1

FRET NOT OR FAITH NOT.

One of my favorite verses is Psalm 37:4,

Delight yourself in the Lord;

And He will give you the desires of your heart.

What’s not to like about this verse?

“You can get anything you want by delighting in the Lord!”

At least that’s what I thought when I was a young believer.

THE NEW LIVING TRANSLATION:

Take delight in the LORD,

and he will give you your heart’s desires.

When we delight in Him He changes what our hearts want;

so that we want what He wants for us.

Psalm 37

1 Do not fret because of evildoers,

Be not envious toward wrongdoers.

2 For they will wither quickly like the grass

And fade like the green herb.

3 Trust in the LORD and do good;

Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.

4 Delight yourself in the LORD;

And He will give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the LORD,

Trust also in Him, and He will do it.

6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light

And your judgment 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 carries out wicked schemes.

8 Cease from anger and forsake wrath;

Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.

2

9 For evildoers will be cut off,

But those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land.

10 Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more;

And you will look carefully for his place and he will not be there.

11 But the humble will inherit the land

And will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.

Psalm 37 is a teaching psalm on being righteous in the face of adversity. The Psalmist begins with some very plain instruction: ‘Do not fret.’

Fretting – The state of being constantly or visibly anxious;

to gradually wear away by rubbing or gnawing;

to flow or move in small waves.

Heb. – charah – a prime root; to burn or be kindled with anger.

To get excited, to kindle as in starting a fire

To be/become hot

TO FRET IS TO LIE AWAKE IN BED AND REHEARSE THE WHOLE OUTRAGEOUS EPISODE

ALL NIGHT LONG. IT IS AN INWARD STORM THAT ROBS US OF SLEEP AND PEACE.

Fretting hurts only us and accomplishes nothing!

Do not fret – “Don’t be anxious or angry in this insecure world.”

Fretting only leads to evil doing. (v. 8)

WHAT DO MOST PEOPLE FRET ABOUT?

Having to make decisions with fear as the basis. Concern over what someone thinks about you. Comparison with others “Body, brains, and bucks.”

The solution to fretting starts with faith!

GEORGE MUELLER SAID, “THE BEGINNING OF ANXIETY IS THE END OF FAITH,

AND THE BEGINNING OF FAITH IS THE END OF ANXIETY.”

The Psalmist wrote, “Trust in the LORD and do good” (v. 3)

3

1. Trust in the Lord.

Trust –Lit. to trust boldly and confidently

Ps. 62:8 “Trust in Him at all times…”

TRUST IN GOD’S CARE MAKES US SECURE IN A WORLD OF INSECURITY.

In spite of circumstances we trust in the Lord.

To trust in the Lord does not mean

…an unfounded, breezy optimism that everything will turn out right. Instead it means a deep, abiding reliance on the God who has promised to punish the ungodly and to reward the righteous.”

WM. MACDONALD

“…Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.” Lit – feed securely, or, feed on His faithfulness.

Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees,

And looks to God alone;

Laughs at impossibilities,

And cries, it shall be done.

CHARLES WESLEY

SECURITY IS: knowing that we have a dwelling place in the Father’s house.

Trusting in the Lord is enjoying some of our heavenly Trust-Fund today.

2. Delight in the Lord.

Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart. (v. 4)

Delight – to please greatly, to take great pleasure in, enjoy

We are to enjoy the Lord.

4

Phil. 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice.”

We should rejoice as a way of life?

“Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

1 Thess. 5:16-18

IN TIMES OF ANXIETY.

Ps. 94:19 “When my anxious thoughts multiply within me,

Your consolations delight my soul.”

IN TRIALS

Rom. 5:3 “And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations…”

James 1:2-3

“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.”

1 Peter 1:6-7 “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials …

WHEN OTHERS REJOICE.

Rom. 12:15 “Rejoice with those who rejoice.”

EVERY DAY.

