Rev. David Holwick ZJ Psalms
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
November 30, 2014
Psalm 37:1-11
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I. The drama of future gifts.
A. The Holwick's early Christmas present.
1) Dan and Kara sent us a cute little box, then called us
on Facetime (a video call with my iPad).
2) Celeste was going to put it under the tree but they asked
us to open it right then on Thanksgiving Day.
3) It was a tiny orange ball on a piece of paper that said,
"Our little pumpkin will arrive July 2015."
4) A very exciting gift!
a) I have been pestering them for several years to make
us grandparents.
b) Now that it is approaching reality, I suddenly feel
rather old.
B. Others were getting future gifts as well.
1) The infamous "Black Friday" tradition produced the typical
scenes.
2) Cameras caught a mob of people fighting over a large
flatscreen TV; a policeman clobbered one of the shoppers
to the ground with a right hook.
3) We all have things we want, but we must remember that greed
is a dangerous thing.
a) As David warns us in this psalm, watch out for envy.
C. It is important to want the right things.
1) Verse 4 holds an incredible promise - Delight yourself in
the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.
2) That's a tall order - our hearts can desire quite a lot.
a) It would be wrong to see this as an endorsement of
the Prosperity Gospel as it is usually portrayed.
b) The key is the phrase "in the Lord."
1> We shouldn't aim for crass, worldly delights.
2> We need a passion for God, and the things he is
passionate about.
II. The world's way has its attractions.
A. Crass people often get ahead.
1) Aggressive, grasping people probably got most of those
Black Friday special offers.
2) You have to be tenacious to win in those wrestling matches.
B. Believers often feel they are on the losing side.
1) We believe God has the power to save us and bless us,
but have doubts that he actually will.
2) The evidence of life seems to go against us.
a) Throughout Psalm 37, David observes the wicked and
finds they often win, at least in the short term.
b) Note what he says:
1> Verse 7 - the wicked succeed in their schemes.
2> Verse 12 - they give believers a hard time.
3> Verse 16 - the wicked are wealthy.
4> Verse 21 - the wicked borrow and don't pay back.
5> Verse 35 - the wicked flourish.
c) The wicked seem to do just fine, thank you.
1> It is a common observation in the Bible.
3) Psalm 37 looks closely at this, and still sides with faith.
III. Six reasons why believing is better.
A. Believers last but the ungodly don't. 37:1-2
1) They may seem like they win a lot, but it rarely lasts -
they wither.
2) The ultimate New Jersey example.
Teresa and Joe Giudice [judy shay], the married stars of
the show "Real Housewives of New Jersey," were real
wheeler-dealers.
They lied about how much their property was worth, took
out large loans based on that worth, and bought more
property.
They shelled out a lot for a very lavish lifestyle, too.
When the banks expected the loans to be repaid, the family
declared bankruptcy, expecting to walk away.
I guess they took Psalm 37:21 literally.
It didn't quite work out the way they wanted.
A famous lifestyle has way of attracting attention, even
when you don't want it to.
So both of them have been sentenced to prison on bankruptcy
fraud charges.
They have to pay $414,000 in restitution, too.
They made it look so easy a few years ago.
Would you want to be in their shoes now? [1]
B. Believers have security. 37:3
1) David says they enjoy "safe pasture."
a) Believers will get good things from all their labor.
2) It is not an automatic blessing - you have to trust in God
and do good.
a) Your beliefs must be backed up by actions.
b) Trusting in God doesn't just mean you believe he
exists - it means you submit to God's will even
before you see a positive outcome.
C. Believers have the desires of their heart. 37:4
1) Everybody likes desires - when you make it your lifestyle
they call it Hedonism.
2) Christian Hedonism is a little different.
a) We do seek happiness and fulfillment, but we don't
desire for desire's sake.
b) Our desires are shaped by what God wants for us.
1> When we trust in God enough, we usually realize
that what we have is good enough.
