The
"Psalm 37" Series #4
"COMMIT OR COMPLAIN!?"
TEXT:
Psalm 37:5-6, 34-40
INTRO:
"Commitment" is a word used today so haphazardly by most people. Our society scoffs at most forms of
commitment; at least the forms that God holds
sacred:
a. Commitment of marriage – one man with one woman for
life.
b. Commitment of work – Ex.
20:9 “Six days you shall labor and do all your
work”
c. Commitment of friendships – deep
commitment.
d. Commitment to God – The most important
relationship!
About the only form of commitment
really being upheld today by our society is a deep commitment to one's self ...
no wonder this past generation has been labeled the “me” generation and the
current one is focused on acceptance of everything.
ILLUS: Sophie,
the scrub woman, was a Christian. One of the gentlemen in the large
building where she worked said to her, "Say, Sophie, I understand that you are a
Christian." "Yes, sir, I am a child
of the King," was her immediate reply. "Oh! So you must be a princess, since God
is your King." "I sure am." "Well, if God is your Father, and you are
a princess and a child of the King, do you not think that it is beneath your
dignity to be found here in
In God's kingdom and in His
vocabulary “commitment” is an important feature! It is serious stuff to God, and it is
serious stuff to God's people!
PROP.
SENT: The Scriptures
will teach us that God desires us to commit ourselves and our ways to Him ...
our greatest success and joy comes only with a great commitment to Him! It also teaches us that “commitment” as
God defines it is different from the way the world defines
it!
I. COMMIT YOUR WAY Psalm
37:5
A. Turning To The Lord Psalm
37:5a
1. Before I commit my way I must
commit myself!
a. This is what we called being
"saved."
b. Saved from what? We are saved from sin and
self!
2. Yet, just committing myself is not
enough alone, we have to also commit our ways to God
too!
a. Salvation is a beginning, not an
end!
b. The church needs to recognize this
and respond properly! Too often the
whole work of the church is just to get people saved … but Jesus said we are to
"make
disciples!" It is not
just about a singular event at an altar and then we put another notch on our
belt of getting people “saved.”
c. What were disciples? They were people committed to a master!
They followed this master and
committed their life AND their ways to
Him!
3. It also meant committing to God all
my ways, not just the ones I feel like I can't
handle!
a. Commitment isn’t about what I get
out of it…
b. Commitment is what Christ expects
of us to do!
ILLUS: When
our Lord said "go," He did not ask us to sit down and evaluate what the chances
were that we would return. Two
Coast Guardsmen were preparing to engage in a rescue attempt of two fishermen
lost in a storm. Someone shouted
out to them: "Don't go out there.
You may never get back." One
of the guardsmen replied, "We don't have to get back, but we have to
go."
– Source Unknown
4. Committing your ways unto God also
doesn't mean inactivity … it doesn't mean that you sit back and wait for God to
do it all, what it does mean is to rest from worry and then also be actively
involved in “working out our salvation with fear and trembling!” Phil.
2:12
5. Turning over to the Lord my ways
means I'm subject to His will, so don't complain when He makes changes to our
lives … RIGHT?
a. Negative or positive events …
trusting in God means to trust in
Him!
b. Everyone likes God’s will when we
are being blessed, it is those times when there is little to no blessings, maybe
even pain that we find it hard to commit to the Lord our
ways!
6. This is a continual aspect of
commitment; a daily turning to the Lord and committing my
ways!
B. Trusting The Lord Psalm
37:5b
1. The two elements go together: "commitment" and "trust."
a. What you trust you will commit
yourself to!
b. What you commit yourself to you
will trust!
2. In this, we must not only commit
our way to the Lord but also we must trust His very nature ... HE IS
GOD!
a. Other things may fail us ... but
God never fails!
b. He can be trusted for He is
faithful, always!
3. The call here is to "TRUST IN HIM"
... who He is, not just what He
does!
a. This is the deepest level of trust;
it is in the very nature of God Himself that we must trust! This is what He
is!
b. Not just a trust about the things
in our lives ... but our very life to His
nature!
c. A trust that God really is who He
says He is and that He will do all that He says He will
do!
d. Trust and commitment go hand in
hand!
e. We are to go above dedication … to
be absolutely committed.
4. Commitment is different from
dedication...
ILLUS: Story
of the hen & pig who wanted to give the hard working farmer a special treat
... a ham & eggs breakfast! The
chicken was dedicated, she gave her eggs, but the pig was committed, he gave his
life! –
Source Unknown
a. What God is looking for is not just
dedication but real commitment!
b. Only commitment is going to really
change the world!
C. Tested
Of The Lord Psalm
37:5c-6
1. What will He do? “He will make
your righteous reward shine like the
dawn!”
a. Once we show our committed and
trusting in Him, God lets the world see the righteousness of the believer as
that commitment and trust is tried!
b. God will not only prove Himself,
but He will also prove His people!
c. As others watch our lives, our
commitment and trust, they will come to understand the power of almighty God
through His servants.
2. In the end God will show the
justice of our cause in living for Him, the world may laugh now but we will show
the world one day that we were right in living for
God!
ILLUS: Chrysostom,
the ancient Church Father, was a beautiful example of true Christian courage.
