July 1, 2001

Works Follow Faith

Psalm 37:3

Last week we looked at salvation and growth in grace as something that is all of God, and nothing of us. All of God, and nothing of our works, keeping the Ten Commandments, or any other rules or laws. But the gospel is never unbalanced, and the Christian life is never unbalanced. God never imagines us in a life that is all talk and no action, all faith and no works. Simply because our salvation is all of God and nothing of us does not mean that we are supposed to sit around and do nothing.

If you have your Bibles with you today, and I hope you do, turn to Psalms 37:3 "Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed."

Trust in the Lord and do good. That is the Christian life in a nutshell. First we trust God, we come to Him for salvation, and then as a natural result of that relationship, good works proceed out from us.

There are five notable things that happened in the life of David when he trusted God, and I want to share them with you today, because when you trust God, He will probably bring about similar results in your life. Trusting God Produces Courage, Precludes Revenge, Prevents Worry, Procures Joy, and Provides Salvation.

The first notable thing that happened in David's life was that trusting God Produced Courage. We all know the story of David and Goliath, but I want to get rid of some false ideas that have grown up about David. David was about 16 years old at that time, and he was a sheep herder, so he spent a lot of time climbing around the rocks and hills of Judea. That will toughen you up. He was a fighter. A lion and a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, and David went after them and killed both the lion and the bear, so that tells you something about what kind of person he was.

When King Saul interviewed David before his fight with Goliath, he offered David his personal armor to wear. 1 Samuel 9:2 tells us that Saul was the tallest man in Israel at that time. Consequently, if he offered his personal armor to David to wear, David must have been a pretty big kid. Think about it, Saul wasn't stupid. "Here kid, here's this armor that's 14 sizes too big, put it on and go fight the giant." Duh. David didn't reject Saul's armor because it was too big, but because he had no experience using it, or as the Bible says; "he had not proved it." Consequently, I believe that David was a big, strong, athletic kid.

Now: having said all that, David was still fighting way out of his weight class, but he was not worried about it at all. Why? Like he told the giant: "You've got a sword, a spear and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Hosts." No contest. If I had to go out this afternoon and face some nine foot tall dude that had a sword, a spear and a javelin, I would not be afraid, because I would take my .45 and my twelve gauge. No contest. And David took a whole lot more than a .45 and a 12 gauge. David went in the strength and power of the Lord of Hosts. Because David knew who God was, and what God is like, it gave him the courage of conviction. Thousands of years before Paul wrote it in Romans, David knew that "If God be for us, who can be against us?" Trusting in the Lord Produces Courage.

Secondly, trusting in the Lord causes us to do good because it Precludes Revenge. As you read through the story of David and his relationship with King Saul, things change. Initially, King Saul had seen David defeat Goliath, and Saul promoted David to a high rank in his army. But later, Saul became jealous of David, he became enraged at him, he broke promises to him, and finally, he tried to kill him.

One night, David found himself in Saul's camp, standing over King Saul as he slept. Can you imagine what might have been going through David's mind? God had already promised David that he would be the next king after Saul was dead. David had even been anointed by Samuel for the position. David was popular with the people and with the army. He was tired of living like a fugitive. All it would take was one swing of the sword, and David had a short cut to the throne. (Pardon the pun) David's lieutenant even offers to do the job for him. What does David do? He tells his lieutenant: "As the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him, or his day shall come to die." Romans 12:19 tells us: "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord." Trust in the Lord and do good. Trusting God Precludes Revenge.

Thirdly, trusting God causes us to do what is right because it Prevents Worry. David was not perfect. David had his shortcomings of faith, just like we sometimes do. After Saul realized that David had spared his life, Saul went away and left him alone for awhile, but David fell into discouragement. In 1Samuel 27:1 we read: "And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand. And David arose, and he passed over with the six hundred men that were with him unto Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath."
Gath was where Goliath came from. David has gone from the frying pan into the fire. Just a short time before, David had trusted in God to destroy the giant of the Philistines, and now he is so worried and upset about King Saul that he actually turns and goes to the Philistines for safety.

During that time frame David married a woman named Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, a heathen king. It was from this marriage that Absalom was born. And in the years to come, Absalom caused David more grief than Saul ever did. When David surrendered to worry it ended up costing him a lot more trouble than his persecution from Saul. In our lives as well, not trusting God, giving in to worry, can have consequences on down the road that we would never suspect.