2> We gain a new perspective on life itself.
Billy Graham gives a good illustration of this
kind of godly perspective.
It concerned Matthew Henry, a Puritan who wrote an
extensive Bible commentary that is still used today.
As an old man, Henry was robbed on a street-corner.
He wrote this in his diary that night:
Let me be thankful...
* first because I was never robbed before.
* second, because although they took my wallet they
did not take my life.
* third, because although they took my all, it was not much.
* fourth, because it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed.
#28678
D. Believers are vindicated by God. 37:5-6
1) When we are opposed by the wicked, God will see that
we win, that we are vindicated.
a) David is using the language of a courtroom.
2) The corollary is that we have to commit our way to the Lord.
a) The vindication is rarely immediate - the wicked seem
to have great success in their schemes.
b) We will be tempted to worry and let anger get the
best of us -- it can gnaw at you. 37:7
c) So we are told to be still before God and wait
patiently.
1> It is a patience that may require a lifetime.
E. Believers inherit the land. 37:9
1) Originally this reflected the Jewish inheritance of the
Promised Land.
a) Each Jewish family was entrusted with a plot of land.
b) They were stewards of the land for God's sake, not
the government's.
2) Jesus gave it a wider application - believers will inherit
the whole world.
a) His beatitude about the meek inheriting the earth
probably was inspired by this verse. Matt 5:5
b) Notice the attitude believers should have - meekness.
1> We don't demand our rights or push ourselves
forward.
2> Instead, we rely on God.
3) When does the inheritance get delivered to us?
a) I think Jesus was thinking about the Second Coming,
when the Kingdom of God takes over the whole earth.
F. Believers end up with shalom. 38:11
1) The old version of the NIV says they enjoy great peace,
the newest one says they enjoy peace and prosperity.
2) The word in Hebrew is "shalom," which is more than just
peace of mind.
a) It also encompasses good relations with others and
success and abundance in life.
b) Jesus says something similar in John 10:10 - I have
come that you might have life, and have it to the
full (KJV: abundantly).
IV. God can give us what we need.
A. Mision Latina's Thanksgiving potluck.
1) Many of those in our Spanish-speaking congregation come from
countries that don't celebrate Thanksgiving so it is new
to them.
2) Their solution is to invite everyone to the church for a
community meal.
a) It is not really a potluck - the pastor prepares most
of the meal.
b) Juan and Ana worked all day and had enough prepared
for 40 people -- then 75 showed up!
1> The women were panicking, but Deacon Luis put it in
perspective.
2> He told them they believed in a Lord who could
multiply loaves and fishes, and they needed to
trust him.
c) In the end, everyone had enough and there was food
left over.
1> Not a lot, but enough to testify to God's provision.
B. Make God's desires your desires.
1) Don't base your attitude on what others are doing.
2) Do what God wants you to do, and you will be satisfied.
Eddie Smith will never forget Easter 1946.
She was 14, her little sister Ocy was 12, and her older sister
Darlene was 16.
They lived at home with their mother, and the four of them knew
what it was to do without many things.
Her dad had died five years before, leaving Mom with seven school
kids to raise and no money.
By 1946 her older sisters were married, and her brothers had left
home.
A month before Easter, the pastor of their church announced that a
special Easter offering would be taken to help a poor family.
He asked everyone to save and give sacrificially.
When they got home, they talked about what they could do.
They decided to buy 50 pounds of potatoes and live on them for a
month.
This would allow them to save $20 of their grocery money for the
offering.
Then they thought that if they kept their electric lights turned out
as much as possible and didn't listen to the radio, they'd save
money on that month's electric bill.
Darlene got as many house- and yard-cleaning jobs as possible, and
she and Eddie baby-sat for everyone they could.
For 15 cents, they could buy enough cotton loops to make three pot
holders to sell for $1. They made $20 on pot holders.
That month was one of the best of their lives.
