CLEANING A PLOW

The steps of a man are
established by the Lord, and
He delights in his way.
Psalm 37:23

When just a little girl and having displeased my Mother in some way, she would sometimes say, “Glendarae, straighten up or I'm going to clean your plow.” I knew about plows from having relatives who were farmers. After a day of plowing, a farmer would usually come back to the barn area where if needed would hose off their plow of stuck on dirt and weeds. That way, the plow was clean, serviceable and ready for work the next day. Somehow, those few words became words of caution when dealing with misbehaving children (not that I could ever have been accused of misbehavior).

A day or so ago, I prepared to do my usual daily reading in the book of Psalms...in fact it was the seventh. After reading Psalm 7 that meant my next step was to add 30 to that and then read Psalm 37. I was tempted to go back a day and go from there. I have to tell you that Psalm 37 usually “cleans my plow” because it's a Psalm that invariably convicts, corrects and turns me inside out spiritually. However, it is a Psalm that also instructs and lovingly encourages. When reading it, there is always something brand new for me to “chew on”, probably because of where I am spiritually on any given day.

I bravely turned to Psalm 37 and jumping out, first word of verse one, was a word I've hardly paid any attention to...”fret.” It's a word that isn't used much anymore, but is still relevant to our day and in my life personally. Fretting isn't just worrying although it can be a form of it. When we fret, we are all consumed with whatever negative circumstances have come into our lives. We're like a dog with a bone. We are obsessed with the situation and can even become resentful, complaining and moody.

So as I jumped into the first verse, I saw “Do not fret because of evildoers....” That was enough that I could have parked there for a good bit of time. I can work up a good anger seeing all the evil going on around us that I can do nothing about on my own except to pray and clean up my own life. That's enough on a personal level for me to handle.

I read on and in verse 7 saw: “Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way.” It goes on to speak of a man who prospers because of wicked schemes. This is an easy one to understand, and can really “eat our lunches.”

Verse 8 really contained the capstone of the subject: “Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.” That's a pretty good reason for avoiding being a fretful person. In mulling over the evil of others, we are exposed more and more to evil thinking. It can almost become a friend if we aren't careful.

Proverbs 37 doesn't leave us hanging with no advice or encouragement. Throughout the chapter are single words that speak for themselves. These words give us guidance and direction hopefully keeping us from fretting. Some of these I noticed are: Trust(3), Delight(4), Commit(5), Rest(7) and, Wait(34). You can take in these words and their complete phrases that aren't long at all if you turn to this chapter.

Scripture may at times “clean our plows” and be uncomfortable as we read in the Word, but through that process, we are made more usable for the Kingdom if we are clean, allowing the Spirit to wash us down and cleanse us. Yielding to the cleaning process of the Spirit will be a lot easier than if we have to yield the hard way. How clean are our plows today?

Dear Father, I'm so grateful for how clearly Your Word speaks to me and for Your Spirit who teaches me what I am to learn. I want to be a clean vessel. I know I fret too much about the evil around me. When I worry or fret, I'm as much as taking my concerns out of Your hands. Thank You for being sovereign and in charge all the time of all things. If it weren't for Jesus I would be totally lost and alone and I pray in His precious name....Amen