ANTIDOTE FOR ANXIETY

“Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; do not fret—it only causes harm. For evildoers shall be cut off; but those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more; indeed, you will look carefully for his place, but it shall be no more. But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” --Psalm 37:1-11

This Psalm has been a favorite of mine for many years. But it has taken on a whole new context since the terrorist attack last year. If you have seen the news coverage, then you are well aware of President Bush’s use, or even overuse, of the term “evildoers.” It is refreshing to see a leader who is willing to stand and take the ridicule that he has from the press, political commentaries, and comedians that he has taken for what is obviously a biblical expression.

But no one can deny that things have changed forever from that day. I don’t know if you can remember as vividly as I can the feeling that came that day, one which I don’t recall ever feeling in my lifetime, that we are not safe. And even though we have returned now to some semblance of “normalcy,” in actuality things are not, and never will be, the same. Our level of anxiety has been multiplied beyond anything we could have anticipated.

As real as the threat is that there could be further terrorist acts, it is not the only, and for many of us not even the main source of stress we face each day. We all have concerns about finances, health, home & family, job security, and a host of other things that would steal away our peace. How are we to live in such a world with any sense of security? To begin with, I believe the Psalmist would have us recognize that there are at least some anxieties that are either of our own making, or within our power to resolve. In verse one, he says, “do not ‘FRET’” because of evildoers. The word fret in the Hebrew literally means to “burn” or “glow.” It is to be coupled with the second half of the verse, which says not to “be envious.” In other words, this

is a little different sense than we think of when the word “terrorist” is mentioned. He speaks here of jealousy, taking care not to burn with envy at the prosperity of those who may have gotten their gain by dishonest means. The end of those, he says, is to be “cut down” and to “wither.” It is a familiar image in Hebrew Scripture: in Isaiah 40, the writer tells how God shall “blow on them and they will wither”; in Psalm 1, there is the contrast between those who are like “trees planted by the water,” and those who are like “chaff in the wind.”

Then in verses 3-5, there are five verbs of exhortation that we are given, not so much as a cure for anxiety, which we will probably never be entirely free from in this life, but as an antidote so that we are not harmed even in the face of it. Those verbs are trust, dwell, feed, delight, and commit. Let’s take a little closer look at each of these.

The word trust carries with it the sense of being bold or confident. It immediately brings to my mind an image of one who faces life with certainty even in the midst of uncertainty. Several years ago a group of my friends were each choosing a verse that they called their “life verse,” one they felt that God had given them to show them a guiding attitude or principle for their lives. I began to pray that God would guide me to one which should be mine, and when it came, it was a verse which spoke of confident trust, Joshua 1:9—“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” To trust in the Lord is to trust in His promises, to know that “thus says the Lord” is just as good as done, no questions asked. To trust in the Lord is to accept as unshakable the promise, “I will be your God, and you shall be my people.”

Two of these verbs are used together: “DWELL in the land, and FEED on His faithfulness.” Did any of you as we read the passage have images of Psalm 23 come to mind? That’s the picture he draws for us here, a pastoral picture of a flock that is well-tended. I’m sure the picture of peace and safety come through very clearly to us, but there is probably no way we could even imagine what this image meant to the Israelites of the time. The first Hebrew had been a nomad, leaving his homeland to go to a place where God led him. The Israelites had been tent-dwellers and wilderness wanderers during a significant portion of their history. They knew better than anyone what it meant to enjoy the blessing of having a place in the land. The Isralites also knew very well what it was to “feed on His faithfulness,” having literally fed on His faithfulness to provide the manna for them in the desert. God’s faithfulness to them had a lot to do with why they were great story-tellers. As God maintained covenant relationship with them and they enjoyed the blessings and privileges of fellowship with God, they never forgot all the stories of God’s faithful covenant relationship with them. These stories have reached across every

boundary of time and of culture to become a source of blessing to many people.

The next verb we find, “delight,” comes from a word for “delicate” or “delicacy.” When was the last time you thought about God in the same way you think of your favorite dessert? I think we all understand what a feeling it is when you have that craving that only one thing will satisfy. With me it used to be butter pecan ice cream, until a cholesterol screening revealed that I needed to make some dietary changes. But I still know that feeling, and I think the Psalmist understood and urges us to have the kind of strong desire for God that we have for those earthly things that attract us so much. And when we do, then we are given the promise, “He will give you the desires of your heart.” Does that mean He will give you everything you could ever wish for? Of course not, but I believe that as we focus on the Lord and delight in Him, then more and more we begin to change within, so that our desires begin to line up with His desires for us.

This verse stuck out one morning years ago as I was doing daily Bible reading, and it quickly became one of my favorite verses. Now I am reminded every day of the truth of the promise it gives. At that time, I was attending Kentucky Mountain Bible College. About a mile from the college campus was an affiliated high school and grammar school, Mt. Carmel. One of the work-study duties I had at the college was to drive a station wagon over to the grammar school where I would pick up several kids and take them home. During those trips, I very quickly gained a little seven-year-old blonde-haired, blue-eyed buddy, who claimed the front seat beside me and wouldn’t let anyone else have it. She was cute as a button and talkative and she was the most wonderful company, talking the entire trip about school and asking about me and what I did.

