Waiting on God & Keeping His Way

[Read Psalm 37:1-40]

Last week I was talking to a young man from the church, encouraging him to keep learning how to repair his own vehicles. I told him that, not only is it good for him, but it’ll also save him a lot of money. Sure, you’re going to mess up a few times—or a bunch of times—but you’ll learn something through the mistakes and you’ll still save some money. As I’ve worked on vehicles and other equipment around the farm over the years, one of the biggest things I’ve had to learn is patience. 

Here’s a stereotypical experience early on in my life repairing things around the farm. It all begins when something breaks, and as we all know, nothing ever breaks at a convenient time. So, you’re already frustrated that you have to fix this thing. Then, because it’s on a farm, there’s one part of every repair that is going to cause problems—on every piece of equipment. It’s rust. Everything on a farm is covered in rust, caked in rust, and sometimes welded onto something by rust. But, I don’t want to take the time to soak the nut in penetrating oil, or find a hammer to beat on it, or get the torch to heat it up. I don’t have time for that right? I have to get this fixed and I have to get it fixed now. So, what do you do? You find the right size wrench, or a socket and a breaker bar. Then you find a long pipe for some additional leverage, and you try to break the bolt loose.

One of three things are going to happen at that point—two of them are not good. You may get lucky and the nut will break free and come loose, but it’s only a 30% chance (probably less than that). If the nut doesn’t come loose, you will either strip the nut, completely rounding it over OR you will twist the bolt off. Either one of those options means you’re going to spend a long time working on that piece of equipment, a lot longer than if you would have been patient in the first place and used the proper tools to get the job done. Now, because you’ve been impatient, and you’ve used the wrong tools for the job, you have created a mess that’s going to be a LOT more work, or even possibly ruined the piece of equipment. 

In a different way, this is the scenario—or the possible scenario—that’s being described in Psalm 37. Remember, each of the Psalms we’re looking at throughout Advent are talking about waiting—waiting on the Lord in difficulty and darkness. When we’re waiting, it’s really tempting to give way to impatience. Then, after we give way to impatience, we are tempted to start using tools that we’re not supposed to be using to accomplish what we think needs to be done. Another way of saying that is, when we give into the temptation of impatience, we are tempted to being living like the world, using the tools of this world, using the strategies of this world, using the weapons of this world, rather than using the tools, strategies, weapons, and lifestyle of God. 

And we’re tempted to give into impatience, because when we’re waiting, it doesn’t feel like we’re making any progress. It feels like we’ve been stuck in the mud for a long time. It feels like we’ve been sitting in the pit. It seems like we haven’t come any closer to the end of our suffering. And we start wondering about some things, don’t we? We start to wonder if there’s something else we should be doing to get us out of the pit, out of the mud, or out of the darkness. We start to wonder whether resting in Christ, praying to the God who answers, reading our bibles, and waiting in faith is really what we should be doing right now. It doesn’t seem to be accomplishing what we want it to accomplish and we don’t have time to be waiting around like this. 

Then, we start looking around at the people around us to see if someone else may have the magic recipe to get us out of the pit. We start looking to the world and we see some people who seem to be doing really great. We see some people who have pulled themselves out of the pit, and they didn’t rest in Christ, pray to God, read their bibles, or wait. They didn’t do any of those things and it looks like they’re doing great. They didn’t do any of those things and they got out of their messy situation much faster than us. And we start to wonder. We start to wonder if we should stop doing what we’re doing and start doing what they did. Maybe if I do what they did, I’ll get out of this mess faster than waiting on God. Maybe if I take matters into my own hands, I’ll get out of this mess.

It’s because of this temptation that we hear this repeated phrase throughout the Psalm: “Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers!” (Psalm 37:1, ESV) or “…fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!” (Psalm 37:7, ESV). We’re told not to fret about those who are evildoers—those who’ve rejected Christ—but seem to be prospering in the world. We’re not to fret about them or be tempted by them. We’re repeatedly told this because the Psalmist knows we will be tempted by them. We will look at them and wonder what they’re doing right, because there are times when they will be living the life we want to be living. But we’re not to fret ourselves about them. 

