Psalm 37:7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
You Have a Choice
Sometimes it is hard to know who real, the person we shake hands with or that same person on social media. Sometimes I can be discouraged because people we think we know in person portray themselves as something very different on screen. In any event, it is very easy to look at people and be discouraged by what we see, by how wickedness seems to prosper, and by how people seem to be getting by with doing wrong. This is nothing new. There has always been a struggle between fret and faith. In fact, this is something with which David himself struggled.
The Bible says, “Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.” Verse 7 says the same thing, “Fret not.” Verse 8 says again, “Fret not.” What he is saying is that we are not to be stressed, frazzled, or fretting over people.
Fret is putting our focus on other people in a way that is not healthy. Nothing good can possibly come when I compare myself to others. That is particularly true when I see people who are not doing right and who seem to be getting by with it. That can be very discouraging, but the Bible says, “Fret not.”
So you can fret, but there is a better way. That way is faith. Verse 7 says, “Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.”
Faith is a focus on God. I can look at others and fret, or I can look to God in faith. Notice the synonym for faith in verse 7 is the word “rest.” That is a beautiful word. The weight is off my legs and the burden is off my shoulders as I roll that burden onto the Lord. Verse 5 tells us to “commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring in to pass.”
I am to rest in the Lord. Then the Bible says to wait patiently. Now all of us wait, but waiting patiently is a horse of a different color. When I am asleep at night I am resting, and I am waiting patiently for the alarm clock to go off. This is in contrast to the waiting I do when I am in a doctor’s office and I am nervously tapping my foot, waiting for him to come.
Today, you can fret or you can faith. You can look at others and be frazzled or you can look at the Lord and put your faith and dependence upon Him. That’s the way to live today. Faith oftentimes looks like waiting, and you can wait patiently because He will not let you down. The Bible says, “He is their strength in the time of trouble… because they trust in him.”