Eccl. 9:7-9

“Go then, eat your bread in happiness, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for God has already approved your works. Let your clothes be white all the time, and let not oil be lacking on your head. Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life, and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun.”

Aim for heaven and you get this world thrown in.

Aim for earth and you lose both. (C. S. Lewis)

5

3. COMMIT YOUR WAY TO THE LORD

Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.

He will bring forth your righteousness as the light And your judgment as the noonday. (v. 5-6)

What does it mean to commit?

Vance Havner writes,

A quick, snap-judgment decision is always dangerous, whether in marriage, business, or the salvation of the soul. Faith in Christ involves discipleship and, while salvation is free, it means utter surrender of all we are and have. This is

the other side of the coin. Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe…

Peter wrote,

“…casting all your cares on Him, because He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7

HOW DO WE COMMIT OUR WAYS TO THE LORD?

Phil. 4:6

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

First tell God your struggles.

Then give thanks

Thank Him for the specific purposes that He has for the trial.

- that He will work it together for good. (Rom. 8:28)

As you commit each struggle and anxiety to God

ask Him to act on your behalf and surrender to His will.

RESULTS OF PRAYER: peace.

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6).

6

WE TRUST, WE DELIGHT, WE COMMIT, AND WE REST.

4. REST IN THE LORD

Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; (v. 7)

So many times we leave our burdens with the Lord and then as we get up from prayer we pick them back up again.

There was an old man carrying a large load of sticks and a merchant drove by him and offered him a lift. As the man got in he wouldn’t put his load in the truck bed, but kept it on his lap. The merchant tried to get him to rest and set his load down, but he insisted that he didn’t

want to put too much weight on the truck.

To rest is to be still, silent before the Lord. It is to be quiet in spirit.

From dmm - Heb. – to be motionless, rigid; to stand still; to keep quiet.

Jesus said,

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My load is light” (Matt. 11:28-30)

We rest in the Lord as we trust His promises.

Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him;

5. WAIT FOR THE LORD.

…wait patiently for Him

God’s will is done in God’s way and in God’s time.

His will is always timed just right.

7

PRAYER OF THE MODERN AMERICAN:

“Dear God I pray for patience. And I want it right now!”

Resting and waiting are connected.

The first means to be still and silent; the second, to have hope and wait expectantly. The root – hyl – means to be in labor; to writhe, tremble; to bring forth (through labor). In other words, it may not be easy to wait.

The next few lines emphasize the difficulty of resting in the Lord and waiting for Him. It may be our natural inclination to become angry and take matters into our own hands.

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 carries out wicked schemes.

8 CEASE FROM ANGER AND FORSAKE WRATH;

Do not fret;

IT LEADS ONLY TO EVILDOING.

9 For evildoers will be cut off,

But those who wait for the LORD,

they will inherit the land.

If we take matters into our own hands we may tie God’s hands.

JAMES WROTE,

“…let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger;

for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.” (JAMES 1:19-20)

Waiting for God to work on our behalf means that we wait for Him.

7 Be still in the presence of the LORD,

and wait patiently for him to act. (v. 7 - NLT)

Isaiah wrote that those who wait on the Lord

receive His strength in place of their weakness.

8

28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of

the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable.

29 He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increases power.

30 Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly,

31 Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary. (Is. 40:28-31)

New England preacher Phillips Brooks was known for his calmness and poise. His intimate friends, however, knew that he, too, suffered moments of frustration and irritability. One

day a friend saw him pacing the floor like a caged lion.

“What is the trouble, Dr. Brooks” asked the friend.

“The trouble is,” replied Brooks,

“that I’m in a hurry, but God isn’t.”

Have you ever felt that way?

Isn’t it time that you take the burdens that you carry through these five steps in Psalm 37. Read through the entire psalm and go through the promises.

Remember the phrase: “…in the Lord”

Fretting is the opposite of following Christ.

When we add patience to our faith we grow.

Faith that has not been tested cannot be trusted.