This trio of psalms deals with the seeming inequality of life in this world.
The wicked seem to get away with their schemes while the righteous often struggle to get a fair shake. The wicked attempt to exploit the elderly and there is a cry for justice and vengeance.
I will probably look most closely at 37 because it’s one of my absolute favorites.
PSALM 37
“Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb.”
Psalm 37:1-2 ESV
“Fret” is a word that you don’t hear very often. When you do hear it used, it might be employed as a synonym for “worry.” Like –
“Don’t fret about your burnt pot roast.”
But this word in Hebrew means to get hot. Like this guy:
When I think “fret” I feel more like this guy:
But the thing we’re told NOT to do right out of the gate in Psalm 37 is to glow warm or blaze up with anger, jealousy, or displeasure over bad people. That’s what the word means. And that’s harder than it sounds.
Wicked people tick me off. They have a tendency to try to manipulate the world around them; sometimes on an international scale. I do not wish to be manipulated, thank you very much. And if I start to think about it- or worse yet, someone wants to argue about it- then my pulse picks up and my muscles get tight and we’re off to the races. Fretting.
If you know about a crooked person who keeps being crooked and yet never seems to have any problems, it’s hard to not get a little warm about that. Especially if you’re trying hard to live right and it seems like you can never get ahead while Boss Hogg over there is counting his stacks of money and puffing on his cigars without a care.
Psalm 37 invites us to zoom out and get an eternal perspective on this.
The ungodly will enjoy their worldly advantages for only a very brief moment, (live they ever so long). But if we are patient, one day – perhaps at the dawn of eternity – they and their wealth and power and privilege will be gone and the righteous will still be standing.
☝🏼😌 You should probably try to remember that in the morning when that car with the super loud tailpipes drives by the house and it goes pop pop POP and wakes you up… Yeah. You should try to remember that the wicked will soon be no more. Instead of praying for the car to explode.
😒 ok. You didn’t have to tell everyone that I prayed for the car to explode. I DID amend that prayer to just the exhaust blowing to bits and the driver being arrested for disturbing the peace.
🏎️💥🚓🚓🚓🚓🚓
Fretting is shown in contrast to “rest” in the LORD and patiently waiting.
Perhaps you’re old enough to remember the Heinz Ketchup tv commercials from back in the day when they sold ketchup in glass bottles. You couldn’t squeeze it out. It was famous for pouring really slowly. And so Heinz went with the marketing slogan “Good things come to those who wait,” and other similar tag lines.
The Kingdom of God is the Heinz Ketchup of lifestyles. It calls for patience.
“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
Psalm 37:4 ESV
Notice, there is no timeline on that promise.
And the meaning of the word translated “delight” here is probably best summed up with this picture…
Instead of getting all bent out of shape about the wicked, we are called to rest (the word there means to be still and quiet) 🤫 and to luxuriate in the LORD like a rose-scented bubble bath. 🛀
The redeemed in Christ will live in glorious peace forever. The wicked will not. Who is the real winner in the big picture?
PSALM 71
We do not know who wrote this psalm but it was someone who was qualified to get the senior discount. And he prays,
“Do not cast me off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength is spent.”
Psalm 71:9 ESV
Aging can be a time when one feels “cast off.” The kids are grown. We can’t do as much work as we used to. The enemy can whisper in our ears that God too has cast us off and forsaken us (v11).
But the psalmist continues to praise and trust and thank the Lord for the years of His faithful care. And then we see a fresh purpose:
“So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.”
Psalm 71:18 ESV
You can watch the psalmist praise his way out of the fears that he started with in the beginning. By the end, he’s strumming his lyre and shoutin’ with the best of em.
You can be younger than the Silver Sneaker set and still have the enemy try to tell you that your best days are behind you. That’s a lie. Your best days won’t even start til you’ve had at least one stroll on a golden street.
😒 Yeah, but that’s way off in the sweet by and by. What about the nasty now and now?
You are a ray.
😯 Pardon?
You are a ray.
😯 Uhhhhh… of sun—shine?
I was speaking in terms of mathematics.
🤔 Uh.. did I miss something? We were talking about getting old and hoping for heaven (I think) and outa no where you’re telling me I’m a ray of… math? I feel like I missed something.
A ray is like a line except it has a beginning point and goes on forever in one direction.
😏 Oh…. So like I’m born into the kingdom of God and now I’ll keep going forever.
Exactly. That future life in the sweet by and by isn’t a different life. It’s still you living in Christ; but whole and new and continuing beyond the grave. The grave isn’t even a speed bump.
There. I added death.
😏 Hm. Not very intimidating.
Exactly.
In the meantime, we get about proclaiming the Lord’s might to another generation. And we know that our best days are all still ahead.
PSALM 94
The third psalm in this set returns to themes from Psalm 37 about the wicked seeming to get away with their vile deeds. How long does this go on before the LORD does something about it?
This delay of retribution on the wicked has led them to a faulty conclusion. Their pathetic reasoning goes like this:
1. We have done bad things.
2. Yahweh says He punishes people for it.
3. We have not been punished.
4. Therefore, Yahweh must not know.
Somebody get these clowns 🤡 the arrogant moron trophy. 🏆
And let the rest of us watch and learn from their foolishness:
Just because God doesn’t show up in a pillar of fire 🔥 does NOT mean He is
A) unaware
B) uninterested in justice
“If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.”
Psalm 94:17 ESV
The LORD has showed up. If He hadn’t, I’d be dead right now, he says.
And Yahweh is not done showing up. The psalm ends with a look forward at the future of the wicked. They don’t get away with the violence and corruption. They will face justice. In God’s time.
SO…
We can rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him to act. He will NEVER abandon us His judgment is as inevitable as the sunrise. It’s coming. And it cannot be stopped. No fussing or fretting from us will make Him do things “our way.” He is infinitely wiser than we are. And He has got it all under control. So we can luxuriate in Him and His perfect ways until our fingers are all pruny.
🛀 Happy soaking.
To The Reader 