Psalms 36

Greetings in the name of Jesus this morning. Do we have any prayer requests before we continue? Say that again. Join all. Join all. Okay, well, let's rise to pray for those that can't. Oh God, kind Heavenly Father, we thank you this morning for a new day. Mercies and patience that are new every morning. We thank you for the sunshine and reminders of life that you give. We thank you. We pray at this time for Joino in Bangladesh. You would continue to draw him that he could walk in your ways. We thank you. We pray for those that aren't here today. Be with them. Encourage them today. Be with us. Help us to be an encouragement to one another and a strength, not a hindrance. As we are gathered here, we ask for your presence. We thank you. May your spirit be with us. May you get the glory. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. I don't really have a teaching this morning. I was just going to read a few psalms. This time of year, I like this time of year, but it does always remind me that just like the leaves, I mean, sometimes it seems like they have just barely budded and sprouted and grown and been a flourishing green. And then this time of year rolls around and they wither and they fall off the tree and their life is done. And reminds one of human life as well or all life. There's a time to be born. There's a time to live. There's a time to die. Anyway, I think I'll start in, I wasn't sure, but I think I'll start in Psalm 36 and then we'll just see how far we might read. So Psalm 36. Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in their hearts. There is no fear of God before their eyes, for they flatter themselves in their own eyes, that their iniquity cannot be found out and hated. The words of their mouth are mischief and deceit. They have ceased to act wisely and do good. They plot mischief while on their beds. They are set on a way that is not good. They do not reject evil. Let's not be such. Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens. Your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains. Your judgments are like the deep. You save humans and animals alike, O Lord. How precious is your steadfast love, O God. All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house and you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life. In your light we see light. O continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your salvation to the upright of heart. Do not let the foot of the arrogant tread on me, or the hand of the wicked drive me away. There the evildoers lie prostrate. They are thrust down, unable to rise. Psalm 37. Do not fret because of the wicked. Do not be envious of wrongdoers. Here in Psalm 37, there's phrases that made me think like, hmm, I wonder, David must have read the Sermon on the Mount, maybe, or something. Do not fret because of the wicked. Do not be envious of wrongdoers, for they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. Trust in the Lord and do good, so you will live in the land and enjoy security. Take delight 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 make your vindication shine like the light and the justice of your cause, like the noon day. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him. Do not fret over those who prosper in their way, over those who carry out evil devices. And anybody's welcome to butt in if they have something they want to share, just so you know. Verse 8. Refrain from anger and forsake wrath. Do not fret, it leads only to evil, for the wicked shall be cut off. But those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land. Yet a little while and the wicked will be no more. Though you look diligently for their place, they will not be there. But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant prosperity. The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them, but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that their day is coming. The wicked draw the sword and they bend their bows to bring down the poor and needy, to kill those who walk uprightly. Their sword shall enter their own heart, and their bows shall be broken. Better is a little that the righteous person 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 abide forever. They are not put to shame in evil times. In famine they have abundance. But the wicked perish, and the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastors. They vanish like smoke, they vanish away. The wicked borrow and do not pay back, but the righteous are generous and keep giving. For those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the land, but those cursed by him shall be cut off. Our steps are made firm by the Lord when he delights in our way. Though we stumble, we shall not fall headlong, for the Lord holds us by the hand. I have been young and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. They are ever giving liberally and lending, and their children become a blessing. Depart from evil and do good, so you shall abide forever. For the Lord loves justice. He will not forsake his faithful ones. The righteous shall be kept safe forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land and live in it forever. The mouth of the righteous utter wisdom, and their tongues speak justice. The law of their God is in their hearts. Their steps do not slip. The wicked watch for the righteous and seek to kill them. The Lord will not abandon them to their power or let them be condemned when they are brought to trial. Wait for the Lord and keep to his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land. You will look on the destruction of the wicked. I have seen the wicked oppressing and towering like a cedar of Lebanon. Again I passed by, and they were no more. Though I sought them, they could not be found. Mark the blameless and behold the upright, for there is posterity for the peaceable. The transgressors shall be altogether destroyed. The posterity of the wicked shall be cut off. The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord. He is their refuge in the time of trouble. The Lord helps them and rescues them. He rescues them from the wicked and saves them because they take refuge in him. Psalm 38. O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath, for your arrows have sunk into me and your hand has come down on me. There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation. There is no health in my bones because of my sin, for my iniquities have gone over my head. They weigh like a burden too heavy for me. My wounds grow foul and fester because of my foolishness. I am utterly bowed down and prostrate all day long. I go around mourning, for my loins are filled with burning and there is no soundness in my flesh. Good morning, Joseph. I am utterly spent and crushed. I groan because of the tumult of my heart. O Lord, all my longing is known to you. My sighing is not hidden from you. My heart throbs, my strength fails me. As for the light of my eyes, it also has gone from me. My friends and companions stand aloof from my affliction and my neighbors stand far off." Here in the first part where he seems like he is lamenting his situation, but he is also acknowledging the reason for it, it seems to me. He is not avoiding responsibility like he is. Your arrows have sunk into me. Your hand has come down on me. There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation. There is no health in my bones because of my sin, for my iniquities have gone over my head. They weigh like a burden too heavy for me. My wounds grow foul and fester because of my foolishness. Verse 12. Those who seek my life lay their snares. Those who seek to hurt me speak of ruin and meditate treachery all day long. But I am like the deaf, I do not hear. Like the mute, I cannot speak. Truly I am like one who does not hear and in whose mouth is no retort. But it is for you, O Lord, that I wait. It is you, O Lord, my God, who will answer, for I pray only do not let them rejoice over me. Those who boast against me when my foot slips, for I am ready to fall and my pain is ever with me. I confess my iniquity. I am sorry for my sin. Those who are my foes without cause are mighty and many are those who hate me wrongfully. Those who render me evil for good are my adversaries because I follow after good. Do not forsake me, O Lord. O my God, do not be far from me. Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation. And chapter 39. This will be the last one. I said I will guard my ways that I may not sin with my tongue. I will keep a muzzle on my mouth as long as the wicked are in my presence. I was silent and still. I held my peace to no avail. My distress grew worse. My heart became hot within me while I mused the fire burn. Then I spoke with my tongue. Lord, let me know my end and what is the measure of my days. Let me know how fleeting my life is. You have made my days a few handspread and my lifetime is as nothing in your sight. Surely everyone stands as a mere breath. Surely everyone goes about like a shadow. Surely for nothing they are in turmoil. They heap up and they do not know who will gather. And now, O Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in you. Deliver me from all my transgressions. Do not make me the scorn of the fool. I am silent. I do not open my mouth, for it is you who have done it. Remove your stroke from me. I am worn down by the blows of your hand. You chastise mortals in punishment for sin, consuming like a moth what is dear to them. Surely everyone is a mere breath. Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry. Do not hold your peace at my tears, for I am your passing guest, an alien like all my forebears. Turn your gaze away from me, that I may smile again before I depart and am no more. May the Lord add his blessing. Amen, Brother Leroy. So when you come together, each one has a psalm, revelation, teaching. And thank you for reading the four psalms, brother. It's wonderful devotion. You know, psalms mean song of praise. Boy, Psalm 38, that is such a depressing, one of the more depressing psalms of the psalmist, Psalm 38. But I believe that the theme of some of the psalms is that faith in God, that goodness will overcome evil, having faith in God that eventually, in the dire circumstances, that good will overcome evil. And that definitely seems to be in Psalm 38. That is one of the most pessimistic, if not the most pessimistic psalm there is, 38. And 37, just one last thing on the wicked, the wicked, you know, the wicked, the wicked, he takes them home, but he doesn't pay back, the wicked, the wicked, the wicked. And doesn't it say that God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked? All souls are mine. And, you know, it says that in Ezekiel also, he has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. And what people will say today, I know brother Aaron, he would agree with me if he was here, I'll see him tonight, well, how could such a righteous, great God, how could he send someone to eternal torment, or even hell, or annihilation, or how could such a good, gracious, loving God do that? And the answer is simple, that the grace of God has appeared to all people, his righteousness and his love, sending his only son for us. But even back then, the righteousness, the grace, the goodness of God has appeared to them, and they reject it. What they're doing, they're assassinating the character of God, saying that, God, how could you do this? You know, you're just an evil God, how guilty you are. And no, that's their own sin. The grace has appeared to all men. And the indescribable gift, God is a good, loving, great God, and we could never repay him for all that. And yet people have that audacity to say, how could God send someone to eternal hell? Well, the remedy for that, the blood of Jesus is such greater than the punishment, the Lord be magnified. Yeah, I'd say if there was a favorite verse, I'd probably, well, I guess, depend how, like what you're, what you're meditating on or thinking, it might make a difference in what is favorite. But I like how 37 verse 3 is, trust in the Lord and do good. So shalt thou dwell in the land and verily thou shalt be fed. And then verse 4 has the same thing in it, where there's, there's a condition and there's a, a reward or something from the Lord. Delight thyself also in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thy heart. Verse 5, commit thy ways into the Lord, trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass. So that was encouraging to me. I, I want to trust in the Lord. I want to delight myself in the Lord. I want to commit my ways into the Lord. And this, these would be verses we can cling to, to know that that's the right thing to do. He shall bring, bring things to pass and he shall, if we delight in him, he will give, give us the desires of our heart. And of course in that there's, there's the battle. That's the choice between going the right direction or the wrong direction. So gradually we can go off in a wrong path where we start trusting our own self and we start delighting in our own accomplishments and we forget the Lord. We forget to be committed to him. And that's not the way any of us would want to go, I'm sure. And so I just wanted to point out those verses and thank you for reading them, Brother Leroy. May the Lord be blessed by them. I have found him, whom my soul so long has prayed. Jesus satisfies my longing, through his blood I now am saved. I have found him, whom my soul so long has prayed. Jesus satisfies my longing, through his blood I now am saved. But the dust I gather round me, only not my soul's sad cry. Hallelujah, I have found him, whom my soul so long has prayed. Jesus satisfies my longing, through his blood I now am saved. Well water ever springing, bread of life so rich and free, I'm told of the never failing, my Redeemer is to be. Hallelujah, I have found him, whom my soul so long has prayed. Jesus satisfies my longing, through his blood I now am saved. People of the living God, I have sought the world around, at the sin and sorrow trod, peace and comfort overfell. Now to you, my spirit turn, urge of youth, until I'm blest, Brethren, may your altar burn, always keeping me in purest. Lonely I no longer roam, like the cloud, the wind, the wave. Where you dwell shall be my home, where you die shall be my grave. Mind the rod and kill the door, your Redeemer shall be mine. Earth and hell, my soul no more, every idol I resign. Tell me, God, of gain and loss, peace and joy, love and power. Welcome, Father, knee and cross, shame, reproach, afflictions are. Follow me, I know thy voice, Jesus, Lord, thy steps I see. Now I take, I use, my choice, by my word and vow to be.