Clean Transcript

Stop Your Fretting

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• All right, well, let's open our Bibles to Psalm 37. I told Alice this morning, I said, I'm kind of conflicted because I have two different messages I want to preach today, but I only can preach one of them. So Psalm 37 and the title of the message is "Stop Your Fretting." And so to begin with, we're only just going to read through verse 7. We will be looking at the entire Psalm just momentarily.

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• Verse 1: "Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity, for they shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither as the green herb. Trust in the Lord and do good, so shalt thou dwell in the land and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord. Trust also in him. He shall bring it to pass and he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light and thy judgment as the noonday. 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."

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• An astounding statement that many probably have never thought of is simply this: fretting is a sin. And it is also a sin that most everyone engages in. We fret over things that we've said and we've done. We fret over situations and circumstances in which we presently find ourselves. We fret also over things that may or may not happen. I could say it like this: fretting is a sin that usually we fall into concerning the past, the present, and the future as well.

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• Now the command not to fret is found three times in this psalm. First in verse 1, secondly in verse 7, and thirdly in verse 8. What is fretting? The Hebrew word is the word kharah. And it literally means to heat oneself into vexation, to burn, to be angry, to be incensed, to be furious, and to have your anger kindled. Now, I took the time to look up the word fret, although I knew the definition. But I looked up the word fret in a modern-day dictionary, and I was kind of surprised at the definitions. Most of them still go along with the Hebrew word. But at the same time, there are some synonyms that we need to pick up on as well. So here are a few definitions that I found for the word fret.

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• Number one, to be vexed or to be troubled, to worry and to brood. Number two, to be worn or eaten away, to become corroded. Number three, to move agitatedly. Number four, to gnaw with the teeth after the manner of a rodent. And number five, to cause to be uneasy and to gnaw and to wear away.

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• Now, when you consider these definitions, I think you can see that in reality they are in line with the definition of the Hebrew word. You and I have not really grasped the significance of the sin of fretting in the sense that fretting is a sin that affects us mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Fretting is a sin that is not just simply a sin against God. It is also a sin against our bodies.

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• Years ago, I read a book by Dr. S.I. McMillen titled "None of These Diseases." He was a Christian doctor and what he was doing was basically taking all of the unholy emotions that you and I engage in frequently—anger, jealousy, envy, all of these—and demonstrating how they actually destroy the organs in our body and how they harm our bodies as well. So this is why I'm saying we've really not grasped the destructiveness of the sin of fretting.

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• And so we fret over many, many things. Usually some of the common things most people fret over would be food or clothing or health or prosperity, popularity, or what people think about us.

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• Now, there are individuals in the Bible that had the problem of fretting because obviously there are times in which those people were just as guilty as we are today. But let me just point out two things before I share some things with you. Look in your Bibles to the book of Matthew chapter 6. I want you to consider with me just for a few moments that the words of our Lord in reality, in this passage, are words against the sin of fretting. Because normally we can use the words worry and brooding and anxiety as synonyms. So notice if you would, Matthew chapter 6 and notice verse 25, our Lord says, "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink, nor yet for your body, what you shall put on." Then he asked this question, "Is not the life more than meat and the body than raiment?"

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• "Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are you not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature. And why take you thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they toil not, neither do they spin. And yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore take no thought saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or wherewithal shall we be clothed. For after all these things do the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." Now, an interesting thing in this passage is, the entirety of this passage is an argument from the lesser to

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• the greater. So our Lord says, you consider the sparrows, you consider the little birds, they do not sow, they do not reap, they do not store in barns. He said, yet your heavenly Father takes care of them. Then he asked this question, is not your life much more valuable than theirs? And then he said, look at the lilies, look at the grass in the field. And Solomon, in all of his glory, was not arrayed like these. And yet he is saying, don't be concerned about what you eat and what you wear, because I know that you have need of these. So the argument from the lesser to the greater is simply this: If God is going to take care of the birds, and if God is going to take care of the grass and the flowers, how much more is he going to take care of his own children?

