Psalm 37 Outline

I got to teach Sunday School this morning at church, and this is my outline.

Psalm 37

"Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like grass, and wither as the green herb..." Psalm 37:1-40

Introduction

Two persistent temptations plague the righteous. The first is the temptation to envy the wicked for their apparent success. The second is like it, and is the temptation to shrink back from God's promises because of the trials we see the righteous going through. Not surprisingly, these two temptations are both the result of the same spiritual short-sightedness- the failure to consider the way of the righteous and the wicked in their entireties. To put it another way, these temptations come when we fail to see and understand the story that God is writing.

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The Temptation to Envy

One of the strongest temptations the righteous can have is to see the apparent success of the wicked and envy. All around us, the wicked prosper and succeed in evil schemes. So you might be tempted to ask yourself, "Why bother with the difficulties of righteousness? What good is my righteousness doing me?" But when we learn to step back and take the long view of things, it all comes into perspective. Evildoers will be cut off and will be no more. God fattens them up, then cuts them down.

And this can all be understood if you think of it as story. In good stories, the bad guys are strong. Weak bad guys are no fun. In good stories, you have to keep reading to find out how it's going to end up. One chapter stories are no fun. In good stories, things look bleak and hopeless at times for the good guys. Easy stories are no fun. And in good stories, the good guys win. Postmodern stories are no fun, unless you’re on the wrong side.

The Temptation to Shrink Back

The second temptation addressed here is just as much a snare for us. This is the temptation to shrink back from God’s promises. The devil whispers to us "Did God really say that He would give you a glorious ending to your story?" And you ought to remember that line from another story. So answer him this way: those that wait upon the Lord shall inherit the earth. In a similar way, God promises you the desires of your heart, establishment and peace, public vindication, abundant prosperity, and deliverance from all your trials. And in case you missed it, He will exalt you to inherit the earth.

Now of course these are not automatic promises- they’re for the meek. So what is meekness? Meekness is characterized by a refusal to worry, envy, and get angry. It is characterized by a joyful patience, rejoicing, by good works and generosity, graciousness, peacefulness and justice. And most importantly, it is characterized by a deep and abiding trust that God will deliver His people. The meek man refuses to listen to the devil, and trusts that God has a good ending for his story.

A Word on Authorship

I've tried to show you to this point how we're in a story, and it goes without saying that a story (at least a good story) has to have an Author. And accepting this means nothing less that full-fledged Calvinism. Don't get caught on the word if it's a problem, but remember that if you don't have an Author who's putting together all the details, then you’re stuck in a "tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." Or so said some fictional character.

So keep this in mind when your trials and struggles come. God sends you trials because He wants you to learn how stories work. And that means accepting the plot twists He gives you now in thankfulness. It means putting aside anger towards Him and His story. It means quitting your worrying and frantic working to try to fix things. It means joyfulness and resting, even in the dark times. And all these things are possible only if you remember that wherever your at now, its not the end of the story.

Plot Devices

God stories also have a number of recurring themes that He loves to use. We call these plot devices. A plot device is a person or object introduced into the story by the author to keep you interested in the story until the climax. And God has a few favorites. He loves rags-to-riches stories (v. 16). Or as Jesus put it, blessed are the poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God. He loves happy endings (v. 4-5). Stories with happy endings are traditional stories, and they are also godly stories. God loves to catch the wicked in the trap that they have laid for the righteous (v. 15). This was the downfall of wicked Haman, and Satan himself. And in every story God tells, things look bad until He shows up at the end to work the miraculous deliverance (v. 40). You've heard that God wants to get all the glory; this is how He does it- by saving you.

Knowing Your Place in the Story

By default, we all see ourselves as protagonists in our own stories. You can always arrange the facts of the story you're in to suit your own conclusions. But part of the Spirit's work in our lives is learning how to see ourselves in relation to the story God is writing. So use this Psalm as a diagnostic tool for your lives- are you the kind of character that readers rejoice to see saved at the end of the story? Are you the kind of character that makes the reader slap his forehead in consternation? Or are you the kind of character that the protagonist is rescued from in the conclusion?

The Secret Places of Sinnemahoning

From Pete Bennett's homepage, The Secret Places of Sinnemahoning:

Another place that mystified me was “Turtle Rock”. Now you may think I have rocks somewhere up there, but there is a large rock that is located up in Grove Run that has a large turtle carved upon it. Now you’ll forget the rocks you think I have, when I tell you that the international sign for buried treasure is a turtle carved on a rock. Every treasure hunter such as myself knows that! It is said that the head of the turtle was supposed to point to the treasure. Well, I’ll tell you one thing right now, it’s not pointing at the gold bars buried in Hicks Run! Darn thing faces the wrong way! Looks to me like it might be pointing at Kentucky. Fort Knox, KY maybe!

Sticking with the rocks, there is a place up in Ellicotts Run that’s known as “Visal’s Cave”. Ever heard of it? Well, this one takes a lot of imagination too. It’s said that back in the olden days there was a hermit, named Visal who, had a long beard and lived in the cave which was located between two large rocks up there. He only was seen occasionally, out gathering food and water. Now! Try your imagination out again and imagine why old Visal wasn’t seen too often was because he slept a lot. I’m telling you, I’ve seen this cave! I’ve been there. It seemed we all started seeing him after we read that book, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”. Now that I’ve said that your not going to believe there’s really a place called Visal’s Cave. Right? All I can say is to ask anyone who’s lived or lives there. Go ahead, ask me!

Central Pennsylvania Travelogue: Fields Run Trail

Name: Fields Run Trail
Location: Sproul State Forest, Centre County, Pennsylvania
Date: Saturday, December 30, 2006
Click on any of the pictures for a closeup.

