June 16, 2024
Just like my Father
Psalms 37:21-40
Over the last few weeks we have been looking at the 37th Psalm and today we will be finishing up with this Psalm of King David. We have seen some wonderful truths as we have been sifting through all the pearls of wisdom contained in this Psalm as King David shares with us what he learned over a lifetime. First, we saw that when we find ourselves frustrated with the circumstances in our lives, we are to “Keep Calm and Carry on”. We have seen exactly that in our walk with God. Then last week we talked about times we find ourselves in the shadows of our enemy. We are overwhelmed with feelings of discouragement, fear, and just a sense of dread, and how we can have the confident reassurance that we have a God who laughs. He is not laughing at our problems or at our situations, but rather at those who think they can come up against God’s children and thwart what God has in store for them. If you remember back when we started looking at this Psalm, we said we would wrap it all up by June 16th and there would be a reason for that. It’s not because it’s the wrap up service for our VBS week even though the truths we see in this Psalm are ones we talked about with the kids this week. As we showed them how to be “A Part of His World” through a relationship with Jesus Christ. However it is because this Psalm has a connection to Fathers’ Day. It's widely accepted that this Psalm of Wisdom was from a loving father to his son, sharing with him how and why to pursue a godly life. So on this Fathers’ Day I want to finish by looking at this Wisdom Psalm. There is a lot more we could unpack from the last 20 verses of this Psalm, but because of our time constraints this morning, I want to just look at three final truths that David wanted to make sure his son adopted in his life as he prepared himself to become the earthly king of God’s chosen people.
The Attitude that should be Shared - Psalms 37:21-22
The wicked borrow and never repay, but the godly are generous givers. Those the Lord blesses will possess the land, but those he curses will die.
David seemingly starts out verse 21 by sharing some financial advice to Solomon by once again speaking of the wicked and how they handled debts that they owed. What David was sharing was much deeper than just a simple financial transaction, but rather he was focusing on an attitude that lies behind those actions. It’s an attitude of selfishness versus an attitude of selflessness. The act of not repaying a debt that David speaks of is first ― an act of theft. The wicked are literally stealing from those who lent to them expecting to be repaid. What he is not speaking of is a momentary financial issue or setback in life. Those can happen to anyone and there are Biblical ways to handle them. With this statement, David is speaking of the habitual habit of theft that comes from someone who is focused on themselves, and their only concern is for what is in it for them. This is in sharp contrast with the attitude that David wants his son to have. Just like throughout the rest of the Psalm, David is encouraging his son to choose a godly life. The godly are not said to be ones who repay, but rather they are the ones who are generous. It’s in this comparison that we see David’s true intent with this statement. Even though it is true that the godly repay their debts (it’s a matter of honesty and holding onto your testimony), that's not the issue that David’s speaking of. He wants his son to be selfless because that’s what God is to us. We need to be reminded again that as David is writing this Psalm it’s only in context of the promises God made to the children of Israel in the Old Testament, so we see references to those promises. We have the new covenant that was made through the blood of Jesus Christ and have the entirety of God’s word, so we have a little more to reflect upon that David did. When David speaks of the generosity of the godly, I cannot help but think back to the words of Jesus Christ recorded in Matthew 10:8 when He told His disciples “as freely as you have received, freely give.” This is why the godly are generous, for they are just following their Father’s example. Christians have been given everything for free ― grace, mercy, joy and peace. It’s not just a little bit but extravagantly given to us and because of this we are motivated to do the same to the world around us and that begins with sharing the Gospel. The greatest story that’s ever been told has hardly even been told. We share the Gospel and then meet the needs of those who are without hope in a lost and dying world and we do so with joy. We are told that God loves a cheerful giver, because it’s like Himself. Freely and selflessly giving of Himself when we are still His enemies. We are reminded of something that even when we give selflessly, we still have the faithfulness of God to feed off in our lives. It was a powerful message that was spoken of before in this Psalm and a theme we will see again shortly. Be generous with a selfish world because God has been so generous with you and then enjoy His faithfulness in your lives. Remember, for the Christian, our true riches are not what we can accumulate here on earth, but rather what we store up in heaven.
The Life that should be Experienced - Psalms 37:23-29
The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand. Once I was young, and now I am old. Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread. The godly always give generous loans to others, and their children are a blessing. Turn from evil and do good, and you will live in the land forever. For the Lord loves justice, and he will never abandon the godly. He will keep them safe forever, but the children of the wicked will die. The godly will possess the land and will live there forever.
