Do not fret!
“Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; … Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret--it leads only to evil” (Psalms 37:1, 7, 8).
During the Friday morning prayer meeting yesterday, I was thinking again while meditating on the word based on Psalms 33:11 under the heading of “Even if my plan doesn’t work”: ‘The reason I am dissatisfied with my heart is because I don't trust God completely.’ When I think about what I get angry and discourage when my plan doesn’t work, I think the reason is because I'm not entirely trusting God even though I say it with my mouth. With that thought in mind, I began reading from Psalms 37 to 41, the words that I supposed to read for today’s morning prayer meeting yesterday evening. As I was doing so, the phrase “Do not fret …” (Ps. 37:1), “… do not fret …” (v. 7) and “… do not fret …” (v. 8) caught my attention. I thought about why the psalmist David prayed to God three times, proclaiming to his soul, ‘Don't fret’ (vv. 1, 7, 8). Then, during today Saturday’s morning prayer meeting, after proclaiming the word of God based on the words of Psalms 37:1-11, I am sitting down in my shepherd's room and meditating this passage again and writing down. I tried to set the title of the meditation "Don't fret!"
The Bible Psalms 37:1, 7, 8 are telling us three times not to fret. In other words, the Bible tells us not to envious of those evil men and those who do wrong (v. 1) when we see them succeeding in their ways (v. 7). When I was meditating on this, the words of Psalms 73 came to my mind again. The reason is because before an elder died many years ago he asked me ‘Why the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper?’ and then God made me to meditate on Psalms 73 and gave me the answer to the elder’s question. So whenever I meditate on the subject of ‘the wicked's prosperity,’ Psalms 73 comes to my mind. That's because Asaph, the psalmist, was jealous of the arrogant when he saw the prosperity of the wicked (Ps. 73:1). When Asap saw the wicked, who have no struggles, their bodies are healthy and strong (v. 4), are free from the burdens common to man (v. 5) and their minds know no limits (v. 7), his feet had almost slipped (v. 2) because he envied the arrogant (v. 3). In particular, when Asaph saw the wicked being always carefree and increase in wealth (v. 12), he even said, “Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence” (v. 13). When we Christians see the righteous suffer, and the wicked prosperous, we can envy the wicked, like Asaph or David. Not only can we be envious of the wicked, we can even see and rage against prosperous wicked people (37:8). And we can complain and fret enough in dissatisfaction (vv. 1, 7, 8). But in Psalms 37:1, 7, 8, the Bible clearly tells us three times ‘Do not fret’. Why is that? The reason is because fret leads only to evil (v. 8). In other words, since we envy the wicked because we saw their prosperity, we must not fret because fret will lead us to commit sin against God. Also, the reason we should not fret when we see the wicked’s prosperity is because the wicked will be cut off quickly (37:2, 9, 22, 28, 34, 36, 38). The wicked will be cut off quickly like the grass that will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away (v. 2). In Psalms 73, the psalmist Asaph realized this only when he entered the sanctuary of God (v. 17). What did he realize? It is the final destiny of the wicked (v. 17). What is the final destiny of the wicked? It is ruin (v. 18). The final destiny of the wicked is sudden destruction (v. 19). As a dream when one awakes, so when we arise, we will despise them as fantasies (v. 20).
The evil men will surely be cut off (Ps. 37:9). Those wicked whom the Lord curses and their offspring will be cut off (vv. 22, 28). Also, the future of the wicked will be cut off (v. 38). We will clearly see the wicked will be cut off (v. 34). So we should not complain and fret when we see the wicked are prosperous and be envious of them. Instead, what should we do? First, we must trust God (v. 3). And we must dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness (v. 3). Also, we must delight ourselves in the Lord (v. 4). Then He will give us the desires of our hearts (v. 4). We must commit our ways to the Lord (v. 5). If we trust in the Lord, He will do it (v. 5). We need to rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him (v. 7). The reason is because we are the ones who wait for the Lord (v. 9). And we must be humble (v. 11) and blameless (v. 37). Then we will inherit the land and will delight ourselves in abundant prosperity (v. 11).
Not wanting to live a life of disobedience to the Word of God in complaining and fret,
James Kim
(Rather wanting to trust in the Lord and be satisfied with Him alone and live a life of thanksgiving in all circumstance again to Heavenly Father)