An Alternative To Fretting

May, I did preach from this text in Psalm 37. Actually, the first seven verses I preached on

the theme of alternatives to fretting. Alternatives to fretting. What I want to do this

afternoon for just a couple of moments is not go through all of those alternatives, but I want to

zoom in on the one that's found in our text. There are others also. In fact, let me just at the very

least read them to you. Verse three, trust in the Lord and do good. Verse four, our text, delight

thyself also in the Lord. Verse five, commit thy way unto the Lord. Trust also in him. Down to verse

seven, rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him. All of these are alternatives to fretting

because

we're told in the very first verse to fret not. And that phrase fret not is emphasized

in this psalm. We'll see along the way. But so this afternoon, verse four, delight thyself also

in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Let's think for a moment, if we may,

on what this looks like. Delight thyself in the Lord.

Okay. What this delight looks like. And it's important to know what the psalmist means when he

says, delight thyself also in the Lord. We know that there's a lot of cardinal notions in the

world around us, even in Christian circles, about what it means to delight in the Lord or to know,

borrowing from Nehemiah 8 and verse 10, the joy of the Lord. Some view it as a kind of euphoria

that sweeps over your soul.

Without any reference to your understanding. I hope by the grace of God to smash that notion

today. The passage in Nehemiah 8 certainly pulls the rug out from under that notion of delight or

joy. And we'll see that here in a moment. Others see this notion of delighting in the Lord as the

pleasure that comes when one is sailing through life on calm seas with a gentle breeze, when times

are prosperous and riches increase.

And the goods of the world are readily available and affordable. It's a time when your health is

good and your physical vitality is strong. Pretty easy in that kind of situation, isn't it, to

delight in the Lord. And I don't want to be misunderstood here. We do and we should thank

God when life is calm and breezes are gentle. Nothing wrong with that at all. And we're grateful

for whatever material increases.

The Lord sees fit to bestow on us. However, it is with good reason that the psalmist says,

if riches increase, set not your heart upon them. Psalm 62, 10. When a believer's heart is set upon

those things, he sets himself up to become very vulnerable to fretting. Fret not, psalmist says,

verse 1,

Look at it again. Verse 7. Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the

man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. So you have, at least in this section of the psalm,

something of bookends made up of that term to fret not. And the Christian who finds his delight

in the world will at some point have cause to fret. And especially will he fret when he thinks

others have it all and he doesn't.

So what then does the psalmist mean when he says, delight thyself also in the Lord. There's a picture

of this delight that shows us what it looks like and how it really comes to blossom as a result of

a spiritual progression. That picture is given to us in the book of Nehemiah chapter 8. Nehemiah

chapter 8. I invite you to turn back to that passage.

For a moment or two. I'm sure many of you are familiar with Nehemiah 8 and verse 10 that says

right at the end of that verse, the joy of the Lord is your strength. In that setting, and it's

important, I think, to remember the setting of Nehemiah. The Jews had just returned to Israel

following a 70 year period of exile. Now they're back in Israel. They're rebuilding the temple,

rebuilding the temple. They're rebuilding the temple. They're rebuilding the temple. They're

rebuilding the city of Jerusalem. Nehemiah's focus is on the rebuilding of the city.

Ezra's focus on the building of the temple. In that setting, the Israelites who had returned

to Jerusalem to rebuild the ruined city came to know that joy. But they didn't start with joy.

And that's very important to know. In fact, they started with mourning and sorrow.

Let me try to set the stage for you, so to speak, or to paint the picture

is how they arrived at that joy that's mentioned in verse 10.

The scene begins with a meeting. You could call it a congregational meeting

made up of all those who had returned to Jerusalem. Nehemiah 8 and verse 1 tells us,

and all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate.

And they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses,

which the Lord had commanded to Israel. This meeting was going to be a Bible study,

you could say. A very large Bible study and a very lengthy Bible study. Try to picture this.

This is something we would want to try to do someday. Verse 3 tells us, and he read therein before the street that was

before the water gate, from the morning until midday.

I look at a text like that and say, I've never preached a long sermon in all my life.

From morning until midday, before the men and the women and those that could understand,

in the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law.

Can you picture that? Here's a Bible reading from the law of Moses that went from,

morning till noon. Now verse 8 indicates to us that there was more to this Bible reading session

than just Bible reading. So they read in the book, in the law of God distinctly and gave the sense

and caused them to understand the reading. Key text there when it comes to the science of what we call

hermeneutics, the science of Bible reading.

Interpretation, here it is in a nutshell. They read in the book of the law of God distinctly and gave the sense

and caused them to understand the reading. And pay attention especially to that word, understand.

