Psalm 73:2-3 - Jealousy

But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
     I had nearly lost my foothold.
For I envied the arrogant
     when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

Psalm 73 is about envy. As a servant of God, I diligently work to keep my heart pure (v. 13), yet all around I see the wicked live lives of ease and prosperity. This is the situation David describes in this psalm. He goes on to explain that in God, we understand their final destiny (v.17). It is easy to look at others from the outside and be jealous of their situation, it's the "Compare and Despair" problem.

Lord, thank you for giving us assurance of our final destiny. Please help us to remain focused on you and not compare our lives with others. Amen.

Psalm 49:16 - You can't take it with you

Do not be overawed when others grow rich,
     when the splendor of their houses increases;

Verse 17 completes the thought above "for they will take nothing with them when they die, their splendor will not descend with them." (I just saw the word "descend", hmmm) Sometimes I have trouble with jealousy. By the standards of the world, I am rich. By the standards of America, lower middle class. For a while I felt rich, we were out of debt and even had a pretty big emergency fund. Now we are back in debt again, Yuck. It is hard to not be overawed and jealous of those with more than you, but we have to remember, this earth is temporary. It will all go away. It is our relationship with God, not our possessions which will determine our eternal destination.

Lord, thank you for reminding us of the temporary nature of this world. Please help us to not be overawed when others grow rich. Amen.

Psalm 37:7-8 - Do not fret

Be still before the Lord

     and wait patiently for him;

 do not fret when people succeed in their ways,

     when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;

     do not fret—it leads only to evil.

Fret is an interesting word. It means to be constantly or visibly worried or anxious. This passage gives us why we might fret, the solution for fretting and the result. Anger and jealousy are two big reasons we fret. These may be the examined root cause of our worries, We can avoid fretting by being still before the Lord and waiting patiently for him. If we do chose to fret, the result will lead to evil and destruction (v. 9).

Lord, thank you for giving us a solution for our fretting. Please help us to be still, wait patiently and keep us from evil. Amen,

PS-Thanks Kathy Reppart Hameister for sharing about your mom's take on this verse. I think I would have passed right over the word fret.