One of my favorite chapters in the Bible is Psalm 37 – I especially like verse 4-6 – Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord and He will do this – He will cause your righteousness to shine like the dawn and the justice of your cause like the noonday sun! What promises! However, as I was reading Psalm 37 today, the word FRET stuck out to me. It is mentioned three times; verse 1, 7 and 8.

Ps. 37:1 Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; 7 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. 8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.

Three times the Lord is telling us DO NOT FRET. First he says not to fret when the wicked succeed in their ways – basically because it’s only temporary and they will get their just reward. But the third time it says Do Not Fret – it caught my attention because it says “it leads only to evil”. Verse 9 goes on to say this – 9 For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.

Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret – it leads only to evil. God is saying that when we fret because of the prosperity of the wicked, it will make us angry and lead us to evil. That makes me wonder how. After all, God loves justice so we as Christians love justice too. Justice is when the “bad guy gets caught” and the good guy is blessed right? But – that is God’s job and it is NOT for us to worry about or be concerned with. I looked up the word fret in the dictionary and here is what I found:

FRET: to feel or express worry, annoyance, discontent, to torment; irritate, annoy, or vex; to cause corrosion; gnaw into something: acids that fret at the strongest metals.; to wear away or consume by gnawing, friction, rust, corrosives, etc……..ahh, who or what does that sound like?

One of Satan’s names is tormentor. He loves to irritate, annoy and vex your spirit. Could it be that when we fret, especially since we have NO control, we give him place in our lives? In Ephesians 4:27 it says and do not give the devil a foothold. A foothold is a place that you look for when you are trying to climb something – a way to get where you want. Also, notice that it says that fretting causes corrosion, an acid that frets the strongest metals, to wear away by gnawing, friction, corrosives, etc. What is it that a child of God is to put on every day? The whole Armor of God. The helmet of salvation, the shield of faith, shodding our feet with the gospel of peace, girding our loins with truth, the breastplate of righteousness, and the sword of the Spirit. When we fret, it allows our armor to be corroded, worn away and rusted, it causes our minds to be vexed and our souls to be irritated and tormented. This is NOT the plan of God!

Isaiah 26:3 says – He will keep you in perfect peace if you mind is upon Him. Philippians 4:8 says whatever is true, noble, praiseworthy, lovely, beautiful, of a good report THINK ON THESE THINGS. Joshua 1:8 says do not let the book of the law depart form you mouth but meditate on it day and night and you will be successful! Even Jesus Himself said – can you add one day to your life by worrying? We have got to learn to cast our care! Cast your care upon the Lord for He cares for you. What do you do when a sinful person you work with gets the promotion you deserve? Have a little talk with Jesus. Tell Him all about your troubles. Cast your care and know that promotion comes from Him and He will promote you in due time. Your child is living like a heathen? Pray that they be surrounded by the goodness of God for it is the goodness of God that draws men to repentance. Give them to God and spend your day in praise! Need healing? Need money? Need God to intervene in a situation? Have a little talk with Jesus. Tell Him all about your troubles – He will hear your faintest cry!!! Everytime you are tempted to fret – ask the Holy Spirit to remind you to pray and praise! Praise? Yes! As Pastor Brian says – you are not going to hell!!!!! Give it to God in prayer, then Praise Him that HE is taking care of it and that You are not responsible. There is great freedom in knowing you are not responsible for the outcome – your job is to keep your peace. Exodus 14:14 – The LORD shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace. Hallelujah!

Let’s pray – Father – we come to you today and repent of every time we have succumbed to fretting and given the enemy a way to erode our armor. Lord, You said in Your word that YOU will fight our battles that we needed to hold our peace. Today, we commit to do just that. We hold our peace by declaring that You are God and there is no other. That You are for us, therefore who can be against us! We give to You this day, every situation that has kept us from walking in the peace of God – every child, every spouse, every job, every relationship, every problem and we thank You that You care for us and we trust You to answer in Your way and time. Father in Romans 15:5 You said YOU give us the power of patient endurance – the patience we need to outlast our enemy and we lay hold of that today and employ that Scripture in our lives. Thank You for always making a way for us to have victory in every situation. You, are awesome and we praise Your name!