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• Now, while you're in the New Testament, go ahead and look in Romans chapter 8, and verses 31 and 32. Romans chapter 8 and verses 31 and 32. I want you to see this because the reverse argument is given here. Romans 8 verse 31: "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" Here it is: "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" So in Matthew 6, you had an argument from the lesser to the greater. Now it's reversed. In Romans 8, you have an argument from the greater to the lesser. So if God has already given us his greatest gift, the Lord Jesus Christ, shall he not give us that which is much less?

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• And the answer is yes. It's like a multimillionaire buying his 21-year-old son a million-dollar automobile. If he bought him a million-dollar automobile, do you think he's going to hesitate to pay for the changing of an oil? Of course not. And so it's the same thing. God has already given us his Son. That's the greatest gift. "Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift," the Bible says. And so if God has given us Jesus Christ, how much more shall he give us all things through Jesus Christ? So if we understood these things, it would certainly keep us from fretting.

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• Note, if you would please, back in Psalm 37, because I want you to look, if you would please, at verse 1. We need to understand this passage, and we certainly need to not just simply comprehend it, but apply it as well. So the Bible says, "Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity." So this passage then not only forbids fretting, anxiety, brooding, worrying, and sinful agitation, it also forbids envying the wicked, because he says, "be not thou envious against the workers of iniquity."

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• Now, the word for envious here is the word kanah in the Hebrew, and it literally means to be jealous or to be envious. Now, this command is given to us several times in scripture. For instance, Proverbs 3 and verse 31: "Envy thou not the oppressor and choose none of his ways." When you get to Proverbs 23 and verse 17: "Let not thine heart envy sinners, but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long." And then Proverbs 24 and verse 19: "Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked."

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• So here's a wonderful question. Why in the world would anyone be envious of the wicked? And let me be a little more specific. Why would any Christian be envious of the wicked? Well, unhappily, there are Christians who are very guilty of the sin of envying the wicked. Oftentimes, when we find ourselves in situations that are adverse to our thinking, we find ourselves in adversity, testing and trials. And oftentimes we tend to think that we're being harshly dealt with.

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• And that if God really genuinely loved us the way he should and cared for us, then these things would not be happening to us. And then we look around and see the wicked, how they're just sailing through life without any difficulties, and they're prospering in everything that they do and they are not engaged in our problems, and then we begin to envy them and be jealous because we're suffering and they are not.

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• Now, the point I'm going to make right now is very important. Asaph had this very identical problem. I want you to hold Psalm 37 but turn right over to Psalm 73. Psalm 73 was written by Asaph, and if you will notice, actually Asaph wrote a number of these psalms all the way probably through at least Psalm 83. Not all the psalms were written by David. Moses wrote Psalm 90, Asaph wrote some of these psalms. But if you will look, if you would please, at Psalm 73 beginning there with verse 1, I want you to note what he said.

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• "Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart." Now here's where he confesses, "But as for me, my feet were almost gone. My steps had well nigh slipped." Well, why did he almost fall? He says, "For I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked." And then he makes these observations, "For there are no bands in their death, but their strength is firm."

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• "They are not in trouble as other men. Neither are they plagued like other men." In other words, they're not going through what I'm going through, he's saying. "Therefore, pride compasseth them about as a chain. Violence covereth them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness. They have more than their heart could wish." So, you know, they have plenty of money. They get whatever they want. And then he goes on and says this, "They are corrupt and speak wickedly. Concerning oppression, they speak loftily."

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• "They set their mouths against the heaven, they don't mind cursing God. And their tongue walketh through the earth, they don't mind cursing man. Therefore his people return hither and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them. And they say, How doth God know? And is there knowledge in the most high?" And then he makes this observation: "Behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the world. They increase in riches." Now, Asaph was suffering.

