Sunday May 3, 2026

Have you ever experienced standing at the edge of a platform, getting ready to zipline? It’s so hard to trust that you’ll be able to move forward, especially when you’re so vulnerable. But at the end of the day, you’ll always make it to the other side. In today’s message, Dr. Timothy Brown talks about the importance of trusting God in every step you take in life. When you trust God, your next step is to obey. So, take a full next step by walking in obedience. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Welcome to Truth for Transformation with Dr. Timothy Brown. You're about to hear a message from God's Word filled with biblical wisdom, practical insights, and life-changing truths. A message designed to inspire your faith and give encouragement.

SPEAKER_01 0:21

I want you guys to get this. When I take a step to trust God, my next step is active obedience. I trust God and then I obey. I trust God and then I follow. Some of us are like taking a step but we don't trust, so we we like to stay stuck. Some of us don't trust that we don't step. So the psalmist encourages us with this.

SPEAKER_00 1:05

In today's message, Dr. Timothy Brown talks about the importance of trusting God in every step you take in life. When you trust God, your next step is to obey. So take a full next step by walking in obedience. Prepare your heart, open your mind, and get ready to embark on a journey of faith with Dr. Timothy Brown in the book of Psalms, chapter 37, with today's edition of Truth for Transformation.

SPEAKER_01 1:34

We're going to be in Psalm 37 today, so go ahead and turn there and prepare your hearts in prayer. Father, as we turn to your word, we just we're excited about this new series. We ask and pray that you would bless each person as they're here today, that they would be encouraged, that they would know that you're for them and you're with them. God, we do pray for our church family, many who are traveling, that you would just help them to know that we're lifting them up and praying for them even as they're on the road in the weeks to come. Father, bless each person as they go through their own struggles and trials. We know that you're the God who not only sees what we're going through, but you're the God who enters in and encourages us. So, Lord, we ask and pray your blessing on your word and blessing on this time together. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So today we're gonna be in Psalm 37. How many of you have ever asked the question, why does God take so long? Anybody? How many of you have had one perpetual bad day after another? And it seems like when are the good days gonna roll, right? So today we're gonna answer the question from David, why does God seem to take so long? Why the wait? And I want to give you, as we walk through this psalm, I want to give you a few promises that you can hold on to. And I've entitled this Delighting in God: Treasuring God Above All. So go ahead and turn to Psalm 37. Hopefully you're already there. And as you turn there, I'm just gonna give you a little background. If you're taking notes as we introduce this series, I want to give you a little background as you read through it so you'll know what you're reading. Psalms is a collection of songs, prayers, and also poetry. They express human emotion. I once had a professor that asked this question. He said, You ever wonder why there's 150 inspired songs? But why do we not have the beat? Why do we not know if this is set to the tune of Southern Gospel or a quartet or whatever? And the professor said, God knew that every culture would sing the inspired words in a way that would honor God through their culture. So that's why we don't know what the beat of each one was. We don't know what the rhythm was, but we know what the words are. So just keep in mind, style is always secondary. It's worship God in spirit and in truth. It's divided into five sections. As you'll read the Psalms, you'll see five sections of the book for the 150 Psalms. And there's different authors, and you may want to write this down. This was written over a period of about a thousand years. We have a psalm from Moses, we have psalms from David, we have psalms from Asaph, the sons of Korah, and we have some unknown authors that some scholars believe were around the time of Ezra. So the categories is there are royal psalms that focuses on God as king. He is the king high and lifted up. We have Psalms of Zion, these celebrate Jerusalem. And as we read through the Psalms, let's remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. We have penitential psalms where it's confession and forgiveness, they're pentiness, like God, be merciful to me, blot out my sins, like Psalm 51. We have wisdom psalms that are similar to the book of Proverbs. There are Torah psalms that praise the law of God. So one example for that is Psalm 119, where it's all about the word of the Lord. We have creation and history psalms that celebrate God's marvelous work in creation. I'm reminded of Psalm 139, where God knit us together in our mother's womb, and we celebrate his work in creation. Now, one psalm you may want to write this down, it's called Imprecatory Psalm. Now, what is imprecatory? That is where the psalmist is really angry at the wicked. And they say words that are kind of hostile. You're like, this doesn't sound like the New Testament of turning the other cheek, of loving your neighbor. But keep in mind, Jesus had not come yet. It's looking to the cross. And so when you read the idea behind the imprecatory psalm, they're asking God to judge. They're not taking matters in their own hands. So remember that. So because sometimes you'll be shocked, like, why is this in the Bible? It's it's them giving it to God. God, you move. We have psalms that celebrate the Exodus, and we have praise Psalms, like Psalm 150, it talks about praise the Lord. Let everything that hath breath, praise the Lord, praise ye the Lord. So keep in mind as you read these Psalms, they help you to understand the range of human emotion. So if you're ever depressed, turn to the Psalms. They'll help you to understand that God understands your emotion. He in fact created them. When you're ready to rejoice, God is good, read the Psalms. There's a lot of praise. So today's message I want us to focus in on Psalm 37. And the first truth is this stop living for what you can see. Live for what you can't see. Notice in verse 1, it says, Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the workers of iniquity, for they shall be soon cut down like the grass and wither like the green herb. