Broken Bows and Slaying Swords, Part 2 (Psalm 37:12-15) | Worship Service

Well, good morning and welcome to Kootenai Church. We're glad you're here today. Would you please stand as we begin our worship service this morning with a call to worship from the book of Psalms.

In chapter 91, verses 1 to 4, and it says, he who abides in the shelter of the

Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to Yahweh, my refuge and my fortress, my

God in whom I trust. For it is he who delivers you from the snare of the trapper and from the destructive pestilence.

He will cover you with his pinions and under his wings you will take refuge.

His truth is a large shield and bulwark. And I read the wrong verse.

Let's try this one more time. Deuteronomy 32, 3 to 4.

For I proclaim the name of Yahweh, ascribe greatness to our God. The rock, his work is perfect.

For all his ways are just. A God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is he.

And we're going to sing the right song this morning, How Firm a Foundation. A foundation, ye saints of the

Lord, is laid for your faith in his excellent word.

My strength, my cornerstone, this solid, fiercest drought, our stepping sea, he likeness slain, he pulled with the strong, and the seas turned back, and they saw you have said.

Announcements here this morning. First of all, February 2nd, so take note.

We have here with us today Joel Baker, who I mentioned several weeks ago. We are considering bringing you on as a biblical counselor, part of Kootenai Community Church Ministry.

Joel and his wife and daughter are here, Joel, Jessica, and Bria. And Joel, will you stand up just so people know where you're seated this morning.

He's the new guy in church, so if you want to meet him after the service today, you can. And if you weren't here for adult

Sunday school class, in adult Sunday school class we had Q &A to get to know Joel, ask him some questions.

Kind of an enjoyable time, so feel free to go back and watch that on our YouTube channel if you want to see that.

And then we're gonna, I'm gonna call a little bit of an audible here, so I'm gonna have you remain seated for the prayer time, and then I'll ask you to stand for the reading of scripture.

So when I ask you to stand, the worship team can come up here. So we're gonna pray first, and we're gonna pray for the devastation, the people who are devastated down in California.

So let's bow our heads. Our Father, our hearts are saddened and broken for the state of those who are in Southern California with these fires that are raging.

We are reminded again that you are sovereign over all things. Everything rests in your hands and happens and unfolds according to your sovereign will.

You could put these fires out at any moment. We know that that is possible. We also know that because you are wise and good and holy and righteous and just, that you are accomplishing your purposes, both temporal as well as eternal, through this destruction.

And our hearts are saddened by this, and we are broken over that. It is our prayer that you would be accomplishing your purposes through these events.

And for those who are there who are believers, for we know that believers have been affected by this, it is our prayer that you would use this to sanctify them, to set and focus their attention and their hearts upon eternity.

We pray that you would draw near to and comfort your people in the midst of this tragedy. We pray that they would be equipped to reach out with the gospel and the message of eternal salvation and eternal life and forgiveness and escape from the wrath that is to come with all their neighbors, their friends, co -workers, people around them.

We pray that you would meet the needs of your people by your grace, and that you would use those who have the means to reach out and to provide for others.

May this be something that you use to strengthen and to expand your church, to glorify your name, to sanctify your people, to comfort your people.

And so we pray that they would be comforted in their afflictions so that in the times to come they may see, looking back upon this, your hand in their lives and would be used by you to comfort others in future afflictions.

We pray for those who are not believers, who have lost all of their possessions as well.

We pray that this would remind them that life is temporary, that everything can be taken away from them, and that there is a fiery judgment that is to come.

We pray that in the midst of this that they would lose all of their hope and confidence in the things of this world, the treasures and the pleasures, the reputation, the lands and houses, and that they would at least hear the message that in a moment everything that they have saved and worked for can be taken away and their soul can be required of them.

And so we pray that as they think about those things that you would bring into their lives people who understand and know the gospel to share the hope of eternal life with them.

We know that you're accomplishing your purposes not just for individual believers as well as individual unbelievers, but for your church and for your nation.

And we pray that whatever it is that you are doing here, that it may be for your glory, that may be for the hastening in of the kingdom of the

Lord Jesus Christ, that it may be for the strengthening of your church, that this may be something that you would use to spark revival in the hearts of your people and in this nation to turn this nation away from its wickedness and sin, remind our entire nation of how temporary things are and how necessary it is to know the one and living and true

God. We know that you can do this through these events. We pray that you would. We are grateful that given the size of all of this devastation that the loss of life has been minimal comparatively, and we would pray for those who are laboring so diligently to put out the fires to keep more from starting, that you would bless those efforts and bring this tragedy to a swift conclusion.

