Trusting in God, and delighting in God's work we overcome the possible fretting over the enemy. We need to commit our ways to god and just be still; leave it to God to do the rest. In sum, turn our attention from the enemy to God! Do not fret but focus on God!
There are hundreds of reasons that make us fret. People whom we are dependent for our own performance and effectiveness fail us causing frustration and discouragement. There are people who are keen on frustrating us every turn of the road. These are people who are carriers of disappointments, anxiety, worries, discouragement, etc. They themselves may not be anxious, worried or discouraged. They carry it to others or cause others to be tormented. They are like mosquitoes that carry parasites that cause Malaria, but the mosquitoes themselves do not catch Malaria! A child of God may waste a lot of time unnecessarily fretting over things that these people do.
The advise of the psalmist is not to fret! "Do not fret because of the evil men or be envious of those who do wrong" (Psa 37:1). The simple reason is that they are not there for ever. "For like grass they will soon wither. Like green plants they will soon die away" (Ps 37:2). No one can cause a child of God worry permanently. All that they can cause are temporary distractions. So we should not get distracted!
So what are the children of God do instead of fretting? They are advised not to even glance at the enemy but to turn their attention to God. Put in another way, instead of fretting over what the enemy does or can do, focus on God. There are certain verbs that occur in this advice: "trust" (37:3); "delight" (37:4); "commit" (37:5); "Be still" (37:7), all in relation with God. Trusting in God, and delighting in God's work we overcome the possible fretting over the enemy. We need to commit our ways to god and just be still; leave it to God to do the rest. In sum, turn our attention from the enemy to God! Do not fret but focus on God!
There are hundreds of reasons that make us fret. People whom we are dependent for our own performance and effectiveness fail us causing frustration and discouragement. There are people who are keen on frustrating us every turn of the road. These are people who are carriers of disappointments, anxiety, worries, discouragement, etc. They themselves may not be anxious, worried or discouraged. They carry it to others or cause others to be tormented. They are like mosquitoes that carry parasites that cause Malaria, but the mosquitoes themselves do not catch Malaria! A child of God may waste a lot of time unnecessarily fretting over things that these people do.
The advise of the psalmist is not to fret! "Do not fret because of the evil men or be envious of those who do wrong" (Psa 37:1). The simple reason is that they are not there for ever. "For like grass they will soon wither. Like green plants they will soon die away" (Ps 37:2). No one can cause a child of God worry permanently. All that they can cause are temporary distractions. So we should not get distracted!
So what are the children of God do instead of fretting? They are advised not to even glance at the enemy but to turn their attention to God. Put in another way, instead of fretting over what the enemy does or can do, focus on God. There are certain verbs that occur in this advice: "trust" (37:3); "delight" (37:4); "commit" (37:5); "Be still" (37:7), all in relation with God. Trusting in God, and delighting in God's work we overcome the possible fretting over the enemy. We need to commit our ways to god and just be still; leave it to God to do the rest. In sum, turn our attention from the enemy to God! Do not fret but focus on God!