Walking in the Light (Psalms 36–38)

Who has your ear, and where are they leading you? We trace a vivid path through Psalms 36–38 that starts with the seductive voice of sin, moves through the hard work of refusing outrage, and ends with the healing power of confession. Along the way, we contrast mud-puddle promises with the fountain of life, and darkness with the clarifying light of Christ, to show how listening shapes seeing and ultimately directs your steps.

We begin with Psalm 36, where David exposes the inner monologue that flatters us into moral rebellion and numbs our fear of God. Against that darkness, he lifts a brighter vision: with the Lord is the fountain of life, and in his light we see light. That promise anchors a way of living that is clear, honest, and deeply satisfying. It also frames a crucial decision: whether to lend our ears to transgression or to truth, knowing that what captures our ear will guide our eyes and lead our feet.

From there, Psalm 37 tackles a familiar temptation: to blaze hot with anger at the wickedness around us. David’s counsel is bracing and practical—don’t fret; trust the Lord and do good. We unpack what it means to commit your way to the Lord, literally to roll your burdens onto his strong shoulders, and we consider the long view: unjust power is temporary, the offices of the wicked will not last, and the meek—humble, submitted, courageously steady—will inherit the earth. Meekness isn’t weakness; it’s strength under God’s rule, a posture that lets us act with integrity without letting darkness dictate our methods.

Finally, Psalm 38 gives us ten simple words that can change a life: “I confess my iniquity, I am sorry for my sin.” We explore how honest confession opens the floodgates of grace, repairs ruptured relationships, and keeps our hearts tender before God. Whether you’re weary from outrage or thirsty for clarity, this journey invites you to listen differently, walk lighter, and practice humility that restores joy.

If this spoke to you, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs hope, and leave a review to help others find these conversations. What’s one burden you’ll roll onto the Lord today?

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Chapters

• 0:00 Three Psalms And A Central Question
• 1:56 Word Pictures About Listening
• 3:11 Psalm 36: Voices Of Sin Versus Light
• 7:07 Following The Light Of Christ
• 8:27 Psalm 37: Don’t Fret, Trust And Do Good
• 11:48 Roll Your Burdens Onto The Lord

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:34

Stephen teaches from three different psalms today. Psalm 36 urges us to listen to the Lord. Psalm 37 stresses how important this is. It contains a contrast between the righteous who follow God and the wicked who ignore his word. And Psalm 38 points us to the hope we have when we fail the Lord. We are restored by confessing our sins to a gracious God. Stephen called the lesson you're about to hear, walking in the light.

