Remember the End of the Story
Psalm 37v1-11
Psalm 1 doesn’t always feel true. In fact, often the opposite does. So often it looks like the wicked, the selfish, the climb-over-the-top-of-others, the unbeliever, are the ones getting ahead, enjoying flourishing and success. Meanwhile those trying to faithfully follow God look like the ones at the bottom, withered and forgotten. How come it looks like “the greater the scoundrel, the greater his success”? Is Psalm 1 just a romantic notion, but not an actual reality?
Psalm 37 is Psalm 1 stretched out.
David, who wrote this Psalm, experienced the successful wicked throughout his life. Jesus perfectly lived out this Psalm. Born in Bethlehem, raised in Nazareth, a carpenter’s son. Watching the wicked, oppressive rich get richer, while he quietly trusts his Father.
Psalm 37 is an acrostic; working through the alphabet. It reads like a collection of Proverbs. This is wisdom literature. Psalm 37 is showing you how to live wisely in a broken, unjust world.
The Bible is often reminding us what story we are in. Often it causes us to look back, to see the story we have come into. Other times it causes us to look forward, to see where the story is headed. Psalm 37 wants us to look forward.
v1-2 (Aleph)
Fret not and be not envious. There is a kind of fretting, a getting hot under the collar, that appears righteous but is rooted in envy. “How come they get it so good?” becomes “why not me instead!?” But the psalmist assures us; they have it good now, but it will not always be the case. This isn’t about a vindictive joy in seeing others hurting. It’s a sense of injustice being corrected. So what do we do instead of having this low burning envy simmering within us?
v3-4 (Bet)
We trust God. While doing good to others. We get on with living the life of faith. And as we do, we experience life and faithfulness (another translation; “we are shepherded to safe pasture”, even in the dark valleys). We delight ourselves in God. And in doing so our desires become desires that will never be disappointed. Guaranteed satisfaction is ours. We seek first his kingdom, knowing that all these things will be added to us.
v5-6 (Gimel)
We commit our ways to God. We cast our cares. In other words, we roll all of our feelings, resentments, fears, jealousies, worries on to him. Telling him honestly about all of it. We leave it all with him to do what he is going to do. Knowing that, one day, he will bring justice to the wicked and will vindicate his people.
v7 (Dalet)
Be still (silent) and wait. It’s the quietness of someone expectantly waiting for God to come through on his word. The silence here doesn’t mean not praying or lamenting, but a silence of refusing to take matters into our own hands, having committed it all over to God.
v8-9 (He)
The psalmist reminds us, again, what not to do. It’s hard to not do it. Impossible without knowing the story we are in, and where it’s headed. So he tells us again. Don’t get angry and wrathful. Taking matters into our own hands instead of leaving it to the wrath of God. God will step in. The wicked will be cut off. The righteous will inherit. Wait.
v10-11 (Vav)
These verses expand the thought of v8-9. The wicked will be no more. Either they will repent and become the righteous. Or they will refuse to repent and be cut off from life and eternal life. Meanwhile the meek, the faithful afflicted, the needy and the poor, the righteous downtrodden ones, will inherit the earth. Jesus promised it. There is coming a day where his people will, for all eternity, experience the extravagant joys of abundant peace. They will be delighted.
Conclusion
Our online world, our media, the world all around us, is presenting us stories of those getting ahead. We can be left with a number of struggles. A temptation to capitulate and become like the world. A temptation to silently resent and compare to others. A temptation to wonder if following Jesus is really worth it all in the end.
Psalm 37 tells you to look ahead to the “in just a little while”. It feels long as we wait, but it will come. The world will be flipped the right way up again. The meek will inherit the earth. The righteous will be vindicated and exalted. True wealth will be seen as true wealth. The wicked will be cut off. Justice will restore all that is wrong, corrupt, perverse, twisted and broken. The false wealth of this world will be exposed for what it really is.
And so in the meantime, we wait. We give ourselves to God and to others. We trust him. We pour out our hearts to him. We serve him and others. We repent when we sense the envy and anger bubbling within us. We remind ourselves of the story we’re in and where it’s headed. We remind each other. We sing the songs of Zion.
And one day, everything we have waited for will be experienced. And it won’t even be worth comparing the weight of glory with the wealth of this earth, or the sufferings we experienced while we waited.
Discussion/Reflection Questions
Where are you most tempted to envy? Fret? Take matters into your own hands? Not be still? Not trust? Not cast your cares? Not patiently wait for God to act?
How does remembering where the story is headed change the way we respond to the present?
What helps you remember the story we are in? How can we lovingly help each other remember well?
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