Remsen Bible Fellowship; 01/08/2022
Introduction
Imagine with me, for a moment, a single leaf of Romaine lettuce. The seed was planted in late April, and in the cool temperatures of April and early May the plant thrived. Long hours of sunlight without the scorching heat; regular doses of water. This is exactly what a head of Romaine needs to thrive. But then, come late May, the temperatures started to heat up. And one cool morning the gardener did what gardeners do: he harvested the head of lettuce, and in the process, a single leaf was dropped on the ground. What do you suppose will happen to that leaf of lettuce?
If you think it will be snatched up by a rodent, that’s possible; although my experience has been that rabbits and their fellow furry fiends prefer fresh bean and pea shoots over the stereotypical lettuce. Most likely, if it doesn’t get picked up and thrown on the compost pile, or quickly snatched by a roving herbivore, that single leaf of lettuce will rapidly wilt and become something that looks less than appetizing.
Some people are like that. There is a period of time in which they appear to be flourishing, that things are going well for them. And then, seemingly all of a sudden, they wither and perish. This, God says, is the destiny of all the wicked. That message is one which Psalm 37 makes crystal clear.
Psalm 37:1-2, Fret not yourself because of evildoers;
be not envious of wrongdoers!
2 For they will soon fade like the grass
and wither like the green herb.
The Negative Command
As we examine Psalm 37 over the course of the next two weeks, we will break our study into two parts, covering the twin themes of the Psalm: this week, we will look at the command to not worry about the wicked. Next week, Lord willing, we’ll think about the flip side: do pursue faithfulness. These two commands belong together, and they are both interwoven throughout the entirety of Psalm 37. But we’ll start in the same place as the Psalmist. Don’t worry about the wicked.
What Exactly Is Fretting?
You might notice that I just said “don’t worry.” But what most English translations say is:fret not yourself because of evildoers. So: what is fretting? Well, Brown-Driver-Briggs, which is considered the standard Hebrew-English lexicon, defines this word as meaning to burn, be kindled, or be angry. The CSB translates this: do not be agitated. One other says: do not be upset. When we put these together I think the idea starts to take shape for us. What David is concerned about as he writes this Psalm is not a vague or low-level worry along the lines of worrying that it might rain next week when you’d prefer more sunshine. Rather, he’s talking about a type of worrying, an upset concern, or an agitation that things are going well for them and therefore I’m displeased. He’s talking about being bent out of shape when things go well for those who are clearly doing evil and wrong.
If that’s our definition of fretting, or worry, then it becomes pretty transparent that we live in a world absolutely consumed by fret. I won’t burden you with examples, but think about the headlines you’ve read recently: were they geared to help you calmly and carefully think about the issues in question, or were they written in a way that was intended to provoke fear about bad people and the bad things they’re doing?
This sort of fear-mongering, obsession over evil (of course, in our culture that is defined by our ever-shifting politics instead of the objective standard of Scripture), consumes a massive amount of our time and attention. But David, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, says it shouldn’t. He does say “stand aghast at the evildoer” or “get worked into a tizzy by the wrongdoer.” He says fret not.
Reasons to Not Worry
Why don’t we need to fret? Why are anxious worries and fearful agitation forbidden? David gives us two reasons.
Where Worry Will Lead You
The first is brief, and we find it in verse 8: “Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.” Fretting tends only to evil. What does that mean?
Think where fretting leads you. Fretting is, in some sense, an obsession over the thing that you are fearful of or agitated by. And if what you are agitated by is an evildoer, the temptation can be to envy that person who angers you so. Someone cheats on a test in school and gets a better grade than you, even though you were honest. Someone pads their resume and gets that job you had hoped for. That guy down the street cheats on his taxes, and then can buy a nice boat with the proceeds of his misdeeds. There are any number of situations in life where someone does something which is wrong and it seems like they get away with it. Not only do they get away with it, it seems like they are rewarded for their misdeeds. What gives?
How come I can’t have that boat? Why didn’t I get that job (that I really deserved!)? Why didn’t I get that scholarship that the cheater got because of their “excellent” grades? When we see injustice in the world it isn’t only the actual injustice that rubs us the wrong way. It’s the feeling that they got what I deserved.
Allowing yourself to stew and fret about bad people and what they have and why they don’t deserve it will, in the end, lead you to become the very sort of person you are complaining about. You become okay with cheating, lying, “fudging” the truth, or being ruthless because “that’s just the way things are done.” God doesn’t want wickedness from his children. Instead, we are told to follow the example of our Lord Jesus, who “when he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:23).
