Don’t Worry, Be Happy!
(A Sermon Outline)
Text: Psalms 37:1-8
Introduction: How many believe it is wrong to steal and with the help of God you don’t plan to steal? How many believe it is wrong murder and with the help of God you don’t plan to murder? How many believe it is wrong to blaspheme and with the help of God you don’t plan to blaspheme? How many believe it is wrong to worry and with the help of God you don’t plan to worry? We are commanded three times in our text to “fret not”! In other words, “Don’t worry.” This command is recorded 365 times in the Bible; one for each day of the year.
How may we overcome worry and be happy?
1. Trust In The Lord
(“Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.” vs. 3)
Never worry about things you can not control; never worry about things you can control. “For every evil under the sun there is a cure or there is none. If there be one, seek until you find it; if there be none, never mind it!”
“I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” (Psalms 37:25)
2. Delight In The Lord
(“Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” vs. 4)
If we are delighting in the Lord, the desires of our heart will be what God wants for us. We may not get toys, but we have the desires of our heart filled.
Having “fun” is contingent upon our surroundings. It is much like a thermometer fluctuating with surrounding circumstances. Having “joy” controls our attitude in any surrounding. It is much like a thermostat.
3. Commit To The Lord
(“Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.” vs. 5)
If a person deposits $500,000 into a Bank Savings Account, it would be foolish to get a pistol and stand guard at the Bank door to keep someone from stealing it. The money was committed to the Bank and it is the job of the Bank to care for it. When we commit our problems to God, we need not worry about them. It is His responsibility to care for them.
Worry is faith in reverse. A grandfather clock had been ticking-tocking for 20 years and it began to calculate how many times it ticked-tocked in a year. It reasoned that it ticked-tocked 2 times per second; 120 times per minute; 7,200 per hour; 172,000 times per day; 1,290,000 per week; 62 million times per year. It was on the verge of having nervous clock breakdown. It went to a clock psychiatrist. The psychiatrist ask the clock how many ticks did it make at a time. The clock responded, “one.” The psychiatrist instructed the clock to just think about ticking one tick at a time. The grandfather clock is now faithfully ticking one tick at a time.
Jesus taught us to live life one day at a time. (Matt. 6:31-34)
4. Rest In The Lord
(“Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.” vs. 7)
If somebody has done you wrong, simply turn them over to God. The Lord will take care of them. “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” (Romans 12:190
The problem with getting even with people that have done you wrong is that you become even with them at their low level.
If people are critical of you, do not worry about it. Turn them over to God. Remember no one criticises a corps. If you want no criticism or enemies do nothing, know nothing, have nothing. You will have criticism if you do more, know more and have more than your critics.
Conclusion: A man was walking by the sea on a cleft when darkness fell. He frantically tried to reach safety when his feet slipped. He grabbed a limb of a tree and began yelling for help. His arms and hands grew tired. He could no long hold on to the limb; he closed his eyes and let go. He fell….two inches. He did not know that he was hanging above another cleft.
Many are speeding through life attempting to have peace by holding on to material things. We need to let go and fall safely onto the Rock: Jesus Christ. Jesus invites the man who is unsaved to come to Him and find rest. (Matt. 11:28)
I preached for years that charity (love) was greater than faith and hope. I did not really understand why, but I knew the Word of God said it. “And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” (I Cor. 13:13) I began to study for an answer to the question: Why is charity greater than faith or hope?
Faith: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1) Faith is temporary. When we meet Jesus face to face in heaven there will be no more faith. Our faith will be replaced by fact.
God has no faith. In whom or in what would He have faith? We are not like God when we have faith.
Hope: “But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” (Rom. 8:25) This hope is not wishful thinking. It is divine anticipation of an event we know will happen and eagerly look forward to it’s happening. Hope is temporary. When we see Jesus face to face in heaven, our hope will have been realised.
God has no hope. For what would He hope? We are not like God when we hope.
Charity: God is love. (I John 4:8) Love is eternal. When we get to heaven our love for God and others will never die.
God loves. We are more like God when we love than when we have faith and hope. This truth explains why the Bible records that love is greater.
“Love is a symbol of eternity. It wipes out all sense of time, destroying all memory of a beginning and all fear of an end.” — Author Unknown
My father, grandfather, uncle and cousin were all Baptist preachers. I grew up hearing preachers preach and teachers teach that sin is sin and all sins are equal in God’s sight. As I grew older and began to seriously study the Bible and it’s teaching on sin, I came to the conclusion that all sins are not equal.
Pilate told Jesus that he had the power to set him free. Jesus let him know quickly that the only power he had was given to him by God. Jesus answered, ” Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.” (John 19:11) Christ said that the sin of betrayal by Judas was greater than the sin committed by Pilate.
One sin is so bad that it is unpardonable — the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Matt.12:32). Other sins are not as bad and can be forgiven.
Jesus said, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithes of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” (Matt. 23:23) Christ taught that some matters of the law were not as “weighty” as others.
It is interesting to note that when Solomon listed the seven sins that God hates and are an abomination unto Him, “A proud look” was first on the list. (Proverbs 6:17)
It is wrong to disobey civil law and go 63 mph in a 60 mph zone. That is not nearly as wrong as murdering your neighbor.
The only sin that condemns a person is the sin of unbelief. (John 3:18) This is the mother of all sins.
It is true that sin is sin. It is also true that, according to the Bible, not all sins are equal. Let’s be honest with the Word of God.
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