Please take your Bibles and open them up this morning again to the book of Psalms.
We've been walking our way through several of the Psalms this summer and we've come to Psalm
! chapter 37 this morning. If you don't have a copy of God's Word with you, if you didn't bring one,
that's okay. We have them in the seat backs nearby and feel free to make use of that. Our text is
Psalm! chapter 37. It is another Psalm of David and when you've found that, let's stand in honor of
the reading of God's Word this morning. Psalm! chapter 37.
David writes,
Fret not yourself because of evildoers. Be not envious of wrongdoers, for they will soon fade like grass and
wither like the green herb. Trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the
Lord. Trust in Him and He will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your
justice as the noonday. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him. Fret not yourself over
the one who prospers in His way, over the man who carries out evil devices. Refrain from anger and
forsake wrath. Fret not yourself. It tends only to evil. For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those
who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land. In just a little while the wicked will be no more.
Though you look carefully at His place, He will not be there. But the meek shall inherit the land
and delight themselves in abundant peace. 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.
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. Better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked. For the arms of
the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous. The Lord knows the days of the
blameless and their heritage will remain forever. They are not put to shame in evil times. In the days
of famine they shall have abundance, but the wicked will perish. The enemies of the Lord are like the glory
of the pastures. They vanish like smoke. They vanish away. The wicked borrows but does not pay back. But the
righteous is generous and gives. For those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the land, but those cursed
by Him shall be cut off. The steps of a man are established by the Lord when he delights in his way.
Though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds His hand.
I have been young and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or His children begging
for bread. He is ever lending generously and His children become a blessing. Turn away from evil
and do good. So shall you dwell forever. 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. The righteous shall
inherit the land and dwell upon it forever. The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom and His tongue
speaks justice. The law of His God is in His heart. His steps do not slip. The wicked watches for the
righteous and seeks to put him to death. The Lord will not abandon him to his power or let him be
condemned when he is brought to trial. 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. I have seen a wicked, ruthless man
spreading himself like a green laurel tree, but he passed away, and behold, he was no more. Though I
sought him, he could not be found. Mark the blameless and behold the upright, for there is a future for the
man of peace, but transgressors shall be altogether destroyed. The future of the wicked shall be cut off.
The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord. He is their stronghold in times of trouble.
The Lord helps them and delivers them. He delivers them from the wicked and saves them because they
take refuge in Him. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord endures forever.
Father, we pray as we just sang, God, would you show us Christ?
Would you reveal your glory through the preaching of your word this morning? We ask in Jesus' name.
Amen. You may be seated.
One of my favorite games to play as a kid was the game of life. Have you ever played the game of life?
If you've played the game, then you know that you quite literally work your way through many of life's
important milestones. You get an education, you get your first job, you get married, you have kids,
and you work your way all the way through the winding turns until you get to the end of the game and you
retire. And the point of the game is whoever stacks up the most money by the end of the game
wins the game of life. Imagine playing the game of life with someone who has no regard whatsoever for
the rules of the game. So you take a few turns and after a while you realize when nobody is looking,
when they think you're not looking, they slip a couple extra hundreds out of the bank and into
their money pile. And when it comes time for them to pick their career, they stack the cards in their
favor so they make sure that they get the highest paying job in the game. And when they spin the wheel,
they make certain that they only land on all the good tiles. And if they do accidentally land on
something bad, well, they just blame the wheel and they spin again. Meanwhile, there you are trying
your very best, playing the game according to the rules. And yet you are struggling to get by. It's
totally unfair. And their little car is cruising their way through the game of life while your little
car is struggling, moving at a snail's pace, paying off your debts, following all the rules. You
would probably be frustrated playing that game, wouldn't you? In fact, you would probably at
some point wonder, where in the world is mom or dad? Don't they care that the rules are being broken?
And won't they come and set things right and make certain that things are played by the rules? This
isn't how it should be. And yet sadly, this unfair experience is oftentimes not just a game. For many,
this is how real life goes. You may have experienced some of this frustration yourself in your own life.
