“Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.” ~ Psalm 37:8 

The word “fret” is found three times in Psalm 37. The word means “to wear away, to corrode, to eat away, to impair, to agitate, or to vex”. In the context of this chapter, it means to allow the actions and seeming prosperity of wicked people to “eat away” at your spirit and wear you down. The fact that the command to “fret not” is found three times in the first eight verses of this Psalm bears witness to the Lord’s insistence that we pay attention to His warning! 

Some of the greatest saints in Scripture found themselves in a place of allowing the sin of “fretting” to rob them of their joy, their hope, their faith, and their zeal for God. Asaph, one of the writers of the Psalms declared that his steps had “well night slipped” due to this issue. Jeremiah, Elijah, and even David himself found themselves vexed to the point of stepping out of the will of God. If these great saints were plagued by fretting, then we should take great care lest we too fall to its subtle influence! 

The cure for fretting is to shift our focus from the actions, attitudes, and accumulations of the sinful people and place that focus back on God and His Word! “Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him.” 

When we begin to fret, we are self-harming our own spiritual walk and vitality. Fretting and faith cannot co-exist in the life of any believer! 

Pastor Bish