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The main focus of this Psalm is to encourage us not to be drawn to getting success from evil means.

\(^1\)Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! \(^2\)For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. \(^3\)Trust in the LORD, and do good

A key verse is;

\(^{16}\)Better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked.

We should count it a far more valuable thing to do right than to get wealthy.

Another key message is that God sees everything, the righteous doing good and the evil doing wrong and there will be consequences at God’s hands

\(^{39}\)The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble. \(^{40}\)The LORD helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him.

Two very specific pieces of advice I often need to remind myself of comes early in the Psalm ;

\(^{8}\)Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.

I often struggle to not be angry in my heart at people for all kinds of things. This is the case even though I’ve known for many years that the Bible warns about it in lots of places. It is good for me to get these frequent reminders and to remember to pray for the Holy Spirit’s help.

I would say I personally struggle more with anger that with fear and fretting but I’m certainly not immune from that either. I don’t think it’s coincidental these two commands are placed together. 1 John 4:18 says “perfect love drives out fear”. It’s probably also true that fear can drive out love if we let it. Fear can lead to aggression.