursue

good.

Fourth

category

David

calls us

practice

patient

endurance.

Practice

patient

endurance.

Here's a

difficult

one.

Be

still

he says

verse

7.

Be

still

before

the

Lord.

Wait

patiently

for

him.

Wait

for the

Lord

and keep

his way

he says

in verse

34.

Don't

feel a

need

to act

on every

impulse

to right

every

wrong

and take

every matter

into your

own

hands.

Rather

he calls

us

verse

11

be

meek.

Would

you

describe

yourself

as

meek?

Would

others

describe

you

as

meek?

The

kingdom

of

God

does

not

belong

to

those

who

are

strong

and

prideful

and

can

take

care

of

every

problem

that

comes

their

way

in

their

own

strength.

Rather

what

does

verse

11

teach

us?

The

meek

shall

inherit

the

land.

And

don't

you

know

again

Jesus

quotes

this

verse

in the

sermon

on the

mount.

We

read it

this

morning.

Again

transforming

this

for us

so that

we

see

this

promise

is not

just

the

land.

Rather

what does

he say?

the

meek

shall

inherit

the

earth.

Are

you

meek?

Fifth

and

final

category

David

says

Christian

pay

attention

to

the

righteous.

Pay

attention

to the

righteous.

David

reflects

back as

an old

man

in

verse

25.

He

looks

out

and he

says

I

have

been

young

and

now

I'm

old

yet

I

have

not

seen

the

righteous

forsaken

or his

children

begging

for

bread

and

so

verse

37

he

says

mark

the

blameless

and

behold

the

upright

mark

the

blameless

and

behold

the

upright

we

have

a

choice

what

we

pay

attention

to

don't

we

we

have

a

choice

what

we

set

our

eyes

on

and

the

temptation

is

to

pay

attention

to

this

successful

wicked

man

but

haven't

we

seen

this

lens

only

to

frustration

the

world

lifts

up

and

pays

attention

to

the

successful

wicked

man

instead

Christian

we're

called

to

pay

attention

and

learn

from

those

whose

life

although

it

may

lack

the

flash

and

the

glamour

and

all

the

things

that

the

world

deems

worthy

of

attention

their

life

is

marked

by

steady

faithfulness

to

the

Lord

their

life

is marked

by

meekness

do you

have

anyone

like that

in your

life

I think

it would

be

to our

benefit

if each

and every

one of

us took

our eyes

off of

the

temporary

success

of the

wicked

and instead

fixed

our eyes

on the

eternal

promises

to the

meek

and the

righteous

and

friend

no one

has

embodied

this

more

than

King

Jesus

King

David

experienced

the

frustration

that we

often feel

struggling

in

righteousness

while the

wicked

seemed

to

succeed

but

church

nobody

knew

this

more

intimately

than

King

Jesus

Jesus

Christ

is

the

righteous

man

who

was

hunted

and

hated

by

the

wicked

who

was

truly

blameless

and upright

who

never

once

envied

the

wicked

who

never

once

fretted

over

their

success

who

completely

and

totally

entrusted

himself

to

God

and

yet

in

the

most

unfair

moment

in

human

history

this

righteous

man

suffered

and

died

a

sinner's

death

it

was

against

Jesus

ultimately

that

the

wicked

gnashed

their

teeth

and

bent

their

bows

and

for

a

brief

moment

on

the

cross

it

looked

as

if

wickedness

had

won

the

day

but

church

as

we

fix

our

eyes

on

Christ

we

look

back

at

the

cross

we

see

in

the

great

wisdom

of

our

God

even

this

greatest

moment

of

wickedness

the

world

has

ever

seen

was

his

eternal

plan

for

good

this

meek

and

lowly

king

crucified

for

us

crushed

the

powers

of

sin

and

death

and

now

by

right

rules

and

reigns

over

all of

heaven

and

earth

and

promises

us

that

those

who

are

righteous

by

faith

in

him

one

day

soon

will

reign

with

him

for

all

eternity

can

you

bear

a little

suffering

Christian

can

you

bear

a little

unfairness

for a

moment

Christian

if you

are

discouraged

or

frustrated

by the

apparent

success

of the

wicked

here

and

now

if

you

are

are

frustrated

by your

struggles

fix

your

eyes

on

Christ

mark

the

blameless

behold

the

upright

delight

yourself

in

him

trust

in

him

wait

on

him

commit

yourself

to

him

you

are

following

him

first

through

suffering

but

then

into

glory

this

light

and

momentary

affliction

is

preparing

for us

an

eternal

weight

of

glory

beyond

all

comparison

as

we

look

not

to

the

things