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Bibleline Bibleline, here God’s word, Bibleline. Here God’s truth on Bibleline. Welcome to Bibleline with Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold, pastor of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida. Clearly declaring the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the radio and the internet. Your regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach us toll-free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made by clicking on the donations link on the BibleLineMinistries.org homepage. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

I want you to take your Bible and turn to the book of Psalms, the 37th Psalms. As you go through life, you know, you read something and you apply it and then you learn a little bit more and then you apply it and learn a little bit more. But as you grow in the Lord, we are supposed to be applying more of the Scriptures. One of the signs of spiritual growth is you fall less and get up quicker. It doesn’t mean you don’t fall and don’t stumble, but you just recover quicker.

You still probably lose your temper once in a while, but you get control of it and snap back. Right? Right? Did I say anything right? Okay, I appreciate both of those. In the 37th Psalm, I usually try to read the 37th Psalm and the 73rd Psalm, just 37, 73th, because it’s amazing how closely they are related. I mean, the truth in those two Psalms is just awesome. And so, So every once in a while I like to just refresh my mind and like to refresh yours.

And sometimes you don’t always learn something new, but like the Apostle Peter said, to stir up your remembrance. So he said, I’m not telling something new. Sometimes you’ll hear the Apostle Paul when he writes, he says, I have told you this, as I’ve told you before. And so sometimes you say, well, I’ve heard that before, but might be good. Refresh your mind. Just think about it all over again. But anyway, in the 37 Psalm, a Psalm of David, and there’s a lot of interesting things in here.

And it makes a statement, fret not by self because of evil doers. Do we have any evil doers in the world today? Don’t fret about what they do. Just try to do right and keep getting up. You just make sure you’re not one of them. And just kind of watch yourself and try to do all the right you know to do and follow truth regardless of where it may lead. And he says, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.

Fret not, and don’t be envious. So I like pretty good advice, doesn’t it? Then he says in verse 2, for they shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither as the greener. See, God looks down the road. He knows how things are going to end up. And that’s why in the 73rd Psalm, you’ll see where he talks about it. But God knoweth they’re in. In other words, God looks down the road. Did you know that God, the Bible says God laughs, God laughs.

The Bible even said Jesus, when they suddenly him, they went out. And so he sung and he laughs. I’m glad, because I do a lot of that. I love to go around and I’ll sing. Sometimes I get embarrassed a little bit because I forget that other people are around and now sometime coming in and I’ll bang that P.N. and I’ll just let her rip. The walls are shaking, the ceiling’s moving. And when nobody’s here, Oh, I love that. Because then I can just like scream.

And sometimes that’s the way my voice sounds, like I’m screaming. But anyway, but you got to just sometimes just letter it. My son told me, said, Daddy, you’re not going to get anything because he’d go out conny with me. He says, he says, they can hear you a mile away. I know, I know. But I just enjoy walking through the mountains and just getting up there at Timberline and walking through snow. And I had to learn to take smaller steps because he was trying to take big strides and almost split his bridge as he could quite reach and it’d be, you know, put a snow or something like that.

So it’s always interesting. But look what he says in verse three. Trust in the Lord and do good. Trust in the Lord do good. So shout out dwell in the land and very, I’ll shout be fed. You just dwell where you’re supposed to dwell and you gotta take care of the feeding part. Do right and you gotta take care of everything else. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all of his righteousness and trust the Lord to take care of the things that you can take care of.

If you’d be surprised that if you do what God wants you to do, He’ll do the things that you couldn’t do. But always put him first and looking verse four isn’t verse four an awesome verse. Man, I tell you that verse has helped me so much over the years. And he says, the like thyself in the Lord. They like thyself in the Lord. And he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Don’t you like that? The like thyself also in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

Do you want God to give you the desires of your heart? Then delight yourself in the Lord. Delight doing what God wants you to do. you’re doing, you’d be surprised. Now you can tie that into Isaiah 58 and down in verse 11 through 14, and you’ll kind of get of an idea what it means to delight in the Lord. And he kind of gives you an idea there. It’s pretty good. But the next thing I want you to see there in verse 5, commit thy way unto the Lord.

Trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass. You see, if you do what God wants you to do, God will take and bring to pass those things that he wants done in your life. And that’s what what you want anyway, isn’t it? I want the will of God for my life. So you trust Him and you believe it. And so you make decisions based upon what the Word of God says going in the right direction in this easy to steer a car that’s moving than one that’s set in steel.

Car that ain’t going anywhere doesn’t need to be steered. You don’t have to steer away anywhere. So start moving, start doing all the right you know to do and then watch God work in your life. And you’d be surprised how what a blessing it is. Looking verse seven where he says, rest in the Lord, rest in the Lord, wait patiently for him. This is one of the biggest problems I’ve ever had waiting patiently for the Lord. That his dad told me, Yankee God could lead you if you let him get in front.

I had no clue what he was talking about. God could lead you if you let him get in the front. I mean, I was, whoa, come on Lord, this is the way. And Lord, no, no, no, no, no, no. I’ll go first. Sometimes I’m like, God, you’re just so slow. So slow. You know, I used to wonder, can I have a greater desire to reach people than God? Cause I’m ready if I was you and I had somebody like me, man, I do this.

I do that. What’s the problem? And it felt like, man, I’m waiting on God. Like God is so slow. And it seemed like God is on a vacation. Or he’s gone, he doesn’t hear. And your true faithfulness to the Lord is when you remain faithful when it appears that God has let you down. And you will live long enough to experience that, that God fails you. But you know, he doesn’t fail, but you’ll still think he does. And you’ll still wonder and you’ll question, you’ll still have doubts.

And everyone in the room knows I’m telling you the truth, but there’s those times. But he says, fret not thyself because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Look what he says here in verse 8, sees from anger and forsake wrath, fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. Don’t think that the ends justify the means. You can just do wrong and it doesn’t matter because my motive is to do right.

I remember one time, Ray Stanford was asked if he would take him come to a nudist colony, give the gospel. And he says, Yankee, I really struggled with that. I want to give the gospel, but you know, they said, but when you get down to the bare facts, you know, it’s a little difficult. And you know, what am I going to see? And how am I going to deal with this? And so anyway, he says he went in and the people that came to the meeting, they closed himself.

He was so glad. But you know, you got missionaries that will go to the foreign fields and they go to those tribes and they’re all running around naked. So if you can’t handle it, you better stay home. You say, well, you shouldn’t see things like that. Well, no, that’s right. But who’s the person that’s strong enough to go and be able to maintain a proper thought life? And so you’ve got to really be careful. But he says, fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.

And notice it comes after you see in all these other people’s prospering the, yeah, hate them, envy them, want it. So you got to be careful. But now look what he said in verse 9, For evil doers shall be cut off. But those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. They’d be patient. Your time’s coming. It’s not payday yet. You’re just working now and so in season as Obama says, you’re making investments. I mean, they don’t like to call it a tax increase or you’re making investments.

And so we need to have some good investments with the Lord. And knowing that whenever the Lord comes and sets up his kingdom, well, we’re going to rule and reign with the Lord. That’ll be so wonderful. But look what he says down in verse 13. The Lord shall laugh at him, for he seeeth that his day is coming. The Lord knows the future. Don’t worry about all the people who do wrong and seem like they’re in better health. They’re enjoying life better and blah, blah, blah, blah.

That’s okay. Don’t worry about that. But you see, David made this statement. He says, my foot had well nice lips when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. David, Psalm 73. But look down here in verse 16. And understand, you ought to underline this verse. It is so good. A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked. the little that a righteous man had. So you would say, I’m just a righteous man and I only got a little.

That’s better than having great riches and being a wicked man. So does God see? Does God know? Does God understand? Well, of course he does. God wants your faith. You to be rich in faith, trusting him, believing him. You see, if you have all of this money, you would trust and could, the Bible says, when you desire just to be rich, that many have pierced themselves through with many sorrows, because money is hard to get, hard to keep, and great sorrow when you lose it.