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him. Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who bring wicked schemes to pass. So how many of you get a little angry and upset? How many of you fret about certain things? If you're like me, there's certain things that can get under my skin. I'll give you one of those. Have you ever been in line at a fast food restaurant? And I'm not going to mention the name of the fast food, but it takes ten minutes, and you're like, I thought this was fast food. Ten minutes I could have, I could have gone to Ingalls, brought it back, and grilled it. So here's the thing: the word fret, I want you to write this down, it means to be heated up. So what the psalmist says is don't be heated up over things that don't really matter. Don't set your mind, don't set your affection on things that are soon to disappear. Set your heart, your mind, and affection on things of the Lord. So in verses 1 through 2, David contrasts the righteous with the wicked. And so I want to paint a picture. Imagine of someone that is lost. Keep in mind, they don't have Christ, but yet they have great prosperity. So imagine a very wealthy man. I want you to picture him. He's there with his hot sports car. And everyone is around him taking selfies and pictures. And, you know, this reminds me back in the day of Leonardo DiCaprio. Everyone thought he was a stuff. What happened to Leonardo now? And he's still around, I guess. But this guy has got it going on. Everyone likes him. But keep in mind, he has great wealth, but he doesn't have Christ. Nothing wrong with having Christ and great wealth. The psalmist is talking about the lost person that's only prospering in this lifetime, not in the one to come. But then something tragically happens. The psalmist, David said, I went by and he was no more. So imagine his funeral. Imagine this prosperous guy that his life withered like the green herb, like the grass, it was soon cut down. Now they're having his funeral. Where are all the paparazzi now? Where's all the adoring fans? His life was soon cut out. It reminds me of the old saying, and maybe this is more in the south. I don't know about the north, but in the south we have this expression have you ever seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul? This is AI generated. So here's the thing: the reason why you don't see a hearse pulling a U-Haul is you cannot what? Take it with you. So as we read Psalm 37, we're reminded: don't focus on that which does not last. Keep your eyes, your focus, your attention on the one who created the heavens and the earth. Live for that which will live on forever. So how do we make God our greatest delight? Well, the second truth is this learn to trust and obey each and every day. How many of you remember the old hymn, trust and obey? For there's no other way to be happy into Jesus than what? To trust and obey. Verse 3, trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land and feed on his faithfulness. So let's keep verse 3 up here. Notice it says, trust in what? Trust in the Lord. If you trust in anyone but the Lord, you're going to get discouraged. If you trust in yourself, you're going to let yourself down. If you trust in others, and what I mean by trust is not that you can't trust people, but you don't trust them in a way that you base your entire life on that person. Because how many of you know all of us will eventually go to be with the Lord? All of us will eventually move on. We can't trust in that which is finite. You have to trust in the Lord. And notice it says, do good. Dwell in the land and feed on his faithfulness. What does it mean to dwell in the land? It means that wherever God has placed you, be faithful. Until God moves you somewhere, you dwell there. You embrace what God has for you. Some of you have moved from other places and now you're here. While God has you here in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, dwell. Settle in, grow roots, and allow God to do what only He can do. Trusting in God is followed by act of obedience. And it brings us to the most one of the most misunderstood verses in the verse in the book of Psalms. Let's look at verse 4. It says, Delight yourself also in the Lord, and he shall what? He shall give you the desires of your heart. Now, how many of you have ever heard this verse like this? If you follow God, if you make God your greatest passion, and you you put some prayers up there, all of a sudden, everything you want is going to happen. How many of you ever heard that? You know, I kind of maybe have taught that way some growing up, and I have to apologize on behalf of all the pastors. We mean well, but sometimes we don't we don't clarify what this verse means. This verse means is that when you make God your greatest delight, when you delight in him more than anything else, guess what? He becomes your greatest desire.