Understand the reading. The leaders in that group, which included Nehemiah and Ezra and the Levites,

were not just reading, but they were explaining, expounding if you will, the law of Moses.

So verse 9 says,

And Nehemiah, which is the Tarshatha, which is just another word for governor, and Ezra the priest, the scribe,

and the Levites that taught the people. You see it there in verse 9, they taught the people.

Now there's an important thing to note from verse 8, and this occurs again in verse 12,

and this is what contributes to this spiritual progression that's coming into focus for us.

The thing to note from verse 8 is that the people gathered before the water gate in the city of Jerusalem

and they understood what was being read. You see that at the very end of verse 8?

So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly and gave the sense and caused them to understand the reading.

Now what I want you to see here is that their understanding did not lead, at least not initially,

to delighting in the Lord, or to the joy of the Lord.

On the contrary, look at what it says at the end of verse 9.

For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law.

They heard, they understood, and they wept.

Why do you suppose they wept?

I think we need to allow the history of revival, as well as a dose of spiritual revival,

honesty to answer that question for

us. I believe they wept because

the law served its purpose and ministered

to them the knowledge of their sin.

It was the sin of their fathers, you

see, that led to Jerusalem being destroyed

in the first place. And now I believe

it was the knowledge of their own sin that led them to

weep. This is what

happens, you know, during revivals.

This is what happened on the day of Pentecost when Peter

preached Christ to the people. Before they gained

a saving interest in Christ, they were first

pricked in their hearts.

So these Israelites wept.

They wept over their sins.

The law had done its work, for by the law is

the knowledge of sin, Paul writes in Romans

3.20. And such was their weeping

on this occasion that they had to be

restrained. Look at what's

said by the leaders in verse 9.

And Nehemiah, which is the Tershatha, and Ezra the priest,

the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people,

said unto all the people, This day is

holy unto the Lord your God. Mourn not

nor weep, for all the people wept

when they heard the words of the law.

Verse 10. Then he said,

Go your way, eat the fat, and drink

the sweet, and send portions unto them, for

whom nothing is prepared. For this day is

holy unto our Lord. Neither be ye sorry,

for the joy of the Lord is

your strength.

How do we account for that?

How can we account for the people weeping

upon hearing and understanding the law,

and yet the leaders suppress their weeping,

suggest to them that they should, to use the words of our text

in Psalm 37 and verse 4, delight themselves

in the Lord instead?

Were they simply to ignore or suppress

the convicting effect of the law of God

on their hearts that led them to weep?

Well, we know that wouldn't be the case.

That wouldn't make any sense.

Now you remember that I said to you that

verse 8 contained a very important key

in the word understand.

They caused them to understand

the reading. And it was their understanding

of the reading that led initially to their sorrow

and their weeping. Now look at what

verse 12 says. And all the people

went their way to eat and to drink and to send portions

and to make great mirth. We're dealing with the very

opposite now, aren't we? We've gone to the

one from sorrow to great mirth.

And look at the reason that this is attributed to.

Because they had understood

the words that were declared

unto them. So both

in their sorrow and in their

mirth, if you will, there's a connection

to their understanding.

And that is so important to get a

grasp of. The same

understanding that compelled them to weep

now compelled them to make great mirth and send

portions and know the joy of the Lord.

So whatever happened to change their sorrow into

dancing, so to speak, and to transform

their emotions from sadness into joy

did so through their understanding.

I know I don't think I've made this remark in quite some time.

It's probably a regular.

I've said along the way that the Holy Spirit never

bypasses the head in order to reach the heart.

It's done through your understanding.

Both their sorrow and their joy is traced

to their understanding of the words that were

declared to them.

And the only thing that can account for such

a swing of emotions from sorrow to joy

would have to be their understanding of the God.

The gospel.

That law that was read to them, you see,

not only contained the moral law which convicted them of their sins,

but it also contained the ceremonial law

which pointed ahead.

In other words, those animal sacrifices preached to them

that their sins could be forgiven.

The judgment they deserved would be imputed to the sacrifice when that

sacrifice was offered on the altar that was explained to them.

They would have understood that.

We know, of course, in our day, with greater fullness,

that those animal sacrifices all pointed to a coming sacrifice,

the sacrifice of Christ that could actually do what those animal sacrifices could not.

Christ could and did offer himself to be the propitiation for our sins.

So in the end, we find this assembly of Israelites hearing the law,

having the law explained to them, being convicted by that law,

and then gaining assurance from the explanation of the ceremonial law

that their sins were forgiven, and having gone through such a spiritual progression,

we find them knowing the joy of the Lord.

