Do Not Fret

Psalms 37:1-11 (NKJV)

¹ A Psalm of David. Do not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity. 

² For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, And wither as the green herb. 

³ Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. 

⁴ Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. 

⁵ Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. 

⁶ He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday. 

⁷ 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 brings wicked schemes to pass. 

⁸ Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret--it only causes harm. 

⁹ For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the Lord, They shall inherit the earth. 

¹⁰ For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more; Indeed, you will look carefully for his place, But it shall be no more.

¹¹ But the meek shall inherit the earth, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. 

Intro: As we look and listen to the people around us, we see people that live as they want; they are arrogant, rude and never recognize that God exists. They seem to prosper. If we aren’t careful we begin to envy them and begin to fret and be troubled at what we see. God has a word for us His people.

37:1. Do not fret because of evildoers. This psalm begins with the first great lesson on how to live in light of the wicked who prosper around us. That lesson is, Fret not. Don’t agonize, be troubled or concerned. It would not be a sin for one who only knows God as Creator to fret, be worried, troubled or concerned. They doubt God’s love and purposes for them. But we who know Jesus as our Savior and Lord, We know God as our Father, for us to fret and doubt God’s purpose and saving power and tender love is wrong indeed. The verses that follow explain that we, God’s people, are in a much better position than the wicked.

V:2. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass. As the book of Job says, “the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment” (Job 20:5). Why should God’s righteous children be envious of that? What’s the sure cure for fretting?

V:3. Trust in the Lord. Have confidence and dependence on God. If you are concerned with those around you who live wickedly and prosper, here is the second lesson that the psalmist would teach us. The cure for fretting is faith. Regardless of the circumstances around us, we must still trust in the Lord. But there is more, and do good. True faith always produces good works. A faith that trusts in the Lord will find active outlet. And feed on His faithfulness. We feed our mind and spirit with God’s promises to us. The Good Shepherd is always present to care for His sheep. He is ever faithful. Feed on this thought, and you will fret not. V:4. Delight yourself also in the Lord. Means have pleasure and joy in the Lord. Here is the third lesson we must learn. If we make the Lord God the object of our affection, His word our meditation, and then our activity, then we will find ourselves rejoicing in the Spirit. Evildoers delight in their position in this world; but as a child of God, if you delight in yours, you will never envy theirs. And He shall give you the desires of your heart. When we find pleasure in the Lord God, we will then be rewarded with our innermost desires; we will have all that God intends for us to have.

VS:5–6. Commit your way unto the Lord. The psalmist now teaches us a fourth lesson in understanding why the wicked apparently prosper while we are afflicted. To have that peace and understanding, we must cast ourselves and our lives unreservedly upon God, yield ourselves wholly to Him, and cultivate the habit of placing our lives in His hands. There can be no better medicine to dispel envy and fretting. And He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light. If the prosperity of the wicked causes us to fret, we can always be assured that God will ultimately make things right. Our righteous living will be brought to light. Our justice, honesty and integrity will shine bright as the noonday sun.

V:7. And now the fifth lesson that the psalmist would teach: Rest- [relax] in the Lord, and wait patiently for him. Wait patiently does not mean inactivity, but literally, this means to be silent, not to murmur as you wait for God to move. That is, do not make any complaint when the wicked prosper around us. To fulfill this lesson requires a special unction of grace. We must trust and recognize that God is fully in control of the situation and simply wait for Him to work it out to our good and His glory. Synchronize your life with His timetable, and you will have learned how this lesson well.

VS:8–10. In these verses is God’s  advice concerning the inheritance of the wicked, as opposed to the inheritance of the righteous. As we cease fretting about those who prosper around us and forsake our wrath and anger, we can see more clearly that evildoers shall be cut off. Those who are evildoers will certainly, sooner or later, be cut down, as the grass of the field. Although we may only partially see this prophecy fulfilled in our lifetime, it will find its complete fulfillment in “…Revelation 20:11-15 (NKJV)
¹¹ Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. ¹² And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. ¹³ The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. ¹⁴ Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
¹⁵ And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. The wicked shall be thrown into the lake of fire. The next verse tells us what will happen to God’s righteous people.

V:11. But the meek shall inherit the earth. This prophecy was reiterated by the Lord Jesus.                                               Matthew 5:5 (NKJV) ⁵ Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth.

Meek; means to have a strong, but tender and humble, life. It is a strong yet teachable spirit. It is not being weak, bowing or spineless. It is a person who is strong, very strong, yet is humble and tender. It is a person with all the emotions and ability to take and conquer, but is able to control himself. It is discipline—a person disciplined because he is God-controlled. Revelation 20:6 (NKJV) ⁶ Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.                    And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. There may not be an abundance of peace now on this earth, but an abundance of peace is ours when we fret not and trust God. We relax in Him and wait for Him to move. We God’s righteous people do not have to fret. The wicked face God’s judgment and we will inherit the earth and we shall forever delight ourselves in the abundance of peace as we rule and reign with Christ.