SPEAKER_00 12:06

You've been listening to Pastor Timothy Brown. We'll be right back with the message, but first we'd like to share some exciting news with you. We're releasing Dr. Timothy's new book called Go After Jesus. This book is a fresh approach to discipleship and focuses on your identity in Christ as the launching pad for Christian growth. In Go After Jesus, Pastor Timothy paints the picture of the six identities for every follower of Christ. You are a seeker, a disciple, a friend, a fisherman, a warrior, and a lover. We're currently offering two free chapters of this book as a digital download. To get your free chapters, go to Dr. Timothy's website at drtimothybrown.org. Now let's get back to the rest of the message with Pastor Timothy.

SPEAKER_01 12:50

And when he becomes your greatest desire, those longings in your heart begin to change. So it's not like some of us treat it like this, let me phrase it like some of us treat prayer like a cosmic casino. And if we just put another enough prayers in that little coin slot, pull down the lever, ch-ching, all sevens, God's gonna answer it. Is that how it works? Not necessarily. This verse is saying when God is your greatest delight, when your focus is on him, when he's primary, when you seek first his kingdom, guess what? All of these things shall be added to you. Now that doesn't mean that God won't put desires in your heart that he won't fulfill, but this is not a name it, claim it, will it, deal it, make them fill it. Prosperity gospel verse. Some of us have heard it that way, but it's saying, when you make God primary, guess what? He makes all these things come to pass. Look at the next verse, verse 5. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in him. Now, how many of you have trust issues? Don't have to raise your hand, but some of us do, right? Why do we have trust issues? Because people have broken our trust, right? But when you trust in the Lord, he can work all things. So how do we trust and how do we obey? Well, the Christian wears two shoes. The first shoe is trust. Someone say trust. The second shoe is obey. So I want you guys to get this. When I take a step to trust God, my next step is active obedience. I trust God and then I obey. I trust God and then I follow. Some of us are like taking a step, but we don't trust, so we like stay stuck. Some of us don't trust so we don't step. So the psalmist encourages us with this if you trust in the Lord, you can commit it to Him. You trust and then you obey. So as you take the steps, and let me, whenever you trust and obey, God will move your life forward in faith. When you trust and obey, he moves your life forward. Notice it says, trust also in him. So I want you guys just to soak in this scripture. What does it mean to trust and obey? What does it mean to delight in God and trust that he's going to take care of all of this? If you grew up in church, you've heard the story of George Mueller. George Mueller lived during the 1800s. And he ran an orphanage in London, it was England, actually Bristol, England, not London. But he ran an orphanage. And the problem with this orphanage is sometimes they didn't have enough supplies. And George Mueller did something that was unthinkable. He said, I am not going to ask anybody for support. Now I don't recommend that if you're running a nonprofit, but God told George Mueller to do it. So he's like, I'm just going to trust God and we're going to pray. It's that trust and obey thing. I'm just going to trust him. So one morning, all the orphans sat around the breakfast table. And get this, they prayed thanksgiving prayer. They said, God, thank you that even though there's no food in the pantry, we thank you that you will provide. Soon as they said amen, just a few moments later, they got a knock on the door. Guess what? It was the local baker. And he said, You guys won't believe this, but the Lord led me to bake more bread. I just felt led to bake bread. Could you guys use some loaves of bread? Boy, could we use some loaves of bread. So they had bread, and that was a great start. A few minutes later, another knock on the door. It was the local milkman. And back in those days in the 1800s, they had milk carts. So his cart had broken down. And he's like, listen, this milk is going to spoil out here in the hot sun. Could you guys use some milk? What do you think the orphan said? Boy, could we. And George Mueller's life was one miracle after another because he trusted in the Lord and he made God his greatest delight, and God provided for all of his needs. This reminds me of Proverbs 3, 5, and 6. Many of you have committed this to memory. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths. So remember the two shoes of the Christian faith. Trust and obey. Trust and obey, for there's no other way. If you want to move forward in faith, you must what? Trust and obey. Alright, how do we make God our greatest delight? Number three, keep doing the next right thing and leave the results to God. In verse 5, it continues, the last part of verse 5, and he shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light and your justice as the noonday. So whenever you commit it to God and say, God, I'm just going to do the next right thing. I don't know all that's ahead. I don't know the whole path ahead. But just like a lantern, you hold it out, you have enough light for the next step and then the next step. You get the picture. Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light to my path. God doesn't often give you a laser beam where you see all down the path. He gives you just enough light often for the next step and then the next step. And the scripture says that when you trust in God, notice what back to Psalm 37, what happens? He brings forth your righteousness as the light. So right now, some of you are walking in dark times. And scripture says if you just keep taking the next right steps, eventually, though you're in darkness, one day you will see the light. The light will come on. Winston Churchill once said, if you're going through hell, don't stop. Keep going to the other side. And he says, Your righteousness as the light and your justice as the noon day, what is your justice? Some of you have had life not treat you fairly. Some of your parents didn't teach you this, but life is not fair, right? But growing up, all our kids said, That's not fair, that's not fair. Well, I'm sorry, life's not fair, but God is just. And he doesn't always reward you in this lifetime, but in the end, when you stand before him, he's always going to work it out for his glory and for your greater good. Number four, the fourth truth. And this is one of my favorite ones from the Psalms. We need to replace striving for striding. I'll say that again. We need to replace striving for striding. Look at verse 7. Rest in the Lord. You note if it's not in the Lord, it's hard to rest. But if it's in the Lord, you can rest. And wait patiently for Him. How many patient waiters do we have? Most of us are inpatient waiters, right? We're just like, we live in a pop-top, ziplock microwave generation. We want it now, right? I can't wait. Amazon one day, two-day delivery, I need it one day, right? I don't want to drive to the store. That would take too long. Give it to me now. Do not fret. There's that word fret. It means to be heated up. And I have to remind you in 2024, the political season, it's easy to get heated up. Listen, pray about who's going to be the next president. Pray for elected officials, but don't get heated up about temporary things. Set your eyes on that which is forever. It doesn't mean you're not involved in politics. It doesn't mean you're not involved in the things of this world. But don't get heated up over temporary things. Ouch, that sues down our culture right now. Don't fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the wicked man who brings wicked schemes to pass. Cease from anger, forsake wrath, do not fret. It only causes harm. So how many of you are waiting for God to move in a situation right now? I think most of us could raise our hands. How many of you are striving? Now, what is striving? Striving is when you, by intense effort, try to do it on your own through hard work, through hustle, through intense effort. And here's the thing there's nothing wrong with a little hustle. There's nothing wrong with a little hard work, but some of you are doing it so hard and so long without any rest that you feel burned out. Striding is to have this walk that's in rhythm. It's to have this pace. It's to have steps of confidence in God's plan. Long, decisive steps with a sense of purpose. So here's what the psalmist is saying. Listen, when you look around at people, it's easy to fret. When you look around and you see what's going on in our world, when you watch the news, when you turn on the TV, it's easy. To fret. But when you look at the Lord and when you trust in him, God gives you an opportunity. You can exchange striving for striding. Striving produces anxiety, stress, depression, burnout. If you're doing it on your own, in your own strength. But when you stride, it produces this holy confidence that God is with me, that God is for me, that He has a plan. And life is not just a sprint, but it's also a marathon. And I can rest along the way. I can Sabbath along the way. I can trust that God's got a greater plan even when I'm in pain. Amen. So it brings the why question. Some of you are like, Timothy, you've answered the what, right? We gotta wait, and God's timing's different. But have you ever asked the question, why? Why is God's timing so much different than yours? Why did the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer? Why is God still not answering my prayer? I've waited on him so long. Why, God? I want to give you seven reasons why God's timing is different than yours, and I want to make this personal to you.

SPEAKER_00 23:17

We're glad you joined us on today's edition of Truth for Transformation with Pastor Timothy Brown. We're working our way through the Book of Psalms, the original collection of worship music. God knows how music can connect people to his heart. It can take us from knowing something about God into a place of knowing him deeply. It connects the mind to the heart. The Psalms are an amazing how-to for worshiping God. You'll find calls to lift your hands, clap, bow down, sing, shout, and even dance. When did you last see dancing in church? Also, the psalms show us a wide array of what we can pray and sing to God about. We can celebrate God for his greatness, and we can call out and lament, asking God to deliver us. Sometimes we think we can't tell God how we really feel, but the Psalms show us that God can handle all our emotions. There are even psalms that call for God to bring justice against Israel's enemies. We hope today's message has led you closer to God. If you'd like to share your thoughts with us, ask a question, or just say hello, please find us on social media at Dr. Timothy Brown Ministries. You can also find us online at drtimothybrown.org, where you can connect and learn more about our ministry. Remember, it's through your support that this ministry is possible. Your giving fuels the mission. And being on mission for God is so important. To give, go to drtimothybrown.org. Thank you again for joining us on Truth for Transformation.