Snippet of Sermon by Rev Tan-Yeo Lay Suan
“Life is the sum of
all your choices.” – Albert Camus
In
life we make choices constantly. You are all choosing what to write down every
minute that I am talking. You are making choices constantly. You get up in the
morning and you decide how long to brush your teeth or whether or not to brush
your teeth--I hope you do not decide not to brush your teeth, and which clothes
to wear, you decide what to say to people, you decide where to park. Many of
the decisions are small, but life is just full of choices and wisdom literature
recognizes this. It says, "Don't be so naïve as to think that you are not
also making moral choices; you are." Today we look at wisdom Psalms that
are part of the wisdom tradition in the
Bible. We make decisions every day; everything we say and do is the result of a
decision, whether we make it consciously or not. For every choice, big or
small, there's no easy formula for making the right decision. To most people, the
best you can do is to approach it from as many perspectives as possible and then
choose a course of action that seems reasonable and balanced.
We live in a day in which Tolerance is
god; everything is to be tolerated. Nothing is right or wrong; it is just a
question of whether it is right for you. Many people do not believe in any absolute
truth. The biblical notion of wisdom, on the other hand, counters that, and if
you want to help counter it, just introduce wisdom literature to people and
steep them in it and it will help overcome the nonsense of the notion that
there is no absolute truth, because wisdom literature says, "This is
wrong, this is right and which are you going to choose." It is always
offering the paths of choice.
SERMON
PROPER
What are Wisdom Psalms and what is the
purpose of these Psalms? This type of psalms shares the same thrust as the
other Wisdom literature found in the Bible. That thrust is didactic/instructional:
to direct the people of God into a godly way of life; to give God’s people
concrete examples of how God wants us to live our life. These psalms always
talk about two ways: X&Y. There is always the good choice and then by
contrast the bad choice. These psalms emphasize the good as opposed to the bad.
E.g. Psalm 1. It talks about choices. "Blessed
is the person who doesn't walk in the counsel of the wicked, stand in the way
of sinners, sit in the seat of mockers." This is the X. “Do
not do that; that is a bad choice.” But, by contrast, is Y,
"His delight is in the law of the Lord and on his statutes he meditates
day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of waters, yields its fruit
in season," all kinds of good things. Then again, this is
bad, that is good, this is bad, that is good, back and forth, back and forth.
And throughout such psalms you are always going back and forth. It is almost like
watching a tennis match. This is very effective. It actually is a very
effective way of giving people basic ethical guidance. The righteous and the
wicked are put side by side for contrast and emphasis is given regarding the
consequences depending on what we choose.
·
If
you live a certain way, say X, then this and this will happen.
·
If
you live a different way, the Y, then
something else will happen instead.
It reiterates God’s blessing on the
righteous, those who in faith obey the Law, and God’s judgment on the
wicked. As the people of God sang these
Psalms, they exalted truth and ensured that this wisdom is passed down from one
generation to another through song.
Certainly in Psalms and Proverbs, and I think in the entire
Bible, righteousness is a matter of relationship.
·
Righteous people are not perfect. (1)
·
Righteous people are simply people who relate rightly to
God.
Likewise, wicked people do not
relate rightly to God. The righteous relate rightly to God because the
righteous recognize God as God.
The righteous relate rightly to
God by seeking to know God and to obey God.
But the wicked reject
God and God’s ways.
The wicked reject
God because the wicked want to be their own gods.
And the wicked reject God’s ways
because the wicked want to do things their own way.
Among other things, the Psalm we
are looking at this morning, Psalm 37 recognizes the frustrating
reality
·
that the wicked often prosper,
·
and the righteous often suffer.
This seems unfair.
·
The righteous try to live God’s way.
·
The wicked reject God and live their own way.
And yet… the wicked often seem to
have it better than the righteous.
Because of this reality, we are often tempted in 2 ways:
·
The first is the
temptation to envy the wicked for their apparent success. All around us, the
wicked prosper and succeed in evil schemes. So you might be tempted to ask
yourself, "Why
bother with the difficulties of righteousness? What good is my righteousness
doing me?"
