GOD IS FAITHFUL
Psalm 37: 25-33
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A PRESBYTERIAN PSALTER - by Pastor Max A Forsythe |
Our portion of psalm thirty-seven today includes the observations of the psalmist's own experience as he considers the divine care of the righteous and the extension of that care to his descendants. As we consider this report of David's experience, we must remember that he is wrestling with the problem that tried the faith of the Old Testament saints most. That problem was the apparent absence of a correlation of conduct with condition. The Old Testament saints with their limited revelation did not have all the information to comfort them that we do. David here in this Psalm takes a distinct step forward from his contemporaries. Though he still looks for the visible punishment of evil-doers, he is taught to find his own highest joy and comfort in fellowship with God. David still asserts the brevity of godless prosperity and promises the certainty that well-doing will lead to well-being. This temporal consolation was no doubt real to the David's contemporaries. But, David's worldly experience was only a partial and provisional solution of the problem. Through trials of faith and imperfect answers to their questionings God was on the one hand leading the Old Testament saints to a truer ideal of happiness, on the other hand he was preparing them to receive the revelation of a future state of rewards and punishments.
As we read this psalm we have the fuller light of New Testament revelation to assist us in our comprehension. We have the teachings of David's greater son: Jesus Christ. In Mark 10: 28-30 Peter said to him, "We have left everything to follow you!" "I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields - and with them persecutions) and in the age to come eternal life." We see in Jesus' answer that our fellowship is great indeed in the many homes and extended relatives of the present Church, but also there is eternal life. Our Old Testament saints could only hope for such a condition. As we read the passages about an eternal land and home, we know the heavenly truth of their dim hopes. As we consider the hopes and dreams of David in these verses, let us realize that these hopes and dreams are now firm in the eternal promises of Jesus Christ.
But, notice how real these hopes and dreams were to David almost a thousand years before Christ. Are these hopes and dreams as real to you who have the full account of the glorious gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? We begin with verses twenty-five and six. David is writing this psalm in his old age. He is also writing from the Israelite perspective of his age. In that time personal individuality was comparatively unrecognized. The solidarity of the family was emphasized to an extent which we find it hard to understand. The popular notion then was that a man lived on in his posterity. Many Oriental societies still hold to this mistaken notion. David noticed over his long life that while people (even himself) might temporarily be destitute, over the long haul the faithful families were restored and blessed. In our age we may well notice that there is a certain providential relationship between the raising up of families and their relative well being.
Of course we know now that eternal salvation is an individual matter. We know that we cannot guarantee our children will be saved. However, there is a sincere hope in the promise of God that if we do all that we can do to point our little ones in the right direction God will honor that spiritual preparation. David's emphasis in these two verses is primarily material. And to a certain extent our own material world also reflects the fact that children learn life long lessons from the diligence and patience of their parents. C.H. Spurgeon observes that more often than not the Lord's reward for the faithfulness of parents is in the success of their children. David observes the generous nature of parents whose children are blessed. The blessed practice here is not to lay up great wealth so that children may have without struggle what it is necessary to earn! When I went to college, the Dean told us new freshmen a story of a young man whose father placed in the bank a sum of money for the entire first year's expenses. Halfway through the second quarter the young man was broke. The Dean even had to pay for the phone call home. The Father came to campus furious. As the Dean sat in on the meeting he asked if the Father had trained the son in the value and management of wealth. The Father had not. Neither had the son learned the necessity of hard work. Thus, he had squandered a year's tuition in party life and frivolous spending.
Yes, our hopes are very much in our children and grandchildren and we must labor mightily to train them up in the way that they should go in our material world. But, there is more in verses twenty-seven and twenty-eight. And this is the theme of our passage today: "Turn from evil and do good;" Would we have our children put on the Christian faith? Then we need to practice what we preach! Not only must we not envy the doers of evil,but we must altogether depart from their spirit and example.
Just as Lot left Sodom without looking behind, so must we leave sin far behind as well! Our endeavors in this difficult task are promised to be blessed. The Lord does indeed love those who are just and faithful. We could easily continue to the second part of verse twenty-eight. However, we have some textual difficulties to comprehend here. The Greek Septuagint translation reads thus: "The unrighteous are destroyed for ever,and the seed of the wicked is cut off." The possibility of this translation would be just as true as the assertion actually before you. So, while we have probably lost one word of our text in some way, essential truths still remain.
The just and faithful will be protected forever, the unrighteous are destroyed and the seed of both often go predictable ways as well. One of my commentators remembers in this context the scriptural passage in Exodus 20:5 where the Lord punishes sin through the third and fourth generation, but remembers to show love to a thousand generations of those who love Him. In verse thirty we see how the righteous are known. First of all, that man's words proves the condition and the contents of his heart. And because of that wisdom and justice, his feet do not slip. C.H. Spurgeon notes that our conversation is of far more consequence than we imagine. As a result we ought always to consider carefully our public witness to the faith we have been given.
Yet however carefully we speak the wicked will lie in wait, seeking if they could our very lives. Only an election or two ago, one of the vice-presidential candidates being considered by Walter Mondale was a real fire-breathing liberal who openly advocated locking Christians up in concentration camps because we are a threat to the liberal agenda. Look at verse thirty-three and see the kindness of our Lord and our God. Spurgeon again is worth quoting here. "If it were not for the laws of the land, we should soon see a massacre of the righteous." Remember, he spoke in the 19th century, well was he able to see the persecutions and blood letting of our own 20th century. And yet, we are still protected in our land by the providential power of our great God.
Well have we Christians in the country deserved much less than we have received from the gracious hand of the Lord. For so much grace we ought to give great thanks. We ought also to consider in the context of this psalm our obligation to fulfill the admonition in verse twenty-seven. "Turn from evil and do good." Not only will it be well with your soul, but also God may then invoke His promises to bless and save our children and our country. Just as cleaning up the environment starts with our putting a candy wrapper in our pocket instead of on the ground, so is the increase of His Kingdom here on earth somewhat related to our turning from evil and doing good. For your sake, the sake of your families and generations of Christians yet to come "Turn from evil and do good."
I have wondered if we are not all caught up in the modern myth that our personal sins which supposedly affect no one else are no one else's business. Do we not tolerate the practice of sin in this sense because we do not realize like David did the eternal view that God takes? Sin, any sin does affect us. And as we are affected we relate sinfully to our families, friends and to the society around us. May God give us the wisdom to recognize sin, and then the grace to turn from it. Amen.
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Resources Used: |
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Kilpatrick, A.F. |
Cambridge Bible: The Psalms. | |
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MacLaren, Alexander. |
The Expositor's Bible: The Psalms. | |
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Spurgeon, C.H. |
The Treasury of David. | |
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IBS: The Holy Bible, New International Version (1984) | ||
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Psm 037h |
15 July 90 & 14 October 95 | |