Your non-believing neighbors who do not follow the Lord, do not profess faith in Christ, do not seek
to obey his law. They are seeming to have life on easy mode while you face trial after trial after trial
your co-worker lies and cheats his way into yet another promotion while you just keep your head
down and quietly do your job and no one seems to notice. Why is it so? And you may be prone to wonder,
well, where is God in all of this? Does he not see how unfair this is? Will he not step in and make this
right? Does he not care that the wicked seem to succeed while the righteous seem to struggle?
This is the tension that David is dealing with in Psalm chapter 37. He wrestles with this tension
of the success of the wicked and the struggle of the righteous. But in the end, he calls all of God's
people to lift up our head from the game for just a minute, take a step back and remember the confidence
that we have in our good God and the promises that he's made to us in Christ. Here's the main idea for us
this morning in Psalm chapter 37 is this. God's promised future produces present faithfulness
despite our present frustration. And the Psalm, as you may have noticed, as I read is long as 40 verses
long and it's actually an acrostic poem in the Hebrew. It's one of several in the book of Psalms.
It is a wisdom Psalm and you may have noticed that it, it kind of reads a little bit more like the book
of Proverbs than it does like a Psalm. And in fact, several of these verses, the first verse is quoted
verbatim in the book of Proverbs in Proverbs 24 verse 19. This is family wisdom that's passed down
from King David to King Solomon and now down to us this morning. And so because this is a wisdom Psalm
and because it is an acrostic poem, it's not really progressing linearly like many of the texts do. It
doesn't go in a straight line from verse 1 to verse 40. And so we're not going to walk straight
through it like we ordinarily would in a more linear text. Rather, we're going to take it in three
clear themes. Now, hopefully you heard, as I read through the Psalm, three clear movements that we
see here in Psalm 37. Again, we're going to see our present frustration, our promised future,
and our patient faithfulness. This will be our outline this morning. If you're taking notes,
our present frustration, our promised future, and our patient faithfulness. First, let's consider
our present frustration. This Psalm, like many of the Psalms, it again, it makes this clear distinction
to us between these two groups of people. There are the righteous and there are the wicked. Two groups
of people, every single person in the world, every single person in this room belongs to one or the
other of these two groups. You either are counted righteous by faith in Christ. That's the only way
to be in this group. Or you are by nature, default, you are in this category of the wicked. There's no
neutral. There's no third category. There's nowhere in between. Two groups of people, the righteous or
the wicked. And that wickedness is seen, David shows us, in the fruit and all sorts of bad fruit in a
person's life. David calls them evildoers, wrongdoers in verse one. He says that they plot against the
righteous. In verse 12, they gnash their teeth at them. They draw the sword. They bend their bows to
bring down the poor and the needy and to slay those whose way is upright. Apparently, these wicked
people, they are plotting and scheming ways to destroy the righteous. They're not indifferent
towards the righteous. They don't ignore the righteous. They are antagonistic. They get ahead
by putting the righteous ones down. Verse 32 says, the wicked watches for the righteous and seeks to put
him to death. We recently finished going through the book of Genesis. Don't you remember? In the Garden of
Eden, this is the ongoing conflict ever since the Garden of Eden between that seed of the woman and the
seed of the serpent. This is ongoing enmity between those who belong to the enemy, that great serpent
Satan, and those who belong to the Lord. Ultimately, those who belong to Christ. Church, we have to remember that
we are not in peacetime. We are in wartime. And Satan and all who belong to him are presently waging war
against all who belong to the Lord. Just last week in Nigeria, you may have seen this, the Fulani people
attacked the village of Neridon in Nigeria, targeting, especially, specifically targeting Christians. I mean, this was not a
random attack. They went from house to house shooting and ultimately killed 30 professing Christians.
Eleven of them were children. The youngest was three years old. Church, it's hard for us to fathom that
sort of hardship and persecution here where we live. I mean, my goodness, in Allendal and Mount Pleasant,
we can hardly even wrap our minds around this, but this is very real and is happening to our
brothers and sisters throughout the world, even right now. And what's worse, those who gave an
interview afterwards, they said that the local police refused to come in time to help.
