Psalm 37:1-12 Fret not yourself because of evildoers, neither be you envious against the workers of iniquity.… 1. Fretting in many cases supposes envy. "Fret not thyself because of evil-doers, neither be thou envious," etc. Asaph did this, and ha forcibly describes this painful and injurious process in the seventy-third psalm. It became too painful for him. He questioned the rectitude of Providence and the wisdom of God. Just then he was stopped; like Job, he said, "Once have I spoken, but I will proceed no further"; he fell on his face, confessing, "I am foolish," "I was envious!" and soon the scene changed from darkness to light, from complaining to communion, from fretting to rest in God. 2. While the fretting mood lasts, while we are troubled because God withholds certain things from us which He gives so abundantly to others, expectation from God is excluded. Hope pines when the heart frets, and peace flutters outside that soul which care corrodes, and which complainings fill with discord. 3. Yet many excuses are often made for this line of conduct; and the more it is indulged in, the more it is justified. "Wherefore should a living man complain? If a sinner, he has no right to do so; if a saint, no reason:" for a sinner deserves hell at any moment, and a saint, though most unworthy, is on his way to a glorious heaven; and his very trials and deprivations are a means of preparing and training him for that better world. (John Cox.) Parallel Verses KJV: {A Psalm of David.} Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.WEB: Don't fret because of evildoers, neither be envious against those who work unrighteousness. |
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