Psalm 37

It is easy to get overwhelmed in our hearts by news of evil winning the day or evildoers who seem to be prospering, and to let our imaginations run away with internal predictions of what will come next. While we do not know the exact pathway that will lead to the destruction of any one movement among men, whether good or bad, we have been told that the enemies of the godly will soon fade like grass. There is no need for us to fret about this. Worrying will not lead to anything good.

Far better to trust God and to focus on doing good. Stay close to faithfulness as you make the Lord your delight, and He will give you the desires of your heart. It won't be that long and the light of your righteousness will rise. God will take the perfect soil of His own infinite righteousness and cause your life of justice to fruitfully grow in that soil by His grace. He loves to see His children flourish in goodness. Just be still before Him over the years that He gives you, and learn to avoid the bait of envious or frightening distractions that will not help you to grow in holiness and contentment.

The meek really will inherit the earth. God will accomplish His eternal purpose to unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth. Do not suppose that your extinction is near if you are old or terminally ill. If you are in Christ, you will soon be part of the great heavenly host of men and angels that come with Christ at His return when He will renew all things. You will inherit the land in the day when there is a final separation of the wicked and the righteous. Christ has won. Why should you live with worry now? Abundant peace is your destiny.

God is not worried about the wicked. Jesus endured their plots. Now they cannot touch Him. Nor can they stop His good plans for you. God laughs at the stone and the guard that would hold Jesus in the tomb. No one can separate you from His love. You may be poor now, an easy target for those who abuse the needy. Their day is coming, and so is yours. Don't be afraid. God will carry you. Enjoy the little that you have today with a grateful heart, and know that the Lord will not let you go. No matter how much the wicked appear to have today, no matter how many armies protect them from assault, they have no inheritance in the land of eternal blessing.

The righteous are not the same as the wicked in the Lord's eyes. He will have mercy on whom He has mercy, and He has determined to cover you with His compassion. Throughout your life He will establish your steps. You may fall, but the Lord will lift you up. This was decreed long ago. In the fullness of time it was secured in the righteousness and blood of the Son of God. At just the right time in your life you were made alive by the resurrected Christ through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Throughout the unique pathway that God has ordained for you, He has kept you as His beloved in Christ. No one will ever snatch you from His hand.

Listen to the great cloud of witnesses that are now participating with us in the worship of the Almighty. They ran the earthly race, and they see your current race best from the present heavens. What do they see? God feeds the righteous. He helps their children. No matter how wretched their lives may appear to be on earth, from the perspective of the saints who are resting from their earthly labors, it is clear that the Lord has ordered everything here so that His purposes of justice and mercy will one day be firmly established.

Are you holding hands with evil? Let go, and run to the One who embraces you through your most shameful failures. Give yourself over to Him entirely and devote yourself to that which is good. You'll be doing that forever, and you won't be weary in it. God loves you. You will inherit the renewed earth and live there forever with all those who are sons of God through Jesus Christ.

In that day your every impulse will be in accord with the Spirit of the Lord. Your words will be wisdom and justice. You will love what God loves, and you will never leave the pathway of holiness. Through Christ, God sees you that way even now.

In the day when our Redeemer accomplished His great sacrifice, wicked people thought that they were prevailing. They sought to put Him to death, and they seemed to have their way, but they did not count on the power of His indestructible life. As He had promised, He rose from the dead as the new resurrection man, and He claimed the earth for God's kingdom.

The trials of this life are not forever. Jesus, our great High Priest can sympathize with you. Wait for Him. Keep His way. He will bring you up to the heavenly Jerusalem, and you will be with Him at the renewal of all things.

The wicked will face their destiny. Your life will not be the same as theirs. You have a future befitting the Man of peace who calls you to be at peace with others.

Your salvation is from the Lord from first to last. He determined to have mercy upon you. He sent His Son to live and die for you. He gave you new life in Christ, your sure Refuge. He has been watching you and guiding you as you step heavenward. He will take you to glory. You will be with Him there with all the redeemed. You will inherit the earth. Trust the Lord, and do not be afraid.