We have a lot of different choices in our lives that will lead us in very different directions in life. The choices we make can have a profound impact on the trajectory of our lives. A few degrees off now in life can lead us to be off by miles a few years down the road. David had seen these firsthand many times. The most noticeable was probably with his encounter with Bathsheba, which was a seemingly small sin. At second glance that probably didn’t seem like a big deal now, leading to adultery and murder. Then David lost 4 of his sons in untimely deaths just as he had pronounced to the prophet Nathan. David knew that for anyone to experience an abundant life, they had to follow the steps God had laid for them in obedience. Not because God is trying to remove pleasure from their lives, but rather because He is protecting them from the dangers of this world. He delights in His children, just like a Good Father. Twice we were called to “delight” previously in this Psalm ― once in the Word of God and then in God Himself. Here the page is flipped, and we find it is in us that God delights, in every detail. He wants what's best for us in all parts of our lives. He is the Good Father whose family we have been adopted into once and for all when we put our faith in Jesus Christ alone. He is a Good Father, as we begin to walk God knows our struggles and He knows we are going to stumble from time to time (not that we can use that as an excuse, but we will talk about that in a moment). He’s not going to let us fall on our face and just leave us there pointing His finger at us and telling us that we should know better. He picks us up and puts us on the straight and narrow once again. He does this because He is a Good Father and David desperately wants his son to follow God and His ways his entire life. He gives a powerful testimony in verse 25. Notice that he does not say he has never seen the godly afflicted or the godly struggle. He testifies with great passion and conviction that He has never, and I mean NEVER, seen godly abandoned. Why? Because God has promised that He would never leave nor forsake us. Again, it’s not that we won’t experience storms in our lives, but rather we would have someone to protect us through those storms. He speaks once again about the generosity shown by the godly because of the generosity shown to them by God and because of their life and their walk with God their children will be blessed. Folks, it’s not enough to bring your children to church, but you have to live it at home.. Children can smell hypocrisy a mile away. That's why David says to turn from evil and do good. God will pick you up when you stumble, but don’t use that as an excuse to pursue sin in your life because your children and theirs will suffer because of your decision. There is a beauty that a variation of either never or forever is used multiple times in the last few verses when it comes to what God has prepared for the godly. Don’t forget this world is not where our treasure lies, we have so much more to look forward to.
The Standard that should be Upheld - Psalms 37:30-40
The godly offer good counsel: they teach right from wrong. They have made God’s law their own, so they will never slip from his path. The wicked wait in ambush for the godly, looking for an excuse to kill them. But the Lord will not let the wicked succeed or let the godly be condemned when they are put on trial. Put your hope in the Lord. Travel steadily along his path. He will honor you by giving you the land. You will see the wicked destroyed. I have seen wicked and ruthless people flourishing like a tree in their native soil. But when I looked again, they were gone! Though I searched for them, I could not find them! Look at those who are honest and good, for a wonderful future awaits those who love peace. But the rebellious will be destroyed; they have no future. The Lord rescues the godly; he is their fortress in times of trouble. The Lord helps them, rescuing them from the wicked. He saves them, and they find shelter in him.
If you want to know what’s wrong with the world, it’s found here as David closes out the Psalm. The world is consumed with moral relativism ― what you think is right for you is right for you and whatever I see as right for me is fine too. As Solomon said in his old age, there is nothing new under the sun. This attitude has been around for thousands of years and was recorded in Judges 21:25 when we are told that “Everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” But that is never the truth. That's like a bunch of workers going to build a skyscraper with no plans or a foreman. If everyone did what they thought was right, would you have the chance to live in that building? The same goes in life. The world is lacking those who will stand upon the Word of God in love and proclaim “Thus saith the Lord…”. David is encouraging his son to be one of the rare men ― those who will proclaim the truth of God and going further by telling those who are wrong that they are wrong in love. You make God’s ways your own ways and abandon your sinful nature in exchange for God’s will for your life, directing each step so that you will never slip because you are walking upon a firm foundation. Don’t trust that you know better than God no matter how smart you are. Don’t trust your own resources because God has much more available to Him. Don’t trust anything else that you might tend to trust in. Trust in God alone. Trust in the path He has laid out in His Word for all of those who trust in Him and He will bless you more than you will ever realize. There are many questions and opinions about what makes a great dad. Verse 34 is a great summation for all the fathers here this morning who want to be the best Dad you can be. Put your hope in the Lord and travel steadily along His path and then everything else will fall into place when you step into the God ― given role as spiritual leader of your home, by leading by example.
David finishes this out by reminding his son of what will happen to the wicked and what will happen to those who seek after and follow God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. They will be taken care of, provided for, and rescued from a world that was never meant for them in the first place.