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• So look what he says in verse 13: "Verily, I have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocency. For all the day long I have been plagued and chastened every morning." I'm suffering. They're not. I'm godly. They're not. I'm holy. They're not. I want to be pure. They don't. So he says, "Verily, I have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocency for all the day long I have been plagued and chastened every morning."

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• "If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children." Now look in verse 16: "When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me." Wow. He said, I just can't comprehend how here we are, and here I am wanting to do what's right, then I'm struggling, and I'm in adversity, I'm in testing, and here are these people who are so wicked, so vile, they'll curse God, and their eyes stand out with fatness.

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• They've got everything they want. I don't understand this. Well, look in verse 16: "When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; until I went into the sanctuary of God, then understood I their end. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places. Thou castest them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation as in a moment? They are utterly consumed with terrors, as a dream when one awaketh. So, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image."

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• "Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins. So foolish was I and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee." So Asaph says, look, I was ignorant of them until I really understood their end. And he said, it was my sin and my wickedness.

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• Now, oftentimes you will find Christians like Asaph who are fretting over the prosperity of the wicked. But it's not just simply the prosperity of the wicked. Sometimes it causes Christians to fret. It's also the pleasures of the wicked. When you stop and think about wicked people, they indulge in just about every fleshly appetite and every fleshly pleasure that they want while Christians are seeking the mortification of the flesh.

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• Now the Bible says in Proverbs 24 and verse 1, "Be not thou envious against evil men, and neither desire to be with them." So who in the world would desire to be with them except someone who wanted to indulge the flesh? You know, if we're honest, we have to admit that there are pleasures in sin. In fact, the Bible even admits that. In the book of Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 25, speaking of Moses, the Bible tells us there that he chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. Our Lord, in Luke chapter 8 and verse 14, when He was teaching on the parable of the sower, said this, "And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection." He talks about the pleasures of this life. And then in 2 Timothy 3 and verse 4, he talks about men that are traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.

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• And then in Titus 3 and verse 3, he makes this statement, "For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another." So every true Christian has to confess and acknowledge that there were times before his conversion, he lived for the pleasures of the flesh. He lived for the pleasures of this life. But I want you to note something. When the Bible talks about the pleasures of sin or the pleasures of this life, those pleasures are always temporary. The pleasures are only for a season. They are not permanent.

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• It's kind of like the leaves on an oak tree. They're there all spring and all summer, but when fall and winter become, they just die and fall off. And when you begin to think that when the pleasure is gone, the sin remains. And the only thing that you have to look forward to is the judgment of God. And oftentimes I would say this, it's probably not even so much sin or the pleasure of sin that causes the Christian to fret. It's the fact that the wicked seem to sail through this world without a care and without a thought.

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• Here we are seriously and studiously endeavoring to be holy and to be godly and to be obedient. And we have obstacle after obstacle. And yet the wicked somehow just simply glide by and slide over everything. Nothing ever seems to happen to them. Just think about some of them that are very prominent in the world today. In fact, if we lived only by sight, we would tend to think that they're escaping the just punishment of their sins and their wickedness. But thankfully, we don't walk by sight, we walk by faith. And I can assure you of one thing: and that is, they shall not escape the punishment of their sins.

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• This is what Asaph had to come to the realization of in Psalm 73. He said, when I went into the sanctuary of God, then I understood their end. Thou settest them in slippery places. Thou castest them down into destruction. And when you awake, Lord, you will despise their image. You know what the Bible says in the book of Nahum, chapter 1, verses 2 and 3? Listen to this: "God is jealous. The Lord revengeth, the Lord revengeth, and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked." No wicked man is going to get by with his sins.

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• So mark her down, the wicked may have their prosperity, and the wicked may have their pleasures, but they certainly shall be punished. Let me go a little bit further because it's not just the prosperity of the wicked or even the pleasures of the wicked that oftentimes Christians fret concerning and are envious. How about the power of the wicked? I am pretty sure that you've noticed in all of our state capitals and our national capitals there are very few individuals that you and I would classify as godly. In fact, most of them we would probably call downright wicked.

