Desires
Delivered Part Deux
27 Turn from evil and do good;
then you will
dwell in the land forever.
28 For the Lord
loves the just
and will not forsake his faithful ones.
They will be
protected forever,
but the
offspring of the wicked will be cut off;
29 the righteous will inherit the land
and dwell in it forever.
This is our second week in Psalm 37;
to be honest because of what’s in it, we could stay here for a month or more.
It’s a prayer filled with wisdom inviting believers to find our way in life
with a clear focus on the Kingdom of God and a deep trust that God is leading
the way.
It’s a prayer that teaches how to live
as Jesus’ disciples in the world.
So, last week we focused on one word
in the psalm, fret. As in do not fret. We talked about people who worry too
much about all the wrong things. We saw that in Christ anxiety and fear are
broken through developing a trust relationship with God in prayer.
This week let’s talk about the word
good. It shows up in verses 3 and 27 with
similar promises
Trust in the Lord and do
good;
dwell in the
land and enjoy safe pasture.
Turn from evil and do good;
then you will
dwell in the land forever.
In Christ, to dwell in the land means
to enjoy God’s blessing of eternal life right now and always. And that’s good.
So let’s take a moment to be clear on what kind of good we’re invited to do.
I’m sure you hear the word almost
every day. Ask someone, how are you doing and most often they say doing good.
Right? Sometimes people talk about doing good at work or school or that
something like a birthday present or party was good. And all that is all good.
What we’re talking about here today is
not that use of good. Most of the time when we use the word good it means nice
or productive or enjoyable. Often it’s really just our opinion of how a day
went or how well we think something got done.
When the Bible uses the word good it
most often is speaking about something bigger, deeper and more important.
Jesus once said, Mark 10.18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God
alone.
Or the psalms often
say things like,
Psalm 53.2-3 God looks down from heaven
on the sons of
men
to see if
there are any who understand,
any who seek
God.
3 Everyone has turned away,
they have
together become corrupt;
there is no
one who does good,
not even one.
The good being spoken about has
nothing to do with opinions; it has to do with moral value, purity, what is
decent or blameless. The good Jesus talks about is pure good ultimate good,
never changing good, which is God alone.
Let me tell you a story that may help
us understand what’s good and how to go for it.
Back in BC live two couples I know. At one point they decided to team up and buy a vacation cabin by a
lake. They liked each other and figured even if they wanted to be there at the
same time, it would be a good idea.
So they went ahead and did it. They
found themselves almost living together at times. Cooking together, talking,
playing card games. It seemed so good. But it didn’t last.
After a while one of the men, we’ll
all him Joe, decided that the other man, Jack, wasn’t a good husband. Jack didn’t
do what Joe thought was good. In Joe’s opinion Jack didn’t spend enough time
with his wife; he was always on his phone! Jack’s wife wasn’t concerned, but Joe
and his wife wouldn’t let it go or have a discussion about it. This opinion
became a conviction and finally blew up into a fight.
The cabin had to be sold, now! The two
couples had to decide whether they even wanted to see each other anymore. And
that was made really hard because they both went to the same church both men
were on the council together.
It was at this point that they called
their pastor.
Long story short, after much talk,
repentance and confession, they made up. And they managed to stay in the same
church. They had learned something; they had changed. They had discovered what
the word good actually means.
Joe had to accept that his opinion of good
may now be God’s truth. It was just his opinion; he didn’t have all the facts,
he guessed and then gossiped about the situation. I don’t Joe is the only
person to have made that mistake.
Isn’t it true that people are often
judged as good or bad based on opinion rather than Truth? Isn’t it true that
many times people separate over a difference of opinion? And equally true, too
often people don’t work it out together, see the truth and be healed.
Those two couples had a choice to
remain separate, hold a grudge and remain judgmental or they could reconcile in
a way that really is good. By the way, is it, could it be good to keep and hold
a grudge? I wonder why so many believers say no to that question yet their
lives reveal something different. I, you too I’m sure know far too many people
who hold grudges against people both in and outside of the church. Some have
left the church because of a grudge. And usually it started with a simple
difference of opinion as if anyone has a full knowledge of how to live
perfectly in the world at every moment of every day.
Instead of opinion and grudges, the
psalm invites us to something more. Jesus through Psalm 37 is calling his
people to do good. And I cannot think of a higher good than in following his
ways so that goodness becomes a greater reality for more and more people all
the time.
Jesus’ standard for goodness clear.
Luke 6.27 “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who
hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat
you. 35Love
your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get
anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most
High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be
merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
I don’t know about you, but I find
that passage a challenge. It goes against what we see all around. Lend without
expecting back? Seriously? Pray for those who mistreat you? Who does that?
This is a passage, explains what our
text means. It’s an invitation into the truly good life. A life patterned after
Jesus.
It happens through prayer and
practice.
During the tense time for those two
couples their pastor spoke on prayer and at one point said: It is hard to remain mad at
someone if you pray for them. Prayer
gives us a chance to have God show us the difference between truth and opinion.
A few weeks after that service one of the wives told my friend, their pastor, that comment broke her
pride. After that she knew she had to be reconciled with her friend. Anything
else would be to disgrace Jesus’ work on the cross.
When we pray for others God does
something amazing. Instead of seeing an enemy, or someone who is a lazy or
doesn’t have the right religious ideas. Instead of seeing people as less than
acceptable in some way: people who deserve judgment, say. Instead of all that,
the Father helps us see someone who is also made in His image; someone who is may
be trying to do the best they have with what they have. Someone who needs Jesus
just as much as anyone else.
And that’s when the power of God can be
released powerfully.
In prayer and after when people
realise that opinions push us apart, but the Spirit unifies through
differences. It’s when we leave the prayer room and begin practicing what God
has convinced us of. That’s when healing
happens; that’s when true reconciliation happens; that’s when things become
just a little bit more the way they should be. Those are moments of doing good.
Don’t let those moments pass you by.
One man said, to pray is to change. If we do not want to change, then we will
stop praying about certain people or situations. Reflect on it; is that true
for you? Who or what have you stopped praying for? Is it possible that there’s
a grudge or resentment holding reign in life? Stiffing joy? In whom or where can prayer make a difference
and are we willing to listen to the Spirit in prayer so that God’s goodness
will be more visible over all the earth?
