FRET
“Fret not thyself because of evil
doers,
neither be thou envious against the workers of
iniquity.” Psalm 37:1
Fretting seems to be an old word that we don’t
really use any more and we usually associate it with an older woman worrying
over children or difficult situations, but the meaning is so much broader and
entails a variety of emotions. The
Hebrews meaning involves anger, arousal, burning rage, jealousy, contention,
wrath, displeasure, and grief. It is not
the simple banter and emotional upheaval of grandma, but an action that is
fuelled by all of these emotions.
The object of fretting in the verse seems to
be the prosperity of those who live opposed to God’s Word. We find it hard to understand how they are
blessed and happy. We see them
succeeding in business and life and we get envious. Our lives don’t seem to be as happy or
prosperous and we begin to think that God has done us an injustice and we
wonder if being a Christian and obeying God’s Word is really worth it. Ever had those thoughts?
This Psalm goes on to assure us that God will
make all things just and fair in the end.
However, the instruction of this first verse is about our own attitude
toward the unfairness of life, as we perceive it. I think the evildoers and workers of iniquity
are not the real objects of the instruction, but rather, it is to our own
hearts of discontent. Instead of resting in the truths of God’s love and care
for us, we allow our hearts and thoughts to dwell with anger, jealousy and
grief about our own plight. We fail to
be thankful and to mind our own business.
Nowhere in God’s Word are we told that it is our business to make things
even and just. We are told to live good
lives, which God alone will judge. When
life is finished I only have to answer for myself before God. Why waste my energy fretting over the wrongs
of others? Except, of course, to hold
them up in prayer before God.
What causes you to fret? Can you see past it to the real attitude and
motivation of your own heart? Be honest,
what adjustments do you need to make?
FRET
“Rest in the Lord, and wait
patiently for him; fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way,
because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.” Psalm 37:7
This usage of the word “fret” is exactly the
same as Psalm 37:1. It is to be filled
with anger and jealousy and grief over the actions of others. But this time the writer gives us a stance or
a place where we can find instruction on how to not fret.
Rest and patience are the opposite of a
fretful attitude. Resting in the Lord
means that we really trust Him and His Word.
Resting implies quietness and assurance of life. Resting means that we are not fussing around
or striving for something bigger and better, but that we are content. Patience means that we can endure hardness or
injustice without rising to the occasion emotionally. Patience implies that we know there is
something better in the future and that the annoyances of today are only
temporary. Patient waiting for the Lord
means that we truly believe His Word and his promises to make all things right
in the end.
J. Burroughs writes: “…the hearts of men who
are full of themselves and hardened with self-love, if they receive a stroke (a
difficulty in life) they make a noise, but the self-denying Christian yields to
God’s hand and makes no noise.” Fretting
is a noise of the heart - a direct opposite to resting and patience.
I Peter describes the two qualities of a godly
woman. Her spirit is defined as meek and
quiet. I think this fits in well here
because when you examine these two qualities you will find that meek and quiet
means basically a spirit that is not ruled by fear or anger. This seems to match with the opposite of
being fretful.
So, the questions come today, “Are you living
a fretful life ruled by fear and anger, or a meek and quiet life exemplified by
rest and patience? What noise does your
heart make when ruffled?”
FRET
“Cease from anger, and forsake
wrath; fret not thyself in any wise to do evil, for evildoers shall be cut off,
but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.” Psalm 37:8, 9
Again, the word fret has exactly the same
definition. But the verse goes on to
define our actions now in more of a negative way that verse 7. We see the actions of fretting – anger,
wrath, contemplation of vengeance.
People used to talk about “stewing in their
problems”. This is a really appropriate
colloquialism for fretting. It is
allowing an unjust situation to overtake your thoughts and reactions. Anger boils and outburst are usually directed
at those we love instead of the evildoer.