Now if you invest it right and use it for the Lord, then that’s good. But now, notice what he says also in verse 18, the Lord knoweth the days of the upright. He knows about the ungodly and he also knows about the godly. Know what the days of the earth and their inheritance shall be for how long? Forever. But the others, there’s this temporary. Would you rather have the blessings of God the rewards that God’s going to give you forever or just to be rich for a few years here in this world?

Would you trade it? I wouldn’t trade it. I would rather be poor here and have it there than to have it here and nothing there. So everybody has to know what they’re doing. But look there in verse 21, the wicked borrowed and pay up not again, but the righteous showeth mercy and give it. I’ve always said the best way to do things is if you’re going to give somebody some, give it to them and expect nothing back in return and just let it go.

Next thing, looking verse 23, oh, is this a good verse? The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and he rejoices in his way. See that verse? Delighteth in his way. How many of y’all know that song that goes to that verse? Just one of you. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and he He delighted in his way.”

Now isn’t that a good way to memorize that verse? You sing it. But anyway, in this verse, the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delighted in his way. Now look at next verse, verse 24, though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, and here’s why. This is so important. Oh, you may stumble and fall, but the Lord does what? a poll of him with his hands. Always believe that the Lord doesn’t let go of you.

You may want to go astray to whatever you want, but the Lord has long arms. Is the Lord’s arm so short that it cannot save, it cannot reach you? He says, try to climb into heaven. He is there. Climbing out, he can reach anywhere. That’s the Lord. Next verse, I want you to See there, verse 25, I have been young. I can relate to that. I can really relate to that. And most of y’all in here can relate to that too.

I have been young and now am, ooh. But he always told me, he said, you can’t keep, don’t say that. Don’t say that. If you say you’re old, then you’ll be old. Keep saying you’re young. But we are getting older. I once was young and now I’m old. And he said, I’ve never seen the righteous begging bread. But look what he says here. Yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread? This is David. God will take care of you.

If he can give you eternal life, he can give you a hamburger from day to day. It might not be no more than a hamburger. There’s sometimes when you’ve got to just do your best you can and enjoy it. Learn to smile through it all. What did God say? You know, even if you had just bread and water, if you’re still alive. You say, what’s the worst thing that happened to me? It’s a die. Is that really the worst thing that could happen is for you to go to heaven?

I mean, you can’t get there unless you leave here. Everybody wanted to go there, right? But you don’t want to leave here. Now, make up your mind. You know, starving is one way of getting there. She said, but yeah, but all right. Do what you can and do right. But the point of the thing is, is do all things without murmuring and what? Complaining. Do you ever complain? Only about the pastor. No, no, no. You better not. verse 27, depart from evil and do good and dwell forevermore.

For the Lord loveth judgment and forsakeeth not his saint, you ought to underline that little phrase, forsakeeth not his saints. Do you believe that? They are preserved for how long? Then evidently there’s eternal security taught here in the Old Testament. And yes, once you’re saved, you’re always saved. And if they were saved in the Old Testament, they had eternal security just like we have it in the New Testament. And so he says, preserve forever. Look in verse 30, the mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom in his tongue talketh of judgment.

Verse 31, the law of his God is in his heart. None of his steps shall slide because of the word of God. This is why, how of all shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed according to thy word? Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. The entrance of thy word give us light. So you can’t walk too good, unless you know the word of God. So that’s why you’re reading and you studied a book.

In verse 32, the wicked watch if the righteous and seek if to slay him. Now you don’t, we’re not trying to slay them, but they’re always trying to kill us. Look at the world of they, are they trying to silence us? Yeah boy. Look what he says here in verse 36. Yet he passes away and lo he was not. Yeah, I saw him, but he could not be found. You see, the wicked one day is not going to be here.

We are going to be with the Lord for all eternity. And the Bible says the wicked should not stand in the congregation of the Lord. Looking verse 37 and you ought to on the line, it marked the perfect man, the mature man. And behold the upright for the end of that man is peace. In other words, regardless of what you’re going through today, or what you think you may have to face tomorrow. The result of your trusting in the Lord is that you’re a peaceful man.

