Rev (Dr) Quek Suan Yew

Psalm 37 – Trust in the LORD (Part 3b of 4)

Verse 28 (antithetical parallelism) – The LORD will never desert His children as they serve Him. They are on earth to witness for Christ, God's only begotten Son. Believers are doing God’s work and will be protected by God with equitable justice, His justice. That is why He said here that He loves judgement. All those who persecute His children will not escape His judgement unless they repent of their sins in Christ. They will be severely dealt with. They will be sent to the Lake of Fire when they die in sin. They might escape the justice of man on earth but not God’s justice. This is the comfort for all believers. The LORD will not forsake them. He calls them His saints, i.e. holy ones. They are dear to His heart before salvation, how much more now that they are saved in Christ. They are preserved by Him forever. The word “preserved” is the Hebrew word for “guard by putting a hedge around something”. This is God’s way of describing to believers that He has put a hedge around all of them. No one can infiltrate and take away their salvation. It does not mean that they will not suffer for Christ’s sake. They might lose property, family and loved ones and also their freedom and life, but they will never lose their salvation in Christ. Their place in heaven is secured. There is nothing that happens to them on earth that will change His love and care for them.

Using antithetical parallelism, the LORD highlights a clear distinction regarding His saints and the wicked ones. The wicked ones will be cut off. “Cut off” could refer to either death or ostracism. In this context it probably means death. The wicked will die in their sins unless they see the error of their ways and turn to Christ and be saved. God will surely deal with the wicked ones. He had always done so in the past and He will definitely do so in the present and the future! Those who hurt God’s children who are sent by God to tell them His love in Christ and are persecuted for their obedience will surely face the wrath of God on the Day of Judgement. Therefore the saints of God must not take matters into their own hands, for the LORD says that vengeance belongs to Him, He will surely repay. Keep trusting and be faithful to the end of life.

Verse 29 (synonymous parallelism) –Inheritance is only significant in a person's life if he is alive. Since the righteous will never die, they will reign with Christ one day in the new heaven and new earth! Their inheritance will be the new heaven and new earth where the stain of sin has never touched. They are pure and holy and good just like all who dwell in them and inherit them. This inheritance is their eternal home. David understood this even though he lived in a palace in the Promised Land. He knew his life on earth was temporary and only a life of service and witness. As he witnessed all the evil and sin that permeated throughout the earth including the Land of Promise, David knew that his home was with God in heaven. This knowledge should enable the righteous to keep their hearts and mind focused on why they are here on earth. But the moment they make this world their home, their testimony becomes carnal, for the motivation for work and study is carnality and the love of God in their hearts is put into cold storage. Putting the love of God to sleep in their hearts will result in the defilement of the image of Christ in their lives. For this reason the sin of waywardness is a serious transgression. But when the righteous realize that their eternal home is in heaven, their lives are transformed into a spiritual witness that will glorify God and sinners will be able to see Christ in them.

Verse 30 (synonymous parallelism) – With a right heart and knowing that the righteous will arrive home in heaven one day, their mouths will speak wisdom. The wisdom that the Bible refers to here is God’s Word properly applied to the right circumstances, pointing others to Christ as Lord and Saviour. Imagine a righteous person who can provide words of wisdom that can turn a sinner into a saint and a counsellor who can interpret all things that happen on earth with the wisdom of God. The righteous person is such a person in a world that walks in darkness where many have their minds blinded by the god of this world (cf. 2 Cor. 4:4). The righteous person is the one who has the light that can shine the light of truth that points them to the path of holiness. They do not need to walk in darkness where evil is called holy and lies are masquerade as truth. The righteous person is able to remove all the cobwebs in the minds of sinners for his wisdom is the Word of God applied judiciously and rightly. Using synonymous parallelism, David re-emphasized this wonderful blessing to a dying world by stating that “his tongue talketh of judgement.”

Verse 31 (synthetic parallelism) – The wisdom shared by the righteous is not simply right wisdom but a wisdom that the righteous live by as their conviction. That is why David shared that “the law of his God is in his heart.” This is a description of a believer. The law of God is in his heart because the righteousness of the law is imputed into him the moment he accepts Christ as his personal Lord and Saviour. This is the work of God. He is no longer afraid of the laws of God but delights in them, for they are a lamp unto his feet and a light unto his path. He now lives his life according to God's Word. All the Word of God that he has learned and understood he applies into his daily life. If he knows only 5 percent of God's Word he applies all 5 percent of God’s Word as he studies more and more with an insatiable desire for God’s Word propelling him onward in daily reading and studying of God’s Word. The Word of God has indeed become the milk and meat to his hungry spiritual soul that has been made alive in Christ!

