Expository Sermon on Psalm 37
by Maylan Schurch
Bellevue Seventh-day Adventist Church 5/31/2025
©2025 by Maylan Schurch
(To watch this entire worship service, click the link below:)
BSDA Worship Service | May 31, 2025
Please open your Bibles to Psalm 37.
If you’ve been attending here at least since the beginning of the year, you know that we are going through the Bible from one end to another using what’s called a chronological plan. In your bulletin you’ll see a paragraph that’s headed “Join the Plan,” and that provides you with Bible passages to read for the week ahead. And on the Sabbaths that I preach, I will most likely choose a passage from somewhere in that week’s readings.
And that’s what I’ve done today. As I read through all of this week’s passages, one of the Psalms stood out prominently to me — Psalm 37.
I think the reason this one spoke to me was because of how I’m feeling about what’s happening in our country, and across the world. We are living through different times than I ever remember us living in. Back when I was a kid, we mostly worried that the Soviets would launch thermonuclear missiles at us, and that we would do the same to them, and life would pretty much end on this planet.
That was a pretty major worry, but these days I worry about different things, and maybe more than I worried back then. There is fear out there, and I think what we need this morning is something that can help us fight our fear.
Fortunately – at least in my opinion – Psalm 37 is a hugely effective fear-fighter. This is a Psalm written by David, and the more you learn about David’s life, the more you realize that he faced some of the same kinds of fears that I feel. But studying through Psalm 37 this week — and I did study it thoroughly — has really calmed me down.
Let me show you what I mean.
I’ll start off by telling you about a bumper sticker I saw on the back of a car yesterday morning. I see some zany bumper stickers from time to time, and I love examining what people put on the backs of their cars.
But this bumper sticker was particularly zany. It was a regular sized wide sticker, and it said, “A wizard turned me into a bumper sticker.” The second line, in smaller print, said, “It’s okay, though. I’m happier this way.”
And I thought, “You know what? That’s kind of tantalizing. If I were a bumper sticker on the back of a car, all I would have to do would be stay glued there giving my message to anybody who looked. I wouldn’t have any other worries in the world.”
But I’m not a bumper-sticker. And I do have worries. I’m worried about religious freedom, something I never thought I’d have to worry about in the USA until the very end of time. I’m worried about how a growing number of public people don’t seem to be willing to analyze and study a subject before making assertions about it.
If you are having some of the same worries I am, or maybe a whole other set of your own, I think you and I need to do what Jesus did. He himself faced a whole horde of challenges which could have worried Him intensely if He had been a worrier. But Jesus was a reader of Scripture, and I think if He can speak to us directly today, He might recommend Psalm 37 as well.
So let’s dive in and discover some of Psalm 37’s powerful fear-fighters. What I discovered about Psalm 37 is that you can find pretty much all of these fear-fighters in just the first eight or 10 verses, and then they’re alluded to in the rest of this Psalm. Let’s find out what they are.
Psalm 37:1 [NKJV]: Do not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
Remember, it is David who wrote these words. We don’t know in what stage of his life he wrote them, but we do know that starting with the day he stepped down into a valley and faced a giant, from that point on, he was seldom without something major to worry about.
I mean, this young man not only faced a heavily armed warrior much larger than he was, but he would eventually go on to face several assassination attempts. He would be pursued by Israel’s army, and would later find his own royal throne targeted by first one son then another. He would be severely tempted, and some times he didn’t resist temptation, and would have to face the terrible consequences. So he (and not some ivory-tower philosopher) is the one who wrote these words. And I think that in verse 1 he has communicated to us the first of this Psalm’s fear-fighters.
If you taking sermon points down, here is what I think it would be Sermon Point One.
Psalm 37’s first fear fighter is: Don’t worry!
In verse one, David uses an interesting word. He says, “Do not fret because of evildoers.” Have you ever fretted because of evildoers? Did you ever wake up at 3 o’clock in the morning and not be able to get back to sleep because you are fretting about news you had heard that day? For a while, I was a member of that club. I would wake up, and fret for about an hour and a half before I could get myself back to sleep.
But David tells us not to fret. And even though he faced a lot of danger, one thing he did with his fretting was to talk to the Lord about it. There are a lot of “David Psalms” where he cries out to the Lord for deliverance. So he fretted into the ear of his Creator, and left those frettings with God.
A few days ago Shelley and I were in Federal Way, and as I was walking along the sidewalk just outside the store, I found an empty brass bullet cartridge case. It was shining up at me from a crack on the sidewalk.
I picked it up and looked at it for a while. Since its bullet was gone, this cartridge had been fired, probably from a pistol, probably very close to where I was standing.
Fortunately, I don’t deliberately put myself in places where I might be shot at, but seeing that brass casing reminded me that you just never know.
But David says, “Don’t worry.” Don’t fret because of the evildoers. And if you have to worry, worry into God’s ear.
