COLERAINE EVANGELICAL CHURCH
SERMON NOTES FROM SUNDAY 6 JULY 2025 - MR COLIN STRIP
PSALM 37 VERSES 1 TO 9
It wasn't until recently that I found out that bamboo is the fastest growing plant. There are certain species in Asia which grow up to 35 inches in a day or 1 1/2 inches per hour. Bamboo is used for so much. It is actually very strong, stronger than steel. It is an incredible and diverse plant. When I was in India I saw scaffolding built with bamboo. They don't use metal or iron scaffolding but rather bamboo tied with rope. It is incredible to witness people walking on this scaffolding with their bare feet. They build it up and of course there are many fatalities as well.
Psalm 37 can be described as a scaffold. Each verse helps us as Christians to trust God's plan for our lives. The writer of this psalm is of course David. We know that he had many experiences in his life and he did wondrous works which the Lord allowed him to do. He also had problems and trials. David went through some very difficult heartbreaking trials - of family, of sin, of temptation - yet we find here that Psalm 37 is written by David as he was under inspiration of God. We can use these 9 verses as a scaffold to help us to build our trust in God. For any scaffold you need to make sure it is secure, safe and strong because you would not want to climb up onto it and start to feel it sway. Psalm 37 gives you and I that security, safety and strength in regards to our testimony, our walk and work with God.
The distinction in view. We see in verses 1 and 2 when David starts he does so with an encouragement to the believer - "fret not". He goes straight to the heart. Whenever circumstances get on top of us, whether they are spiritual or circumstantial we can begin to fret. Maybe you are fretting and no-one else know about it. Maybe you have had a warm handshake and a smile on your face but inside you are fretting. The inference here in this word in the Hebrew "fret" is translated in various places using different words. It is the idea of being angry or glowing warm. It means to kindle, the idea of being grieved. Maybe you are here today and you are grieved. Just maybe there is something kindling inside of you. Whatever is fretting today remember it is God's problem. You need to leave it with God. In the circumstances of life we try to figure it all out. It is only God who can look after that situation and you have to leave it. The distinction in view is to fret not. What are we to do - verse 3 "trust". If you are fretting then trust. Trust in the Lord and do good. It is easy to say to trust, take that step of faith and to embrace our Saviour. He will look after the circumstances that are making you fret. When you are at the centre of the fretting it is difficult but you and I still have to trust. that is what David is teaching here in regards to this distinction. The distinction is fretting and trusting. The trusting is the balance that helps us, calms us. If you look at this verse 3 "dwell in the land and be fed." We need to remember that it was David who wore this Psalm. Before he was king of Israel he was also a shepherd. The inference here is of a shepherd who makes sure his sheep are fed. Maybe something within makes us grieve. Here we are to trust in the Lord. He will feed us like the shepherd, the good shepherd, the great shepherd and the chief shepherd does. He will draw alongside us as that shepherd and he will help us when we trust him. What are we to graze on? His faithfulness. Are we trusting? This is the first part of the scaffolding - trusting God for his plan of our lives. It is so important when we are up 30/40 feet up - there is a distinction between fretting and trusting. May we put our trust in him and may he feed us as our shepherd as we put our faithfulness in him. We know he is faithful. He will not leave you nor forsake you. Trust him. The distinction in view - fret not and trust.
The devotion to value - verses 4 and 5. We are told at the next level of the scaffold to delight in him. This might seem elementary and basic but how many times have we not had to go back to the basics because we are a forgetful people. David reminds us to "delight thyself also in the Lord." It is important as that scaffold extends to delight in the Lord. It is said in terms of a personal approach. It has the sense of a request from God. Ask him to deal with the fretting situation. Ask him to help you to trust him. You might be saying "I am struggling today". Just ask him. He has saved you, kept you all these years - will he leave you now? Certainly not. Ask him. Delight thyself also in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thy heart. Matthew 6 verse 33. Jeremiah 33 verse 3 "call unto me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not." God will answer thee. we are to delight. Not only to delight but in verse 5 we are to "commit". David is telling us we are to delight and we are to commit. What does that entail? The word "commit" is translated once in the Hebrew bible as this but 900 other times in English as "roll". Roll thy way unto the Lord, trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass. Bible commentators use the English word commit it all to him. We are to roll, we are to do it. If there is something wearing you down, something troubling you then roll it unto him. The word "trust" is mentioned again. We are to trust him as we roll our way to him. What is on your mind today? Are you rolling that weight to him? What gives a good balance to that - 1 Peter 5 verse 7 "casting all your care upon him for he careth for you." It is the same meaning. That word cast has the inference of throwing. It is not an ordinary throw though. You are carrying a weight that is heavy and it is making you weak with its weight. You think you are not going to make it. In a split second throw it. That is the sense of 1 Peter 5 verse 7 - casting or throwing all your care that is weighing you down. Casting it upon him for he careth for you. Roll that weight to him. What devotion there is when we roll through that weight. There might be something against us or someone against us, perhaps a family issue or whatever. It might be the Lord is there to carry that weight. We are to roll it and cast it.
The discipline that we are to render - verse 7. Resting in the Lord is not easy in the context of fretting and being under pressure. David here tells us to rest in the Lord. This is not an easy task. Resting literally means being silent before the Lord. Not to complain. That is not easy. We are to be silent. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him. There is also the thought also of being still, waiting before him - Psalm 46 verse 10 "be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth." This discipline - being silent and waiting patiently. This has the sense of submission. It is not easy being silent before the Lord. Waiting, being submissive. It is not submissive in the petulant way as a child. Simply submissive, obedient to the Lord that in his providence, in his sovereignty he has you where he has you, in the circumstances you are in and you bow to it. There are times when dark providences crosses our path and we can know that we are in the centre of God's hand. We are to be silent and also submissive to him. It is an interesting thought - the word to wait here in the original verb in Hebrew is to writhe in pain. The Spirit of God has used that in this context in the idea of resting and waiting. The original word is to writhe. It is not easy to rest and wait on God. It is not easy as you wait, as you trust, as you believe, as you obey but it is needful.
The declaration to release - verse 8 and 9. "Cease" The Holy Spirit is teaching us to cease from anger and forsake wrath. It is like releasing the laces of a shoe. Loose it and let it go. You are to roll it to the Lord, to cast it upon him. All the anger and the wrath. Notice here in this verse "fret not" is mentioned again. To kindle, to begin to set on fire. 3 times these words are mentioned and we are reminded of the verse "a three fold cord is not easily broken" Ecclesiastes 4 verse 12. The Lord understands that when someone has done something on you, you begin to kindle, to get angry but the Lord is saying "cease from anger and forsake wrath." Let it go, let the Lord deal with it. Someone said "forgiveness is a lovely idea until you are the one that has something to forgive. What is the biblical warrant - forgiveness. The Lord knows every context - we are to cease from anger, let it go. In the Lord's prayer we are told "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." It is a command from the Lord - "Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift."
Psalm 37 is like a scaffold to help you and me with regards to trusting God's plan for our lives.
A distinction in view - fret not and trust
A devotion to value - delight and commit
A discipline to render - rest and wait
A declaration to release - cease and forsake
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