Only allow as much to unfold as is necessary for you to accomplish your purposes and then make it stop, we pray.

We pray again that you would be glorified through it and we pray that as we remember these things that we would learn the lessons that this tragedy should teach us from afar and that our hearts would be humbled and drawn near to you through this.

We ask this in Christ's name, amen. Will you turn now please to Psalm 7.

Psalm 7 for the scripture reading. This is a psalm that deals with the wicked and the judgment on the wicked and it is not my intention to connect this psalm in any way to people who are suffering in California as if,

I mean I joke about you know California but as my heart is truly broken for that. So this is not intended to be connected to that at all.

This is intended to be connected to the passage that I'm preaching on today, Psalm 37. So Psalm 7 will you stand with me as we read.

Ishigayon of David when he sang to the Lord concerning Cush of Benjamite. Oh Lord my

God in you I have taken refuge. Save me from all those who pursue me and deliver me or he will tear my soul like a lion dragging me away while there is none to deliver.

Oh Lord my God if I have done this if there is injustice in my hands if I have rewarded evil to my friend or have plundered him who without cause was my adversary let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it and let him trample my life down to the ground and lay my glory in the dust.

Arise oh Lord in your anger lift up yourself against the rage of my adversaries and arouse yourself for me.

You have appointed judgment let the assembly of the peoples encompass you and over them return on high.

The Lord judges the peoples. Vindicate me oh Lord according to my righteousness and my integrity that is in me.

Oh let the evil of the wicked come to an end but establish the righteous for the righteous

God tries the hearts and minds. My shield is with God who saves the upright in heart.

God is a righteous judge and a God who has indignation every day. If a man does not repent he will sharpen his sword.

He has bent his bow and made it ready. He has also prepared for himself deadly weapons.

He makes his arrows fiery shafts. Behold he travails with wickedness and he conceives mischief and brings forth falsehood.

He has dug a pit and hollowed it out and has fallen into the hole which he made. His mischief will return upon his own head and his violence will descend upon his own pate.

I will give thanks to the Lord according to his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the Lord most high.

This is the word of the Lord. Let's sing together he will hold me fast.

This may sound familiar but Psalm 91 he who abides in the shelter of the most high will abide in the shadow of the almighty.

I will say to Yahweh my refuge and my fortress my God in whom I trust for it is he who delivers you from the snare of the trapper and from the destructive pestilence.

He will cover you with his pinions and under his wings you will take refuge.

His truth is a large shield and bulwark. Let's sing together he will keep you.

Psalm 121. Now please turn your bibles to Psalm 37.

Before we begin let's bow our heads and ask the

Lord blessing on our study. Our father in his earnest desire today that we would hear from you in your word that you would speak to us in the pages of scripture that we would learn the lessons that we ought to learn from the warnings that are given to the wicked that we would be encouraged as those who have found refuge in Christ to cherish that refuge and to look forward to the hope that you have laid up for us in your son in the future.

We thank you for your mercy. We thank you for our time here. We thank you that we can gather together and and worship in freedom and in comfort and now we ask that you would be glorified through the proclamation of your word and to our understanding of it for Christ's sake.

Psalm 37 we're going to read together verses 12 through 15. The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes at him with his teeth.

The Lord laughs at him for he sees his day is coming. The wicked have drawn the sword and bent their bow to cast down the afflicted and the needy to slay those who are upright in conduct.

Their sword will enter their own heart and their bows will be broken. This is the passage that we started last week.

We got partway through it looked at verses 12 and 14 to consider together the description there of the wicked and their violence against the righteous.

Today we are looking at verses 13 and 15 and we're taking them in that way 12 and 14 and 13 and 15 not just because we're grouping odd verses together and even verses together but because there's a pattern here in this chunk of the psalm that that is unfolds here and the intention of the author is to restate in verses 14 and 15 what he says in verses 12 and 13.

So verse 12 makes the statement about the plotting of the wicked and the anger of the wicked then verse 14 unfolds that a little bit gives more detail the wicked have drawn the sword and bent their bow to cast down the afflicted and the needy and to slay those who are upright in conduct and then verse 13 describes