You Control Your Reactions: Don’t Fret; Refrain from Anger

Controlling what You Can
in this Uncontrollable World

Part 9

You Control Your Reactions: Refrain from Anger

The world around you may be out of your control, but you can still thrive when you choose to control what you can. You, and you alone, control yourself. As we continue to follow David’s instruction in Psalm 37, remember…

Only you can control:
Your Foundation: the LORD is in Control
Your Focus: Fret not. Trust in the LORD
Your Actions: Do Good
Your Mindset: Dwell in the Land
Your Thoughts: Feed on the LORD’s Faithfulness
Where You Seek Happiness: Delight in the LORD
Where You Entrust Your Life: Commit Your Way to the LORD
Your Patience: Be Still…and Wait Patiently for the LORD

You also control your reactions.

:7b,8 “..fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.”

Specifically in context, David is dealing with how we feel and react when we see other people making evil choices AND still living in prosperity. It doesn’t seem fair. In fact, Asaph, in Psalm 73, confesses that he almost slipped and stumbled when he saw the prosperity of the wicked. He bemoans the lack of fairness, and in his discouraged state says “All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.” (Ps 73:13) The cure for Asaph was to come into “the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.” (vs.17) The prosperity of the wicked is all temporal. The prosperity of the righteous is eternal. The benefits I live in today are eternal and priceless (read Ps 73:23-28 for the extraordinary list). 

And so David exhorts us not to fret or become angry when we are confronted with this “unfairness.” First, he says not to fret—get your eyes off the prosperous wicked, and focus on your own blessings. Secondly, he entreats us to refrain from anger and wrath. Not only can seeing the prosperity of the wicked make us fret, but it can make us down right angry. Our justice meter comes out and we rant and rave and give way to angry thoughts which can lead to angry actions. David knew this first hand.

While David was in his crazy life of exile, he requested food from Nabal, a very wealthy man, but “harsh and badly behaved.” (1 Samuel 25). David’s men had protected Nabal’s shepherds in the fields while they were there together. David’s men had treated the shepherds well and had not taken anything from them. David’s request for food seemed reasonable, but Nabal rudely refused David and his request. This made David very angry. It wasn’t fair and he was not treated fairly. In his wrath, David forgot the man he wanted to be—honorable and trusting the LORD for his deliverance— and strapped on his sword calling for his men to follow him for vengeance on Nabal’s household. David couldn’t bear the thought of this harsh and rude man enjoying a feast while his own men went hungry! Nabal did not deserve the lavishes of life! 

Thankfully, Nabal’s wife, Abigail, was warned about the impending attack. She quickly gathered food and met David in the way and pleaded for David to forgive her rude husband. As we look closely at her speech, we can see that she gently reminds David of the kind of person he truly was and wanted to be—one who fights the battles of the LORD and trusts the LORD for his salvation. She tells him that the LORD will work for David and that “evil shall not be found in you so long as you live.” She entreats him that his future self wants to look back at these years and have “no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord working salvation himself.” Basically, she’s reminding David of the man he wants to be and pleading that he act like THAT man rather than letting his angry emotions morph him into a man of regret. Our actions today paint the portrait of our future self. David wanted to live righteously, but at this point in his life he was stepping out of that character. Driven by anger and revenge on a prosperous, wicked man, he had forgotten who he wanted to be—a man after God’s own heart.

We, too, can get fixated on the wrongs of wicked people—we believe they don’t deserve to prosper like they do. “But if I don’t crush them, they’ll think they won. Bad guys can’t win!” But as we see in David’s life, vengeance belongs to the LORD. When Abigail told Nabal how she had given food to David to stop him from killing the whole household, the Bible says his heart became as stone, and the LORD struck him, and he died.

Friend, don’t fixate on the prosperity of the wicked. They won’t last.

:9-11 “For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land. In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there. But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.”

Choose not to fret over the wicked, and refrain from anger towards them. Leave them to the LORD. Continually remind yourself of the person you really want to be. The righteous make righteous choices. The kind act kindly. The wise act wisely.  Be the person the LORD has called you to be. 

This week watch how you react:
Don’t focus on the prosperous wicked
Don’t give in to anger. The wake-up call for David was being reminded of the person he really wanted to be. Who do you want to be? Act like the person the LORD wants you to be.

You can thrive in this crazy world when you choose to control yourself, including your reactions to the prosperity of the wicked.