You know what David also says, a few verses down? Look at verse 13.
Verses 12 – 13: The wicked plots against the just, And gnashes at him with his teeth. The Lord laughs at him, For He sees that his day is coming.
God is sympathetic to our worries, of course, but He is not frozen or immobilized by them. He is laughing at the wicked who think they are so tough. He is chuckling at the bullies.
And why can God laugh at the evildoer? The verse says “For He sees that his day is coming.”
One by one, David’s own fret-subjects toppled. The giant thudded to the earth. King Saul’s javelin missed, twice. Saul was later defeated in battle. And on and on.
So what do I do, now that this Psalm’s author has told me not to worry? I need to remember that if I worry, I need to do it directly into God’s ear. And I need to place in my heart the ringing assurances of this Psalm. God does care, and He will take care. One of my parents’ favorite songs was, “Be not dismayed what e’er betide, God will take care of you. Beneath His wings of love abide, God will take care of you.”
It’s actually been two or three months since I have fretted in the middle of the night. I think that one thing that has helped me is that I don’t get as obsessed with the news as I used to. I don’t stop listening to the news – I don’t think we should do that – but I don’t need to wallow in it all the time.
And I think that right there in Verse One is another of this Psalm’s fear-fighters.
Verse 1: Do not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
I think Psalm 37’s first fear fighter is: Don’t worry! And the second fear-fighter is: Don’t envy!
So why would I ever be tempted to be envious of the workers of iniquity? Maybe there might be times when I might wistfully wonder if I’m missing out on opportunities for fame or position. It might be tempting to think that if I had a bit more power here and there, I could make more things turn out my own way. A lot of people seem to be tempted in this direction, if we are to judge by the potential fret-ammunition we hear about almost daily.
But David – probably from personal experience – tells us not to fret, and not to be jealous. Remember, young David was anointed king of Israel long before he sat on the throne. While Saul with all his powerful forces was chasing David and his followers through the Judean hillsides, David had been actually the anointed future king of the nation. Yet David proved his non-envious nature over and over again. He had several opportunities to assassinate the king he would be replacing, but he refused to do this.
To make sure our priorities stay straight, glanced down at verse 16.
Verses 16 – 17: A little that a righteous man has Is better than the riches of many wicked. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, But the LORD upholds the righteous.
So how could not being envious help fight my fears?
If I’m ever tempted to be jealous of someone’s greater advantages, or wealth, or whatever, I need to remember to discover how God defines wealth. All we have to do is think of selfish Nabal, in 1 Samuel 25. Nabal was a farmer whose sheep and servants David protected for quite a while, and when David asked for food from him, Nabal was rude and selfish and refused. Fortunately, Nabal’s wife interceded with David, and David later thanked her for keeping him and his men from taking revenge.
Maybe that’s why David could write verse 21:
Verse 21: The wicked borrows and does not repay, But the righteous shows mercy and gives.
One of the songs my dad would hum as he would stroll through the house was “A Child of the King.” Dad never ever had a lot of money, and back in the Depression he only attended high school for one week, and then went back home to help on the farm.
But around our house I would hear him softly murmur the words, “A tent or a cottage, oh why should I care? They’re building a mansion for me over there. Though exiled from home, yet still I may sing, all glory to God, I’m a child of the King.”
Dad would never be famous, and he knew it. He would never own a large farm. He would never operate the newest tractor, or drive the fanciest car. And Dad wasn’t afraid of this fact. He did not fear the near-poverty he lived in, because he had learned from the Bible (and the experience of Jesus Himself) how useless and dead-end jealousy is.
But let’s keep looking for another couple of Psalm 37 fear-fighters. Let’s start with verse 3.
Verses 3 – 4: Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Here’s Sermon Point Three:
Psalm 37’s first fear fighter is: Don’t worry! And the second fear-fighter is: Don’t envy! And it seems to me that a third fear-fighter is: Trust God!
Every once in a while online I see those fascinating and breathtaking views of distant galaxies which the Hubble and the James Webb telescopes send back to us. These always take my breath away, especially when I think that each of those little colorful discs is an entire galaxy at least as big as our Milky Way.
But a couple of weeks ago, on a walk Shelley and I were taking on a trail near our neighborhood, I saw something that filled me with just as much amazement. In fact, if you take out your smart phone and follow my directions, you can see it for yourself.
Go to our church website, bellevueadventist.org, and click on the “Home” link, and then on “Daily Photo Parable.” The first picture you will see is of half an Oreo cookie, which is a blog I wrote for today’s Daily Photo Parable entry.
But what you want to do is scroll down to the picture just below it, which was my yesterday’s blog. What you will see there is a leaf, maybe 4 inches long. As you see, this is a very old leaf. I don’t know how old it is.
Once you see the picture there, widen it out with your fingers so you can see it close up. I did not realize that leaves were this complicated. I knew that there were these major veins coming out from the main stem, but I did not realize that there were all these little smaller veins as well.