Our brother Sampson in Ghana is still on the run for his life. His church is still scattered. His people
are still being hunted and they have made appeal after appeal after appeal to every form of authority
that they can think of, and yet every form of authority has turned them a blind eye to their
struggles and their persecutors. Get away with it. Why is this so? Do you ever get frustrated by this?
How the wicked just seem to succeed and they get away with whatever they want to do while the righteous
struggle? How is it fair that so many false prosperity gospel teachers are living in luxury and abundance,
while so many gospel preaching church planters are struggling to make ends meet? How is that fair?
This is the frustration that we often face here in a fallen world. And then you add to it the confusion
that we feel because God's word often paints a different picture than what we see in front of
our eyes, doesn't it? And don't you remember what God said in Psalm chapter one? Blessed is the man who
walks not according to the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat
of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord. And on his law, he meditates day and night.
In all that he does, it says he prospers. And yet, what do we see with our eyes? It's the wicked who seem to be blessed.
It's the wicked who seem to prosper. It's the wicked who have the money and the comfort and the luxury.
And it's the wicked who get ahead while the righteous fall behind. Everything seems to be upside down.
It's frustrating. It's frustrating. And to play by the rules and yet to constantly feel like you're falling behind.
Church, look how David calls us to respond here in verse one.
He says, fret not yourself because of evildoers.
Be not envious of wrongdoers.
Fret not yourself because of evildoers.
He says in verse seven, fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
over the man who carries out evil devices.
He says in verse eight, fret not yourself.
It tends only to evil.
This word fret, it essentially means anger not.
Don't get yourself so angry and so anxious and so agitated,
so bothered over the wicked and their success.
Don't fixate on it so that you get so hot under the collar and bothered by it.
The Christian standard Bible translates it,
don't be agitated by the evildoers.
Church, when you see the injustice done to our brothers and sisters throughout the world,
do you fret?
Or do you envy their success?
And when you jump onto social media and you see the luxurious life of a non-believer,
are you tempted to envy?
When you see a clip like what I saw this week of Tom Brady sailing down the river on his $12 million yacht,
right, not a care in the world,
are you ever prone to think,
man, that would be nice to have what he has?
David says,
be not envious of wrongdoers.
But church,
how in the world is that type of response possible?
How in the world is that even possible?
How can we look on at the success of the wicked here
and not get upset?
And how can we look at what they have
and not be envious
and wish that that were us and not them?
Well, David tells us,
second,
he says,
fix your eyes on our promised future.
Fix your eyes
on our promised future.
I know that it is frustrating
to play a losing game.
I am more competitive than most.
I promise you.
I guarantee you,
I'm more competitive than you.
How would you feel, though,
if you knew that in the end,
church,
that you won
and the wicked lose?
How would it change things for you
to know with certainty
that the end of the game
has already been decided?
That whatever twists and turns
life takes you here and now,
it does not ultimately matter
because soon and very soon
the game will be over
and you will have won.
How would it change things
for you to know
that the success of the wicked
is short-lived
and momentary?
Your suffering,
the suffering of the righteous
is also short-lived
and momentary.
Christian,
don't you realize
this is the advantage
that we have here and now?
This ought to radically transform
the way we go through our life.
We don't know
when this will happen,
but we know with certainty
because the Lord has told us
what will happen
soon and very soon.
The Lord Jesus will return
and He will make
all things right.
We've seen that there are
two very different groups
of people in the world,
but here,
David points us to now
the radically different future
for these two groups of people.
The radically different future
for the wicked
and for the righteous.
Let's think first
about the future
of the wicked.
David says that
the wicked person
who lives this luxurious life
here and now,
verse 2,
he says,
they will soon fade
like the grass
and wither
like the green herb.
Church,
right now,
the wicked are watered
and fed
and nourished
by the common grace
blessings of the Lord.
But what happens
when those common grace
blessings are removed
and all that's left
is the scorching heat
of God's wrath
against the wicked?
