Please read Psalm 37 (40 verses)

In this Psalm we have the life preoccupations of the people of God and the people of this world and how they impact on each other. It is difficult for the Christian believer when the people who serve this world seem to do well, while the child of God is oppressed, either in their daily life or in the thought processes of their mind. This fallen world is not their spiritual home and it can be a pressure to live under the dictates of the ways of it.

We are instructed how to cope with the various aspects of life that affect us and cause us concern. Above all we are taught to trust in the Lord at all times and He will rescue, restore and vindicate His people. We are to live our lives in quietness and the security of knowing Christ and to take pleasure in knowing the Lord and He will give us all we desire. God tells us to be still before Him and not to fret or be angry when wickedness seems to prosper. The Lord is in control and He will vindicate the position of His people at the appointed time. The wicked will pass away and the righteous will inherit the land, indeed the Lord laughs at the wicked. The ungodly might seem to prosper greatly and flourish in the general scheme of society, but their success is only for time and not eternity. The wicked oppress the lifestyles of godly people, but it is only the outworking of wickedness in society and will never prosper before the court of the Lord.

The wicked may plot against the righteous but their plotting will turn back on themselves. They will take them through the courts, but justice will be done in God’s time. The wealth and power of the wicked will be broken but the Lord makes the steps of blameless people firm and secure. The righteous speak wisely and truthfully, and there is a future for them that is kept by God. The wicked might seem to prosper but they pass out of life and are forgotten by God. There is no future for the wicked. The salvation of God’s people is not from themselves, but they are preserved by the power of the Lord. He will not allow them to be destroyed by the wicked because righteous people take their refuge in the Lord. Time eventually runs out for all evil doers and eternity makes amends for all sorrows.