Rev (Dr) Quek Suan Yew

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

Introduction – The need to trust in the LORD is often forgotten by God’s people. The LORD reminds us by sending into our lives trials that box us in so that we will turn to Him and lean on Him again as we live holy and godly lives unto His glory! Once trust has returned back into our lives, the enemies that God allowed to persecute us will be dealt with accordingly by the hand of God and not the hand of man. In this manner, all the children of God will be able to see and grow to trust God even more. Their faith will be strengthened. Their walk with the LORD will be more glorious and joyous.

The result of trusting the LORD to care for and fight our battles is amazing and Christ honouring. It draws the child of God intimately to his Saviour and LORD to see how much he is loved by Him day and night throughout the entire trial. This need to trust opens the eyes of believers to the outcome of their experiences in relation to God’s treatment of them and their enemies!

II. The Result of Trust – 37:9-22 – Using antithetical parallelism, David the psalmist emphasized the contrast between the “evildoers” and “those that wait upon the LORD.” The former will be cut off by the LORD. This means that they will be cut off from the face of the earth. They will surely die. This understanding is seen in the contrasting result for the ones who wait on the LORD. They will inherit the earth which means that they will not die. This is the meaning of the word “inheritance.” This phrase is similar to what Jesus said in the Beatitudes (Matt 5:1-10 especially verses 3 and 10) concerning a born again believer. Therefore we know that the phrase “those that wait upon the LORD” refers to true children of God. They will not be moved to stop trusting their LORD regardless of the evildoers’ persecution. The aim of these evildoers is to force God’s children to stop trusting the LORD and to sin against Him. But God’s children must keep on trusting the LORD like David. They do so by patiently waiting. The root word for “wait” is “to bind together”. This means that no matter how hurtful and how aggressive the attacks of these evildoers are, the believer will bind himself together with Christ and will never let go of Him. He becomes one with Christ. He will endure patiently the trial, to the end of his life if need be!

They shall inherit the earth. This inheritance includes the new heaven and new earth of the Millennium when Christ will recreate the earth to the time before the fall of man where mankind could live hundreds of years (cf. Isaiah 65). Thereafter this old earth and heaven will be destroyed and a brand new heaven and new earth never tainted by sin will be the believer’s eternal inheritance where he will dwell with God forever (cf. Rev 20). This is his inheritance given to him by God in Christ.

Verse 10 (synthetic parallelism) – In terms of time it will be a short one before the evildoers are cut off. The context of this brevity of time is the time on earth versus eternity in hell. There is nothing that the evil persons have that a believer ought to be envious of. The wicked will have victory and wealth on earth by their evil deeds backed up by the god of this world. They will have the appearance of victory. They might even gloat in their moments of “victory” over the children of God. However, the psalmist knew he was not to fret or be afraid. He must remain faithful to his Lord and walk in holiness no matter how unjustly treated he was. The celebratory songs of the wicked might taunt him to the point of greatest humiliation but he must stand firm in his obedience to God’s Word and not retaliate and stoop to the level of the wicked.

He needed to remain in his higher plane of holiness and godliness. To do this, God says that he must “diligently consider” the place of the wicked. Everything that they do on earth will be destroyed at the coming judgement of the world. Everything that the wicked does will perish. Nothing will last! They will die and everything they touch or did on earth will disappear with them. They might think that they have impacted the world for good by their evil deeds energised by the god of this world, but they are living in delusion. The believer needs to consider and evaluate his life and the lives of his enemies in light of God’s eternal judgement. In this manner, the child of God will remain firm in his holiness in the midst of the evildoers and their taunts and earthly “victories.”

Verse 11 (synthetic parallelism) – The contrast is clear. The wicked will perish for eternity whereas the meek will inherit the earth. To inherit the earth means that the believer will live forever. This earth is God’s home for God’s people. The “victory” of the evildoers on earth is short lived. They will receive their just end from God. However, God’s children will never die. They might suffer loss on earth as they allow themselves to be bullied and persecuted for Christ’s sake. This temporal loss is nothing compared to the eternal inheritance that awaits all who live and die for Christ! This earth belongs to God and His children. The evildoers think that they have the upper hand because of their gain when they abuse and hurt God’s people. But their “gain” is actually loss, for they will die and spend eternity in hell. Their possession and “mark” on earth will be erased forever. Nothing they do on earth will last. Their deeds will all be forgotten just like them!

God’s children shall therefore delight themselves in the abundance of peace that they will have in the future and right now! The peace of God that will exist in heaven is eternal. This same peace of God is found now in the hearts of all children of God no matter what their circumstances of life might be. They must learn to trust and not be angry and envy. They need to cast all their cares and burdens at the foot of the cross of Christ. They are to hide under the wings of their heavenly Father’s protective care no matter what the cost they have to pay on earth for Christ’s sake. Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” This peace of God will keep them from sinning and murmuring against God.