Between Karthaus in Clearfield County and Renovo in Clinton County, a number of streams drain the highlands of the Allegheny Plateau into the West Branch of the Susquehanna River. These streams start from springs in the rocks at the top of the plateau and then fall over 1300 feet to the river through gorgeous canyons. The rugged terrain makes access very difficult, making these stream beds excellent places for a wilderness hike.

One of those streams is Fields Run. Falling to the West Branch on its southeastern shore from Centre County, Fields Run starts near SR 144 in Burnside Township, and falls approximately 1400 feet to the West Branch near the ghost town of Birch. It is paralleled by the Fields Run Trail, an old logging road cleared near the turn of the century. The trail is completely unmarked, and almost completely overgrown for the first 1.5 miles. Later, it provides access for a number of small camps and cabins and shows signs of occasional vehicular use.

The stream is small for the first mile an a half, winding through intermittent patches of mountain laurel and hemlocks. This is excellent territory to find the Ruffed Grouse, the official bird of Pennsylvania. This game bird is about the size of a chicken and dwells on the ground, eating berries, seeds and insects. They can fly with great speed and take off at the last moment, surprising the unwary hunter with the rush of their wings. This headwater area of Fields Run is also the most likely place to see the whitetail deer or a wild turkey. I once came face to face with a Great Horned Owl in a tight patch of pines here.

After the first mile and a half, the trail widens and meets another coming from the top of the ridge. Here is the first camp along the trail, the Fields Run Camp. This is the prototypical Pennsylvania hunting cabin, approximately fifteen feet square, with outhouse and deer pole. Directly below this camp, and picture to the right are the remains of an old splash dam, a logger's contraption designed to float a timber harvest to the river by flooding a small valley and "splashing" the logs downstream. The old dam and the logging trail in the creek bottom are the only remaining signs that logging ever took place here.

From here, the path drops another 1100 feet over five miles as the valley sides get higher and steeper. Large boulders like the one on the left jut from the hillside, and cracks behind them and along the cliffs run back into the mountainsides. Who knows, perhaps there are even larger cave openings higher up the valleyside. Meanwhile, the stream gets larger and larger, being fed by several small drafts along the way, including Bog Ore Run, Burnt Shanty Run and Gaines Run. Tannic acid from leaves in the headwaters gives the stream a dusky color and reflects beautifully at times over the loose stony stream bottom.

At six miles on the trail, the stream bottom opens up for half a mile before meeting the West Branch. The Gaines Trail drops down from Fields Ridge Road on the western ridge to several camps at the mouth of the creek. The Gaines Trail Camp, pictured here, sits on small piece of private property at the stream's mouth, accessible from the Gaines Trail via four wheel drive. The Gaines Trail leads back to the top of the ridge and the Fields Ridge Road, which provides a beautiful overlook of the river, facing to the west.

The river cuts quite a gorge in this section as well. Here you can see the mouth of Fields Run and Yost Ridge, the eastern wall of the Fields Run Valley. This segment of the river is excellent for a canoe trip, with access points upstream in Karthaus and Rolling Stone and downstream in Keating and Renovo. Between Karthaus and Keating the river is only accessible by road or trail in a half dozen spots, making for a very lonely journey.

Lost Indian Silver Mine

In the spring of 1825, a man by the name of J.T. Groves was visiting the cabin of Thomas Burns when a party of four Indians stopped to trade their canoes for food, picks and shovels.

As the Indians proceeded on foot up stream, Burns watched and grinned. He knew that he had gotten the better of the deal.

Several days later, the four Indians returned to Burns' cabin to buy back their canoes. He and Groves were even more surprised with this trade than the first. The Indians had offered a small bag of silver ore for their canoes and food and lodging for the night.

The Indians had several more heavily laden sacks in their possession. While the Indians were asleep, Groves checked their sacks and found them filled with silver ore of a very high quality.

In the morning, the Indians were long-gone before Burns and Groves awoke, but Groves was one of the best trackers in the county. He took their tracks up the Susquehanna River as far as Birch Island Run. It was there that he lost the trail, when the tracks led into the river.

He searched the riverbanks on both sides without success. He searched the river for miles. He even went up Birch Island Run until it was too dark to see.

There were no tracks leading out of the river, and at that time of year, the Susquehanna was too low and difficult to pole a canoe upstream. The Indians did a good job hiding their trail from the tracker.

A few years later, Groves returned to the same area with his son and searched from Birch Island to Spruce Run. They even went up Moores Run, Bougher Run and the Little Bougher Run, but they were unsuccessful at discovering any trace of the Indian Silver Mine.

From Legends of Clearfield County by Melvin G. Lingle, published by the author, 2004.

A Typical Hoover

From the preface to the Huber-Hoover History, this helpful photo:

Now That's a Good Question

The doctrine of accommodation (which is rife in the tradition, as basic to Thomas as to Calvin) says: When God speaks in His natural voice, He speaks like a philosopher. He speaks like a poet in Scripture because He's dumbing it down for humans imprisoned in a sensible world.

Scripture, however, indicates that God's natural voice is that of a poet.

If Scripture speaks in poetry rather than philosophy, how could anyone have ever discovered that God's natural voice is philosophical?

Dr. Peter Leithart, Philosopher or Poet

The Cremation of Sam McGee

Check out this reading of Robert Service's The Cremation of Sam McGee. Sorry about the link- the owner of the video turned off the embedding feature.

More on Robert Service here. His poetry is indexed here. My favorite is The Ballad of the Northern Lights. Enjoy!