Getting into the Right Headspace

Do not fret yourself because of evildoers; *
        do not be jealous of those who do wrong.

For they shall soon wither like the grass, *
        and like the green grass fade away.

Put your trust in the Lord and do good; *
-Psalm 37:1-3a

Acrostics are helpful tools for getting people to remember important information. I still remember the repeating Rs in “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”. Psalm 37 is written as an alphabetical acrostic in the original Hebrew. This means that there was extra emphasis for the people to know this Psalm.

The author/artist warns their audience of two responses to evildoers. The first response is that we fret and get incensed over their evil. In this way we forget about the good things we are called to do because we are so upset over the evil.  The second response is that we see how unfair things are, and we become envious of those that cheat to get ahead.  If we let evil distract us in one way or the other, we are pulled away from our mission of doing good.  Please note that this does not say to ignore evil or evildoers.  We must be informed, but we do not have to let evildoers take up headspace that is better spent of loving our neighbors.

May we be a church of informed citizens who are always working towards making this earth a little more like God’s kingdom.

Matt+