As we saw last week from the book of James, this doesn’t mean we simply acquire a stiff upper lip and pretend the suffering isn’t real. It does mean that a Christian response to suffering - and those who inflict it - is different from a worldly response.
We can respond differently because we know what ultimately comes of godless evil.
Where Wickedness is Leading Them
Wickedness does not work in the long-run. This was the message of verse two: they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. But that verse does not stand in isolation.
Verse 9 says, For evildoers shall be cut off. They will not last. And their time is not far off. Verse 10, In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there. You will be able to search carefully, inquire diligently, scour meticulously; but there will be no one wicked around. How confident is God about this? Confident enough to laugh.
V12-13, The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him, but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming. When we see the gnashing teeth of opposition, what is our natural response? Either to flee in fear, or to lash back in equal anger. But if we are to imitate our heavenly Father, our response should be to chuckle. The righteous will endure upon the land, upheld by God’s own strength (v17), so why should we be afraid of the cilantro that perishes? That’s what fretting over evildoers is. It’s being afraid in the produce aisle. It is being terrified by being attacked by parsley and sage, when the Rock of Ages promises to uphold you. We should laugh at the herbs, not fear them.
But those chives are armed!, you say. Fear not, says David. Why do we not need to fear the weapons they wield? V14-15, The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows to bring down the poor and the needy, to slay those whose way is upright; their sword shall enter their own heart, and their bows shall be broken. Yes, they are armed. No, that is not a final cause for worry. The worst they can do is kill you.
Matthew 10:26-31, “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. 28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”
We live in a day filled with fear. And many Christians are afraid. Afraid of the cultural disintegration we are witnessing, afraid of changing attitudes toward the Bible and biblical morality, afraid of the possibility of political pressure and maybe even persecution. And we ought to be awake and alert to these realities and possibilities. But, brothers and sisters, there is a mile of difference between “having eyes in your head”, as Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes, and running around in fear. Fear is not of the Lord. Do not fear those who cannot kill the soul. Fear the Lord alone. Isaiah 8:13 says, “But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.” Why? Because he endures. The wicked don’t.
Psalm 37:17, The arms of the wicked shall be broken, verse 20, the wicked will perish; the enemies of the LORD are like the glory of the pastures; they vanish--like smoke they vanish away. The enemies of the Lord have a season - but that season is short. While Psalm 1 describes the man who walks not according to the counsel of the wicked but delights in God’s law as one who is a firmly rooted tree, the wicked in Psalm 37 are called grass and smoke. This is hard for us to internalize. We judge by what our eyes see, and so when we see the wicked prospering, that’s what we believe. We think that right now is the realest thing there is. But right now is passing away. There is coming a day when those cursed by [the Lord] shall be cut off (v22).
Maybe you will protest: it’s not myself I’m worried for, it’s my children. I’m fretting because of what the effects of all this evil will be on them and their children! That can feel like an emotionally powerful objection. Doesn’t God care about our grandkids, and shouldn’t we be fighting for them? Well, of course we should want the best for our kids and grandkids. But fretting isn’t the path toward their best future. Pursuing personal righteousness, and loving justice is. Verse 28, For the LORD loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. It’s not the children of the mighty or the culturally powerful who are preserved by God. It’s the children of his saints, his holy ones. Are you concerned about the future of your children? Don’t fret; follow the Lord boldly.
This is going to require patience on the part of God’s people. We want everything fixed now. We are instructed to pray “your kingdom come, your will be done” and we want it to happen pronto. Come quickly Lord Jesus. These are right desires. But we must remember that, in God’s timeline, Jesus is coming quickly. He’s not slow the way some count slowness. He’s patient. And as his children, we must be as well. There is a coming day when we will see the destruction of all wickedness.
Verse 34, Wait for the LORD and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on when the wicked are cut off. In 1 Corinthians 6:2 the apostle Paul says that the saints will judge the world. Not only the world, but even the angels (v3)! And Paul wasn’t innovating when he said this, as in Daniel’s vision of the end times he saw one coming who would make war on the saints and prevail over them - but this success of evil was temporary: Daniel 7:21-22, “As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them, until the Ancient of Days came, and the judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom.” When the time comes for his people to inherit the land, for the saints to possess the kingdom, for the meek to inherit the earth: it is at this point when we will see the wicked cut off.