He says that wicked person
who lives in open rebellion
against the Lord
and seems to get away with it
here and now,
who seems to have it all together,
who seems to have no worries
in this life,
verse 20,
says like smoke,
they vanish away.
Just like that.
The wicked seem like
they're rooted
and stable now,
like nothing can shake them.
But David says
in verse 35,
I have seen
the wicked,
ruthless man
spreading himself
like a green laurel tree,
rooted
and stable
and strong
and secure.
And yet,
what does he say?
They passed away.
And behold,
he was no more.
Though I sought him,
he could not be found.
And we should remember
that the appearance
of stability
and security
and success
that the wicked have
here and now,
it is all momentary
and fading
in light of eternity.
It simply will not last.
In fact,
you ask,
where is God
in all of this?
David tells us
the Lord is not absent.
He's not ambivalent.
He's not indifferent.
He's not ignorant
of what's happening
in his world.
Rather,
verse 13,
it says,
while the wicked
plot against the righteous,
the Lord laughs
at the wicked.
Why?
For he sees
that his day
is coming.
Yes,
everything is upside down
right now.
But again,
church,
one day soon,
our God
will come
and make it
right.
we confess this
in our statement
of faith
and what we profess
to believe together
as a church.
We say,
we believe
that the end of the world
is quickly approaching,
that at the last day,
Christ will descend
from heaven
in glory
and raise the dead,
both righteous
and the wicked,
from the grave
to final judgment.
A solemn separation
will then take place,
which will fix forever
the final state of men
on principles
of righteousness.
The wicked
will be adjudged
to endless
conscious punishment
in hell.
Those belonging
to Christ
will have eternal life
in the new heavens
and the new earth
and will dwell forever
with God
in righteousness,
peace,
and joy
to the glory
of God.
These are sobering
words,
aren't they,
church?
It is not fun
and it is not popular
to talk about
the reality of hell.
In fact,
several popular
Bible teachers,
public figures,
have recently come out
denying the reality
of a true,
eternal place
of torment
for the wicked.
The truth is unpopular,
but friend,
we're not wiser than God.
Paul tells us
in 1 Thessalonians 1.9,
they,
the wicked,
will suffer
the punishment
of eternal destruction
away
from the presence
of the Lord
and away
from the glory
of His might.
Jesus Himself
tells us
in Matthew 25,
46,
and these,
the wicked,
will go away
into eternal punishment,
but the righteous
to eternal life.
Do you see
the radically
different destination
here between these
radically different
groups of people?
The righteous
will look to the place
where the wicked
stood,
harassing God's people,
living in common
grace blessings
while denying
the God
who made them,
and in that day
they will be
no more.
Ask yourself,
why would I envy
that person?
Why would I want
what they have?
Why would I fret
over their success
here and now?
It's going to be
gone like that,
like smoke in the air.
It'll vanish.
It'll go away
like in an instant.
Why would I envy
that person?
Church,
we shouldn't envy them
and we shouldn't
fret over them.
You know our response?
It should be
we should have
compassion on them.
We should long
for them
to come to know
the grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ
as we have.
We should pray
for them
that the Lord
would be gracious
to them
as He's been to us.
We should pursue
them with the
gospel of Christ.
We should call
them to repentance
and to faith in Jesus.
But we should
never,
ever,
envy them.
If we're prone
to fret
or envy the wicked,
we should know
that our frustration
here and now,
it often stems
from a lack
of eternal
perspective.
That's the future
for the wicked.
Look,
look at what David
says about the future
for the righteous.
Five times
here in Psalm 37,
five times,
David assures us
the righteous
will inherit
the land.
Did you hear that
promise repeated?
Verse 9,
the evildoers
shall be cut off,
but those who
wait for the Lord
shall inherit
the land.
Verse 11,
the meek
shall inherit
the land
and delight
themselves
in abundant
peace.
Verse 22,
those blessed
by the Lord
shall inherit
the land,
but those cursed
by Him
shall be cut off.