·
The second is like it, and is the temptation to shrink back from
God's promises because of the trials we see the righteous going through. The
devil whispers to us "Did God really say that He would give you a glorious
ending to your story?"
So it
is not surprising that that there are people who have turned their backs on
God. When pain runs deep and there are no answers or
reasons then it turns to anger and then emptiness and the feeling of being
forsaken. If YOU
have ever been punished for doing the right thing, if
you’re a good guy who seems to always finish last… then Psalm 37 is for you. It
is Acrostic in the original Hebrew Acrostic meaning that each of its stanzas of
double verses begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew Alphabet which
makes it easy to remember in Hebrew. But when we look at the English
translation, it makes it hard to and somewhat difficult to outline.
Dustin
M. Wax, a contributing editor and project manager at lifehack.org; also a
freelance writer and university instructor in Las Vegas, NV, wrote and share some
strategies how people usually make their choices.
1. Getting Past Pros and Cons
2. Analyze outcomes
3. Ask why – five times The Five Whys are
a problem-solving technique invented by Sakichi Toyoda, the founder of Toyota.
4. Follow your instincts
But over and
above these strategies, the
Psalmist testifies to the over-arching importance of reckoning with God in
every choice that we have to make. Of the many ways of making decisions, the
wisdom imparted in this Psalm is to weigh all and everything in the light of
our relationship with the Lord. This must become our priority in all instances,
particularly when things look so good for those who plan and do evil.
Why should we listen to this Psalmist?
Vv 25-26 tells us that the author is in his old age and so what he declares to
be wise/foolish had come out of his lifetime of reflection on the ways of the
righteous and the wicked and of God’s dealings with each.
Because God watches and knows the ways of the righteous and the
wicked, the Psalmist encourages the righteousness to take these 7 steps:
Step 1: Don’t Fret.
David knew that it is hard to
avoid fretting. That’s probably why the words, “Do not fret” are
recorded three times in the first eight verses of Psalm 37. David, Paul,
and Jesus each command us not to fret, not to be hot, furious, burning with
vexation, become angry. Here is the place where you can use the advice to be
cool, a recurring theme. To remain unfazed (not worried or upset) by the
prosperity of the wicked at the expense of good and honest people.
The best way not to fret is to get
our eyes off the wicked and on the Lord.
Steps 2 and 3: Trust in the Lord… and
do good.
These 2 steps are inseparable;
neither can exist without the other. Trust is literally to throw yourself onto
the Lord, hands free and believe that God would catch you. When we cannot trust
the Lord, we cannot do the good things that God commands us. Why? Because we
will be terrified and cannot afford to not protect ourselves and therefore
choose not to do the good we know God wants us to do. V31 The law of their God
is in their hearts; their feet do not slip. Faith and trust are a
lifestyle, and they involve action. Real faith always includes obedience,
and obedience includes doing the “good” things God commands, even if it means
sacrifice, I will do without. Continue to live by the law of God inside you,
continue to walk the way you’ve always taken, the obedient route. Yes we may
stumble (be overthrown, knocked out, lying prostrate; we will not be cast out,
hurl down) but the Psalmist is sure that the Lord will uphold (provide the
support for) such a man and bless him. That is why trusting God
and doing good cannot be separated.
Step 4: delight
yourself in the lord.
What do
you delight in? What is your greatest
source of gladness? For some of us, when we think of the Lord, we have a sour
feeling… we think that with God is
always “no”… so thinking God while it is a must, may be a negative for us. We
think that we will not receive what we want if we asked the Lord… he’s just one
stern parent in heaven… only favourites get their desires. So it is possible
that when we think delight, we think we know best and it is not found in the
Lord. But speaking
from his own experience, plus the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, (6) the
Psalmist says that when we delight in God, God gives us the desires of our
hearts. Contrary to what we might think, God desires to bless us if only we
take time to understand how God can meet our deepest longings. I remembered
looking at this verse and with great excitement penned it down in one of my
cards for memory: here is a blank check of sorts… with one condition attached. If I trust and see God as the source of
gladness in my life, he will not disappoint me. He will ensure that my desires
are met.
