Fret Not!

Psalm 37

David writes this psalm like a series of proverbs around a common theme: the righteous will be blessed and the wicked will fail. This is a teaching psalm more than it is a psalm of praise, althout it definitely speaks of God's character: he values righteousness, faithfulness and is just. The main instruction is: do not fret, words which are repeated a few times in the psalm, when you see the wicked attaining success for their success will be short lived.
Perhaps David was concerned because he was seeing his people becoming so frustrated by the wicked that they were beginning to employ wicked means to stand against them. In any case, he warns them not to become like the wicked. He indicates that the beginning of wickedness is fretting because, I believe, it indicates a lack of trust in the Lord and the beginning of taking matters into our own hands.
This is one of the things I needed to be reminded of from this psalm. Do not fret - it leads only to evil. It means that I have lost trust in the Lord. The only conclusion to draw is that I am afraid that the Lord can't handle the situation. The other indication is that I am more worried about me, my reputation and my comfort than I am about the kingdom of heaven. In other words, I acknowledge that Jesus is in control but I fret about what that could mean for me. This means that I have become the center of my life or that I have lost confidence in the Lord's goodness.
The other thing that struck me from this psalm was the line, "those the Lord blesses will inherit the land" (v.22). This reminds me of the beatitudes in Christ's sermon on the mount: "blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth." David is aware in a general way that inheritance of the land is at the perogative of the Lord. Jesus tells us the qualities he is looking for in those he wants to bless: meekness. I don't think I have a good understanding of this word. It conjures up ideas of humility, quietness, and submission. It has a bit of a negative connotation. In fact, dictionary.com defines it as overly compliant. It is clear that meekness is not necessarily something we value in our society and yet Jesus promises that those who are meek will be blessed.
So, my prayer from this psalm is two fold: one, that Christ would remind me that he is good and he is King so I do not fret. I want the Spirit to make me aware of those times when I am fretting and stressing and then move me to re-orient my thinking to recognize that Christ is still in control. Two, that the Spirit would make me meek even though it is not something that will be valued by this world. I long to want the affirmation of Christ more than the affirmation of this society and so, again, I acknowledge my dependence on the Spirit to re-orient my priorities and focus.