And think of it – on any tree you see, thousands of these leaves, which probably all have this delicate pattern in some form, are growing, nourishing each part of the leaf, and the tree itself. The same God who created those tiny colorful galaxy- pinwheels in space also created these awesome leaves.
Here’s what I say on the blog: “My God loves me, and all His wonders I see,” as the children’s chorus says.
“Consider the lilies, how they grow,” Jesus once told a crowd of people. “They neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?” (Luke 12:27 – 28 NKJV)
These evidences of chillingly beautiful design anchor my trust in their Designer, and reinforce in my heart what Jesus says about God’s care.
There is a large community park around the corner from where Shelley and I live, and the first part of our walk takes us by that park. We always wonder if we’ll find people there when we pass, and most of the time we do, especially since the weather has gotten better.
It’s interesting to think of all the trust that happens in that park. There is a neighbor woman who practices hitting golf balls, and she trusts that if she hits each ball correctly, it will go in basically the direction she wants it to.
Two teens play basketball, and they trust each other to follow the rules. If one shoots for a basket and misses, the other person gets to take a turn. It’s the same way with the occasional pickleball people who play – they trust each other to play by the rules.
But to me, it’s especially fun to watch parents or grandparents swinging little kids on the swings. A couple of the swings have those rubber enclosed seats to keep the kids from falling out, and the adult puts the tiny kids in those seats, and then they get behind those kids, and the start pushing them.
Can you imagine what those little kids think, the first time this happens? They’re dangling high above the ground (high for them) and then they feel a push from behind, and they’re hurtling forward, and the earth is tipping away beneath them, and then their tummies feel tickly, and back they fall. But down below is mom, or grandpa, giving them another push.
These little kids quickly learn to love swinging, because they have discovered they can trust the one pushing them. That kindly, boosting, unseen hand behind them is their perfect fear-fighter.
Trust God. The only way to learn to trust him, I think, is to reflect on how He has protected us in the past. We need to review what He has done for us. And we need to match up how He has taken care of us with how He has taken care of people like David and others in the Bible.
As Paul said in Romans 10:17, “ . . . faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” You are hearing me talk about faith this morning, and you and I are both hearing about it from the Word of God.
There are a whole lot more fear-fighters in this Psalm, but I’m going to mention just one more.
Verses 7 – 8: Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret—it only causes harm.
I think that Psalm 37’s first fear fighter is: Don’t worry! And the second fear-fighter is: Don’t envy! And a third fear-fighter is: Trust God! And Psalm 37’s fourth fear-fighter is: Stay Calm!
To me, one of the most fear-inspiring phenomena these days is what has been called “outrage culture.” I think a growing number of people have allowed themselves to be programmed in outrage culture by hearing other people practice it.
In the old days, it seems to me, you and I could have different opinions, and we would listen to each carefully, and finally agree to disagree. Nowadays, however, if your opinion differs from mine, we have become not just citizens exercising his or her right to free speech. No, you have now become the Antichrist, and I have become a heretic. And you get outraged at what I say, and I get outraged at you.
Have you ever felt the heat of this outrage? I have. Two or three years back, I was on the phone with someone I thought I knew quite well. I made some political comment which outraged that person. And that person suddenly said things to me in an attacking, cruel way that stunned me into puzzled silence.
Here’s what happened then. We concluded our phone chat. I was still reeling from that person’s rage, and I was starting to get really mad myself.
So I sat down at the computer one Sunday morning and laid down about five single-spaced pages of a Word document, doing my best to refute everything that person had said.
But then I settled down and came to my senses. I hadn’t focused on Psalm 37:8 (“Cease from anger, and forsake wrath”), but I did remember Proverbs 15:1: “A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.”
And I decided to ignore the fact that it was that person’s harsh words – and they were harsh, and politically charged – I decided to ignore this. I stopped writing that letter, and have not sent it, and don’t plan to.
And my relationship with that person has gone back to `pretty much the way it was before the outrage-outburst. And I think that if I were to bring up that conversation, that person might have forgotten it by now.
You see, that person had been trained to react in an outraged way by watching and listening to a lot of loud and outraged voices, and had begun to assume that you weren’t truly a virtuous person unless you got outraged about someone’s opinion which seemed not as righteous as you thought it should be.
We now have discovered that this kind of anger, or outrage, probably springs primarily from fear. Jesus faced a lot of fear-based outrage, and so did Paul, and so did a lot of other Bible people.
But as Psalm 37 has taught us – in just the verses we’ve looked at, and there are many more – there’s no need to fear.
Some of you have probably heard Adventist pastor and singer Wintley Phipps sing “No Need to Fear.” I’m making that our closing song, but I’m going to sing it through first, and then we’ll go back to the beginning and I’ll invite you to sing it with me. This is the message of Psalm 37, and I think we need this message today.