The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 37:1-40 (day six)

Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing. vs 8b

Three times in the first eight verses we see the psalmist uses the phrase, “Do not fret.” Anytime repetition is found in scripture, it is an indicator of importance, so what was David trying to highlight? We often attribute fretting to anxiety and worry. However, the word used here for fret is more often translated as anger or burning (Strong’s H2734).

David is telling us not to become angry by the success of evildoers. It is frustrating when it appears like God allows immoral people to avoid punishment. It is frustrating when it seems like bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people. It is frustrating when we do everything right, but others who don’t live for God get the reward. This is the feeling David is trying to invoke. Have you felt this before? If we are honest, we all have, and maybe even pretty recently.

David encourages us not to fret or get worked up by this because God is in control. When we take matters into our own hands, it leads to us becoming the evil we are trying to expose. We cause more harm than good when we get flustered by other’s success. Trust God’s plan and God’s timing. It will be better than anything this world can offer!

Bonus thought: Why does God allow the wicked to prosper? I would say he doesn’t. I’d argue the success of the wicked keeps them in a place where they believe they don’t need God. That’s what the enemy wants. Victory in Jesus is better than any victory the world can offer.

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 37:1-40 (day six)

“Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act.” Psalm 37:7

Stillness is not inactivity. Waiting is not absence.

Psalm 37 calls us to a kind of life that resists anxiety and anger (vv. 7–8), but it does not invite us into passivity. To be still before God is to locate yourself, intentionally, in His presence. It is to quiet the restless impulse to control outcomes and instead trust the One who sees the end from the beginning.

I find this especially relevant, in this very moment, in a season of writing for the completion of my Doctor of Ministry. Waiting for clarity, completion, or a breakthrough is rarely ideal. It feels slow, uncertain, even frustrating. But it can be deeply intentional. Waiting becomes a space where I write, trust, hope, and anticipate—before God.

We must be careful not to spiritualize waiting into something abstract or detached from real life. Biblical waiting is embodied. It shows up in disciplined faithfulness, in resisting worry, in refusing anger, in continuing the work set before us.

To wait for the Lord is not to do nothing.

It is to live, act, and endure, anchored in His presence—until He moves.

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 37:1-40 (day five)

It may be one of the most incredible promises in the Bible- God will give you the desires of your heart. No denying it is in the scriptures. How can this be true?  What is God really promising?

I think we need to ask another question or two in order to answer these questions. How do you see God? Or in other words, What is your view of God?  Is God a genie in heaven granting you wishes?  Whatever we want, he gives and does?  Is God a cosmic grandfather who is easily persuaded or caves into all our requests- wants us to be happy and is able and willing to spoil us above and beyond anything else. These may seem silly or extreme, but I have visited with lots of people (some who claim to be believers) who have this view and mindset.

The key to understanding the promise, is to consider its context. Two words are key. Delight and Heart. While affection is certainly a part of delight, the scriptures indicate that determination and discipline are also facets of delighting in the Lord. Determination and discipline to Learn about Him, Love Him, Know Him deeper. The scriptures also describe the heart as the place where priorities, values, decisions, desires, affections, and convictions are formed and ultimately shape and influence our thinking, feeling, and character (to name a few). So yes, when we delight in God and our hearts are renewed and reshaped by the Spirit- our desires become His desires. We see Him as a gracious, loving, sovereign God whose values and priorities become ours. And what we then begin to desire and ask for (shifts and transforms), becoming what He wants and desires for us. And God is promising to give us those things.

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 37:1-40 (day four)

The Bible has a miraculous way of giving wisdom for our current, earthly life, in the same breath as it gives insight to our eternal life to come. David encourages the believer that the Lord is a sure place to put our hope, both now and forever. He calls us to a particular kind of hope, though – a patient hope.

He encourages the believer that though they suffer in a temporary sense, a day is coming when their suffering will end, and they will dwell with the Lord forever. The unrighteous settle for cheap joy in the moment, but David calls us to wait patiently for the joy that will last forever. The Lord also offers us hope for our current lives. When we trust in the Lord and walk in faithfulness, he gives us the desires of our heart, which look increasingly like the desires of His heart. If we are willing to wait patiently on the Lord’s timing and sanctifying work, we will find over and over again that there is hope both for tomorrow and for eternity.

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 37:1-40 (day three)

³⁴ Wait for the Lord and keep His way, And He will exalt you to inherit the land; When the wicked are cut off, you will see it.

