Excerpt from Psalm 37:1-17

"Do not fret because of the wicked; do not be envious of wrongdoers...Commit your way to the Lord; trust in God and [God] will act."

Reflection by Anthony B. Robinson

"Fret" - isn't that a great, weird word? Three times in the opening eight verses of this magnificent Psalm the author says, "Do not fret." Must be a lot of fretting going on.

"Fret," according to the dictionary, means, "to cause to be uneasy, vex," "to gnaw or tear away; erode," "to produce a hole or a worn spot in; corrode," and (if those weren't enough), "to gnaw with the teeth in the manner of a rodent."

What are you fretting about today? The church budget? A co-worker? Trouble in the family? The Congress? A health problem? The situation of an aging parent? Something someone said to you that you didn't like? There's really no end of stuff that we can be, probably are, fretting about. Fret. Fret. Fret. It's one of those words that sounds just like what it is.

In the Psalm, what's targeted is the fretting we do about bad actors who seem to be getting away with it; people who prosper from doing stuff that's wrong. That does eat away at us, doesn't it? We can crack a tooth or put a hole in our soul fretting about "the wicked who prosper in their way."

But the Psalmist has an answer (besides telling us not to fret). She says, "Commit your way to the Lord; trust in God and God will act." Discern what is the right way, the way God is calling you to be and to act, commit to that path, get on it, stay on it, and know that God will be walking with you, upholding you, and sustaining you. "Commit your way to the Lord," and "do not fret."

There's joy in committing to the way of the Lord. Freedom, too. Moreover, instead of wearing a hole in your heart or putting a crack in your tooth, your step will be made firm and God will hold you by the hand.

Prayer

Keep me, Holy One, from gnawing a hole in myself or someone elsewhere today. Keep me from fretting. Help me to commit my way, and this day, to you. Amen.
 
For Lent - The Jesus Diaries: Who Jesus is to Me, Entries from the Stillspeaking Writer's Group.  Ideal for your weekly Lenten discussion series.  Eight short, conversational essays by writers of the Daily Devotionals.

About the Author Tony Robinson, a United Church of Christ minister, is a speaker, teacher and writer. His most recent book is Changing the Conversation: A Third Way for Congregations. Read his weekly reflections on the current lectionary texts at www.anthonybrobinson.com/ by clicking on Weekly Reading.