Trust in the Lord, and do good;
so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
Delight thyself also in the Lord:
and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Commit thy way unto the Lord;
trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
Psalm 37: 3-5 KJV
I regularly read the Psalms, and like other parts of the Bible sometimes a familiar passage seems brand new, like Psalm 37 this week. This time through I started counting the commands. There are 15 in the first 11 verses, including “fret not yourself” three times!
Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity… v.1
Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself... v7.
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself... v8.
Trust in the LORD, do good, dwell in the land, befriend faithfulness, delight yourself in the LORD, commit your way to the LORD, be still before the LORD, wait patiently for him, fret not yourself, refrain from anger, forsake wrath…fret not yourself.
What if I developed a habit of trusting in the Lord? What if I had an “attitude of gratitude” and humility, meekness? Well, verse 11 says, “the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.”
Jesus said in Matthew 5:5, in the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the land”, and our Lord has a long section (6:25-34) of this life-changing sermon on not worrying, of “fretting not”.
What am I worried about? This psalm teaches me once again that I can give whatever it is to the Lord, I can commit myself and delight myself in Jesus, and perhaps even come into that promised land of peace.
Frank
