Do Not Fret
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Psalm 37:1-11
1. Fret not yourself because of the wicked, be not envious of wrongdoers! 2. For they will soon fade like the grass, and wither like the green herb. 3. Trust in the Lord, and do good; so you will dwell in the land, and enjoy security. 4. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. 6. He will bring forth your vindication as the light, and your right as the noonday. 7. Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over him who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! 8. Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. 9. For the wicked shall be cut off; but those who wait for the Lord shall possess the land. 10. Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look well at his place, he will not be there. 11. But the meek shall possess the land, and delight themselves in abundant prosperity.
Psalm 37 begins with one of my “favorite” words. Fret is to worry and fuss and fume and not “let it go.” Fretting is not like anger—it’s more insidious than that. It sneaks up on us and has the potential to invade our thoughts—and worse our actions. It makes us “snippy” and colors our view of how things should be working in the world. Fretting is the opposite of trusting God.
It’s pretty easy to fret just living in the world these days! There seems to be so much evil, sin, so much prosperity for the corrupt, so much gain for the dishonest, so much success for those who lie and cheat! But David is cautioning us not to fret over all that. He tells us to be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him. Trust that God has a plan for our good. Our future as God-fearing, good, just, honest, gentle, loving believers is secure—no matter what happens here on earth!
No matter how things may seem, we must believe that God will deal with each of us according to how we live our lives. If we waste our time and energy worrying about what someone else deserves, we potentially lose an opportunity to demonstrate our own righteousness and faith! David is saying, focus on yourself, on what you know to be right and good and true. God will take care of the rest. Look around this world—there’s plenty to do to make things right—and fretting about those who don’t see things as we do, is not the way to do it!
Take delight in the Lord. Trust in Him. Commit your way to Him. Fret not yourself. Don’t let your hard feelings smolder and smoke and for heaven’s sake, stop adding fuel to the fire! Take delight in the Lord. Trust in Him. Commit your way to Him. Maybe if we say those three phrases over and over again, they can become like a mantra for us! Next time we’re irritated, aggravated, righteously indignant—we’ll fret not—we’ll think of all the ways God has blessed us, of all the joy and peace we’ll experience in heaven, we’ll try to imagine eternal life! Make it about how we measure up—and we won’t have the time or energy to worry about anybody else!
I hope you spend your day fretting not, delighting and trusting in the Lord and committing your way to Him.
Mary