And I think you could say we find them, in the end,

delighting in the Lord.

Now, let me view this message this afternoon as something of a post-communion message.

The elements of the communion table that we partook of earlier today

should impact us the same way and should lead us to the same spiritual progression

that the Israelites in Nehemiah 8 experienced.

We remembered his broken body.

Why must we remember his broken body?

Well, the answer is simple.

His body was broken on account of our sins.

We remembered his shed blood.

Why do we remember his shed blood?

And again, the answer is simple and obvious,

because your sins and mine called for his blood to be shed.

The same accusation that Peter charged his audience with

can be charged to you and me when Peter said to the Jews,

You killed the Prince of Life.

Really quite a profound statement when you think about that.

You killed the Prince of Life.

Can you hear that accusation being laid to your charge?

You killed the Prince of Life by your sins.

You took Christ and by wicked hands crucified and slew him.

Your sins did that.

My sins did that.

Have you heard such a charge and owned it earlier today?

And shouldn't such a charge lead to sorrow?

To the same kind of sorrow and mourning and weeping

that those Jews in Nehemiah's day experienced?

This is where our spiritual progression begins.

But it does not end there.

Thank the Lord.

Indeed, if it were to end there, we would only add to the sin

of dishonoring God and Christ.

And so we go on to recognize that what happened to Christ

didn't catch him off guard or by surprise.

He foretold his sufferings.

Indeed, he left heaven's glory to come into this world

with the definite aim of undergoing those sufferings.

As Peter put it in his sermon on the day of Pentecost,

him being delivered by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God,

ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.

There was a divine plan in place, you see, before man ever fell into sin.

And it is your belief in that plan, your faith in Christ who executed that plan,

that leads to your salvation and your assurance of acceptance

and your assurance of everlasting life.

Do you begin to see now what you must do in order to delight in the Lord?

Oh, you must be humbled for your sins, but you must also

exalt in Christ who is your Savior.

All of it based on your understanding.

The communion elements that you partook of earlier today

serve the purpose of both humbling and assuring you

that your sins are forgiven, washed away as far as the east is from the west,

to be remembered against you no more,

and you are, as a result of your union with him, complete in him

and hidden in him, so that God does not see you apart from seeing you in his Son.

So this is what delight looks like.

And I'm sure you'll agree with me that this delight or this joy

runs much deeper and takes you much higher than any of the carnal delights

that this world can afford you.

So we've seen what it looks like.

Let me close with just a word about how there are times when it must be fought for.

There are times when it must be fought for.

And what this amounts to is the fight to overcome wrong thinking.

Look again back in Psalm 37 now.

Look at how it begins.

Fret not thyself because of evil doers, neither be thou envious against the work of the Lord.

You could call this the Fret Not Psalm.

Verse 7,

Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him.

Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way,

because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

And in case you didn't get it after the first two times,

it occurs again in verse 8.

Cease from anger and forsake wrath.

Fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.

This is the only psalm in the Psalter that utilizes that phrase, fret not.

It's actually interesting to note that in the Hebrew it occurs in a reflexive form,

which is picked up on by our King James translators by the phrase, fret not thyself.

This is something that we do to ourselves, this fretting.

Solomon wrote in Proverbs, maybe with this psalm in mind, Proverbs 24, 19,

fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked.

Do you ever find yourself infected with a fretting spirit?

Oh my, I could pause here and take a long time in confessing my own sins in this regard.

Give me the t-shirt that says, World's Greatest Fretter.

And though I might not want to wear it, I'm afraid I would have to own it.

I won't go into great detail.

I'll share one thing with you, though, because you can actually help me with this.

Sunday morning, it's almost a ritual for me, fretting time.

Starts about 10.15 a.m.

We're supposed to start at 10.15.

Nobody's here.

Anybody even going to come today?

Is this even Sunday?

I better check my calendar.

What if it's only Saturday?

And here I am.

That kind of gives me a positive feeling.

Boy, if I discover this is Saturday, I've got a whole extra day.

It's never happened yet.

But fretting, fretting about this.

And I know how it plays out every Sunday.

I know how it's going to play out.

We're remarkably consistent in this.

But for some reason, I fret about it anyway.

We're so given to fretting.

And we could make the application in any number of ways.

I said a moment ago, the lexicon defines the word this way,

to heat oneself in vexation.

Isn't that a vivid description of one who frets?

He frets.

In heated vexation.

The picture that comes to mind when I think of a fretting spirit is the picture of Mary

and Martha before Christ.

You know the scene from Luke 10.

Christ has come to the house of Martha, who has a sister named Mary.

