Those two word are “fret not.” In other translations, they are rendered as “don’t worry.”
In one brief text, chapter 6 of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus tells us not to worry or to be anxious six times.
Yet we worry.
Despite the clarity of this imperative, we worry. Despite the fact that it’s for our own good not to worry, we worry. Despite the fact that it is possible not to worry, we worry.
The command stands: fret not.
God, true to His nature, is kinder to us than we deserve. Despite our faithlessness, our lack of imagination, our timidity, or our passiveness, He gives us unmerited blessings:
he will do this:
He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
your vindication like the noonday sun.
Note the irony in the Psalmist’s use of the word ‘reward’ - did we not establish our unworthiness? We’ve failed to live with faith and confidence, yet God glues a label on us, a label that says we are righteous.
The text goes on to say that we “will inherit the land.” The action of inheriting is in fact no action at all. The action is on the part of the bequeather.
God sees, knows, and responds to our situations. When we worry because of obstacles and problems,
the Lord laughs at the wicked,
for he sees that his day is coming.
The ‘wicked’ at whom, or at which, God laughs can be a situation, a disease, a memory, or anything which would rob us of our peace.
Those things will have an end; they will not go on forever. But God ensures that we will go on forever: we will be preserved and outlast our pains and sufferings and sadnesses.
The Lord upholds the righteous.
The Lord knows the days of the blameless,
and their heritage will remain forever;
they are not put to shame in evil times;
in the days of famine they have abundance.
We will enter into times of difficulty. But in the midst of our sorrows, God will give us ‘abundance’ - His grace, which sustains us. The Psalmist says, about a person facing suffering, that
though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,
for the Lord upholds his hand.
Here is a mystery: God, we learn, loves justice. Yet His grace is so great that it seemingly violates justice. We are given something much better than we have earned.
For the Lord loves justice;
he will not forsake his saints.
They are preserved forever,
We are, from time to time, attacked: depression, loneliness, sickness, overwork, and others, are the ‘wicked’ ones who attack us.
The wicked watches for the righteous
and seeks to put him to death.
the Lord will not abandon him to his power
or let him be condemned when he is brought to trial.
The Psalmist tells us that the Lord will ‘exalt’ us. We will be elevated above our circumstances.
The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
the Lord helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them.
God is constantly at work to save us and to bless us. To our minds, this is not at all obvious. Sometimes, we can see only misery and hardship. There is a deeper and more profound reality: Jesus is the friend who is “closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24). Even as we suffer, He is preparing something much better for us.