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• In fact, I read an article this week written by an insider and he said, and I'm quoting, that the average American would be absolutely shocked out of his senses to discover how many politicians were pedophiles and satanic worshipers. You and I sometimes don't even think in that realm, and yet at the same time, he is saying we would be totally shocked at the number of men and women in power that are indeed pedophiles and that worship Satan. You see, what we don't understand is this: the wicked are in power because the righteous have forsaken God and His law. If you would hold Psalm 37, but turn back in your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 28, you'll find that this is one of the curses that God has placed upon those who forsake Him and forsake His law. For instance, if you look in Deuteronomy 28, beginning there with verse 45, look what he says.

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• "Moreover, all these curses shall come upon thee and shall pursue thee and overtake thee till thou be destroyed, because thou hearkenest not unto the voice of the Lord thy God to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee. And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder and upon thy seed forever."

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• Now look what he says: "Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart for the abundance of all things. Therefore, thou shalt serve thine enemies, which the Lord shall send against thee in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things, and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck until he have destroyed thee." And then he goes on, but note if you would, he said, because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart in the abundance of all things that he had given you, therefore you shall serve your enemies. In other words, we're going to know the difference between the service of God and the service to wicked, wicked men. So obviously, when we talk about the wicked being in power, they are there because we have forsaken God and His law.

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• Now, when you think about wicked rulers, you must also consider the fact that they do have a devastating effect upon the righteous. Proverbs 28:28: Listen carefully. "When the wicked rise, men hide themselves. And when the wicked perish, the righteous rejoices." So when wicked men rise, what did the righteous do? They hide themselves. And when the wicked perish, then the righteous increase. Now, listen to Proverbs 29 in verse 2: "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice. But when the wicked bear rule, the people mourn."

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• So now, let's ask a question. Why is it that when the wicked bear rule, men hide themselves and people mourn? Well, if you look in your Bibles to Psalm 94, Psalm 94, you'll see one answer in verses 20 and 21. Psalm 94, verses 20 and 21. Here the Bible says, "Shall the throne of iniquity have a fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by law?"

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• Now I've spoken to you on this verse before. So we're talking about a throne, which would refer to government. But now it's also called the throne of iniquity, which means it's a wicked civil government. So here's the question: Shall a wicked civil government have fellowship with God when that wicked civil government frameth mischief by law, that is, it makes sin legal? Well, what is the result when you have a wicked civil government that legalizes sin and rebellion against God? Well, look in verse 21. What do they do?

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• "They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous and condemn the innocent blood." Hmm. That's what they do. In other words, when the wicked are bearing rule, injustice reigns, not justice. You know, a thought came to my mind about Gideon. Gideon was threshing wheat behind the wine press. Why in the world would you thresh wheat behind the wine press? You don't do that. They would thresh wheat on a hill or on a mountain because they would have the wheat on a big sheet with all the chaff in it.

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• They'd throw it up in the air. The air would catch the chaff and blow it away. The wheat would fall back down and they would keep doing that until most of the chaff was gone. But now Gideon is doing it behind the wine press. Why? Because the Midianites had invaded the land and I got—because when the angel of the Lord spoke to Gideon, he said, "Hail, thou mighty man of valor." Well, if he's a mighty man of valor, why is he hiding behind a winepress? And the answer is because he's got good sense. Because if he did this out in the open, the wicked would take it away from him. They'd steal it. You follow that?

