Mills Memorial Baptist Church
Wednesday Evening Worship 2/25
  • He Hideth My Soul
  • Hiding in Thee
  • Psalm 37:1–7
    Read verse 5 again
    Romans 12:1–2
    Committed: Giving the control of my life fully to the Lord
    Most of us say we want to do God’s will.
    But the real question is whether we want God’s will more than we want control.
    Control over my schedule.
    Control over my money.
    Control over my reputation and what people think of me.
    Control over my comfort.
    Control over my health and what the doctor might say.
    Control over the future.
    Control over how fast God answers.
    Control over what happens when someone hurts me.
    Because control is usually what sits beneath our stress.
    We feel pressure.
    We see problems.
    We try to manage everything.
    And we get tired.
    Some of us are carrying more than we were built to carry.
    Trouble can hit in the morning, and stress can press all day, and it feels like life is just one heavy load after another.
    And the danger is we start living like we are the rescuer.
    We keep shifting the schedule, adjusting the burden, and managing people.
    But God never meant for your shoulders to be the place where everything rests.
    He meant for your faith to rest upon Him.
    That is why Psalm 37:5 is not just a nice line.
    It is a command from a caring Father.
    5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; Trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
    Tonight we are going to let Psalm 37 set the direction.
    Because Psalm 37:5 is not a stand-alone slogan.
    It sits on a path God gives in verses 1–7.
    And Romans 12 will show us what commitment looks like in the Christian life.
    A living sacrifice.
    A renewed mind.
    A life no longer run by the world or the flesh.
    A life surrendered to God.
    Psalm 37 starts by dealing with a stirred-up heart.
    Because fretting makes me act like everything depends on me.
    So God deals with fretting first, then He tells me to commit my way to Him.

    I. Commitment Calms the Heart

    So look at the first instruction God gives in verse 1.
    He doesn’t start with a big decision.
    He starts with a basic response.
    “Fret not.”
    And then He adds one more.
    “Neither be thou envious.”
    Because those two reactions are usually what push us to grab control.
    So…

    A. Refuse Fret and Envy

    Fretting is inner heat.
    It is that restless spirit that keeps replaying what is wrong.
    God also says, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.
    Envy says, maybe their way works better than God’s way.
    Fret and envy both push you toward control.
    Because if I fret, I will start managing.
    And when I envy, I start comparing.
    And either way, I stop trusting.
    If I stay stirred up, I will not surrender well.
    A fretting heart tightens its grip instead of placing the weight on the Lord.
    We’ll see in verse 5 that God tells us to commit our way, meaning to roll the weight onto Him.
    Proverbs 14:30 KJV
    30 A sound heart is the life of the flesh: But envy the rottenness of the bones.
    Envy is the rottenness of the bones
    Envy does not just distort my thinking.
    It eats my peace.

    B. Remember What Is Temporary

    2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, And wither as the green herb.
    God is reminding us here that what looks permanent can be temporary.
    So don’t panic.
    Don’t compromise.
    Don’t grab control because you think you are missing out.
    Temporary success is not worth permanent disobedience.
    Another psalm Psalm 73, was written by a man who felt exactly what Psalm 37 is addressing.
    He looked around and it bothered him that the wicked seemed to be doing fine.
    He tried to make sense of it, and it wore him out.
    Then everything changed when he got back into the presence of God.
    Psalm 73:16–17 KJV
    16 When I thought to know this, It was too painful for me; 17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; Then understood I their end.
    The psalmist was troubled until he understood The trouble maker’s end.
    These verses show how perspective returns when you stop staring at the wicked and start looking to the Lord.

    C. Trust the Lord and Do Good

    3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; So shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
    Trust is not passive.
    Trust keeps obeying while God handles what I cannot.
    Galatians 6:9 KJV
    9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
    When pressure rises, commitment keeps us doing right.
    Once God calms the heart, He gives the next step.
    He moves from what you stop doing to what you start loving.
    Because surrender is easier when God is your joy.

    II. Commitment Delights in the Lord

    4 Delight thyself also in the Lord; And he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
    Commitment is not only refusing fretting.
    It is feeding the soul on the Lord Himself.
    Because the heart will always cling to something.
    And if it is not clinging to God, it will cling to control.
    That is why David says, “Delight thyself also in the LORD.”
    So let’s start with the first truth under this point.
    Delight in God is what loosens our grip on outcomes.

    A. Delight Replaces the Need for Control

    Psalm 37:4 says, Delight thyself also in the LORD.
    A controlling spirit is usually a fearful spirit.
    Delight says, even if life shakes, I still have the Lord.
    And that loosens the grip.
    Psalm 16:11 KJV
    11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: In thy presence is fulness of joy; At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
    In thy presence is fulness of joy
    Joy in God steadies a shaky heart.

    B. Let Desire Become Prayer

    Psalm 37:4 says God will give thee the desires of thine heart.
    That does not mean God becomes my vending machine.
    It means delighting in God changes what I want.
    God shapes the desires of a surrendered heart.
    Then those desires turn into prayers that fit His will.
    John 15:7 KJV
    7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
    If ye abide in me
    Abiding aligns the heart before it asks.
    God doesn’t worry about what you will ask, when you have been ab

    C. Rest and Wait Patiently

    Look down at verse 7 for a moment...
    7 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.
    Rest is the opposite of forcing outcomes.
    Waiting is the opposite of panic.
    Rest says God is not nervous.
    Wait says God is not late.
    We can get so busy adjusting our burdens that we don’t see the Burden Lifter standing nearby.
    Rest turns your eyes back to the Lord.
    Psalm 121:4 KJV
    4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep.
    I can rest because God does not sleep.
    Some of us lie down at night, but we keep worrying in our minds.
    We replay conversations.
    We rehearse worst-case scenarios.
    We try to fix tomorrow by worrying tonight.
    Rest is when you finally say, “Lord, You will be awake all night. So I do not have to be.”
    Now, let’s go back to where we were, verse 5, and we come to a command in Psalm 37:5.
    God does not only tell you to calm down.
    He tells you what to do with the weight of your burden.
    He says commit.
    And the word picture that the psalmist uses helps the truth to land.
    The word literally means to roll.