Every day they counted the money to see how much they had saved.
At night they'd sit in the dark and talk about how the poor family
was going to enjoy having the money the church would give them.
Their church had around 80 people, so they figured that whatever
amount of money they had to give, the offering would surely be 20
times that much.
After all, every Sunday the pastor had reminded everyone to save
for the sacrificial offering.
The day before Easter, Ocy and Eddie walked to the grocery store and
got the manager to give them three crisp $20 bills and one $10
bill for all their change.
They ran all the way home to show Mom and Darlene.
They had never had so much money before.
That night they were so excited they could hardly sleep.
They didn't care that they wouldn't have new clothes for Easter;
they had $70 for the sacrificial offering.
They could hardly wait to get to church!
On Sunday morning, rain was pouring down.
They didn't own an umbrella, and the church was over a mile from
their home, but it didn't seem to matter how wet they got.
Darlene had cardboard in her shoes to fill the holes.
The cardboard came apart, and her feet got wet.
But they sat in church proudly.
When the sacrificial offering was taken, they were sitting in the
second row from the front.
Mom put in the $10 bill, and each of the girls put in a $20.
As they walked home after church, they sang all the way.
Late that afternoon the minister drove up in his car.
Mom went to the door, talked with him for a moment, and then came
back with an envelope in her hand.
They asked what it was, but she didn't say a word.
She opened the envelope, and out fell a bunch of money.
There were three crisp $20 bills, one $10, and seventeen $1 bills.
Mom put the money back in the envelope.
They didn't talk, they just sat and stared at the floor.
They'd gone from feeling like millionaires to feeling like poor
white trash.
Eddie knew they didn't have a lot of things that other people had,
but she'd never thought they were poor.
That Easter Day, Eddie found out they were.
The minister had brought them the money for the poor family, so
they must be poor.
They sat in silence for a long time.
Then it got dark, and they went to bed.
They didn't talk much that week.
Finally on Saturday, Mom asked them what they wanted to do with the
money. What did poor people do with money?
They didn't know. They'd never known they were poor.
They didn't want to go to church Sunday, but Mom said they had to.
Although it was a sunny day, they didn't talk on the way.
Mom started to sing, but no one joined in, and she only sang one
verse.
At church there was a missionary speaker.
He talked about how churches in Africa made buildings out of sun-
dried bricks, but they needed money to buy roofs.
He said $100 would put a roof on a church.
The minister said, "Can't we all sacrifice to help these poor
people?"
They looked at each other and smiled for the first time in a week.
Mom reached into her purse and pulled out the envelope.
She passed it to Darlene, Darlene gave it to Eddie, Eddie
handed it to Ocy, and Ocy put it in the offering plate.
When the offering was counted, the minister announced that it was
a little over $100.
The missionary was excited.
He hadn't expected such a large offering from their small church.
He said, "You must have some RICH PEOPLE in this church!"
Suddenly it struck them!
They had given $87 of that "little over $100."
They were the rich family in the church!
Hadn't the missionary said so? #3921
V. You can be as rich as you want to be.
A. How rich are you in the Lord?
B. Are you worrying and seething, or quietly trusting in him?
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
[1] Adapted from the article "’Real Housewives of New Jersey’" stars
sentenced in fraud case,” Crimesider Staff, CBS/AP, October 2, 2014.
<http://www.cbsnews.com/news/real-housewives-of-new-jersey-stars-joe-giudice-te
resa-giudice-sentenced-in-fraud-case/>
# 3921 “The Rich Family,” Eddie Ogan, Virtue Magazine, April 1999,
page 54.
#28678 “Someone To Thank,” Jill Carattini, A Slice of Infinity: Ravi
Zacharias International Ministries, November 19, 2004.
<http://www.gospelcom.net/slice/> Original source is
Billy Graham, “Unto the Hills” (Nashville: Thomas Nelson,
1996), p. 411.
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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