SPEAKER_00: 1:11

Word pictures are helpful ways to express our feelings. In fact, we we use them all the time. Several of them that are popular to this day refer to our ears, to our hearing. For instance, we'll talk about people having steam coming out of their ears. Well, in other words, they're mad and they're about to explode. We talk about others who have their ears to the ground. Well, that doesn't mean they're lying down or listening for bugs. It means they're they're staying informed. Sometimes we can turn that word picture into a question, like, who's got a hold of your ear? Of course, that means to whom are you listening? And that's exactly what David is about to ask us all here in Psalm 36. Now, in the first part of this Psalm, David describes people who've given their ear to the voice of sin. He writes here in verse 1, Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart. Well, transgression here is a reference to moral rebellion. So when transgression has your ear, it's speaking into your heart. You know what? It's going to lead you to revolt against what God says is morally right. You're going to even be able to convince yourself that, well, you know better than God about moral standard. David goes on here in verse 1 to say, there is no fear of God before his eyes, for he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out. Well, the wicked person here is someone who's convinced himself that he isn't doing anything wrong, that God isn't going to come around to hold him accountable. People who give their ear to transgression end up traveling down a road of darkness, a road of disillusionment. Frankly, they end up drinking from the mud puddles of sin. It's not going to satisfy their thirst. In fact, it's only going to make them wander around thirsty, empty, unfulfilled. Now David describes someone who listens to the Lord here in verse 9. This is someone walking not in darkness, but in light. David writes, For with you, Lord, is the fountain of life. The Lord isn't going to give you a mud puddle to drink from. David writes further here in verse 9. In your light do we see the light. David is telling us that in him, the Lord, we're not going to live a life of darkness. We're not in the dark. We're going to have a life filled with clarity and light. He says over in John chapter 8, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. So the question is, who are you listening to today? Well, let me tell you, uh whoever has your ear eventually controls your eye, ultimately directs your feet and directs them toward darkness or toward the light. Now David knows that the believer is going to be surrounded by people who reject the light. In fact, uh frankly, the the majority of the human race to this day walks in darkness. So the next psalm here reminds us, first of all, well, don't get angry with those who choose the darkness. Two times here in Psalm 37, David tells the believer not to fret. The Hebrew word for fret means to blaze or to get hot. In other words, don't get all hot and bothered by wickedness in our world. Expect sinners to sin. Getting mad about sinners isn't going to turn on the light. Cursing the darkness isn't going to make our world filled with light. It isn't going to solve anything. It's only going to make sinners your enemy instead of your mission field. And that's why David reminds us here in verse 3 to continue to trust in the Lord and do good. Down here in verse 5, commit your way to the Lord. In other words, leave the final judgment to him, and you just go about focusing on shining the light of God's truth into your dark world. Commit your way to the Lord. The word for commit here literally means to roll over. Now he's not talking about hitting the snooze button and rolling over in bed. He's talking about taking your burdens and your cares, those things that make you want to fret and get all hot and angry about. No, you roll them all over onto the Lord. The Apostle Peter picks up the same idea when he writes, casting all your care, all your anxieties on the Lord, because he cares for you, 1 Peter 5 7. Roll them onto the broad shoulders of your Lord. David also reminds us here in Psalm 37 that a day is coming when God's going to set everything in order. He writes here in verse 10, in just a little while the wicked will be no more. Though you look carefully at his place, he'll not be there. You just let that sink in. In just a little while, the wicked will no longer be in his place. The word here for his place refers to his station, his uh position, his place of authority. You could think of his office. So what he's saying here is there is coming a day when the wicked will no longer be in office. They're not going to have any positions of influence here on planet Earth. Well, what's going to bring about this change? David tells us that in just a little while, verse 11, the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace. Now it's been three thousand years since David wrote that in just a little while the wicked are going to lose their office and the meek are going to rule the earth. That's a reference, by the way, to the coming kingdom of Jesus, the Messiah, and you're wondering, well, in just a little while? Well, all I can tell you is that just a little while is a whole lot closer now than it was three thousand years ago. Jesus quotes this text, by the way, over in Matthew chapter five, when he promised, Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Both words for meek, the Hebrew word used by David here in Psalm 37, and the Greek word used by Jesus in Matthew chapter five, both mean the same thing humble. The meek are the humble. The humble shall inherit the earth one day. By the way, meekness does not mean weakness. We kind of think of it that way today. We say, well, that man's a meek man. That usually means he's a doormat. He might be afraid of his own shadow. But in the Bible, a meek person isn't a weak person, but one who is humble and submissive to the Lord. And one day Jesus Christ is going to set up his kingdom, and those who belong to him will be assigned to the place, the office, the position of authority as followers of Christ. Well, how do you become a follower of Christ? Well, it's gonna it's gonna look a lot like humility. It takes humility to repent and confess your sin to the Lord. And it's no coincidence then to me that the next psalm, Psalm 38, offers us a model of humble confession. Now we've already studied two other psalms that deal with confession, Psalm chapter six and Psalm 32. Well, here it is again. Now I I've mentioned in the past the principle of repetition in the Bible, that is, God repeats himself, and he does it for a reason. It's a good thing he does, because we might have ignored him, we might have missed it the first time around. So just in case we missed it, God gives us again through the testimony of David a picture of true confession. He says to the Lord here in verse 18, I confess my iniquity, I am sorry for my sin. True confession is humble, honest admission. No excuses, you know, no, well, the devil made me do it, or or I was having a bad day, or the car wouldn't start, or that really wasn't me. No, I confess my iniquity. I am sorry for my sin. Let me tell you, beloved, there are ten words here that we need to become good at repeating in our own lives. So let me repeat them again. I confess my iniquity, I am sorry for my sin. You know something, these ten words can open the floodgates of grace, not only before God, but also before other people in our lives. Ten words, these ten words can rebuild a bridge that's been torn down by sin. These ten words can restore a relationship. These ten words of humility can actually change the course of your life. And when you come to Jesus Christ for salvation, you confess your sin to Him, these ten words can take you out of the kingdom of darkness and bring you into the kingdom of light. And if you've said those ten words to the Lord and you now belong to Him, well, maybe you need to say those ten words to somebody else in your life today. Well, until next time, beloved, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

SPEAKER_01: 11:34

Thanks for listening to The Wisdom Journey with Stephen Davey. To learn more about us and access all of our Bible teaching resources, visit wisdomonline.org. Our phone number is 866-482-4253. And you can email us at info at wisdomonline.org. Stephen developed this daily program to help you know what the Bible says, understand what it means, and apply it to your life. So please join us next time to continue the wisdom journey.