“Do not fret . . . Trust in the LORD . . . Dwell in the land . . . Delight yourself also in the LORD . . .” Psalm 37:1-4
I have a tendency to fret. To fret is more than to worry or be anxious, the Hebrew word used in Psalm 37 means “to be hot, furious, burn, become angry, be kindled”. I don’t have a bad temper but I’m “kindled” far more than I should be. This week I’ve been kindled, things around and within me have had the best of me. What I mean by that is the issues I see in myself and going on in the lives of others around me have had my attention to the point that my heart has been heavy, my thoughts have been scattered and my gaze has been, at times, distant. I believe that David addresses our propensity to fret in Psalm 37 and gives us great guidance in how to come back to the place of peace when we have wandered in the desert of frets.
Frets take many shapes and sizes. David mentions evildoers and workers of iniquity. We have a tendency to fret and kindle about what is going on around us. Our communities, leaders and enemies have a way of raising our ire in which, if we are not careful, we go from intercession to frustration before we even realize what has happened. I want to go deeper than this though, what about the fretting we do on behalf of the people we love? Last week I sat down for lunch with a friend, I asked how he was doing and he immediately opened up and said “not well”. He told me about a dear friend, one of his closest in fact, that within a few days had suddenly become ill and then passed away. He was preparing himself to go to the funeral out of state. A young man, less than my own age, a father, a friend and a leader, suddenly gone. All week I have prayed for my friend, prayed for him to have comfort and peace, for him to be free to grieve with hope and to support the family of his friend however he was able. In the midst of my praying there was also a temptation to fret. I wondered if my friend had all the help he needed, if he had the wherewithal to accomplish all of his tasks even while carrying this heavy burden, I wondered and even worried about whether he would be all right. Now, before you think it, I’m not talking about being concerned, I’m confessing I was fretting. What is the difference? Concern prays and offers the help that it knows it can and should offer, fretting holds an opinion about what should be happening and then works to have that opinion fulfilled or stands in criticism if the opinion is not being fulfilled. One of our biggest sources of fretting is our opinions, when we are stubborn about how things should be we have no choice but to burn with anger and frustration when things go differently than our opinion.
David actually gives us the antidote for fretting in verse three, “Trust in the LORD”. One of the meanings for the Hebrew word translated “trust” is “to feel safe, be careless”. How often do we choose to be “careless”? How often do we take Peter’s command to heart and “cast all our cares” on our heavenly Father? How often do we look at the world we live in or even the lives of the people we live with and say “I have to have more trust in God and less care, less fret, less opinion about the details of the situation”? When I fret it’s because I need a measure of control to be sure that things will go the way I’m sure they should go. The problem is that no matter how we argue against this fact, the more we fret the less we trust. The more I worry the less I pray; the more I complain the less I love; the more I judge the less I forgive; the more I fret the less I am aware of the work of God, the need to be in control actually blinds us to the work of the One who has promised to be in control.
The next thing that David writes is “Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.” Sometimes I get so caught up in my frets that I actually stop living. I know that sounds strange but think of it from a historical, biblical perspective. Israel ate manna every day but still feared death when they ran out of water; they literally ate food that appeared each morning and still decided that if there were giants occupying the land that God had promised them then they should go back to slavery in Egypt. How often do I fret the circumstances around me while feasting on the grace that has been poured out to me? For us, to “dwell in the land” means to keep our hearts focused on the love, grace and mercy that we have been given. It means to remind ourselves, our souls, our hearts and even our circumstances that we are loved with an everlasting love, that grace abounds and that mercy triumphs over judgment. It means to recognize that we are the branches of the Vine and that the Vine Himself is in control of our days. The more I “dwell” the less I fret.
Finally David wrote a command that is of the utmost importance “Delight yourself also in the LORD . . .” Most of the time when this verse is quoted we concentrate on the outcome “and He shall give you the desires of your heart”; but the outcome is irrelevant without the command. Again, the Hebrew word here is important. It means “to be soft, be delicate; to be happy about . . .” There is a delicate nature to each and every one of our hearts. Not only can they be easily broken but they are quickly distracted. We delight ourselves in the LORD by remembering His nature, His character, His promises and His love. My heart wants to run to the places of worry, fret, anxiety and anger but my Father wants me to handle my heart delicately by finding my delight in Him, by reminding myself of His care and concern and even more of His qualifications to hold my heart and to lead my life. Trust has to lead us to dwell, to literally sit down in what has been done for us and remember that the One who has done it won’t abandon us at any point for any reason and dwelling has to lead us to delight, the belief that the One who has carried me is far greater than the place He is carrying me to and so when trouble surrounds I won’t fret the place of trouble, the people in trouble or my opinion about the trouble, I will instead continue to find joy in the One who carries me in the midst of and through trouble.
In Ezekiel 37 the Spirit of God took Ezekiel to a valley that was filled with nothing but dry bones; skeletons of broken dreams and relationships, vows and promises, goals and plans even loves and lives. In the midst of this setting, surrounded by nothing but what used to be, God asked Ezekiel “Son of man, can these bones live?” The valley of dry bones is where we either fret about what went wrong or we hold out hope to the one that can make things new. Ezekiel answered what I believe David was trying to teach us to answer when we feel surrounded by evildoers and frustrating circumstances, an answer of trust without an opinion and hope without an agenda but also delight no matter the outcome “O Lord God, You know.”
Whatever dry bones we are facing today we know that God can make them live but only God knows if those bones should live. Today I encourage you to actively fight the urge to fret what is going on around you and turn your attention to the One that lives within you and intercedes for you. Yes, there are dry bones all around us but God never sets us in these places to discourage or disparage us, it is always to remind us again that He is trustworthy, that He has provided us a place to dwell in His presence and that when we delight in Him, we are awakened to the incredible, eternal care that He gives to our hearts. Do not fret, David wrote “it only causes harm”; instead let’s learn to trust the God of the bones with the bones and with the breath and even with the delicate nature of our hearts.