Please read Psalm 75 (10 verses)

It is the Lord who is in total control of all things. His name is exalted above all and to Him all glory is due. His very name is with us and near us and people witness to God’s mercy and goodness every day. God chooses when things happen and how they happen. We can presume to know His plans and purposes, but we do not. Only He knows the end from the beginning of a series of events, and He is working out His holy agenda throughout the whole world.

When trouble comes to people, families and nations it is He who holds things together and overrules in mercy and grace. When we have a heart to sin, it is the restraining power of the Holy Spirit who restrains us and stops the hand of evil from working out its purposes. None of us from any part of the world, West or East, can exalt ourselves above the Lord, and to try to do so will brings down folly upon our lives. We can try to lift ourselves to positions of authority and influence, but it is the Lord who sets people as leaders and also brings them down, according to His perfect will. The Lord has judgments for the high and mighty and all who do not acknowledge Him or worship Him, and He pours out trouble to stay the hand of evil and the natural outworking of the sinful human heart.

It is folly to boast in anything, especially our perceived strength, for it is the Lord who gives it and can take it away. We bow our knees to Him and petition Him for peace and that the kingdom will come on earth. The righteous seek these things and know that they will be exalted in the Lord, but the influence of the wicked will be cut off.