One of the reasons he loves to study and obey God's Word is that he does not wish his steps to slide into sin and waywardness. He knows that he must guard his life of holiness at all times. The Word of God is the protective breastplate that keeps his faith and trust in the LORD intact. In this manner, his daily footsteps are ordered by the Lord of his life. His witness for Christ will be clear and clean. He will not make sinful decisions and head in the wrong direction when the Word of God is his guide. Whenever he makes a mistake, (because he knows he is not perfect), he will repent sincerely with all his heart. He knows that this is the only way the image of Christ in his life can be restored. The image of Christ he bears means everything to him. It is more important to him than his life. He will do whatever it takes to guard this holy image of Christ that he carries with him everywhere he goes.

Verse 32 (synthetic parallelism) – The ones who hate the righteous are the wicked. They are the agents of Satan. They will do their utmost to stop the work and witness of God through His faithful righteous ones. Whenever the wicked succeed, the righteous fall into sin and the holy witness for Christ is tarnished. Whenever they repent, they repair and restore back the holy witness of Christ in their righteous lives. This is the spiritual battle that ends only when Christ returns. The wicked is described as the ones who “watcheth” the righteous. The word “watch” means to peer into the distance like a spy. He watches and waits for the right time and opportunity to pounce on the failure or weakness of the righteous and destroy his holy witness.

But they can never take away the righteous believer’s salvation which is sealed by the blood of Christ. It is a seal that cannot be broken. Therefore when the Bible says that the wicked “seeketh to slay him,” it means to destroy his holy witness. If they could succeed in destroying his holy witness by taking his life or his freedom or his loved ones, they would do it. These wicked ones have no morals. They have no sense of right and wrong. They will stoop to all low levels to bring down the righteous. That is why the righteous one needs the deeply heartfelt convicted knowledge of God’s holy and perfect Word to guard his heart and mind all the time. He does so with much prayer seeking the Lord’s help all the time, for he cannot fight the wicked ones who are energised by the Devil. He needs God’s strength to stay the course in his daily steps in order to walk rightly. The wicked ones love to see the righteous fall into sin. This is their one and only agenda in all they do. All righteous believers must know that they always fight a spiritual warfare daily in every step they take. What is at stake is the holy image of Christ in their lives.

Verse 33 (synonymous parallelism) – To encourage them, the Lord promises that He “will not leave him [the righteous] in his [the wicked] hand.” The wicked will try their best to hurt God’s children; but God’s children must be assured that their heavenly Father will never allow them to be tested beyond what their faith is able to bear. Furthermore, with every temptation there is always a way of escape so that they will be able to bear the load of the trial (cf. 1Cor 10:13). Desertion of any child of God would make God a liar, for He has promised us in Christ that He will be with us always even unto the end of the world (cf. Matt 28:18-20). This is the best assurance for all believers as we face trials on earth, for sinful man will desert us, as man is weak and frail but not our heavenly Father. Many believers would like to be with their loved ones when they suffer for Christ but they are helpless at times so that they cannot go to them. Even if they could stand by their side, they would be helpless to do anything to prevent the pain and hurt to fall upon their loved ones. How many family members and disciples of old stood helplessly and watched their loved ones eaten by lions or burned at the stake for Christ’s sake! However, the LORD assures all believers that He will not leave them. It means that all that He has promised believers will be kept to the jot and tittle. It does not mean that believers will not lose their property or freedom or loved ones or even their own lives in times of trials. It means that they can trust God to fulfil all His promises as revealed in Holy Scriptures.

Sinful man in this sinful world will condemn and treat God's faithful servants as criminals just as they did to Christ when they crucified Him like a criminal on the cross and with criminals. But the LORD will not condemn His children for their faithfulness unto Him. They will be loved and blessed when they arrive home in heaven. He loved believers when they were sinners, for Christ was sent from heaven to die for them before salvation. Now that they are His children, He will never stop loving them especially as He has left them behind after salvation to do His holy will in telling man about the love of God in Christ. This is His promise and assurance that all believers must cling on to and never doubt His love and abiding presence. He will never leave His children comfortless!

[To be continued]