But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble. And the LORD shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him (Psalm 37:39-40).
David's life was a life of strife. It was through this that the Spirit worked sanctification in his heart, but also that he learned what it meant to trust in the Lord his God. It was through these struggles that David learned the language of our text: salvation is of the Lord. He learned what it was for the Lord to become his strength. The Lord delivers the righteous because they trust in Him.
We read in Psalm 37:1-3: "Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed." The strife and struggles of this life teach God's children to be weaned from themselves, to be weaned from the world, and to build their trust in the Lord.
So often we take our food and water and other blessings for granted, but Scriptures clearly teach otherwise. It is a great blessing of the righteous to know "bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure" (Isaiah 33:16).
We want to see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked. The contrasts are set forth in Psalm 37. The wicked borrow and pay not again, but the righteous show mercy. David illustrates the contrast between the wicked and the righteous throughout this psalm.
1: For our first point, let's endeavor with the help of the Lord to show who the righteous are, and how their salvation is of the Lord.
2:For our second point, let's consider how these righteous will, and must have their time of trouble, but that in this time of trouble God proves to be their strength, will help them, deliver them and save them.
3:For our third point, let's consider why the Lord will do all these things unto them: "because they trust in Him."
First, who are the righteous spoken of in our text? Who is the judge? One judge's opinion can be totally different from another's. We experienced a change in our nation's highest court when Thurgood Marshall, a liberal justice, retired. It was said by a newspaper editor, "He was always honest."
Yet, who is the judge? How do we determine whether he was a righteous man? Public opinion? Do we go by our news media? According to the editor's judgment you would say Justice Marshall was a righteous man. By whose standards? That is what you and I have to come to grips with—by what standards was he righteous?
During his term on the high court Justice Marshall strove tirelessly for the rights of minorities. He was a strong advocate for women's rights. He was an adamant advocate of women's right to abortions. He was always honest? By whose standards?
When you attend a funeral conducted in today's liberal philosophy, all you hear is praise for the deceased. The mourners are told that the departed one has ascended into mansions of bliss based on the fact that they have lived a good life. How do you discern who are the righteous that are blessed? The standards upon which we must judge this are what we must call into question. Who said he lived a good life?
Satan told Eve in the garden of Eden that man should be the judge of what is right or wrong, that is, "ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:5). This judgment is the fruit of deceit. This is what we must learn to decipher. When we start passing judgment, not upon our fellow man, but upon our own hearts, we must realize that we must come to stand before a righteous judge, and we must ask whether we have passed righteous judgment upon ourselves. Are we the righteous of whom our text speaks? Can we say that our salvation is of the Lord? Can you and I say we have grounds to believe that we have the salvation of God?
If we use God's Word as our authority we find none are righteous of themselves. This is where we have to start. We find in Romans 3:10-12: "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one."
We need to use the authority of God's Word as the basis of our judgment. Judging righteously, by the authority of God's Word, we must say that "there is none that doeth good, no, not one."
If we use God's Word as our authority we find none are righteous of themselves. This is where we have to start. We find in Romans 3:10-12: "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one."
We need to use the authority of God's Word as the basis of our judgment. Judging righteously, by the authority of God's Word, we must say that "there is none that doeth good, no, not one."
How then do we know who are these whom our text calls the righteous? See the context of our text. Let's go to Psalm 37:30-31: "The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment. The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide."
Going back to verse 4 to 6 we read: "Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday." In other words, if we commit our ways to the Lord, and if we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will make our righteousness to stand out as brightly and distinctly as the sun in the sky. Then we won't be in question any more, will we? The righteous are those who have the law of love—loving God above all, with our hearts, souls and minds, and loving our neighbors as ourselves. When that law of God is in the heart, when that is the basis on which we judge every decision in our lives—is it according to the will of God, is it to promote our neighbor, then we can see who the righteous are.
As Christ becomes formed in the heart and soul through sanctification of the Spirit, those whom our text calls the righteous become engrafted into the true Living Vine. They become built upon Christ as their corner stone. They become part of Christ's mystical body. Christ is revealed in them. That Spirit of Christ, that law of love, is revealed in every thought process of their hearts. Why? Because the law of God is in their hearts.
We read in 1 Peter 2:4-5: "To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." Holiness is complying with the first table of the law. A holy priesthood makes holy sacrifices—sacrificing that ugly monster self on the altar as an offering to the Lord. We need to sacrifice self on the altar and sacrifice self for our fellow man. Christ becomes our corner stone.
Through the work of regeneration and sanctification this union is formed, and Christ becomes precious. By nature Christ is not precious to us. We see this in 1 Peter 2:6-7: "Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner."
This precious union of Christ and His church is not only for the joy of the bride, but the bridegroom rejoices in that marriage union as well.
The blessed union between Christ and those whom our text calls the righteous springs from the electing love of the Father, the sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience, and the washing of the blood of Christ. We see this in 1 Peter 1:2: "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied." God the Father is the author, the source, of our salvation. It was the love of the Father, having loved His own from the foundation of the world. And it was that foreknowledge—elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through the sanctification of the Holy Spirit and the blood of Jesus Christ. Salvation is of the Trinity. It is sanctification unto obedience. That rebellion of the heart must be broken. That will has to be conquered, and our will has to be dissolved into the will of the Bridegroom.
It is through the regeneration of the Spirit that the righteousness of Christ is imparted in the souls of the righteous—therefore none can do anything to effect his own salvation, nor that of his brother. If you have a child who has no work of regeneration in their soul, you cannot effect it. You cannot bring it to pass. You cannot redeem that child or that father or mother or brother or sister or wife. I want you to see this in Psalm 49:7-8: "None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:)." We need the redemption of the Son of God through the process of the economy of grace.
The children who have been born of God are righteous by virtue of the new nature imparted in them. It is the righteousness of Christ, Christ formed in you. We read in 2 Peter 1:3-4: "According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." We have godliness and the precious promises through the righteousness of Christ imparted to us. That is where the new heart and desires come from.
God's Word tells us the righteous cannot "commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God" (1 John 3:9). You and I are not children of God because we were righteous. We become children by birth. We are children of our parents by birth totally outside of anything we did. The branch that abides in Him bears fruit. Those born of Him abide in Him. God comes with His restraining grace and He prevents them and protects them from falling into sin.
