What are you worried about?

The inferred question of Psalm 37 is one that has often been mirrored throughout history. Why do the wicked seem to prosper when the righteous suffer? This was a dilemma that strikes home with David’s original audience as well readers today. The Hebrew people often watched idolaters seemingly flourish while they suffered through slavery and hardships. In our current culture, it often seems as if the unscrupulous get ahead while good guys seem to finish last. While David may not offer us an explanation for the dilemma of injustice, in Psalm 37 he clearly reminds us that God is aware of the injustice in this world and cares about it. He also reminds us that, if we are patient, God will eventually act to turn the tables on the wicked.

Luther wrote the following in his exposition of Psalm 37, “Oh, shame on our faithlessness, mistrust, and vile unbelief, that we do not believe such rich, powerful, consolatory, declarations of God, and take up so readily with little grounds of [offense], whenever we but hear the wicked speeches of the ungodly (The Treasury of David)

It is a Psalm in which the Lord hushes most sweetly the too common worry of my mind and calms my heart as to His present dealings - as a member of His own chosen flock, and the wolves by whom I am daily surrounded.
But I like the way Max Lucado put it:

What are you worried about?
We worry about the IRS, the SAT, and the TSA!

We worry that we won’t have enough money. And when we have enough money, we worry that we won’t manage it well.

We worry that the world will end before the parking meter expires. We worry what the dog thinks if he sees us step out of the shower. We worry that someday we’ll learn that fat-free yogurt was fattening!

Honestly now. Did God save you so you would fret? Would he teach you to walk just to watch you fall?

Would he be nailed to the cross for your sins and then disregard your prayers? Come on!

Is scripture teasing us when it reads, “He has put his angels in charge of you to watch over you wherever you go?” (Psalm 91:11)

I don’t think so either!

Excerpted from:
Grace for the Moment Morning & Evening Journal
by Max Lucado

Created 4 months ago