Psalm 37:1 Don't Fret

If you watch the video of this song, you'll see a guitar and a bass guitar, both of which operate on similar principles. Strings of varying gauge are stretched along the length of the instrument and tightened to produce a specific note. The musician presses his fingers on various frets - the metal bars spaced along the neck of the guitar - altering the string's tone, higher and lower as needed.

On all Jimi Hendrix' songs, his riffs on the high notes, produced by pressing the frets closest to the body of the guitar, are the dazzling sounds that catch the average listener's attention. But it's the bass notes that actually do the heavy work in his songs, laying down the emotional depth that supports everything else.

The same can be true in life. It's easy to get lost in seeking the highs while forgetting to go deep and establish the kind of emotional and spiritual depth that anchors life.

A life spent tuning in to the highs is risky. Sure, there are plenty of times when things are going great, when you're doing wonderful things with people who share your passions, when you're riffing on those high notes and feeling good.

But while you're grooving to that tune, there will always be things that go wrong, people who disappoint you, others who downright oppose you. When you're riding the high notes, there will be discord. Not everyone will want to pick up on what you're putting down. A sudden fall is always a possibility amid the stress of it all.

It would be so easy to let it get to you. Shout! Scream! Curse!

And before you know it, you've become the note out of tune. You're the one always expressing your frustrations, loud and insistent. And then you find yourself aiming your frustrations at God.

David knew just how you feel. He faced all sorts of difficulties and conflicts during his life. Psalm 37 is his poetic expression of how he learned to deal with it all as "a man after God's own heart."

The Psalm begins, in many of our English translations, with, "Do not fret..."

The original Hebrew word carries the meaning of kindling or burning with anger. That's the unrighteous way of responding to stress in our lives. Tightening the tension by fretting and letting the frustration heat up is not the way to have a heart like God's.

He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD. Psalm 40:3

As people of God, we have a better way to approach the troubles of life. We have a song in our heart that picks up on what God is putting down.

When we sing along with His new song, others around us on the road of life will pick up on what we're putting down, and be drawn to the song of the Lord.

The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing. Zepheniah 3:17