Are You Living With A Grace Perspective? (Psalm 37:18-26)
GIST: Because of grace, you can be fully known and unashamed—which should lead to grace-driven living.
This morning we’re continuing our walk through Psalm 37. Over the past two weeks we’ve seen an older David reflecting on how to face the natural temptation to envy the lost who prosper in spite of their sin. He has reminded us to really consider their position, which should lead us to pray for their salvation rather than envy their temporary pleasures. He has also directed us to be deliberate about focusing our hearts on Jesus and intentional about throwing off anger. The rest of the psalm focuses in on having a Heavenly or grace-driven perspective and letting that shape how we live right now.
Here’s our gist: Because of grace, you can be fully known and unashamed—which should lead to grace-driven living.
Let’s dive in.
I. YOU CAN BE FULLY KNOWN & UNASHAMED (18-20)
The first portion we’re going to look at here really hit me this week. In fact, as I’ve read this passage over and over again the past several weeks, I keep coming back to what is described here. I’ve been thinking of it in terms of the→
Beautiful State (18-19). This is the blessed position of those who have been rescued by Jesus. “18 The LORD knows the days of the blameless, and their heritage will remain forever; 19 they are not put to shame in evil times; in the days of famine they have abundance.” Man, there is so much to take in here.
First, the LORD knows the days of the blameless. None of us are blameless because of our own strength or purity. This only happens when we’ve been declared blameless by Jesus. When we’ve experienced His grace and forgiveness through salvation. Before you give Him control of your life and accept His rescue, you aren’t even close to blameless. You’re running from Him. But with that rescue comes a restored relationship and a complete change in position. You go from those fleeing His presence, to those surrounded by it. And you can rest in this truth: He knows. He knows what you’re facing. He knows what you’re going to face. He sees the joys. He sees the tears. He sees the frustrations. He sees the fears. Nothing catches Him off guard. I know I say this a lot, but not a week goes by that I don’t need this reminder.
In addition to that, we’ve been given a heritage that will remain forever. Clearly, this is a picture of Heaven. However, what we often forget is that Heaven is experiencing the presence of God, and while in Heaven we will experience that in ways more beautiful and tangible than we can even imagine right now, we’re meant to experience His presence here as well! In a way, Heaven begins the moment you accept Christ. You just aren’t picking up a clear signal until you fully enter into His presence. Nonetheless, you are just as loved and accepted by Him now.
That’s the section that really hit me this week. Right there as we move into verse 19 and are told we can be unashamed. I have experienced shame. I know you have too. In fact, shame is so powerful Satan likes to use it to make us forget grace. When I look back to things I have done, when I consider the corruption of my heart even now, I’m ashamed. Like you, I wish I could turn back time and undo mistakes, to take back actions and ill-spoken words. I’d love to climb inside my head and turn off whatever switch allows my thoughts to go places they were never meant to be, places that dwell not on His excellence but on my wretched desires or fears or frustrations. Shame makes me forget 1 John 1:9 “9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” We can let grace replace our shame even in evil times. That means now! Even when we’re still surrounded by sin, we can walk in His forgiveness and guidance— His amazing grace! We have abundance even when we’re surrounded by destitution (he hits this again in verse 25).
That’s the beautiful state of the rescued. The next verse contrasts that with our→
Natural Fate (20). “20 But the wicked will perish; the enemies of the LORD are like the glory of the pastures; they vanish—like smoke they vanish away.”
Keep in mind, the concept of the wicked is not a “us” VS “them” situation. Here they are called the enemies of the Lord. That’s what we all are before we come to Him. The wicked are those not rescued yet! These are people rejecting His grace, as we all were at some point. In fact, as some of you reading this right now are right now. The end result for us apart from Jesus’ rescue isn’t that beautiful state of acceptance and provision. The words used here are→
Perishing, Fleeting Glory, Blown Smoke. Time is running out, and the end of the road is Hell. Like a beautiful pasture, it might look good now, but that beauty is temporary. Those flowers will dry up. Frost will kill the crops. It won’t last forever. This is a major contrast with the acceptance and eternal heritage of the rescued. But remember, you can be fully known and unashamed! That’s the good news! That’s the gospel! You are a sinner who can be saved from your sin. And if you have been it→
II. SHOULD LEAD TO GRACE-DRIVEN LIVING (21-26)
I always go longer on the first point, so I want to walk you through these next five verses a little quicker. What we’re now looking at is how that grace transformation should be lived out. First we see→
Generous Grace (21-22) “21 The wicked borrows but does not pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives; 22 for those blessed by the LORD shall inherit the land, but those cursed by Him shall be cut off.” The righteous give because they have received abundant grace! We should be generous people. Hoarding wealth or refusing to lend our time and talents is a sign of forgetting how much we’ve been given. And guys, I’m not saying I have this all figured out. I know I’ve held back, and I know sometimes I’ve given time begrudgingly. But if we’ve been transformed by grace—abundant unrestrained love being poured out on us undeservingly—then we should give graciously!
The flipside of that coin is that the wicked take because their eyes are fixed on the temporary. If you’re only living for this world, which is fleeting, it’s understandable that you’d want to enjoy as much as you could while you can. That doesn’t excuse selfishness, but it at least partially explains it. Yet, that perspective ignores eternity. If our eyes have been open to see that truth, stingy living is inexcusable.
Next, we see what I call→
Grace Upon Grace (23-24) Not only has grace saved us, it sustains us every day. Look at these next two verses. “23 The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in His way; 24 though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand.” There are some beautiful truths here, right? Established steps points to His sovereignty—His control. We can trust His guidance. There literally is no better!
And we can trust that we’re walking in that way when we delight in His way. We talked about this a few weeks ago. If our desires are wrapped up in Him, if we want to want what He wants ☺️, then we can live with joy. He also wants us to walk in His way. We can trust that He will be with us on that journey. If we seek Him with all our hearts, we will find Him.
Does that mean we won’t mess up? Not at all. But look at verse 24 again: “24 though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand.” You’ll fall sometimes, but He’ll pick you up. You’ll stumble and be confused about where to go, but He’ll uphold you. In fact, He’ll hold your hand.
The last thing we’ll look at this morning are these→
Examples of Grace (25-26). “25 I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread. 26 He is ever lending generously, and his children become a blessing.” This first portion is taken from David’s experience. I vividly remember reading this when I was going to college at MAC. It was a point in my life when some life-shaping decisions were being made. I was engaged to Melissa. I was going to need to transfer colleges to finish up my degree. I also needed to make sure I was able to pay for my classes, and still have some money to put back to start married life ☺️. I had no idea what the next few years were going to look like or where I would be. Reading “I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread” was a great consolation to me. It reminded me that His grace was going to be sufficient. However, this could also be a point that could really be a stumbling block for a lot of people because if we look at this from a financial standpoint, it would seem to promise financial stability to Christians, and we know that isn’t always the case. Again, this is a grace perspective. Those who belong to Jesus will never be forsaken. They will be taken care of, though it might not look like what the world assumes it should. This does not promise financial success, or even freedom from poverty. What it does promise is that God will be with you even then.
Trusting that impacts how you view what you have in this life, and it overflows onto your children or those around you who see how your grace is lived out and become a blessing, not just to you, but also to the world around them as they live graciously. That should be our prayer everyday that we, who have experienced such abundant grace, would be ambassadors of grace and blessings to those around us as we point them to the One who loves them and tell them they can be fully known and unashamed!
Alright, let’s hit two quick→
TAKEAWAYS
You don’t have to carry the weight of your sin.
You can be an ambassador of grace.
No comments:
Post a Comment