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• And so obviously, when the wicked bear rule, men hide themselves. And what they have, because otherwise it would be taken from them either legally or illegally. So obviously, here is the power of the ungodly to take and to steal. When wicked men are in positions of power and authority, injustice always prevails. For instance, think about the reign of King Ahab and his wicked wife Jezebel. Do you remember that they had murdered so many of God's prophets. And the rest of the prophets that escaped murder were being hidden in the cave, being fed on bread and water, while the prophets of Baal were sitting at the king's table, indulging themselves in every kind of food imaginable. So, clearly, Ahab and Jezebel were not anywhere kind at all to the prophets of God. The book of Judges is replete with examples of the wicked abuse of power.

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• So let me go a little bit further. I want you to think about this. Many times we fret and sometimes we're envious, not just at the prosperity and the pleasures and the power of the wicked, but also many times we fret because of the plans of the wicked. Let me assure you of one thing. Whenever the wicked have their plans, it is not for our benefit or blessing. The wicked could care less for the righteous.

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• All we are are sheep to be sheared and cannon fodder for their numerous wars. Their plans call for an increase to their prosperity, their pleasures, and their power. It is not for our behalf. When you stop and think about the United Nations, the New World Order, the deep state, the power elite, the club of billionaires, all of these people are not our friends and they do not seek our health or our welfare.

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• Now, let me give you a quote that you may or may not have seen. I'm not sure that you are familiar with Klaus Schwab, but Klaus Schwab who is the founder and the executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, who, by the way, is tied to Bill Gates and George Soros. They have laid out the plans that they have for America by 2030. So the Great Reset that we're hearing about now is supposed to be fully implemented by 2030. And here is some of the things that Klaus Schwab said. Number one, by 2030—oh by the way, the United States becomes submissive to the United Nations. But number one is this: you'll own nothing and you'll be happy about it. You'll own nothing and you'll be happy about it.

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• Now let me ask you a question. If you own nothing, somebody owns everything. Is that not right? It's kind of like back during the stock market, when it was going down and crashing, and somebody told me, he said, everybody's selling. And I looked at him, I said, if everybody's selling, somebody is buying. You can't sell without a buyer. And if you own nothing, somebody else owns everything that you had.

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• Number two is the U.S. won't be the world's leading superpower. Number three, you won't die waiting for an organ donor. They'll be made by 3D printers. Well, I don't know about that. Number four, you will eat much less meat. Meat will be an occasional treat, not a staple, for the good of the environment and our health. So they're going to tell you what you can eat and what you can't eat, and they're going to control your health.

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• And then he says this: a billion people will be displaced by climate change. Translated, a billion people will be killed. Number six, polluters will have to pay to emit carbon dioxide. There will be a global price on carbon. This will help make fossil fuels history. Now listen, polluters will have to pay to emit carbon dioxide. May I ask you a question? When you inhale oxygen, what do you exhale? Carbon dioxide.

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• Does that mean now they're going to tax you for breathing? Because you will be a polluter. I'm simply saying. Listen to this number seven: You could be preparing to go to Mars. Scientists will have worked out how to keep you healthy in space. Really? And here's the last one: Western values will have been tested to the breaking point. Checks and balances are forgotten. Now, why not come out and say, Western values will have been tested at the breaking point. Why not come out and say, Christian values? Because Western values are based upon Christianity. And if you destroy Western values, you destroy Christianity. If there are no checks and balances, then all you have is tyranny. So the point I'm trying to make is this.

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• When you think about the plans that are being enunciated, announced, and proclaimed today, none of those plans sound like they are for our benefit or for our blessing at all. I am so thankful for the Word of God, and I am so thankful that I do not need to fret. I do not care about the prosperity, the pleasures, the power, or the plans of the wicked. Why?

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• Because they're going to fail. They're not going to succeed. I do not care how painfully they plan and how systematically they try to implement their plans, they will fail. So, I want you to take note of some scripture. Here we go. Job 5 and verse 12: "He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise." He disappointeth. He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise. Job 21, verse 27, God says, "Behold, I know your thoughts and the devices that you wrongfully imagine against me." And in Psalm 33, verse 10 is one of my favorite.