    III. Commitment Transfers Control to the Lord

    5 Commit thy way unto the Lord; Trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
    So far Psalm 37 has calmed the heart and redirected the heart.
    Now it tells us what to do with the weight we have been carrying.
    God does not only say, “Feel better.”
    He gives us a command that changes who is actually holding the load.
    He says, “Commit thy way unto the LORD.”
    So let’s look at what that word commit really means.
    Because this is where control changes hands.

    A. Commit Means Roll It Onto the Lord

    Psalm 37:5 says, Commit thy way unto the LORD…or roll your way, your burden, your troubles unto the Lord!
    Your way is…
    Your direction.
    Your decisions.
    Your schedule.
    Your future.
    To commit is to roll the heavy load off of your back and onto the Lord.
    You take your hands off the wheel and allow Him to navigate.
    1 Peter 5:7 KJV
    7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
    God does not ask you to carry what He promises to carry.
    If you carry a heavy box all day, you will keep shifting it and adjusting your grip.
    But the weight never changes.
    It is the fatigue of our muscles that causes us to shift it around.
    Commitment is not adjusting the weight.
    Commitment is setting it down where it belongs, at the feet of Jesus.
    Then He continues…

    B. Trust Also in Him

    This is what keeps you from taking that burden back.
    A lot of people “commit” for five minutes.
    Then they worry.
    Then they manipulate.
    Then they rehearse fear.
    Trust keeps commitment from becoming a religious word while anxiously living.
    Isaiah 26:3 KJV
    3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on thee: Because he trusteth in thee.
    Perfect peace!
    Peace is not found in control.
    Peace is found in trust.
    Matthew 6:25 KJV
    25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
    Take no thought for your life
    Worry is what happens when I take back what I said I gave to God.

    C. Present Yourself and Renew Your Mind

    Now we turn to Romans 12:1, because it is a key part of this puzzle.
    Romans 12:1 KJV
    1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
    Sacrifices belongs to God.
    That is control transferred.
    Romans 12:2 KJV
    2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
    That is control maintained.
    Because the mind is where we take it back.
    God renews the mind by truth.
    And a renewed mind learns to love God’s will.
    Luke 9:23 KJV
    23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
    Take up his cross daily
    Commitment is not a one-time moment.
    It is daily surrender.
    Daily take up the cross of discipleship, and self-sacrifice.
    How can we do this…we allow God to sanctify us, change us to be more like Him every day.
    This happens as we get into, and stay into the Word of God.
    Jesus prayed for us, He said…
    John 17:17 KJV
    17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
    Thy word is truth
    The Word renews the mind so the life can stay surrendered.
    A living sacrifice can crawl off the altar.
    That is why this has to be daily.
    You have to keep putting yourself back on the altar…back in God’s hands.

    Conclusion

    Psalm 37 gives you a path.
    Stop fretting.
    Stop envying.
    Trust the Lord and do good.
    Delight in the Lord.
    Rest and wait.
    Then commit your way unto the LORD.
    Romans 12 gives you the shape of a committed life.
    A living sacrifice.
    A renewed mind.
    A life no longer controlled by the world.
    A life controlled by God.
    Here is what commitment looks like when you leave tonight.
    You stop adjusting the weight and you start rolling it onto the Lord.
    That is what the word commit is getting at.
    You take your hands off the wheel and you let Him navigate.
    And it is not a one-time speech.
    It is a daily decision.
    Roll it onto Him again.
    Trust Him again.
    Rest again.
    And here is the comfort.
    You will be able to sleep when you have committed life’s worries to the One who does not sleep.
    He watches.
    He works.
    He carries.
    So the next time the burden rises in your chest, do not just get a harder grip…
    Commit your way unto the LORD.
    And leave it there.
    What part of your life have you not entrusted to God.
    What burden are you still trying to manage instead of surrender.
    What would change this week if you actually rolled it onto the Lord and left it there.
    Pray tonight…
    Lord, I commit my way to You.
    I trust You.
    Help me roll my burdens onto You.
    Make my life a living sacrifice.
    Renew my mind.
    Take control of my life, my situations, my burdens.

      • Proverbs 14:30KJV1900

      • Psalm 73:16–17KJV1900

      • Galatians 6:9KJV1900

      • Psalm 16:11KJV1900

      • John 15:7KJV1900

      • Psalm 121:4KJV1900

      • 1 Peter 5:7KJV1900

      • Isaiah 26:3KJV1900

      • Matthew 6:25KJV1900

      • Romans 12:1KJV1900

      • Romans 12:2KJV1900

      • Luke 9:23KJV1900

      • John 17:17KJV1900

  • More Love to Thee
Mills Memorial Baptist Church
millsmemorialbapt@gmail.com
989-843-6433
https://millsmemorial.faithlifesites.com
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