Encouragement Fret not.

Here is your daily encouragement words and thoughts. Today I bring you encouragement from Psalm 37 1:7

37:1 By David.
Do not fret when wicked men seem to succeed!
Do not envy evildoers!
2 For they will quickly dry up like grass,
and wither away like plants.
3 Trust in the Lord and do what is right!
Settle in the land and maintain your integrity!
4 Then you will take delight in the Lord,
and he will answer your prayers.
5 Commit your future to the Lord!
Trust in him, and he will act on your behalf.
6 He will vindicate you in broad daylight,
and publicly defend your just cause.
7 Wait patiently for the Lord!
Wait confidently for him!

Biblical Studies Press. (2006; 2006). The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible (Ps 37:1-7). Biblical Studies Press.

This is one of those "Power Psalms"

How often have you looked around and then gone to the Lord in prayer asking why some people who seem to be evil succeed. You sit and struggle working hard and yet all seem to come so easy for these others.

It is nice to hear that others have faced this same issue. The response that the psalm give sets you on the floor. "Fret not and do not envy them For they will quickly dry up like grass, and wither away like plants." Easy is not always what it is cracked up to be.

So what then are we to do? Our Psalm tells us to "Trust in the Lord and do what is right! Settle in the land and maintain your integrity! Then you will take delight in the Lord, and He will answer your prayers."

This sounds like a good plan, then what? "Commit your future to the Lord! Trust in Him, and He will act on your behalf." Hey wait a minute. What kind of advice is this! I do not seem to be in control in this plan! However it is good advice because ultimately God is in control. This is easy to experience being involved in farming. You can do your best to do all the right things on the farm, but at the end of the day it is still left up to the mercy of the Lord to determine the outcome.

Commit your future to the Lord. In the Hebrew this statement gives the picture of a heavy pack being rolled on to a camel. We are to unload our burdens and roll them onto God to carry. This requires us to let go and let God. When we commit our way to the Lord, we have rolled our burden off onto the Lord. It is now up to Him.

It is so easy to be moved to where you want to take back the burden because you do not like the directions things are heading or things are just taking too long.

But what does our Psalm tell us to do?

"Wait patiently for the Lord! Wait confidently for Him!"

Here is that wait word again. There is so much of this wait theme in our relationship with God.

But how are we to wait?

We are to wait confidently.

Then you will take delight in the Lord, and He will answer your prayers.

So in summary, fret not, do not envy, trust God and maintain your integrity, take delight in the Lord, Commit your future to Him, Trust in Him, and wait confidently for Him!

Amen

Music Encouragement Unfailing Love - Chris Tomlin