03.04.2012 Psalms 1,3,37 - Oriented, Disoriented, Reoriented

SermonAudio

You will need to grab a Bible this morning. Let’s pray and continue our series through the Psalms
Lord, we thank You that You are present with us – You lead and guide us through life and we give ourselves to You. You long to speak to us – You know us, You know our week – through the Word and prayer, You want to communicate. We are Your sheep – we hear Your voice. We follow Your voice. For each of us, we desire to hear Your voice talking to our hearts. In Your Name, amen.
Turn to the beginning of the Psalms. Jeff mentioned a couple of weeks ago that the Psalms were written over a thousand year span – and were not compiled until after the destruction of Jerusalem and after they returned. Many were memorized – some were problem written. They were a memory culture. Jewish boys and girls would memorize the first 5 books of the Bible by like, the age of 11. The reason that is important – once they started compiling them in this form – they never changed. The order was the same – the numbers are the same. Of all the old manuscripts – chapters 1-89 are the same. The people who put the book of psalms together were writing to specific people to give theology and practical application for what they were going through. It was a difficult time for the people of Israel – they were conquered and conquered and conquered – even to the time of Jesus when they were under Roman control.
There are three ways to look at the Psalms – this is how I do it and probably you too –
1) Personal devotion. I try to read the Psalms daily and allow God to speak to my heart. They are just so relevant – you can pick them up and start reading and you don’t have to read far to get that.
2) A book of corporate worship – we sang at least 2 songs directly from the Psalms this morning. Many praise choruses draw from the psalms – because they were a book of songs/hymns/poetry.
3) This is the way – we’ll do it today – it is a collection of psalms/poetry in a context written to draw deep theological truth and Christian application.
Last week I asked you to have a time of silence – and I’ll ask you to do that again this week.
Today we’ll look at that.
Psalm 1-2, 150
Open your Bible – if you have a pew Bible – this will work – Psalm 1 – The Righteous and The Wicked Contrasted. That is not in the Bible – the Bible League stuck that in there as a topic.
If you look at Psalm 2 – The Reign of the Lord’s anointed – that is not there either.
Psalm 3 – Morning prayer – that is not in there – but A Psalm of David, when he fled from his son Absalom – THAT was there. We have had that and we know that to be trustworthy. But Psalm 1 and Psalm 2 do not have that. They introduce the philosophy, content, meaning to the psalms to us. They tell us what the psalms are to be about – it explains two ways to live.
I know Jeff read this – I’ll read it quickly
Psalm 1:1 How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.
The first way is the way of wisdom/Torah/God. The second is a way of the wicked/folly/sin.
The psalms are calling us to choose – will you live the way of wisdom or folly?
This is from the individual perspective.
Psalm 2 looks at this from a national perspective – community/Son of David/Jesus.
Those living in this time between the Testaments are waiting for the Messiah. They are being challenged to choose the way of wisdom – to live the way of the Lord.
What else is going on – something that Israel and the ancient world believed and it was foundation to the way they lived their lives. The Retribution Principle – God will reward the Righteous – OR – the Person who chooses the way of wisdom will prosper – or God will judge the Wicked – OR the wicked people will suffer in life. This is a true biblical statement – but Psalms 1 and 2 give us an orientation to this principle. That is the ideal – God rewards the righteous and the wicked will suffer. For Israel, that meant in the here and now. They didn’t have a full understanding of the afterlife. Until Jesus, this concept did not solidify. They would be rewarded/punished NOW for how they lived.
In Psalm 1, you have the way it should be.
Psalm 3 - 3:1 (A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.) O Lord, how my adversaries have increased! Many are rising up against me. 2 Many are saying of my soul, "There is no deliverance for him in God." Selah
But from Psalm 2 on, you have reality.
Their experience didn’t match the truth that was so foundational to everything they believed – and that is what we see in the Psalms – a disconnect between Truth and Experience.
In Psalm 1 and 2, you have an orientation to the Retribution Principle, and from that point on – a disorientation. How to live when it seems that experience doesn’t match what is in God’s word. From our perspective – we know that the Retribution Principle is true, but it is in the afterlife. God will reward the Righteous and judge the wicked.
Today, we are looking at Psalm 37 – and it talks about how to live in the disconnect.
Psalm 37:1 ([A Psalm] of David.) Do not fret because of evildoers, Be not envious toward wrongdoers. 2 For they will wither quickly like the grass, And fade like the green herb
… 12 The wicked plots against the righteous, And gnashes at him with his teeth.
14 The wicked have drawn the sword and bent their bow, To cast down the afflicted and the needy, To slay those who are upright in conduct.
This is about how to trust God when our experience is not working the way we want it to be.
1 – in order to trust God, you must reject anxiety and fear.
