Sermon Central
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No One Likes An Exaggerating God Series
Contributed by Troy Luttrell on Apr 15, 2014 (message contributor)
Summary: There are some passages that seem to suggest that God might be stretching the truth with some of His promises, but the reality is the God of the Bible does not lie.
Background:
• Our difficult verse is found in Psalms 37:25 – “I have been young and now I am old, Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or
his descendants begging bread.” Is it true that no Christians (God’s children) have ever been hungry enough to beg? Or that
every child of God will have plenty to eat?
• Ill: John Bunyan’s hardships as he sit in prison and his family struggle to live. So Is God Exaggerating or even lying?
• Remember our foundation, before we answer any question about God we build our answer on the fact that God is always right,
perfect, and holy.
• When you read the whole chapter (not one verse) you can recognize that this psalm is a wisdom poem, a proverb. Any time you
read a proverb you must remember that the purpose of a proverb is not to list absolute facts but they are observations concerning
general patterns of life. Second, you recognize that this psalm is not written for God’s benefit but rather for the reader. The theme
of Psalm 37 is “Those who trust in God have an extra security blanket in an insecure world.”
• David is writing about his experience as a follower of God and as king in a wicked world. The principals he describes are filled
with truth, but need to be carefully used when trying to apply the verses to the lives of every believer. The fact of the matter is the
Christians are not promised a life of ease, but we are promised the presence of an Almighty God. Jesus – “In this world you will
have trouble, but be of good cheer I have overcome the world. 2 Tim. 3:12 – “All that live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer
persecution…”
Three truths about being a human on planet earth:
I. The Wicked Seem to Win But Loose in the End! “perception is not reality”
A. Perception:
a. The wicked have all the fun. (37:1,35) “do not envy”
b. The wicked prosper because of their sin. (37:7)
c. The wicked have the advantage over the righteous. (37:12-15)
d. The wicked have more in life. (37:16)
e. The wicked seemed to live forever. (37:35)
B. Reality:
a. The life of the wicked is short lived. (37:2,36)
b. The life of the wicked will be cut, never to be remembered. (37:10)
c. The advantage over the righteous is temporary. (37:17,20)
d. More does not mean blessed. (37:16-20)
e. The wicked will give an account before God. (37:38)
Ill: Picture I took at the Music City Bowl, the clock at all zeros and TN is ahead, but the reality of the game is they lose.
It would seem that Pharaoh was all powerful, oppressive, but God/slaves over threw a superpower. It would seem that
the church movement was death when Christ died, and yet after three days, the Savior is victorious and the church was
solidified.
II. The Righteous Seem to Loose but Win in the End!
1. Perception: Noah: 8 vs millions; Gideon: 300 vs tens of thousands; Apostles 12 vs millions; Today maybe 2.1 billion
Christians (1.2 Catholic) verses 5 billion
2. Reality: (a winning attitude is not to panic, but trust in the LORD)
i. Fret Not! 37:1,7,8 Worry will only lead to sinning
ii. Trust! (37:3) keeping doing right while walking by faith. It is one thing to say we are winners, but do nothing to prove
your worth. Ill: a baseball player cheering his teammates on to make a comeback, and yet when given the bat refuses to
go out there for his team.
iii. Delight in the Lord (37:4) – and He will give you your heart’s desires
iv. Commit your ways to God (37:5) – “give it all to Him”
v. Wait & Rest (37:7,9) – It takes great faith to wait on the Lord when the walls are closing in. Moses – “Stand and see the
salvation of the Lord” Ex. 14:13
vi. Living Out Loud! Righteous living promotes benevolence and generosity. (21,25-26) David declares that righteous
living/governing is always reflected in how society treats one another and their needs.
vii. Application: Don’t we as Christians struggle with worry, trust, happiness, surrender, patience, and love? Winning in
this life is not about who has the most toys, but who we turn to when we lose all our toys. (Job)
III. The LORD Always Delivers His Children in the End!
• The reality of the life for a believer in Christ is that God is always with His children! This truth is experienced by the Christian
believer in South Sudan who had their house and all their possession burnt and driven into a refugee camp because they
trusted in Jesus. It is a truth lived out in a darkened prison in North Korea, where Christians are being beaten and torched