I love baseball. I love everything about it: The smells of grass and dirt, the sounds of a ball hitting a bat or mitt, the minutiae of stats, the stratagem of plays. I could go on and on and bore you with the history and stats that I know by heart. I also know that the game of baseball has a lot of waiting. I often hear that baseball is a boring sport, and I understand these feelings. But over my many years of playing and coaching, I have learned how to navigate the “waiting” during a baseball game. As a player, I learned to fill my time waiting by quizzing myself on what I would do if the ball came my way. I learned to watch the other players to see what they did well that I could learn from. As a coach, I have learned to engage with the kids to help them engage in the game. All this is to say that in the game of baseball, there is a lot of waiting. But there is much to do while you wait for your next opportunity. I often tell the kids I coach, that baseball is only boring if we don’t know what to do while we wait. Then, I try to coach them on what to do while they wait.

Waiting for God can feel like that sometimes. It can be hard to wait for His timing and to wait for what He has in store for us. Our timing is not His. In Psalm 37, David reminds us that there is much to do while we wait for the Lord’s timing. We are to keep God’s way. We are to follow Him and to stay steady on His path. We are to adhere to Him and His Word in all that we do.

If you find yourself having trouble waiting on the Lord today, ask Him to teach you to wait well. I know that He will.

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 37:1-40 (day two)

Do not fret because of evildoers,
Be not envious toward wrongdoers.
² For they will wither quickly like the grass
And fade like the green herb. V. 1-2

The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever. Isaiah 40:8

…while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18

There is a reality to living in a fallen world that sees others seemingly succeed at the cost of what is good, true, and beautiful. We see unscrupulous people win, get ahead, and live happy lives. This can be discouraging. That this can happen is a reality. We see it in almost every facet of life, even churches. It does reveal something about the believer as well. Where is your focus. I am less likely to be distracted by what other people get, do, or win if I’m not focused on them. The world is not the source of fulfillment or true happiness, and those who put their trust in those things will ultimately receive what they provide. Emptiness. If you find yourself in a state of mind that is discouraged by the world, take a breath and lift your eyes to the only one who can give you life.

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 16:1-11 (day seven)

Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices;
My flesh also will dwell securely.
For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Psalm 16:9-10

This Easter Sunday, I too echo the psalmist: my heart is glad! We have not been abandoned, though we deserved to have been. Our eternity is secure, though we did nothing to earn it. Our ransom has been paid, though we could never repay it. Yet, it was Jesus who was abandoned. It was Jesus who took on Hell. It was Jesus was crucified for my sin.

O Death, where are your thorns? O Sheol, where is your sting? Hosea 13:14

My heart is glad because Jesus claimed the victory. My heart is glad because He won my soul for eternity. My heart is glad because the grave is empty. He is Risen! Say it with me: He is Risen Indeed!

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 16:1-11 (day six)

David is not reacting to life; he is orienting it. “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.” That is his starting point. From there, everything flows: his choices, his relationships, his sense of security, his joy, and even his future.

This is David’s vision of the good life: not success, not control, not self-fulfillment, but a life centered on God. And yet, we know David did not always live this way. Neither do we.

That’s what makes Psalm 16 so powerful. It shows us not just how life is, but how life is meant to be. And ultimately, it points us to Jesus, the only one who lived this vision perfectly.

The invitation is not to try harder, but to look to Him. Because the good life is not found in achieving a vision…

…but in fixing our eyes on the One who is the life. (and the way, and the truth)

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Re:Verse passage – Psalm 16:1-11 (day five)

“As for the saints who are in the earth, They are the majestic ones in whom is all my delight.” Why do you  come to church?  Have you ever asked yourself and analyzed that question?  Past the “Sunday School Answers.” What is it about church attendance and participation that makes it worth your while?  Worship. Learning. Growing. Serving. While there are several answers and potential layers to these questions, I wonder if being with and near the people of God is one of your first few answers. We use church words like “fellowship” and “community” to describe it.  Is it unhealthy or unbiblical to put that much value and emphasis on being with God’s people. If we deem being with people as much as being with the Lord is that wrong?  Are those things mutually exclusive?  No says David. Not so says Paul. No says the scriptures. Why? How?  When we are near and with God’s people, we sense and see God’s presence, His power, His love, His grace, His wisdom, and His grace – just to name a few. Being with God’s people (saints) should bring Delight (David, Psalm 16) Joy (Paul, Romans 1) Encouragement (Hebrews 10). When we gather to worship, pray, study, serve, and fellowship, we are gathering with saints- those whom God has called, loved, filled, and blessed. We are nearer to God when we are nearer to His People. That’s a wonderful reason to be in church!  That’s a great reason to Deepen Relationships!