He starts with what not to do.
Fret not – don’t get all stressed – don’t get anxious – don’t fear – be not envious – stop that! That is the very beginning – and the tendency – when something begins to go wrong, we start to fret – fear and anxiety. And the beginning of trusting God is to put a stop to that. Refuse to dwell on all the things that can go wrong – if you can do that – fret not (it leads to evildoing) – I think that is life-transforming – to refuse to think about all the things that may go wrong. I think we do this to protect ourselves from disappointment – some minds work that way. But the reality is – Each day has enough trouble of its own. This isn’t being 'que sera sera' – whatever will be will be – not karma – that is not biblical – but realizing that there are so many things that are out of our control – and we need to leave those things to the One who is in control There are so many things that we can do nothing about. That is what is going on in the Psalms. – If your enemies are rising against you – they are rising against you – and they may be stronger than you – but what that tends to do – to cause us to focus on our circumstances and not on the Lord. Like Peter walking on the water – a person of faith until he took his eyes off the Lord. He was able to trust God until then.
But what we do – we see something coming down the road – and it may be real and plow into us headlong. But we can’t take our eyes off of God.
Another way to reject fear and anxiety – to look at others and compare ourselves – our more or less prosperity – like from John Ortberg and the ducks – they look like they’re calm, but under the water is a different story – and we need to NOT compare ourselves to others.
ASV: 3 Trust in Jehovah, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on [his] faithfulness.
Trust and do good. If you are consumed by fear and anxiety, you will stop doing good. The antidote is to keep doing good. So much is going on – how can I do good? I’ve gotta be stressed!
Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is to go to work. I believe that – the most spiritual thing you can do – get up and do what you do – paint a house, build a house, destroy a house, go to school, whatever you do – it is the most spiritual thing you can do – to be faithful to the roles God has given you – and that shows faith – and trust in God.
Along with this, doing good – when we tend toward fear and anxiety, we need to maintain personal righteousness and integrity – because when we are under great stress we tend to give that up. When you are afraid of the future, you will give it up – people go through stress and fall into old habits. If it is anger, then stress, anxiety, and fear pull it out. If it is lust – then stress, anxiety, and fear – draw it out.
Pressure bursts pipes. Think of ourselves as pipes – and if the pressure gets too strong – pow.
4 Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it. 6 And He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your judgment as the noonday.
Practice the presence of the Lord – welcome God into your circumstance and situation – understand that God is present there.
Last night jogging at the Nat, I was listening to John Ortberg’s podcast – they are having their congregation be part of an experiment to see how many and how long people can practice God’s presence – take time to remember. When you wake up in the morning – recognize and welcome that God is there. You will go through what you go through, but will it be with God? If you have a busy, terrible week, you will go there – and go through it with God – so you might as well bring God into it. He is wanting to go through it with you.
7 Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him;
Be still – take time to be still – when the stress and anxiety mount – reject it; stop; be silent; allow God to communicate into our hearts.
Just learn to practice times of silence. Not just so there is no noise – like Jeff shared last week – get off the computer – smartphone (dumbphone?)- because the smart thing to do is to have time of quiet – to contemplate – to stop running on the little wheel getting nowhere. When he is speaking of waiting – it is not time of inactivity – but listening to God and hoping – trusting – in God.
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes. 8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret, [it leads] only to evildoing.
When you act based on fear and anxiety – it leads to the wrong decision – but when you hope and wait on God – you will make the right decision.
We have this orientation in psalm 1 and 2, then a disorientation – this disconnect – and then, like in Psalm 37 – we have reorientation – setting it all right –
Psalm 37: 39 But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their strength in time of trouble. 40 And the Lord helps them, and delivers them; He delivers them from the wicked, and saves them, Because they take refuge in Him.
When you are going through this – the point is to be restored to a point of worship and praise. We do these things in order to bring ourselves back – so that God can bring us back – to a place of worship and praise. BUT – in closing – remember this – that place of praise and worship is not always because circumstances have improved – they MAY improve – and they may not – but you can always come back to a place of praise and worship. As we enter into the New Testament – Jesus takes this Retribution Principle and brings it to a higher level. Jesus says – Blessed are you who suffer – for your reward will be extraordinarily great – when men persecute you and slap you…
Paul does the same thing – we exult in our tribulations – as does James. This life is to be lived for the next – this life is for the reward solely in the next – that is what Christ did – He endured the cross for the reward set before Him. It is not like we don’t care about this life, but we do it in light of the reward.
Lord, teach us to trust You at all times – Lord, in the disconnects of life – when it is not working the way we thought – when the difficult times come in – help us to set aside fear and anxiety – to reject that way and to live the way of trust and faithfulness. In Your name we pray - amen