We conjure up words we would like to say or actions we wish we could do
to those who we perceive as wrong. Our
prayers are consumed with the desire for God to judge them or remove them or
show them that they are wrong. We are
willing to have any part in their downfall and even may speak to them directly
or try to manipulate situations that will expose their wrongdoing or cause them
to be hurt or embarrassed. Sounds awful,
doesn’t it?
By allowing fretting to overtake us, we become
just as ugly and just as wrong as our enemy.
We remove ourselves from the place of blessing and become unhappy and
bitter.
The instruction from the verse is again to
wait. But it is important to see that we
are not to wait to see vengeance, or wait until we get the chance to point out
their wrong, rather, we are to wait on the Lord. That is vastly different.
Waiting on the Lord means to allow God to have
all the time he needs to work in the situation and in our hearts. It means to cease from our fretting and
simply turn the whole situation over to the Lord, waiting for His hand alone. We might never see the wrongdoer punished or
the fruit of his wicked exposed, but if we are waiting on the Lord, we can be
assured that the Lord will work his plan and in time our hearts will be settled
on him and our fretting will cease.
Is there a situation you need to turn over to
the Lord? Why not stop stewing and start
waiting?
FRET
“The foolishness of man perverteth
his way: and his heart fretteth against the Lord.” Proverbs 19:3
This verse might read – Man’s foolish ways get
his life all twisted and then he blames God.
Perverteth means twisted and fretteth means to rage against, become
angry, or to look dejected and pitiful.
Funny isn’t how everything seems to wind up
God’s fault? One of the questions many
people ask is how God allows all the wickedness in the world, or for people to
suffer, or for injustice to reign. They
never stop to think that man’s ways have brought trouble to himself.
When Cain’s offering was refused, the Bible
says that his countenance fell. This
means that he was disheartened. He knew
he had not done what God had required, but instead of repenting and making an
acceptable sacrifice, he slew his brother.
And when God dealt out the punishment he said it was more than he could
bear and again, instead of repenting, he went away from the Lord. From then on the way of Cain grew more and
more twisted, yet repentance never came.
No doubt he blamed God.
Sometimes our lives get in a real mess. Sometimes it is none of our doing, we get
caught up in the messes of others.
Either way, it is the foolishness or poor decisions that bring us to a
twisted and difficult life. We have two
choices. We can blame God or others and
fret against them growing more bitter each day, or, we can own up to our
mistakes and bring them to God in repentance and ask him to make our twisted
lives straight again. Fretting or
freedom, those are the two choices.
Which one will you choose today?
FRET
“Because thou hast not remembered
the days of thy youth, but hast fretted me in all these things; behold,
therefore I also will recompense thy way upon thine head, saith the Lord God…”
Ezekiel 16:43
This usage of fret has the idea of shaking
with anger or of causing a disturbance.
Seems God is not very happy with the actions of Israel. If we look at
the context of the verse we see that Ezekiel is recording the Word of the Lord
to the people of Jerusalem. They were
guilty of sin. They had forgotten their
history and their shameful worship of false gods. They had even sacrificed their children to
these false gods.
God had pronounced judgement upon them. Their prosperity would end and their city
would be destroyed. Their deaths would be violent and would come by the hand of
the idolatrous people with whom they had joined league. They were guilty and God was righteous in
dealing with their sin.
Sin really bothers God. It moves him to action and distresses His Spirit. It really ought to bother us as well. We should not rest in sin or be unaffected by
it. It ought to make us fret in the
sense that it makes us uncomfortable or causes a disturbance in our lives so
much so that we want rid of it.
Maybe its time to take a look at any sin we
are allowing in our lives? Maybe its
time for some hard questions about how comfortable we are with wickedness and
the worldly attitudes that are around us and possibly in our own homes and
lives. Maybe we ought to fret at bit
more and then seek to eradicate those elements that would not be pleasing or
would not bring peace to our lives. Better
to take care of it ourselves before God has to!
What sin needs to be eradicated from your
life? What sin is causing
discomfort? Are you ready to agree with
God and repent of it?
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