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• "The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought. He maketh the devices of the people of none effect." The Lord brings the counsel of the heathen to nought, to nothing. He makes the devices of the people of none effect. The Bible says in Proverbs 19 in verse 21, "There are many devices in the heart of a man. Nevertheless, the counsel of the Lord that shall stand." And then when you get to Isaiah chapter 46 in verse 10, God said, "My counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure."

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• I do not fret over the wicked. Why? The answer is very simple, because God is sovereign. He has everything under control. Do you realize that fretting is a sin in that it is a denial of God's sovereignty? It is a sin in the fact that it is a denial of God's providence. It is a sin in the fact that it is a denial of God's control. And when we fret over something, we are saying in essence, Lord, you don't have the power, you don't have the wisdom to handle this situation. And if I don't fret over it, it'll probably never get worked out. Moreover, it is a denial of God's justice. We're thinking somehow the wicked are going to escape. They're not going to escape. It is also a denial of God's love. Because what we're saying is, in essence, Lord, if you really love me the way you should, then I wouldn't have to fret over this. Fretting is a sin and it is a grievous sin. Now, if you think for an instant that somehow the plans of the wicked are going to prevail, you probably need to have a little conversation with Pharaoh.

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• You might also want to question Sennacherib and also Nebuchadnezzar. And I'm sure that Haman could help your understanding as well as Ahab and Jeroboam. No. No, they're not going to prevail. I want you to look in your Bibles to Psalm 7. Psalm 7. I want you to look at this passage because in Psalm 7, beginning there with verse 14, he's talking about the wicked man. And look what God says, "Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood."

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• "He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made. His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate." I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness, and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High. God said, they're going to fall into the very pit in which they have dug. And all of their violent dealings are going to come down upon their own pate. And ultimately, God is going to get the glory from it.

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• Now, when you think about the wickedness that's going on in this world, I can tell you exactly how much wickedness is going to happen. God is going to allow just enough wickedness to get glory out of it. And that which will not glorify Him, He will restrain. You see, Psalm 76 verse 10 says this, "Surely the wrath of man shall praise the Lord, and the remainder of wrath shall he restrain." So if something is not going to ultimately redound to God's honor and God's glory, He will restrain it. I had someone ask me twice this week, why did God allow sin? I said, have you ever stopped to think about this? If it had not been sin, we would never know one thing about the justice of God. We would not know anything about the mercy of God. We would not know anything about the love of God or the grace of God. Will God ultimately get glory of what has happened?

  #55 | 39:52 to 40:58 | cleaned

• And the answer is yes. If it did not glorify God, it would not come to pass. So I want you to turn back now to Psalm 37 and I want to just kind of go through this Psalm very quickly and let me share with you some things here. Look in verse 1, he begins by saying, "Fret not thyself because of evildoers." And by the way, if you are a fretter, not a fritter, but a fretter—but if you are a fretter or you are prone to fret, I would recommend that you read this psalm every day for a couple of months. Because this psalm is really designed to demonstrate how God preserves and provides for the righteous in times of adversity and testing. So look in verse 1. He says, "Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity." Well, why should we not fret? And why should we not be envious? Well, here's why in verse 2, here's the answer: "For they shall soon be cut down like grass and wither as the green herb."

  #56 | 40:58 to 42:16 | cleaned

• How many of you think of mowing your grass? I mean, you may think it needs to be mowed, but you think nothing more than cutting that grass down because it's grass. God says that's what the wicked are, they're grass. And they're soon to be cut down, and they're going to wither as the dry herb. Sometimes people fret because the righteous are in distress, and the wicked are not.

  #57 | 42:18 to 42:42 | cleaned

• Look in verses 5 and 6. He says, "Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. And He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday." And just as surely as day follows night, just that surely when our crosses, our adversities, our testings, and our trials are upon us, comfort and deliverance is going to follow, just like night follows day. So he says, don't worry about it. Many fret over the plans of the wicked, which I've already mentioned, but look in verses 12 through 15. Here it is: "The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The Lord shall laugh at him, for he seeth his day is coming."