Verse 29,
the righteous
shall inherit
the land
and dwell upon
it forever.
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.
David holds out
this hope
for God's people.
He assures
his people,
yes,
it may look bleak
now,
but the righteous
look ahead
to God's promises.
The righteous
remember,
God has promised
this time
and this place
when you will be
with me
in the land.
This land promise
we know for Israel,
that's much more
than just a piece
of property.
This was the hope
of God's people.
This was their hope.
This was a place
like a new Eden.
It was a place
where God's people
would again dwell
with God,
where He would be
their God
and they would be
His people,
where they would
worship Him together,
where they would have
peace from their enemies.
David says,
the wicked
will not be there,
but the righteous
and the meek
will inherit
the land.
But church,
of course,
we know
this land promise
is ultimately
fulfilled
in the new Eden
to come,
the new heavens
and the new earth
and not just a patch
of land
in the Middle East,
but all the world
renewed
and restored
for all of God's people.
This is our hope
in Christ.
A place
in a day
where there is
no sin,
where the wicked
are no more,
where all of God's people
can dwell with Him
forever,
where He will be
our God
and we will be
His people.
This is what John saw
in Revelation 21.
He says,
I saw a new heaven
and a new earth
for the first heaven
and the first earth
had passed away
and the sea
was no more.
And I saw
the holy city,
New Jerusalem,
coming down
out of heaven
from God,
prepared as a bride
adorned for her husband.
And I heard
a loud voice
from the throne
saying,
Behold,
the dwelling place
of God
is with man.
He will dwell
with them
and they will be
His people
and God Himself
will be with them
as their God.
He will wipe away
every tear
from their eyes
and death
shall be no more.
neither shall there
be mourning
nor crying
nor pain
anymore
for the former
things have
passed away.
Church,
this is our
future in Christ.
Can't you endure
a little suffering
here
to know
that that day
is coming soon?
Friend,
if you are
still
amongst
the wicked,
if you have
not yet
put your faith
in Christ,
the call
here is clear.
The response
of this passage
for the wicked
is turn from
your sin
and put your
faith in Christ
and you too
will have
this confident
future ahead
of you.
And the response
of the righteous
is to respond
here and now
until that day
with patient
faithfulness.
this is what
we see in our
third and final
point this
morning.
Third,
in light of
all of this,
in light of
this glorious
promise that we
have ahead of
us,
third,
we are called
to patient
faithfulness
here and now.
Again,
if you knew
that at the
end of this
game,
while the
cheater sat
and counted
up his
money,
at some
point,
dad is
going to
come,
he's going
to take
away
everything
that he's
gained,
he's going
to hand
it to you,
he's going
to pick up
your little
car,
he's going
to bring
it all
the way
safely to
the finish
line,
he's going
to declare
you the
winner and
him the
loser,
how would
that transform
the way
you go
through life?
You could
play this
game with
a smile,
knowing that
no matter
what happens,
the end
is secure.
Our
promised
future
ought to
produce
present
faithfulness
despite
our present
frustration.
David calls
us to
several
practical
responses
here in
this
psalm.
It is
so full
of
imperatives
and commands
for us,
directing us
what to
do.
I just
want to
group them.
I want us
to think
in five
categories
here as
we close
by way
of response.
The first,
protect
your heart.
Protect
your heart.
In other
words,
do not
join them
in their
game.
when you
see the
success
of the
wicked
Christian,
do not
fret,
do not
envy,
he says
in verse
1.
Do not
be
wrathful,
do not
be angry,
he says
in verse
8.
Do not
be tempted
to join
in with
them,
and they're
evil,
he says
in verse
27.
You're
going to
feel
tempted
from
time
to
time
to
wish
that
you
had
what
they
have.
Right?
But remember
the promise,
church.
Remember
what lies
ahead of
you.
Remember
that this
present
moment
will be
over
before
you
know
it,
and so
protect
your
heart
from
envy.
The
second,
put your
trust
entirely
in the
Lord.
Put
your
trust
entirely
in the
Lord.
Fix
your
eyes
on our
great
and
sovereign
God.