When he stood before the Roman Emperor, he was threatened with banishment if he
still remained a Christian. Chrysostom replied, "You cannot, for the world is my
Father's house; you cannot banish me."
"But I will slay you," said the
Emperor.
"No, but you cannot," said the noble champion of the
faith again, "for my life is hid with Christ in
God."
"I will take away thy treasures." "No, but you cannot,"
was the retort; "in the first place, I have nothing you know anything about. My
treasure is in heaven, and my heart is
there."
"But I
will drive you away from man, and you shall have no friend left." "No, and that
you cannot," once more said the faithful witness, "for I have a Friend in heaven
from whom you shall not separate me. I defy you; there is nothing you can do to
hurt me." – Source Unknown
a. Don't be seduced by the apparent
"success" of this world and its ways, in the end they don't pay or
last!
b. One of Satan's biggest lies is to
let you think you’re missing out on life when you serve and obey God ... this
was the exact lie he used on Eve! "God knows that if you eat you will be like gods knowing
good and evil"
c. You're not missing it, you're
securing it! (Life)
d. Your commitment will stand the test
of time if it is real!
II. CONTROL YOUR WILL Psalm
37:34-40
A. Timely-Not Late! Psalm
37:34
1. "Wait for the
Lord"... how? "By keeping His
way"
a. Thus in waiting we are active not
passive! We are to keep His ways
while waiting!
b. To wait doesn't mean sitting still;
it means to remain faithful while
waiting!
2. God's sense of timing is so
different from ours!
a. His sense of timing is from
eternity!
b. Ours is from the
temporal!
c. God has never been late yet – but
clearly from the world’s point of view, and even logical point of view it looks
that way many times, but in the end God comes through!
EXAMPLES:
(1. Was He late when Jonah was thrown over
the side of the boat to die!? – those who threw him over believed God was too
late to rescue him.
(2. Was He late when Lazarus was sick ... He
deliberately stayed away until Lazarus had died ... then only did he go, even
days after he was dead and buried!
But He wasn't late by his timing, only by Martha's schedule! (John
11)
(3. The Jews thought He was late when
Pharaoh's army had them cornered between the
(4. Abraham and Sarah thought God was late in
giving them a natural born son … but when she was almost 90 and he was almost
100 it happened!
3. What do you think God has been late
in doing for you recently? Do the
examples just given give you any hope
now?
4. If you have committed your way to
the Lord and are trusting in Him ... He won't be late! TRUST HIM! His sense of timing is better
than yours!
ILLUS: In the
final years of our imprisonment, the North Vietnamese moved us from small cells
with one or two prisoners to large rooms with as many as 30-40 men to a room. We
preferred this situation for the companionship and strength we could draw from
our fellow prisoners. In addition to moving us to new quarters, our captors also
let us receive packages and letters from home. Many men received word from their
families for the first time in several years. The improved conditions were a
result of public pressure put on the North Vietnamese by the American
public.
In
our cell was one Navy officer, Lt. Commander Mike Christian. Over a period of
time Mike had gathered bits and pieces of red and white cloth from various
packages. Using a piece of bamboo he had fashioned into a needle, Mike sewed a
Every night in our cell, Mike would put his shirt on the wall, and we
would say the pledge of allegiance. I know that the pledge of allegiance may not
be the most important aspect of our day now, but I can tell you that at the time
it was the most important aspect of our
lives.
This had been going on for some time until on of the guards came in as we
were reciting our pledge. They ripped the flag off the wall and dragged Mike
out. He was beaten for several hours and then thrown back into the
cell.
Later that night, as we were
settling down to sleep on the concrete slabs that were our beds, I looked over
to the spot where the guards had thrown Mike. There, under the solitary light
bulb hanging from the ceiling, I saw Mike. Still bloody and his face swollen
beyond recognition, Mike was gathering bits and pieces of cloth together. He was
sewing a new American flag. --
John McCain. From the files of Leadership.
5. Gal. 4:4
"In the fullness of time God sent His
son..." even though thousands of years of Old Testament history went
by, God had a right time for the Messiah to come and He wasn't a moment too
late!
B. Thanks
to the Lord! Psalm
37:35-40
1. God has a future for us who are
committed to Him! Psalm
37:37
2. In times of trouble God will be
there! Psalm
37:39
3. Deliverance will come! Psalm
37:40
4. These are promises to those who are
committed, but the secret word is "committed!" (Remember the old Groucho Marx show ... say
the secret word and win a
bundle!)
5. We benefit so completely when we
trust in God so completely!
6. We can't lose out when we are sold
out!
7. All we have to lose is our
selfishness and sin ... what an exchange for a trusting committed
life!
ILLUS: Paul
Rogers of
8. So what's holding you back from a
full commitment to God!?
9. Why not trust
Him?
10.
The real secret to abundant life is here: “a deep full
commitment each day to the
Lord!”
CONCLUSION: Those who are really committed to God and trust Him are those whose lives are filled with the greatest joy and fulfillment God can give! We can sit back and complain about life or be committed to God and really live! What are you going to do? Eternity will reveal the wisdom of being committed even when life throws us curve balls now, never underestimate the purposes of God even in times of struggle, or when you see the unrighteous apparent successes now. God gets the final word, always!