Let us continue our study of Psalm 37.  It is here that David compares the wicked and righteous.  The age old question arises, ‘Why do the wicked prosper while the righteous suffer loss?’  This week we desire to look at verses 23-34 of which I have entitled “Their Endurance Is Clear”.  Have your Bible handy while we unpack this great text before us today.

In verses 23-26 let us look at ‘The Endurance Of Steps And Seeds’.  We are told in verse 23 that the steps of God’s people are ‘ordered’ by the Lord.  The word means ordained, fixed, settled, and maintained. George Meuller, the great preacher of faith, said that not only are the steps ordered but the stops as well.  We are told the Lord ‘delighteth’ in our ways. The text seems to see a Father watching the steps of his little child with amazement and sure delight.  We may fall but we will not stay down.  It is impossible for the child of God to fall past the lifting hand of our God.

In verses 25-26 David speaks of the ‘seed’ of the righteous.  David says during his days of moving through the cycle of young to old he has never seen the righteous forsaken or His seed begging bread.  Our God is ever merciful (withholding what we deserve) and ‘lendeth’ to His people. (To intertwine the lender with one who is the borrower) Because of this we are a blessed seed.

In verses 27-29 we find ‘The Enduring Of Saints And Sinners’.  In verse 27 we are told to ‘depart from evil’ and ‘do good’.  We can have no part at all with sin and the wicked.  Our life must be ever to flee sin and do good.  What is to be gained by such an action? We are told in verse 27 we will live for ‘evermore’.  In verse 28 we are told the Lord delights in this kind of judgment. He promises to not forsake His people that do good.  They will be preserved forevermore.  He tells us in verse 28 that the sinner will be ‘cut off’.  The word means a quick and horrible end without warning.  In verse 29 we are confronted again with the thought of an earthly millennial reign of God’s people upon the earth.  There seems to be too much mention of this truth to dismiss it as merely symbolic.

In verses 30-34 we find ‘The Enduring Of Speech And Sight’.  In verse 30 we are told of what the speech of the righteous should be.  Let us not forget that the mouth is the ornament of the heart.  The mouth will always tell us what is in the heart.  Nothing ever comes accidentally from the mouth.  It always has its origin in the heart.  David says we should have wisdom and judgment come from our heart and out of our mouth.  There is a threefold lesson to be learned from a wise disciple of the heart.  One is that through this wise disciple of judgment from the heart we are advocating doing right.  Bob Jones, Sr. said, “Do right till the stars fall and it is never right to do wrong in order to get a chance to do right”.  The second thing it displays is to have an honest verdict about others.  This old quote would come into place here, ‘If you can’t say something nice about them, don’t say anything at all’.  The third display would be to open the mouth and warn of pending judgment. “Prepare to meet thy God”.  “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God”.

In order to have the right speech verse 31 tells us the ‘law of God’, which is His Word, to the child of God is the best thing.  The best thing must be in the best place (heart of the believer) and bring forth the best result. (None of our steps will slide)

In verses 31-34 we are told of our ‘enduring sight’.  If God doesn’t hold back the wicked there will be a blood bath of the righteous.  We are told to ‘wait’ on the Lord.  He will not leave us.  We will inherit the land.  We will be exalted and we will see the wicked cut off.  Jesus says that Satan will try to deceive the very elect but he that endures to the end the same shall be saved.  My endurance is not dependent upon me but upon the one who ever lives in me.  To be born again is to be assured we will see the Kingdom of God.