Rev (Dr) Quek Suan Yew

Psalm 37 - Trust in the LORD (Part 2b of 4)

Verse 16 – Jesus warns His disciples that they must not be covetous and no longer measure themselves by the abundance of their earthly possessions. Luke 12:15, “Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” This truth is needed more today than at any time in church history because of the internet and the preponderance of global materialistic fever to be the richest man or woman on earth! The clamour for wealth at all costs has consumed our society. The hearts and minds of men, women and children including toddlers are slaves to this biblical “golden calf” god called mammon dressed in modern 21st century fineries. David faced this demon when he wrote in Psalm 37:16, “A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked.” The key word here is “righteous.” Only children of the heavenly Father are righteous in His omniscient eyes. They must measure themselves in their own eyes in this spiritual light. The contrast is clear. The little that the righteous hath which is given to them by God is better than the riches that many wicked have obtained by wickedness.

The righteous know God, for they are going to heaven; whereas the wicked who do not know God but are in sin will die in their sins and end up in hell! This is the stark contrast David wanted to shout from the rooftop to all who would hear. David helped those who were weak even though he had to run and hide like a wild animal from King Saul. Those whom he helped turned around and betrayed him in order not to displease the king or because they were fearful of the king’s retribution. David encouraged himself knowing that God measures a person’s life on earth not in terms of dollars and cents or how much of this earth of “dust” he possesses but how he must walk in righteousness before the all knowing God.

A further reason is what will happen to these wicked people in God’s almighty hand!

Verse 17 – The LORD God of Israel will help His servants like David who were doing His will. When these evil men tried to kill David or stop David from doing God's will, they were actually fighting against God. God would deal with them personally as verse 17 says, “For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the LORD upholdeth the righteous.” The stretched out arm of the wicked which represents power and strength will be broken into pieces! The LORD God of David is the One who will break them into pieces! The might and power of the many wicked are like the might and power of puny tiny little ants under the foot of an elephant! These little ants scream and yell with their arms raised against the elephant and all the elephant needs to do is to lower his foot. No man (regardless of how numerous) can stop the will and work of God on earth, especially His work in the lives of His servants like David! No matter how hard and determined King Saul was in killing David to stop him from taking over his kingdom, King Saul would fail. He was not fighting against David but God! King Saul and his thousands of soldiers were like ants!

However, the LORD will bear up the righteous. His righteous ones need to be concerned with one thing in life. They must ensure that they are doing the righteous deeds of their LORD. These are all found in Holy Scriptures. They will never fall or fail. They will be propped up and lifted up by the LORD whenever they stumble and even fall. He picks them up with His almighty hand! They need to trust and keep looking up to Him regardless of how “futile” their circumstances might appear to their eyes. The LORD will deliver in His time, never late or early! He will always be just on time so that His children may see His almighty covenantal hand in their lives. The LORD not only knows what is happening to His servants but also how long they will serve on earth!

Verse 18 – The complete personal care of the LORD over His people is revealed in verse 18 for our encouragement. The LORD says, “The LORD knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever.” The LORD speaks and deals with His children in terms of man’s entire life on earth and into eternity. This is very “long term” planning to say the least! What a wonderful heavenly Father who thinks of His children’s “future!” His “thinking” is not like man’s thinking which is fallible and more often than not is only wishful thinking with little hope of fulfilment. The future plans of the almighty and all-knowing God for His children are ALWAYS predetermined, and though future from man's perspective it is a certain past from God’s perspective that transcends time. The fact that the LORD, our LORD, knows the days of the upright is the greatest assurance and comfort His children could ever hope for in times of trials and adversities. The LORD knows what will happen every moment of every day. Since He knows them all and still allows all of them to occur in His children’s lives, it means that He knows His children’s faith is strong enough to overcome and pass the test! The fact that the LORD uses “days” here is to teach His children to think and live in terms of days and not weeks or months and definitely not years! The life of manageable faith is always in terms of days just like the LORD provided daily manna for His people in the wilderness after they came out of Egypt (cf. Exodus 16).

Not only does He know what happens to His children every day but He also knows how many days all His children have on earth to witness for Him. This means that our lives are known to Him. Every believer needs to look at death through the eyes of God which is being transformed from one state of humanity to another from earth to heaven. This transformation is for all believers. Some are transformed earlier than others. But the final outcome of the glorified state is for all believers. There is nothing to fear on earth as eternal joy with God in Christ awaits all His children. The LORD describes it as our “inheritance shall be forever.” There is nothing here on earth for all of God’s children as far as “inheritance” is concerned. All things on earth are stained by the sins of wicked men. They are worthless in themselves, made out of dust that will return to dust! However, all things done on earth for Christ’s sake by the children of God will be remembered forever. This is the only true treasure on earth for all believers. Only born again children of God can understand and see this truth!