He actually says something more striking later in the Psalm. He says, “Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.” (Psalm 37:8, ESV). It seems like he’s telling us, “If you keep fretting about these people who seem to be prospering in their way, if you keep thinking about them and what they’re doing, eventually you will be tempted to follow them in their evil ways. Stop staring at them because it’s only going to lead you further into evil.” 

Besides, we’re reminded throughout this Psalm that they are not making as much progress as it seems. As we sit stuck in the mud, we see them and it looks like they’re running wild and free, living the good life, but that’s not actually the case. Their lifestyle is not leading to long lasting prosperity and peace, but it’s leading to nothingness. We read these statements throughout the Psalm, “For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb.” (Psalm 37:2, ESV) or “In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.” (Psalm 37:10, ESV) or “But the wicked will perish; the enemies of the LORD are like the glory of the pastures; they vanish—like smoke they vanish away.” (Psalm 37:20, ESV). Here’s the point: The wicked are using the wrong tools. They are using tools that seem to be working in the moment, tools that seem to be getting them out of trouble quicker and faster, they may seem to be prospering and living the good life—but notice all of the SEEMS in that statement. In reality, they are living a lifestyle that is fading away like the grass, withering like flowers in the fall. Their life and strategies and tools and weapons are all like smoke that will vanish and disappear, never to return.

And the reminder to us is that if we become impatient and try to use their tools—rather than the tools that God has given us—we will become like them. We will fade like them. We will disappear like them. Our impatience will not bring about righteousness and peace and steadfastness, it will not get us out of the pit or the mud or the darkness quicker, it will actually end up making everything worse and causing you to be stuck there longer, trying to fix what’s been broken. 

Charles Spurgeon gives a glorious image of this situation, that I have to share. He shared it in one line, but I want to turn it into a short parable. Imagine being a cow on a farm. You are fed and taken care of just fine and you’re happy with the care that’s been given to you, until one day you notice another group of cows. They are getting WAY more food than you are. They are doing WAY less work than you are. They are the spoiled cows on the farm and you long to be one of them. They have the good life!!! Until they don’t, because they are the cows that are being fattened for the slaughter.

Rather than longingly looking at those who are living a lifestyle that will fade away or be destroyed, being tempted to follow them down the path of destruction, it’s much better to wait on the Lord. So far, we’ve talked about how important it is to wait on the Lord by resting in Christ, praying to the God who answers, reading our bibles, and waiting in faith. Now in this Psalm, we’re given another aspect of properly waiting on the Lord. We read this, “Wait for the LORD and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on when the wicked are cut off.” (Psalm 37:34, ESV). That’s really powerful. As we wait for the Lord—and are tempted on every side to follow the wicked, to use their tools and strategies—we’re reminded to keep the Lord’s way because when we keep the Lord’s way we will not fade away, but will inherit the land. We will outlast the wicked, and will watch as they fade away and are cut off. We will outlast those who tempted us to follow them, those who seemed to be living the good life, those who seemed to pull themselves out ofthe pit. By waiting on the Lord and keeping the Lord’s way—by being patient and using the tools that the Lord has given us—we will receive something that goes beyond the immediacy of this life and remains into eternity. 

But notice how this is pictured throughout the Psalm. This is not an Eeyore type of obedience. It’s not saying, “I guess, I’ll keep following the Lord, keeping his way, using his tools, while everyone else has fun…” That’s not what we’re talking about. We read statements like, “Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4, ESV). We are called to delight ourselves in the Lord—to delight ourselves in Him and to delight ourselves in following him. This is good stuff.

And it makes sense, doesn’t it? We can delight ourselves in the Lord and in following his ways because we know that it has a firmness to it. We can delight in the fact that we’re walking on a path that doesn’t fade away, but lasts forever. We can delight in the fact that we’re following the path that is laid out for us by our Heavenly Father. It is a beautiful and glorious thing to live the way we’ve been created to live in the world, even when we’re in the pit or darkness or feel like we’re stuck in the mud. We’ve been given this glorious gift by the Holy Spirit to be able to begin walking down the path that leads to eternal life, why would we ever be tempted to walk down the path that fades away?