Verse 12 (synonymous parallelism) – The evildoers will intensify their wicked deeds against the people of God. The blindness of the wicked will not allow them to see beyond their own noses. They will go headlong toward their path of wickedness. The frightening thing is that they cannot tell that what they are doing is evil. They might even think that they are doing the will of God even though the wickedness of their deeds is crystal clear to the children of God. They will plot, i.e. devise, more wickedness to destroy the just whom they consider as evil. They sincerely believe that they are doing the will of God just like what the Pharisees and scribes did to Christ and what Saul (Paul) did to the Christians before he became a believer. This is the blindness of the mind of evildoers. It is one thing for the persecutors to come from the Gentile world but a totally different thing when they come from the religious realm within Israel. In our context it will be from within Christianity. They will show forth their venom by gnashing upon the righteous with their teeth! They literally want to extinguish the righteous from the face of the earth! Many of them sincerely believe that they are doing God’s will in the process of destroying the “evil” people who are just in the eyes of God.

Take the example of “Christians” attacking the perfect Bible. These attackers resort to all sorts of ways and means at their disposal. From brute force to lawsuits with a singular agenda of destroying anyone who teaches or preaches that the Word of God the believer holds in his hand is perfect! With all sincerity, they attacked and put up websites promoting their view that the Bible has mistakes. All who argue and defend that the Bible is perfect are mocked and humiliated by name-calling. These sorts of attack are very much alive today. The false prophets did the same to God’s prophets. They threw prophets like Jeremiah into a dry well hoping that he would die in there and they bullied and abused faithful prophets with threats of death if they did not stop prophesying the Word of God!

Verse 13 (synthetic parallelism) – David was assured that his LORD saw as well and knew all that happened to him. The evildoers’ attacks are laughed at by God. The “laughter” of the Lord here means that He derides the evildoers for their vain attempts in trying to stop the work of the Lord. The wicked do not realize that when they attack the children of God who are doing the will of God they are actually attacking God Himself. The LORD laughs at them in derision for their stupidity! They are like foolish tiny ants trying to gnaw away the rock of Gibraltar!

The Lord sees that the day of these wicked people is coming. They will die one day. They will stand before Him in judgement. They will be sentenced to hell. There is no victory in the lives of these evildoers, only failures! They are deceived and do not know it. Their gain is great loss. Their joy will soon turn into weeping. Their gnashing of teeth against the just will become the gnashing of teeth in hell.

Verse 14 (synthetic parallelism) – Tragically the evildoers will not see, no matter how the light of God’s people’s holy lives continue to shine into their eyes. Their evil deeds blind them to their own eternal destruction. David says that “The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation.” The readiness to destroy the righteous is depicted in this verse. With their swords drawn, they were ready to strike. With their bows pulled taut, they were ready to shoot. This obsession to kill the righteous who have not done any wrong or harm to them will result only in the death and destruction of the evildoers. Their “targets” or “victims” will remain strong to the end of their lives, for they live in righteousness and in God’s truth. The evildoers are not so! They will die and be eternally punished by the God whom they fought against, knowingly or unknowingly the outcome of condemnation remains the same!

The word “conversation” is the word “way.” The way of the upright or righteous is clearly seen. David did not at any time touch King Saul who wanted him dead with all his might and power; David considered King Saul as the LORD’s anointed and only the LORD could remove him; David could not, even in the name of truth and justice! David did not take matters into his own hands, for to touch King Saul was the same as touching God Himself! King Saul was blind to this righteous way of David. He did admit that his actions against David were sinful and wrong, for a moment, but he still wanted David dead because of his spiritual blindness and obsession. 1 Samuel 24:16-19 “And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words unto Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept. 17 And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil. 18 And thou hast shewed this day how that thou hast dealt well with me: forasmuch as when the LORD had delivered me into thine hand, thou killedst me not. 19 For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? wherefore the LORD reward thee good for that thou hast done unto me this day.” Soon after in 1 Samuel 26, King Saul pursued David again. He did not stop until his death!

Verse 15 (synonymous parallelism) – The just retribution of God will prevail. These wicked men who plot and devise wickedness will have their own evil deeds boomerang back at them. The Bible says it best in this verse, “Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.” The same sword that they hold in their wicked hand to strike God’s children will enter into their own heart! They will fall by their own sword. The bows that they hold to shoot their arrows will be broken by God. The “power” they wield will be rendered useless by God. This was clearly seen in the life of King Saul. He pursued David and hunted him like a wild animal with his thousands of fighting men. 1 Samuel 24:2 “Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats.” And also in 1 Samuel 26:2 “Then Saul arose, and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph.” King Saul failed miserably. David kept on having the upper hand over him no matter how King Saul plotted and threatened his own people. He could not capture or kill David. Saul died by falling on his own sword. 1 Samuel 31:1-5 “Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa. 2 And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, Saul’s sons. 3 And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers. 4 Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it. 5 And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him.”

[To be continued]