At that time I had met Lynn already, but our future together was to be quite some time down the road. Still, as I looked to the future at that time, I sometimes wondered about the children we might have, and I recall thinking what a blessing it would be if someday I had a little girl like her. Years passed, and time and distance put the memory behind me until about three years ago, when for some reason I remembered those times. Suddenly it dawned on me just how much Stephanie, who was three at the time, looked like that little girl. Since then, I have watched as more and more she becomes like her, both in looks and in personality. But what really amazed me—that little girl was also named Stephanie. Now if I had been the one who named her, I might pass it off as some kind of subliminal wish fulfillment. But I had nothing to do with it, because I let Lynn choose a name for her, and she knew nothing of the other little girl. I know every day, and I can truthfully say I thank God every day, what a blessing she is to our lives, because I know she is, as all children truly are, a wonderful blessing

sent from God. And I believe that blessing was given by promise, in response to that desire that I had all those years ago.

The next verb the Psalmist uses is “commit”—“commit your way to the Lord,” don’t trust in your own decisions and plans, but turn them over to the Lord in prayer. If we look beyond the text we read today to verse 23, we find that “the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.” The Lord has a way of making your way clear and bringing blessings to your life when you are committed to His way. And I have found also that He has a way of stopping you in your tracks when you are committed to any other way. One of my favorite passages of Scripture is in Proverbs 3:5-6—“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” And when God is directing our paths, then there is less cause for anxiety.

Have you seen so far how all this is related to the idea of anxiety or being anxious? (1) If we trust, if we are bold and confident in the faithfulness of God, then we have none of the insecurity we find in anxiety; (2) if we “dwell and feed” in the shepherd’s pasture, we have peace and security; (3) “delighting” in the Lord produces images of happiness and pleasure; (4) committing our way to the Lord brings us deliverance from the anxious need to “make it happen.”

Now in verses 7 and 8, we find verbs used which speak to us of a committed relationship of trust in God: “REST in the Lord, WAIT patiently for Him, CEASE from anger.” The one that catches my attention is the word “rest,” which is connected to the idea of speech, and literally means “to be dumb” (speechless), or to “hold your peace.” It comes from the same root word for the “still, small voice” that is heard by Elijah on the mountaintop. The verse speaks to me of a total faith in God to act, a committed trust that has the patience to be able to stay focused on God no matter what the circumstance and to believe and not doubt that God will act.

Notice how that Psalmist’s focus is on God throughout these verses: “trust in THE LORD, feed on HIS faithfulness, delight in THE LORD, commit your way to THE LORD, rest in THE LORD, wait for HIM.” And with that kind of focus, it is no surprise to find that when he gets to verse 11, we find him writing of those who “delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” Peace, or “shalom” in the Hebrew, is a much deeper word than our word “peace.” It certainly contains the meaning we give to the word, but also is a picture of health, wholeness, security—everything that goes into a person’s TOTAL well-being. This peace will rise or fall in proportion to our staying focused upon God and His plan for our lives. Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you.”

On St. Simons Island in Georgia, there is a Methodist retreat center, Epworth by the Sea, that is absolutely gorgeous. I have never been there but once, several years ago, when I went with several

fellow students from Southern Wesleyan University to speak at a youth rally. It had been a long trip, and we had all been anxious and keyed up as we drove down. After the evening meal, I remember a friend in our group who came up to me excitedly insisting that I go with him to see the chapel. I could tell that there was something about it that had struck him, although as we approached the small building I saw nothing about it that seemed extraordinarily impressive. But as he opened the door and I stepped in, it was as though the entire climate had changed. The small interior couldn’t have held more than 5 or 6 pews on each side, with a small altar rail at the front, but there was something about the stained glass that set everything off in a special way. There were smaller windows on either side, but directly behind the altar rail was a huge, beautiful stained glass picture of Jesus kneeling in prayer at Gethsemane. The entire group was suddenly hushed, and I whispered, “Wow!”

“Isn’t it awesome?” my friend whispered back. “Yes,” I whispered again, then asked in another whisper, “Why

are we whispering?” “I don’t know,” he whispered.

But I knew. Or at least I sensed it, because not only was everyone in the group suddenly hushed, but so were the anxious feelings we had all had before entering the chapel. The only explanation I have for it is that there was something about the simple beauty of that sanctuary that brings you directly into the presence of God. And in His presence there is peace.

Where do you stand today? Are you overwhelmed with anxieties and worries? Many times our anxieties are simply a loss of focus upon God. Are you trusting in God with confident assurance? Are you feeding in the pastures of His provision for you? Are you truly delighting in God? Are your plans and directions committed to Him, or are you toiling in your own strength?

Find your way back to making God the center of your life once again, and watch how the anxieties melt away at His presence. Commit your way to Him once again, and watch Him order your steps. Delight yourself in Him, and watch Him begin to give you the desires of your heart. Rest in the Lord, and wait on Him, and see if He will not bring abundance of peace, healing, wholeness, and rest.