Don't Fret Yourself

Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity....Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. (Ps. 37.1, 7-8)

Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked: (Prov. 24.19)

Eric Liddell: Jennie, Jennie, don't fret yourself. (Chariots of Fire)

Obadiah Sedgwick, Providence Handled Practically, p. 39:

If there is a providence that generally extends to all, and especially to the people of God, then we should learn not to vex and disquiet our minds and hearts. This is what Christ taught His disciples: since there was a God who looked to the grass and to the lilies, and a Father who cared for them, therefore they should not take thought and worry (Matt. 6:28), and their hearts should not be troubled. 1 Peter 5:7 advises you to live "casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." By this, Peter means that you must not perplex yourselves about your conditions, your safeties, or your supports. You may ease yourselves of all this worry, for there is a God who takes care of you, who minds you, who thinks on you, who will provide well enough for you. Philippians 4:5 advises, "Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand." Do not rend yourselves with excessive grief, vastness of getting, or impatience in suffering, as if there were no one near to help you; the Lord is at hand -- your help, your strength, your supply, your comfort is not far from you. In verse 6 of the same chapter we read, "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." This means, whatsoever your condition may be, do not afflict yourselves with anxieties, fear, and worries. Instead, bless the Lord for what you have, and pray for that which you lack; then, leave it to God, and so in patience, possess your souls.

Wait on Providence

Obadiah Sedgwick, Providence Handled Practically, p. 74:

Now what more can I say to stir up your hearts to wait on divine providence? The promises fill up providence for those who wait. They are breasts full of goodness, or a spring full of water for waiting souls to derive abundant mercy through providence. A good Christian is in such a happy condition! Either he has enough in hand, or else if the good be delayed, it lies sure for him in the promises. Isaiah 64:4 says, "For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him." "Blessed are all they that wait for him" (Isa. 30:18).

Not What You Feel, But What God Promises

Obadiah Sedgwick, The Doubting Believer, pp. 137-138:

Judge not the issue by what you feel, but by what God promises. And in case, therefore, God does not show you His ancient love presently or easily, yet knock again, and provoke your heart to outbelieve all reasonings of fear and corruption. As David, Psalm 42:11, Why are thou cast down, O my soul?, and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise Him, who is the help of my countenance, and my God. O my God, said he in verse 6 of that Psalm, my soul is cast down within me! (no question, but for the absence of God's favor). Verse 9, My Rock, why hast Thou forgotten me? Therefore (said he) will I remember Thee.

"Remember Him? O David, what encouragements do you have so to do? Your Rock seems to forget you, and all His waves and billows are gone over you. You are in a tossed and forgotten condition, and yet you say, I will remember Thee."

No, see verse 8, Yet the Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.

"It is true, these afflictions and sorrows are upon me, and God seems to forget me for the present, yet I will remember Him. I know He thinks on me; He has lovingkindness, and He will command it. He can show it when He pleases. I shall assuredly have it, perhaps in the daytime, perhaps in the nighttime; and, therefore, day and night will I seek Him for His lovingkindness. I will remember Him."

But how may one support himself in the interims of this suspension of divine favor? Can one be good who is thus? Or will God do good, or does He think any good of such a one? I answer, you may support yourselves thus:

By remembering the days of old, Psalms 77:7, Will the Lord cast off forever, and will He be favorable no more? 9. Hath God forgotten to be gracious? This is my infirmity. For me thus to conclude that God will not be favorable and gracious unto me because I feel Him not so, this is my weakness and sinful error; but how, then, will you support yourself? See verse 10, I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High. 11. I will remember Thy wonders of old; and, assuredly, the remembrance of what God has done is able to support us with a confident expectation of what God will yet do for us.

God is a Faithful Friend

Obadiah Sedgwick, The Shepherd of Israel, or God's Pastoral Care over His People. Delivered in Divers Sermons on the Whole Twenty-Third Psalm (1658), p. 200 (re Ps. 23.4) (spelling modernized):

As God is a Kind friend, so he is a Faithful friend; a friend loves at all times, said Solomon: God is such a friend who loves not by fits and starts, but sincerely an stedfastly; and therefore though Davids friends fall off, and parents forsook him, yet God did not, he took him up, Psal. 27.10. And though when Paul was brought before Nero, all men forsook him, yet the Lord stood with him and strengthened him, 2 Tim. 4.16, 17.

Gold is Never Purer Than in the Fire

Obadiah Sedgwick, Providence Handled Practically, pp. 93-94:

The gold is never purer than in the fire; the wheat is never cleaner than in a wind; and the water is never clearer than when it runs among the stones and rocks; the sheep never keep together so orderly in their pastures as when the wolves are about to worry them; the musical instrument never sounds so sweet as when you strike it with your fingers. So it is with the church -- the times of its calamity are the times of its beauty; their hearts are never more humbled, their ways never more reformed and purified, their graces and heavenly opportunities never more improved, their fellowship never more kindled, and their prayers and dependencies never more doubled and quickened than when the bondage of Pharaoh, the threatening of Herod, or the rod of the wicked does rest on the backs of the righteous. If wicked men tear their bodies, yet God will preserve their souls; if they deform their beauty, yet God will reform their hearts; if they waste their estates, yet God will make up their comforts; if they take away their lives, yet God will give them heaven. There is no calamity which befalls the church that shall not be either a medicine to heal, a lash to quicken, or a trial to discover. It shall be an advantage to the gospel, an enlargement of the stock, and a step to glory.