Martha was cumbered about much serving while Mary sat at the feet of Jesus.

When Martha complained about this to Jesus, he said to her, Martha, Martha, thou art

careful and troubled about many things.

There's a fretting spirit. Careful and

don't misunderstand that word. This is one of those King James words now.

It means in this instance, full of care.

Martha, Martha thou art full of care and troubled about many

things. Anxious to the point where

worry dominates the heart and becomes

chronic. Psalm 37

gives us some of the reasons why fretting happens. It

springs from envy and it springs from being short-sighted.

Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou

envious against the workers of iniquity. This ties into

the age-old question as to why the wicked prosper and

why the most wicked of men seem to be the most successful

in terms of the things that they're able to accumulate and the prestige

that they enjoy where it seems like the life for a Christian is anything

but. I know I have

referenced in the past two psalms. I refer to

them as the complaining psalms. Psalm 73,

Psalm 77. Good psalms that really

teach you how to complain to God. You want to learn how to complain

to God? Go to those psalms. There they are.

And I love the fact that they are in there

and the fact that they call on us not to flaunt our

piety before God but be honest with Him and

complain to Him if that's what's on your heart.

You could say that both of these psalms address the same matter as Psalm 37.

Listen to how Psalm 73 begins.

Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean

heart. But as for me,

my feet were almost gone, my steps had well nigh

slipped, for I was envious at the foolish

when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

And then in Psalm 77, you find

words that I would be reluctant to ever use in prayer were it

not for the fact that they're recorded there for us.

Will the Lord cast off forever and will He be favorable

no more?

Is His mercy clean gone forever?

Doth His promise fail

forevermore?

Hath God forgotten to be gracious?

Hath He in anger shut up His tender mercies?

Verses 7 through 9.

In Psalm 73, the psalmist tells us how he overcame

his fretful spirit.

Listen to the words of verses 16 and 17.

When I thought to know this, it was too painful

for me until I went

into the Holy Spirit.

the sanctuary of God, then understood I

their end. He recognizes how short-sighted

he had been. And I know I've made this point, but I'll make it

again this afternoon. That text really shows us one of the

purposes that church is supposed to serve

to get a perspective adjustment

when the things of this world have just bombarded

your soul for six days. Once he's

gone into the sanctuary of God and is engaged in the worship of

God, it seems that the psalmist gains that needed

adjustment to his worldview. And he comes to recognize

that though the wicked prosper for a time, it's a brief

time, indeed very brief, especially in comparison

to eternity. And in Psalm

77, the psalmist expresses

the solution to a fretful spirit this way.

I will remember the works of the Lord. Surely

I will remember thy wonders of old. I will meditate also

of all thy work and talk of thy doings. Thy way, O God,

is in the sanctuary. Who is so great a God is our

God. Remembering, then,

is an important key here. Remembering God. Remembering

Christ. That's why we

partook of the Lord's table earlier today. To remember. To remember

Christ. This do in remembrance of me.

So I wonder this afternoon,

do you find yourself infected with a kind of fretful

spirit that would keep you from delighting in the Lord?

I think if we're honest, we have to say, we all

go through such times. And if that is the case with

you this afternoon,

I would suggest to you, you're in the right place.

Because this is where you're supposed to get a perspective

adjustment. You're in the sanctuary. We've gathered already

around the Lord's table. This is the place to gain

that needed worldview adjustment, so to speak.

Let's take the long look, therefore, today.

Never lose sight of the eternal perspective. And let's

remember the greatness of our God and the

greatness of our Savior. And let's keep our focus on

so great salvation as we understand it from God's

word. Let's close then in prayer.

Oh, Lord, as we bow now in thy presence and bring this

meeting to a close, we thank thee for those portions of

thy word. We thank thee for those psalms.

That teach us to come before God honestly.

And not just to flaunt our piety before thee.

And we thank thee, oh Lord, that the word of God

addresses our understanding. And by thy grace, we have

gained that understanding. Oh, Lord, we know it full well

that the law exposes our sins and that at our best, we fall

short of thy glory.

And have transgressed thy law countless times. We thank

thee, Lord, that the Bible also addresses our understanding

by teaching us of Christ, who he is and what he's done, what

he's doing now and what he will yet do. Oh, Lord, we pray

that through our understanding, we may gain the benefit of

the spiritual progression, which first humbles us and then

enables us to be a part of the spiritual progression. And we

praise thee, oh Lord, that thou hast brought us to delight in

the Lord, as we see how thy word points us to Christ. So, stamp

thy word on our hearts, oh Lord, we ask these things in Jesus'

name. Amen.