I know summer is over and fall is here when I have to dump all of my flower pots and dispose the dead flowers. All of the pretty colorful flowers and green leaves have withered and turned brown. It happens every summer. But, after 3 months of watering I am ready for them to be gone.
In our reading today, David writes about green plants that will die away. He relates them to those who do evil. Those who do evil will also wither and die away.
Do no fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither; like green plants they will soon die away.
Psalms 37:1-2
Do you ever find yourself “fretting” because of those who are evil? There are so many things we can and do “fret” over in our world today. I don’t even need to list them. You know why you had trouble falling asleep last night or why your heart sped up when you heard certain news today. Our minds can get caught up in all the reasons we have to “fret.”
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines fret as
1- to eat or gnaw into: corrode
2- to cause to suffer emotional strain
David again says to not fret in verse 7:
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.
Psalms 37:7
When we fret, we turn our focus from God to ourselves. We think of all the ways we can change things or circumstances. We lie awake at night thinking about all the “what-ifs.” David is telling us in Psalm 37 to STOP!
David calls us to trust in the Lord, find our delight in Him, commit our ways to the Lord, rest in the Lord, and to wait patiently for Him.
We are not to fret because ultimately God will pour out His justice. The evil doers will wither, just alike our summer flowers. When we find our mind beginning to fret, we need to delight in Him instead.
How do we delight in the Lord?
Psalm 37:3 tells us to: Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Psalm 37:5 tells us to: Commit our way to the Lord, Just also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.
Psalm 37:7 tells us to: Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.
When your mind is fretting and turning to all the evil around you, turn to Psalms 37 and read these verses. Delight in the Lord and He will hold you up.
The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.
Psalms 37:23-24