David again concedes that it can be hard to see this with our merely human eyes - sometimes it seems like being wicked and sinful really pays! Psalm 37:35, I have seen a wicked, ruthless man, spreading himself like a green laurel tree. Isn’t it the righteous who are like a tree? Yes. The wicked spreads himself like a laurel tree, but he isn’t a tree planted by God. And, because he is exalting himself, the exaltation is fleeting. Verse 36, But he passed away, and behold, he was no more; though I sought him, he could not be found. The ESV footnotes that the opening line of verse 36 could be translated “but one passed by…”; the feeling we get reading is that this man has made himself appear very great, but then as you walk by the place where he set up shop, it’s all gone. Vanished.
Think of the worst examples of evil you can imagine. The 20th century gives us plenty to choose from: Lenin, Stalin, Mussolini, Hitler, Mao, Pol Pot. How many are still alive? The evil they practiced, the pain they inflicted, was absolutely real. But it was also limited. No matter how genuinely awful an evil human is, their time on this earth comes to an end. Their great laurel tree disappears. The statues in their honor come to nothing.
Verses 38, But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed; the future of the wicked shall be cut off. And after death, Hebrews 9:27 reminds us, comes judgment. Those who die while continuing in their rebellion against God will ultimately be cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15).
This is where a Christian view of the world stands in stark contrast to the human ideologies of our day, and throughout history. If we must accomplish just outcomes in every circumstance, then it makes sense to run around with our hair on fire about all of the evil people in the world. What will be done about them? How do we fight for our rights so that they can’t get us?
But a Christian worldview realizes that while evil humans are a problem - indeed, they are the problem - it’s not actually the case that we can say “they.” The problem is a “we” problem. To quote the old cartoon, we have seen the enemy - and they are us. Apart from God, each of us is wicked, selfish, seeking our own advantage.
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, “9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
And then in Ephesians 2:1-5a, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.”
Some of those first Christians, and some of us today, were guilty of sexual immorality, adultery, idolatry, homosexuality, theft, greed, drunkenness, reviling, and dishonest business practices. All of us are born dead in trespasses, naturally following the prince of the power of the air - Satan. Which is to say, we’re all Satan’s spawn, living in thrawl to the Devil. We are all the very evildoers and wrongdoers that are promised God’s punishment. But God. But God, being rich in mercy, makes us alive, washes us, and sanctifies us by his Spirit. If you place your trust in Jesus - the only truly righteous man, the God-man who died in your place and rose victoriously from the grave on the third day and now sits in glory at the Father’s right hand - then he will cleanse you by his Spirit, make you a saint, a set apart one. Someone who is promised not curses, but blessings. That’s not something you can earn or accomplish. It’s a free gift.
If you recognize that the problem with evil in the world ultimately is a problem that rests just as much in your own chest as it does in the heart of the most evil person you can think of, then you can begin to recognize that cosmic justice is not something you actually can bring about by your own power. You can’t fret sin out of this world - you can’t even fret it out of your own mirror. It took the death of God’s Son to pay for your sin, and it takes the continual work of his Spirit to daily cleanse you from sin.
There is not an evil deed in this world which will not be paid for. It either was paid for by Christ on the cross, and the perpetrator will receive God’s forgiveness by faith - which is precisely your only hope for eternal life - or it will be punished by the perpetrator suffering God’s wrath eternally in the lake of fire. The wicked may seem like a great green tree right now. But they really are more like a blade of grass. Here today; trampled, brown, and burned tomorrow.
Conclusion
Who do you trust? Do you trust your own sense of justice and your capacity to bring that justice about? Or will you trust the Lord of all the earth to do what is right?
This can be hard. We discussed last week the fact that trusting the Lord in the face of hardship isn’t easy. So too in the face of evil. It will often involve pointed prayers. In Psalm 38:19 David prays, my foes are vigorous, they are mighty, and many are those who hate me wrongfully. In Revelation 6:10 the souls of those slain for their testimony to Christ cry out in a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” They want to know: how long does evil keep winning? How long, O Lord, will you allow your saints to be trampled upon, how long will justice seem to fail?
The answer they receive is instructive. In Revelation 6:11 it says, Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. It seems like there is a certain number of God’s children marked for death. And until that number is reached, it will look like evil is winning. Until it’s time for God to give his saints the kingdom.
Until that day, we keep trusting Jesus. As we’ll look at next week, we keep pursuing righteousness. God will bring good about through our positive actions and faithfulness. We keep clinging to the promises of God in Christ. Do not worry about the wicked, do not be agitated over their present prosperity. Their time of judgment will come. And so too, precious saints, will our time of blessing. Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom (Luke 12:32).
