Wednesday in the Word: The Trio

 

In my slow, weekly crawl through Psalm 37, I’m ready for verse 8, which says, “Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.”

                Back when Ryan and I worked at WillowBridge, our boss showed us a video clip that was meant to be both entertaining and educational – and it was both! The clip showed Bob Newhart playing the role of a therapist. A lady came into his office and told him all about her fear of being buried alive in a box. He told her he had two words of advice that he wanted her to apply to her life. Then he leaned forward across the desk, and yelled “STOP IT!!!!”

                That was his solution. STOP IT!!!!

                (We still quote this clip all the time.)

                Yes, the Word of God is far more profound and meaningful than a Bob Newhart clip, but that’s what I thought of when I looked at the trio of phrases in this verse.

                The whole Psalm so far has focused on what to do when people are engaged in evil all around you – and succeeding wildly despite their choices. Is it hard? Yes. Is it unfair? Yes. Is it maddening? Yes.

                But in the parts we’ve read over so far, the directions are all kind of like the STOP IT advice.

                Fret not! Be not envious! Be still! Wait patiently! Fret not!

                And now there are three more pieces of advice. Two new ones and the last, a third mention of fret not.

                The first new phrase for today – Refrain from anger. It’s really, really hard to push down the anger that wells up when people are being ridiculous. I get it. I struggle with it, too.

                And then – Forsake wrath. It’s a retelling of the previous phrase, really. Don’t be angry. Seriously – DON’T be angry.

                And then we come back to fret not. We studied it back during the first week and now we’re hearing it for the third time. Whenever something is repeated in Scripture, it’s important. Pay attention to it.

                Don’t be angry. Don’t fret.

                STOP IT.

                The strong feelings are natural reactions. Choosing to refrain and forsake them? That takes effort – maybe a lot of effort.

                I’ll be marinating on this one today. Join me?