“Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil” (Psalm 37:8, NIV).

What does this verse say? I was listening to a song by the Psalms Project; they are multiple singers/musicians putting all 150 Psalms to modern music. As much as possible, they try to stick to the wording of the psalm and to use the whole thing. I was struck by this verse in the song and looked it up to see if that’s what it really said.

In the song, they stated the end of this verse as, “Do not worry, for it only leads to sin.” That was really striking. “…do not fret—it leads only to evil” is a lot easier to read and skim over than, “Do not worry, for it only leads to sin.”

The best thing worry can do for us is cause us to sin! Stay away from worry! We have to take all those worried thoughts captive and turn them into thanksgiving, knowing God knows what’s going on and has it under control.

He will be our shield, our help, whatever we need; we can trust Him to take care of us and redeem any trouble that comes our way. He does all things well. Our “helping out” by worrying, and then letting that direct our steps instead of the Holy Spirit (likely by some method of trying to save ourselves, or those around us) will only cause us harm.

We make terrible gods. Our trying to provide and protect and all those good things can never truly be our job. We may temporarily relieve our worries, but we can’t really save anybody! It’s an illusion, doing things to try to help ourselves. It’s just an illusion. They are only band-aids. They don’t take care of real issues. God alone is Savior. He alone knows what we really need.

Jesus healed the blind man by the pool of water and said, “Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you” (John 5:14, NKJV). He knew what the man really needed. To the man being lowered from the rooftop, He said, “Your sins are forgiven” (Luke 5:20). He knew what the man really needed.

Our worrying, and then working to relieve our worries by jumping in, only looks at the outside troubles and seeks solutions for those. God sees our hearts, and knows what each needs to be helped toward Him.

Isn’t that what we want? Turn those worries to thanksgivings. Giving thanks is the antidote. Give thanks to the One who does all things well, who is good, who knows all things. Leave your life, and the lives of those around you, in His capable hands.