Do you demonstrate peace? Are you at peace with God? Are you at peace with your neighbor? You said, they’re not at peace with me. I said, are you at peace with them? We used to sing that song. Mabers are kind, we love them every one. And we had a guy that would sit there and just sing out to the top of his lung. And he was having lawsuits against his neighbor. He hated his neighbor. Oh, he hated his neighbor.

He was mad in ornery against his neighbor. And he was saying, neighbors are kind. We love the neighbor. I said, you hypocrite. He couldn’t stand his neighbor. And so they always were feuding. And finally, the edges stopped. He just finally gave up. But look what it says down here in verse 39, but the salvation of the righteous is the Lord. He is their strength and you are to underline this part of the verse in the time of trouble. So God didn’t say he’s gonna eliminate your time of trouble.

You’re going to have trouble, but the Lord is your help in the time of trouble. A little bit of it very quickly in Psalm 73. Psalm 73, just see this. Psalm 73, look at the top of the page. Now, when you read the 40 of Psalm and it talks about, you know, the Lord had brought me up out of a Mary pit. He has put a song in my heart, a spring in my step and a smile on my face.

I know we don’t always like to go through life and we’re not always wearing a smiley face. Sometimes we grieve, sometimes they’re so hardy, sometimes they’re sorrow. So you have to go through it. And sometimes nobody has just the right word to bring you to peace. So sometimes you might have to do like David did and that was encourage yourself in the Lord. Remember, don’t doubt in the dark what God gave you in the light. When God has taught you some things and things get hard and rough, Remember those things that God said.

Remember the things that are precious. Remember that there’s an end to all of this. And it, nothing in this life, it doesn’t last forever. I always tell people I can endure anything for a short period of time. For a short period of time. Some things I wish were shorter, but you gotta go through it. Look what he says in verse two. He says, but as for me, my feet were almost gone. My step said, well, nice lift. And why I was envious at the foolish?

Why? When I saw the prosperity of the wicked. When I saw something and it bothered me, I thought, that’s not right or that’s not fair. And you always have to, you know, have the Lord kind of slap your jaws a little bit and wake you up a little bit and then look and get back to reality here. Isn’t the greatest thing you could ever have in this life? The Lord. Can you lose him? No. And he’ll never lose you.

He’ll never cast you out. You’ve got the greatest thing anybody could ever have in this world. You know, I don’t know. I’m just going to use it as an example. I don’t know if, say Bill Gates knows the Lord. I don’t know. But, you know, if he doesn’t know the Lord, he’ll realize me knowing the Lord is greater than all the money he has. Me knowing the Lord. Some little kid in O’wanna that trust Christ and knows He has eternal life, has something He doesn’t have.

So the knowledge of the Lord is one of the greatest things anybody can ever have. And that’s why He says, we are rich, though in this life it might seem like we’re poor, but we can make many rich. Now look what He says here in Psalm 73. In verse three, for I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked, and then in verse 5, they are not in trouble as other men. Neither are they plagued like other men.

You see the comparison? When you start looking at other people and you see some people that have more than you, what does it do to you? Or what does it do when you see people who don’t have as much as you do? Do you look down your nose at them? Think, well, if you lived as God as I did, you would have what I have. There’s a lot of people that are these inspectors And they know why, you know, you wouldn’t be sick if you were healthy.

And you say, well, I’m doing everything I know to do. Or you’d have more money if, well, you might not. You don’t have all the answers for everybody’s problems. Because you see, I always look at this way. Here’s the poor man. Here’s the rich man. And I’ve lived long enough to see. A lot of times all they’re doing is trading places. He has it and he’s losing it and this is getting it and this is losing it. And they just go like this, like a bunch of yoyos.

Learn how to walk with the Lord and whether you have it or you don’t, your character should stay the same. If you’re a man of God when you have little, you can still maintain and be a man of God when you have a lot. But he that is faithful in that which is little, chances are he can be faithful in that which is much. Did you ever think that maybe God can’t trust you with too much? He would rather have you humble and dependent upon him because he knows if he would give you too much, you’d turn on him.