And
remember
who
is
in
charge
of
this
world
even
when
things
look
bleak.
So
David
says,
trust
in the
Lord.
Verse
three,
do you
trust
him?
Do you
trust
him to
do
what's
right?
Do
you
trust
him
that
he's
in
control?
Do
you
trust
him
to
bring
justice
in
the
end?
Delight
yourself
in
the
Lord.
Verse
four,
and
he
will
give
you
the
desires
of
your
heart.
Commit
your
way
to
the
Lord.
Trust
him
and
he
will
act.
You
know,
the
wicked
take
this
as
a
prosperity
promise.
If I
just
delight
in
him
enough,
I'll
get
whatever
I
want,
right?
But
the
righteous
know
better.
We
know
that
the
Lord
himself
is
the
greatest
treasure
in
all
the
world,
far
better
than
riches,
far
better
than
luxury,
far
better
than
momentary
success.
We
know
Psalm
1611
in
his
presence
there
is
fullness
of
joy.
At
his
right
hand
are
pleasures
forever
more.
So the
call to
God's
people
here and
now,
delight
yourself
in
him.
Trust
in
him.
Commit
yourself
to
him and
one day
soon
he will
bring
you
into
the
land
to
be
with
him
forever.
Do you
delight
in
him?
Third
category,
David
calls us
to
pursue
what
is
good.
Pursue
what
is
good.
One
of
the
common
mistakes
that we
can
easily
walk
into
because
we
know
what
the
future
holds
is
that
might
lead
us
to
passivity.
We
know
what's
going
to
happen
anyway.
God
is
going
to
come.
He's
going
to
set
things
right.
We'll
be
with
him
soon.
Why
not
just
sit
back
on
our
hands
and
wait?
I
love
that
David
no
believer
do
good.
Verse
3
Dwell
in
the
land.
Befriend
faithfulness.
Lend
generously
and
give.
He
says
verse
21
Utter
wisdom.
Speak
justice.
He
says
verse
30
In
other
words,
Christian,
we are
called
to be
active
in
pursuing
good
here
and
now
while
we
wait
for
the
Lord
to
come.
We
don't
just
sit
back
on
our
hands
and
do
nothing.
We
pursue
good.
We love
our
neighbor
as
ourselves.
We put
our hands
and our
feet
and our
mouths
to the
pursuit
of
righteousness.
The
certain
future
that we
have
ahead of
us
ought to
produce
in us
a radical
commitment
to live
for the
glory of
God
and the
good of
our
neighbor
here
and
now.
Are we
doing
this,
church?
Does
your
future
hope
shape
the
way
you
speak?
Does
your
future
hope
shape
the
way
you
think
about
money?
Does
your
future
hope
shape
the
way
you
think
about
the
way
that
you
live?
Pursue
good.
Fourth
category
David
calls us
practice
patient
endurance.
Practice
patient
endurance.
Here's a
difficult
one.
Be
still
he says
verse
7.
Be
still
before
the
Lord.
Wait
patiently
for
him.
Wait
for the
Lord
and keep
his way
he says
in verse
34.
Don't
feel a
need
to act
on every
impulse
to right
every
wrong
and take
every matter
into your
own
hands.
Rather
he calls
us
verse
11
be
meek.
Would
you
describe
yourself
as
meek?
Would
others
describe
you
as
meek?
The
kingdom
of
God
does
not
belong
to
those
who
are
strong
and
prideful
and
can
take
care
of
every
problem
that
comes
their
way
in
their
own
strength.
Rather
what
does
verse
11
teach
us?
The
meek
shall
inherit
the
land.
And
don't
you
know
again
Jesus
quotes
this
verse
in the
sermon
on the
mount.
We
read it
this
morning.
Again
transforming
this
for us
so that
we
see
this
promise
is not
just
the
land.
Rather
what does
he say?
the
meek
shall
inherit
the
earth.
Are
you
meek?
Fifth
and
final
category
David
says
Christian
pay
attention
to
the
righteous.
Pay
attention
to the
righteous.