It is interesting that it was right after a great victory from God that David allowed worry to get the better of him. The same thing happened with Elijah. Elijah went toe to toe with the 400 prophets of Baal, God provided a miraculous deliverance, and it seemed like a great revival was about to break forth in the land.
But then Queen Jezebel told Elijah "tomorrow by this same time you will be a dead man." And what did Elijah do? He ran for his life all the way from the north of Israel down to the southern end.

Beware of letting your guard down at a time when it seems that the Lord is sending a great victory. It is easy to get emotionally used up, emotionally played out, and circumstances take their toll on us, and we worry about things that seem bigger than they really are.

David generally did pretty good. Most of the time he didn't let circumstances get him down. He knew that he could trust God. Turn with me to Psalm 56, and see what David writes there: "Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me.
Psa 56:2 Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O thou most High.
Psa 56:3 What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.
Psa 56:4 In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.
Psa 56:5 Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil.
Psa 56:6 They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul.
Psa 56:7 Shall they escape by iniquity? in thine anger cast down the people, O God.
Psa 56:8 Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?
Psa 56:9 When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me.
Psa 56:10 In God will I praise his word: in the LORD will I praise his word.
Psa 56:11 In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.
Psa 56:12 Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee.
Psa 56:13 For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?"
Those are the words of a man that has learned from experience that he can trust God. But worry is insidious, and it is the opposite of trust. Trust in God, and it will Prevent Worry.

Fourth, trusting God causes us to do what is right because it Procures Joy. There was a time when the Ark of the Covenant was not in Jerusalem where it was supposed to be, and David set about to bring it back. But David did not act according to wisdom. God had given explicit instructions as to how the Ark was to be transported, it was to be carried on poles by men of the tribe of Levi. Instead of doing what God plainly taught in His Word, David set about to bring it back on an oxcart. That was a bad mistake, and it cost a good man his life. One of the attendants, Uzzah, died when he put out his hand and touched the Ark. After that bit of foolishness, David wised up, he realized that God says what He means, and means what He says. And the result of doing things God's way Procures Joy.

In 1st Chronicles 15:2 we read: "Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them hath the LORD chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto him for ever.
And then in verse 15: "And the children of the Levites bare the ark of God upon their shoulders with the staves thereon, as Moses commanded according to the word of the LORD.
And then in verse 25: "So David, and the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the house of Obededom with joy."
Trusting in the Lord enables us to do good, and doing good brings forth joy. God's wisdom is infinitely greater than our wisdom, and trusting what He has told us in His word Procures Joy for us.

Finally, trusting God causes us to do what is right because trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ Provides Salvation. Think about it: until we have trusted in the Lord, we are unable to do anything right. All our righteousness is as filthy rags, and until we have thrown away our righteousness, and replaced it with His righteousness, it is impossible for us to do anything right.

Notice the order in the words: Trust in the Lord and do good. We trust in the Lord, and then good works follow as a result of our trust. Ephesians 2:10 tells us: "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." It is a terrible thing to get this turned around backwards, because then some people try and get the cart before the horse. "Do good works, and trust that they will get you to heaven." Never happen.

Salvation is by grace through faith in Christ and His finished work on the cross. If it is a finished work, then it is impossible to add anything to it. If it is a finished work, then it is unnecessary for me to try and make it better. And that's good, because there is nothing I can do to make it better. It is all of God, and none of me. It is all found in the Son of God, and not in anything I can do. 1 John 5:12 tells us: "He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. Could there be anything simpler than that? Since salvation is totally the work of God and nothing of me, I can have total confidence in the future. Trusting God causes us to do what is right because it Produces Salvation.

Trust in the Lord and do good. Trusting God Produces Courage. It Precludes Revenge. It Prevents Worry. It Procures Joy, and it Provides Salvation.

Are there any good works in there that we produce on our own? None that I can see. Are there any good works in there that proceed from God, and from our relationship with Him? I can see how there would be a lot.

If you are trusting in the Lord, then good works will follow along, they come with the package. All it takes from us is to trust in Him and act as He moves us, and the things that result will be good works. We probably won't be planning it that way, that's just the way things will turn out. Trust in the Lord and do good. What could be simpler?