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!