  #58 | 42:42 to 43:34 | cleaned

• "The wicked have drawn out the sword, and they bent their bow to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of an upright conversation." Look what happens: "The sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken." God says all of their plots will come to nothing. They'll fall upon their own sword. They'll fall into their own pit. We fret oftentimes because we're poor, and we just don't have a sufficient amount, we think, to fight the wicked and fight their crowds. I tell you what, I get requests for money just about every day from every politician under the sun, and a lot of other people. We need money. We need to stand and fight. Well, don't you look what the Bible says.

  #59 | 43:34 to 44:25 | cleaned

• Psalm 37, verses 16 and 17: "A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholdeth the righteous."

  #60 | 44:25 to 44:39 | cleaned

• Now it's true we may not have much, but may I remind you that the Lord took one loaf of bread and two small fish and fed 5,000 men, not counting the women and the children. So he says, the little that the righteous man has is far greater than the wealth of many, many wicked. Again, some fret over the fact that we are despised and destitute. Look down to verses 18 and 19. He says, "The Lord knoweth the days of the upright, and their inheritance shall be forever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time, and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied." One of my favorite verses is where David said, "I have been young and now am old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread."

  #61 | 44:40 to 45:35 | cleaned

• And we tend to think that sometimes the prosperity and the success of the wicked, we just can't understand why they are what we would call so blessed. It seems like they get money and wealth and things so easily. Well, look at Psalm 37 in verse 20. He says, "But the wicked shall perish. And the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs. They shall consume into smoke. They shall consume away." When you think about the prosperity of the wicked and how easy their lives are, God's just fattening them up for the slaughter.

  #62 | 45:36 to 46:23 | cleaned

• That's all there is to it. He said, they shall perish and they shall be as the fat of lambs. Wow. So you say, but oftentimes the righteous are cast down, the righteous fall and the wicked, they don't. Well, OK, look at verse 23 and 24: "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delighteth in His way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth them with His hand."

  #63 | 46:23 to 46:59 | cleaned

• So our falls are neither permanent or fatal. The Bible says in Proverbs 24 and verse 16, "For a just man falleth seven times and riseth up again, but the wicked fall into mischief." So God has promised that when we fall, ours is not going to be fatal. It's not going to be permanent. Then if you look at the fact that, uh, someone says, but the wicked prosper, never fall.

  #64 | 47:00 to 47:35 | cleaned

• And yet many righteous have a rough days all their lives. Well, look in verse 28, the Bible says, "For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints. They are preserved forever, but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off." Now skip down to verse 37. He says, "Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace." So we have the very fact that God is not going to forsake us. We are preserved and our end is peace. Now, look in verses 35 and 36. He said, "I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and lo, he was not."

  #65 | 47:36 to 48:28 | cleaned

• "Yea, I sought him, but he could not be found." In other words, the wicked will perish.

  #66 | 48:29 to 48:37 | cleaned

• Now, the last two verses in this psalm should actually quench all fretting. Because this Psalm teaches us that God actually works everything out for our good and his glory. So look at verse 39: "But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord. He is their strength in the time of trouble. And the Lord shall help them and deliver them. He shall deliver them from the wicked and save them because they trust in him."

  #67 | 48:38 to 49:14 | cleaned

• So let me make some applications. When you look at Psalm 37, there is indeed a very strong contrast between the wicked and the righteous. And we have to be able to discern between the temporary prosperity of the wicked and the permanent prosperity of the righteous. The righteous need not be vexed by the prosperity of the wicked, for their prosperity is transient. And their end is very undesirable. The truth is, Psalm 37, as well as the rest of the scripture, teaches that we as Christians are victorious. We are the victors. We are the overcomers. And God will destroy the wicked in His time.