Hmm, never thought of that, huh? Look at the next thing here because a lot of these things in here, he says in verse 7, their eyes stand out with fatness. They have more than heart could wish and look what I have. So if do you judge whether or not because of all that you have, that makes you worth more than what somebody else is. That means you’re smarter and brighter than somebody else because of what you have. You know the smartest people don’t know, how would you judge the apostles?

They were here. They were just so wealthy. When they died, they had millions. How did they die? Poor. Even Jesus when he was here was a poor man. And he was rich that made himself poor that we through his poverty might be made rich. So look down in verse 11 and they said, how does God know? The wicked, how does God know? How does God see? How does he know what’s going on? And so there’s a how long in verse 12, behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the world.

They increase in riches. So don’t think that just because they increase in riches, or they must be righteous and godly. No, wicked people can apply biblical principles and make money. You know the most of the reasons that I think is sometimes God’s children don’t live by the principles in the Word of God and the lost man does. Here’s two ten acres of land. Save man has it. Lost man has ten acres. The lost man knows that if he wants some fruit on that property, he’s got a…

Well, he’s got to turn the soil and he’s got to sow some seeds and he’s got to nurture the long and water it and he gets a big old crop. The man over here says, I’m just going to trust the Lord. And what’s he going to raise? Thorns and briars and weeds? And he wonders, why don’t God bless me? Because he, this man over here, he applied some biblical principles. You reap what you sow and he wanted to reap this so he sowed this.

And this man over here, I’m just going to let God do it all. God says, you ain’t going to get nothing. But there’s a lot of people who just don’t understand what God’s talking about. But now look what He says down here in verse 16. All this was so painful, all this really hurt. When I looked at all this, and I didn’t understand all of this. And then He says in verse 16, when I thought to know this, it was too painful for me.

This really hurts. In verse 17, and you ought to circle this word until. Until I went into the sanctuary and then I understood there in. I looked at the end result and the end result stage an awful lot. And then in verse 21, thus my heart was grieved and I was pricked in my reign. So foolish was I in ignorant. I was as a beast before thee. Nevertheless, I am continually with thee, thou have hold me by my right hand.”

Remember when you talk about holding my right hand? He said, I will not slip. I come so close, but the Lord held me with the right hand. See, it’s the same thing as you find over there in Psalms 37. And then he makes this statement in verse 23, nevertheless I am continually with thee, thou hast hold me by my right hand. And look at verse 24, thou shalt guide me with thy counsel and afterwards, afterwards receive me to glory.

looking down the road, looking at the end result. God knows the end result of the wicked and God knows the end result of those that are righteous. So do right and trust the Lord and you’d be surprised how God will richly bless you. Now look at verse 28. But it is good for me to draw near to God. I love that statement. It is good for me to draw near to God. I will put my trust in the Lord God that I may declare all thy works.

I want what God wants. I want to be closer to the Lord. You may not get closer to that at Mayion, but you can get closer to the Lord. And wouldn’t that be worth it? Let’s pray, shall we? Father, we do thank you so much for your word that’s given to us to challenge us to help us to remember what we’re supposed to be looking at and what we focus upon. And yes, we can get so easily sidetracked and wonder whether or not you can meet our needs, but Father, You say, and You understand and help us, Lord, just to walk right.

Stay close to You, drawn near to trust You. Wait patiently in Christ’s name we pray. What another great message from Dr. Arnold. Friends we hope more than anything else that you know You’re saved by believing Jesus died for your sin and that Bibleline is helping you grow stronger and stronger in the Lord. Would you know how to witness to an atheist? What do you start with if a person doesn’t even believe there is a God? For this month, all who send in a financial donation in any amount, we will mail to you Dr.

Arnold’s DVD teaching lesson on how to witness to an atheist. You’ll gain some great insight on reaching people who may just need someone to explain the truth to them. DVD series is yours for this month only with your financial donation in any amount. Again, we’re so grateful to those of you who support this ministry. Our mailing address is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. And don’t forget to include your mailing address as well. God bless you and thank you again for supporting Bibleline.

Thanks for joining us on Bibleline. If you are in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. And now, a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. And we will be changed. Hot up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day. Believing that the Lord is coming soon? Just keep looking up.