Invitation: Have you ever trusted the Jesus to save your soul? Romans 3:23 says we have all fallen short of God’s glory. Have you ever confessed your sins and asked Jesus to forgive you? If not you will never have peace and you will never enter God’s kingdom. Why won’t you do that now in the privacy of your own home, office, or wherever you are reading this? You don’t want to put it off. Death is certain, and Hell is hot!

A Prayer For You

I pray God will bless all those who visit this page. This webpage is designed to bring you closer to God. He alone brings us the joy and contentment that we all seek. May you discover more wisdom and knowledge of God as you read these articles. And may you experience Him more and more in your daily lives.

From Old to New

John 2:1-11 (NKJV) 

¹ On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 

² Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. 

³ And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine." 

⁴ Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come." 

⁵ His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it."

⁶ Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. 

⁷ Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water." And they filled them up to the brim. 

⁸ And He said to them,"Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast." And they took it.

⁹ When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. 

¹⁰ And he said to him, "Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!"  

¹¹ This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him. 

This is the first miracle or sign of seven John would record in his gospel account. Jesus used this wedding to reveal His glory which was His power over nature, death, sin, and who He was, the promised Messiah. His mission, to change old spiritually dead men into new born again saints. By this miracle Jesus would demonstrate He was sent from God to save mankind.

I. The wedding reminds us of our relationship with Jesus. When we were saved, We became betrothed to Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:2 (NKJV) For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. Romans 7:4 (NKJV) Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another--to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. We are spiritually united as one with Christ.

II. The wedding reminds us of the bride price Jesus paid for us to be His bride. 1 Peter 1:18-19 (NKJV) ¹⁸ knowing that you were not redeemed, [payed for, bought back from satan], with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

III. The marriage celebration reminds us of our celebration to come at the marriage of the Lamb when our marriage to Jesus will be consummated or finalized. Revelation 19:7 (NKJV) Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready."                                                                       IV. The 6 water pots symbolized the O.T. Covenant of law and works. Man's attempts to work his way to God thru the keeping of 10 commandments. A covenant that they could not keep. The water pots were for Ceremonial cleansing and remind us of man's attempt to please God from outward cleansing and appearance. The Ten Commandments were given to show all mankind the impossibility of their efforts to please God. There must be a heart change to please God and the turning of water into wine symbolizes that change that can only be brought about by the power of Jesus Christ at salvation. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

The new wine symbolizes the joy salvation brings and the new wine symbolizes the blood which Jesus shed to purchase the new covenant. Just as Jesus changed the elements of water to wine, Jesus changes a mans spirit from lost to saved, from the old man dead in sin to a new man alive in the spirit. It changes a man's spirit form fleshly, worldly thinking to spiritual and heavenly thinking. Jesus changes mankind’s direction from hell to heaven. As the new wine brought joy, Jesus brings joy to our spirit and soul. Just as wine was used to affirm marriage covenant between husband and wife, it also affirms the covenant between Jesus and us. We celebrate and affirm that covenant each time we participate in Lord's Supper.      V. In verse 10 the new wine Jesus made was better than the old aged wine. God saved the best for last and we are recipients of that new covenant which we celebrated every time we observe communion or the "Lord's Supper."                                                                        VI. The new covenant of grace we have with God through the blood of Jesus, is much better than the old covenant of law which no one could keep and was broken time and time again by the Jews. God gave the old covenant first to show mankind they could not please Him by their efforts to keep His laws and to turn them to the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. God promised to change that old covenant in Jeremiah 31:31-33 (NKJV) 

³¹ "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah-- ³² not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. ³³ But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

VII. In performing this miracle of changing water into wine, Jesus was saying that He was the One thru which the new covenant would come. By His Holy Spirit that comes in at rebirth, God would put His law in their minds and hearts. His Spirit would speak directly to our minds and hearts. This miracle was the beginning of many more that Jesus would perform while on this earth.

Many have wondered why Jesus would “waste” his powers on performing a miracle of providing wine for a wedding feast, a party. But all of Jesus’ miracles had a purpose beyond alleviating suffering; they were a display of his glory. The miracles recorded in John’s Gospel (and indeed all the miracles recorded by the other Gospel writers) demonstrated God’s great love for people and his concern for their individual needs. But on a deeper level, Jesus’ unique, divine nature was portrayed in such a way as to claim our loyalty and reverence. The sign of turning water into wine was a partial unveiling of Jesus’ full identity. His power over nature, death, sin, and evil revealed him to be the promised Messiah.

The One who would bring mankind forgiveness of their sins and change mankind from an old sinner to a new saint.

INVITATION: John says that when the disciples saw the miracle, they believed in him. God may confront us in any number of ways with our need to believe in his Son. We will be held accountable for whether or not we have believed. Have you believed what God says about His Son? Have you asked Jesus to forgive you and have you invited Him into your heart to take charge of your life? If not, now is the time. Today is the day of salvation to all who will believe.