  #68 | 49:16 to 50:03 | cleaned

• Until then, we do what the psalmist said. We trust in the Lord. We delight ourselves in the Lord. We commit our ways unto the Lord. We rest in the Lord. We do that which he commands. Now I do want you to turn to Psalm 58. Let me just show you in this passage, Psalm 58 beginning there with verse 3, that the reason we should rest in the Lord and trust in him is because he will indeed take care of the wicked. I want you to watch this. Notice if you would, Psalm 58 verse 3: "The wicked are estranged from the womb and they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies."

  #69 | 50:03 to 50:48 | cleaned

• "Their poison is like the poison of a serpent. They're like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear, which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely." They won't listen.

  #70 | 50:49 to 51:00 | cleaned

• Now look what he says: "Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth. Break out the great teeth of the young lions, O Lord. Let them melt away as waters which run continually. When he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces. As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away like the untimely birth of a woman that they may not see the sun. Before your pots can feel the thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind both living and in his wrath. The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance. He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked, so that a man shall say, Verily, there is a reward for the righteous. Verily, he is a God that judges in the earth."

  #71 | 51:01 to 51:53 | cleaned

• Oh yes, Asaph was right when he said, when I thought to know this, it was too painful for me. Until I went into the sanctuary of God, then understood I their end. Thou did set them in slippery places. Thou castest them down into destruction. In a moment as a dream when one awaketh, so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image. Yes, there is a God that judges in the earth.

  #72 | 51:55 to 52:25 | cleaned

• So let me make another application. That is this: it is not the end of the world just because someone thinks that the wicked are in control. The wicked are not in control. But when you look at the world by sight, you think, well, the wicked are in control and everything is going wrong. Well, let me give you something I've said a hundred times before. Everything is going wrong just right. Nothing happens by accident in a world ruled by God. God has everything under control and what is happening is this.

  #73 | 52:25 to 53:14 | cleaned

• He is using his enemies to work out his infinitely wise counsel and purpose and will. Nothing is going to come to pass except that which God has decreed and ordained and it's going to ultimately redound for our good and His glory. So let me give you a quote. I want you to listen. One of the old Puritans said this: "With God, there are no contingencies." God doesn't have to have a backup plan. Now that wasn't in the quote, but I'm explaining. God does not need a backup plan. With God there are no contingencies.

  #74 | 53:15 to 53:56 | cleaned

• "The mighty charioteer of providence has gathered up all the reins of all the horses and he guides them according to his infallible wisdom. There is a predestination which concerns all things, from the motion of a grain of dust on the threshing floor, to that of a flaming comet which blazes through the sky, nothing can happen but what God ordains, and therefore we should not fear." And I would change one word or add it: Nothing can happen but what God ordains. Therefore, we should not fret. Fret not, he says. Fretting comes from fear. You cannot fret unless you fear. And perfect love casteth out fear, the Bible says. So often, we are so upset over things that are happening.

  #75 | 53:58 to 55:11 | cleaned

• I'm not saying do not plan. I'm not saying do not prepare. The Bible says a prudent man perceiveth the evil and hideth himself, but the simple pass on and are punished. But what I am saying is, we must do what God commands us to do without fretting, without fear, and we trust in him and commit our way into him and lean upon him and rest in him.

  #76 | 55:13 to 55:40 | cleaned

• And he will protect his own. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee. We thank you for your word. We thank you for your truth. And Lord, we do confess and acknowledge the fact that we have sinned against thee by fretting. We've sinned against thee by fear. We've sinned against thee by failing to prepare. We've sinned against thee in so many ways. But Lord, help us never, ever to question your sovereign control, your all-wise providence, and your infinite counsel and purpose. Help us, Lord, to bow before Thee, to honor Thee in all that we say and do. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

  #77 | 55:41 to 56:31 | cleaned

• So,

  #78 | 56:49 to 56:49 | cleaned

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T17:51:56Z