Of course, all of this requires faith. We read, “Trust in the LORD, and do good…” (Psalm 37:3, ESV). We cannot actually walk down the path of righteousness apart from faith. We cannot delight in the Lord apart from faith or even wait for the Lord apart from faith. Yet, when we know who our God is and what He has done, and when we trust in him with our whole heart by faith, then we can wait on him. When we trust Him with our whole heart and lives, we trust that He has not led us astray by telling us how to wait for him. We trust that if we keep our eyes on him, hold onto him, and follow him as we wait, we will make it through to the other side. It all begins with faith, and moves towards delight and obedience. 

As I’ve paid attention to people—and to my own heart—over the years, I’ve noticed something. I’ve noticed that our initial temptation when we encounter difficulty and trial and temptation is to turn in on ourselves. We immediately start looking out for number one. We stop trying to figure out how we can serve other people, take care of other people, or whatever. Our only focus is on ourselves and that’s not good. That’s actually the way to live a life that slowly fades away. It’s the life of the wicked. 

In this Psalm we’re given a different picture of what it looks like to wait on the Lord and keep his ways. We read passages like, “Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!” (Psalm 37:8, ESV) or “Better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked.” (Psalm 37:16, ESV) or “The wicked borrows but does not pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives;” (Psalm 37:21, ESV) or “The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice.” (Psalm 37:30, ESV). 

Notice how each of those things connects to temptations in the midst of waiting. It’s easy to become angry and wrathful when we’re waiting because we’re frustrated and we just want to be done with it all and we’re sick and tired of seeing all of these other people who are not struggling like we are! We’re reminded, that’s the way of the wicked that fades away. As we wait on the Lord and keep his way, we are to refrain from anger. 

It’s easy to become envious of those who have more than us when we’re waiting, we keep thinking about how much better they have it than us. We’re reminded, that’s the way of the wicked that fades away. As we wait on the Lord and keep his way, we’re called to rest in his provision for us and enjoy the blessing He has poured out on us. 

It’s easy to become selfish and self-centered when we’re waiting, taking whatever we can, hoarding it, storing it up, refusing to give it back to anyone else. Again, we’re reminded that is the way of the wicked that fades away—these are the wrong tools for us to use while we wait. Rather, as we wait on the Lord and keep his way, we are to live generous lives, not focusing solely on ourselves, but giving generously to others. 

Again, like I mentioned last week, waiting is not doing nothing. It’s not actually passive. Waiting is about resting in Christ, praying to our God, reading our Bibles, and then faithfully following Christ as we wait. Waiting on the Lord means putting one foot in front of the other by faith, going where God tells us to go, doing what God tells us to do, and saying what God tells us to say. And it means doing all of this in the pit, in the mud, and in the darkness. It means finding joy in doing these things. It means trusting the Lord and doing them even when it doesn’t necessarily make sense, but doing them because you trust your God. 

And it means doing these things and living these ways in the midst of the world that will not understand them. The world will look at you waiting on the Lord and call it foolish. They will have lots of advice for you on how you can get these things done better and faster. They will encourage you to follow them out of the pit. Don’t do it. You will end up breaking something and it will take you so much longer to get out of the pit. Be patient. Trust the Lord. Use the tools that he has given you. Follow his paths. And Wait for Him. 

We do this because we know one powerful truth that has been a theme throughout every one of these Psalms: “The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.” (Psalm 37:39, ESV). If you get anything from this sermon, get this truth deep down into your bones. Your salvation does not come from the world and its tools. Your salvation does not come from your own strength and wisdom and ingenuity. Your salvation comes from the Lord. He is your stronghold in the time of trial. He is the one who will pull you out of the pit and set your feet on the rock. So, don’t even think about turning away from the one who can help you. Don’t even think about ignoring him or using tools he’s told you not to use. Look to him. Trust Him. Rest in Him. Pray to Him. Remember who he is and what he’s done. Follow Him. Then, wait for him because he IS your salvation.