Step 5: Commit your way to the Lord.
This one is tricky. It means more
than we may think. Commitment is important.
Deep, satisfying relationships
—like marriage, friendship, and discipleship—require commitment. Our commitment
to God is important… but, here in Psalm 37.5, being committed to God is
not the point. But the word here has the
idea of “rolling something onto something else.” The idea here is that we are
"roll" the burdens of life over onto the Lord. The Lord has not asked
His children to carry the burdens of life alone. He tells us that bring them to
Him, Matt. 11:28; 1 Pet. 5:7. We do not have to bear the heavy burdens of life
all by ourselves. We have a God who cares and commands us to bring our burdens
to Him! In
the middle of the storms of life, let us learn the truth that we are not in
them alone! We are to commit our "way" to the Lord and trust Him to
take care of us. This was the resolve of Job when he was called upon to suffer,
Job 1:20-21, Job 23:10 “10 But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I
will come forth as gold.” ; Job 13:15 “15 Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely[a] defend my ways to his
face.”. Let this also be the
resolve of our hearts this morning!)
Step 6: v 7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him.
Again, please trust me when I say
that the original Hebrew includes the idea of sitting still with God in
silence. David is telling us to tell God about our problems… and then
to sit quietly with God and wait. And this waiting patiently
means 1) whirling
(participle) 2) writhing, suffering torture (participle) 3) to
wait longingly. These 2 words are almost direct opposites. It’s easy to be still
and silent when there is little that unsettles us. But there is this idea of
being twisted in pain, suffering torture waiting for the resolution to our state and we are advised
to be still. That means exercising self-control and forbearance/restraint in
the face of what is glaringly unfair. There will be hardships for a time while
we wait for relief from God.
Step 7: Refrain from
anger (blowing the breath through the nostrils) and turn from wrath
(poison/rage/indignation).
Drop/let go of your anger and
leave behind your wrath. We all get angry and
outraged at receiving the short end of the stick when we had not done wrong. And
lest we forget, for the third time, David reminds us, “Do not fret — it leads
only to evil.” This reminds us of what God said to Cain in Gen 4:7 “that sin is
crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”
when we are indignant, we are likely to sin. And sin he did, he killed his
brother. The Apostle Paul also gave us two especially helpful commands about
dealing with the anger we all feel at times. “‘In your anger do not sin’ “Do
not let the sun go down while you are still angry…” (11) Let the Lord
vindicate you. If we sincerely desire God to help us to obey these 2 commands,
then we can ask for… and receive God’s help.
These steps are not
a one-time thing.
Some days we need to go through
these steps several times. Remember, the seven steps are
right there in Psalm 37. We can review these seven steps
whenever necessary. And as we practice these seven
steps, we can enjoy God’s presence and God’s peace even in the storms of life.
CONCLUSION
It is easy to make choices from our indignation, our
anger. Have you reacted because you felt that God is too slow and you have to
take things into your own hands? What has been the outcome of those decisions?
Were any of them near what the Lord had promised? Peace, inheriting the
and/earth… something that translates to inheriting all things that count and
are significant? Or has it been your practice/habit to set aside the law of God
when you are making decisions? When you tell yourself, “This thing has very
little to do with God… and God’s ways are good to hear in church but not
practical, I will just make the most sensible decision.” How many of us do that all the time?
Which job
should you take? What car should you buy? Should you ask him to marry you? Are
you ready for another baby? Is this house right for you, or should you keep
looking before you make an offer?
Reflection Questions:
1.
Would your Christian life always be a life that is
lived only on Sundays? Would your Christian values be put aside when making
decisions regarding your children and what you wish for them, for your own
career? Or would you hunger and thirst after the God who draws near and show
you that the righteous live superbly blessed and upheld lives? What will it be
for you?
2.
What is your trouble? Who do you envy? Come to the One
who sees and hears and lays them at his feet.