David
reflects
back as
an old
man
in
verse
25.
He
looks
out
and he
says
I
have
been
young
and
now
I'm
old
yet
I
have
not
seen
the
righteous
forsaken
or his
children
begging
for
bread
and
so
verse
37
he
says
mark
the
blameless
and
behold
the
upright
mark
the
blameless
and
behold
the
upright
we
have
a
choice
what
we
pay
attention
to
don't
we
have
a
choice
what
we
set
our
eyes
on
and
the
temptation
is
to
pay
attention
to
this
successful
wicked
man
but
haven't
we
seen
this
lens
only
to
frustration
the
world
lifts
up
and
pays
attention
to
the
successful
wicked
man
instead
Christian
we're
called
to
pay
attention
and
learn
from
those
whose
life
although
it
may
lack
the
flash
and
the
glamour
and
all
the
things
that
the
world
deems
worthy
of
attention
their
life
is
marked
by
steady
faithfulness
to
the
Lord
their
life
is marked
by
meekness
do you
have
anyone
like that
in your
life
I think
it would
be
to our
benefit
if each
and every
one of
us took
our eyes
off of
the
temporary
success
of the
wicked
and instead
fixed
our eyes
on the
eternal
promises
to the
meek
and the
righteous
and
friend
no one
has
embodied
this
more
than
King
Jesus
King
David
experienced
the
frustration
that we
often feel
struggling
in
righteousness
while the
wicked
seemed
to
succeed
but
church
nobody
knew
this
more
intimately
than
King
Jesus
Christ
is
the
righteous
man
who
was
hunted
and
hated
by
the
wicked
who
was
truly
blameless
and upright
who
never
once
envied
the
wicked
who
never
once
fretted
over
their
success
who
completely
and
totally
entrusted
himself
to
God
and
yet
in
the
most
unfair
moment
in
human
history
this
righteous
man
suffered
and
died
a
sinner's
death
it
was
against
Jesus
ultimately
that
the
wicked
gnashed
their
teeth
and
bent
their
bows
and
for
a
brief
moment
on
the
cross
it
looked
as
if
wickedness
had
won
the
day
but
church
as
we
fix
our
eyes
on
Christ
we
look
back
at
the
cross
we
see
in
the
great
wisdom
of
our
God
even
this
greatest
moment
of
wickedness
the
world
has
ever
seen
was
his
eternal
plan
for
good
this
meek
and
lowly
king
crucified
for
us
crushed
the
powers
of
sin
and
death
and
now
by
right
rules
and
reigns
over
all of
heaven
and
earth
and
promises
us
that
those
who
are
righteous
by
faith
in
him
one
day
soon
will
reign
with
him
for
all
eternity
can
you
bear
a little
suffering
Christian
can
you
bear
a little
unfairness
for a
moment
Christian
if you
are
discouraged
or
frustrated
by the
apparent
success
of the
wicked
here
and
now
if
you
are
frustrated
by your
struggles
fix
your
eyes
on
Christ
mark
the
blameless
behold
the
upright
delight
yourself
in
him
trust
in
him
wait
on
him
commit
yourself
to
him
you
are
following
him
first
through
suffering
but
then
into
glory
this
light
and
momentary
affliction
is
preparing
for us
an
eternal
weight
of
glory
beyond
all
comparison
as
we
look
not
to
the
things
that
are
seen
but
to
the
things
that
are
unseen
father
we
pray
god
that
you
would
give
us
this
perspective
when
we
are
frustrated
by the
success
of the
wicked
when
we
look
out
and
see
our
brothers
and
sisters
harassed
for
professing
christ
when
we're
prone
to
despair
in
our
suffering
here
and
now
god
would
you
remind
us
of
what
christ
has
done
for
us
and
what
christ
has
yet
to
do
for
us
lord
that
he
has
endured
all
sorts
of
suffering
on
our
behalf
and
he
will
come
again
to
put
an
end
to
all
suffering
when
he
returns
lord
we
pray
all
of
this
in
jesus
name
amen