Verse 19 – All children of God who live and die for Christ will not be disappointed. Their faith and trust in God will be remembered and rewarded by God Himself! They will not be betrayed. God’s people must not let the god of this world with all its lies and carnality distract them from obeying His holy will and by living lives of holiness and godliness. They will suffer shame and loss on earth for Christ’s sake the way David suffered. However, it will be worth it all when the day of vindication comes in the clouds of glory at the appearing of the glorified Christ. God’s children will “not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.” All children of God must realize that since their time on earth is determined by their LORD and not man, they are literally invincible on earth for as long as their LORD determines. When the LORD says it is time to go home, they will go home. Therefore when evil times come, they will not be ashamed, i.e. disappointed. They will enter heaven and leave behind a glorious witness for Christ that will point sinners to the Saviour and encourage other saints to be courageous and also live for Christ to the end just as they did before them. They will leave behind a great cloud of witnesses to encourage the present generation of believers (cf. Hebrews 11).

In times of famine they shall be satisfied. This satisfaction does not mean that believers will not suffer want or hunger. It simply means that even when they suffer hunger, the LORD will be their satisfaction. When a believer fasts for days for spiritual purposes the LORD sustains him. He does not feel hungry or thirsty when he is in deep communion with God juts like Moses who fasted forty days and forty nights on top of Mount Sinai! He was able to have enough strength to come back down and was not even hungry or thirsty after that long trek down! The believer’s hunger pangs or thirsts might appear physiological but in reality it is also spiritual even though most of the time his hunger and thirst are easily satisfied by simply eating or drinking. God’s children must not forget that their hunger and thirst are in God's hands and not man’s. God's children are reminded of this truth in times of famine!

Verse 20 – But the wicked will surely perish! The wicked enjoy much power on earth when they live in sin and great evil. They feel safe and believe that since no man can hurt or touch them they are untouchable. This is true perhaps on earth. But no one will ever escape the judgement of God. The fact remains that it is appointed unto all mankind that they will die and after that the judgement (cf. Hebrews 9:27). There is no escape. That is why when such an evil person is convicted by the law of man for wrong doing, it is mercy to him. Now he can consider the reality of death and how much he needs the Saviour to save him from sin, for there is a greater and eternal judgement awaiting him if he were to die in his sin! There are basically two types of God's enemies. The first type is God’s enemies because they live in sin but they do not hinder or attack Christ or God’s Word. The second type attack God’s Word and the name of Christ. They attack the doctrines of the Bible like those who teach that the Bible has mistakes! God is describing the second type here in this psalm.

The LORD describes them thus: “the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.” They will be thoroughly consumed by God. There will be nothing of them left. All their deeds on earth which they liked to leave behind as a remembrance of their existence on earth will be burned up. Their foundations and concrete memorials which they sincerely believe will be eternal on earth will all be destroyed like the burning of fat that turns into smoke! All their deeds will be erased forever by the LORD in contrast to the deeds of God's righteous ones that will last for eternity, for they will last for eternity as well.

Verse 21 – While on earth, the wicked will borrow and will not pay again. Their agenda is not that they cannot pay but that they do not wish to pay! Their purpose is to cheat others for personal gain. This is how many wicked ones amass their ill gotten millions! They do not feel any remorse. This is all part of the “game” that they greedily play! “Win at all costs” is their motto. By hook or by crook they will make money. Greed is the fuel to keep their lusts burning and pride is their arrogance that numbs their soul from being remorseful. They will die in sin unless they repent.

The righteous are the opposite of the wicked ones. They will not only return all that they borrow, they will show mercy through their generosity of giving as well. They will use their material gain to promote their spiritual purposes for the extension of God's kingdom! They know and understand the purpose of mammon. The wicked are slaves to their mammon and will serve mammon till their death with nothing to show at the end of their lives but a pair of sinful hands holding on to dust that continues to slip out of their cold dead hands! In contrast the righteous use mammon and not let mammon control them. They know that their mammon is only good when used for God’s Kingdom and God's people. It is useless when it is used for other purposes and not for Christ’s glory because it does not have eternal value! This is the reason why the righteous show mercy by their giving!

Verse 22 – The LORD puts this truth aptly when it describes the end of both groups in verse 22, “For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off.” The ones who are God’s children are blessed by God and will be with Him for eternity. That is why they shall certainly inherit the earth. The whole earth will belong to the people of God: the earth during the Millennium as well as the new earth that God will create to begin His children’s eternity in Revelation 21. The ones that God curse who die in sin without Christ will be cut off and sent to hell and ultimately to the Lake of Fire forever. The end of man is what man ought to focus on in life. David knew his end as he endured all the trials of life for Christ’s sake. So must all of God's children.

[To be continued]