Today's Passage - Psalm 37:29-40

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Psalm 37:29-40    ... Hope in the Lord and keep his way. He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are destroyed, you will see it. I have seen a wicked and ruthless man flourishing like a luxuriant native tree, but he soon passed away and was no more; though I looked for him, he could not be found. Consider the blameless, observe the upright; a future awaits those who seek peace. But all sinners will be destroyed; there will be no future for the wicked. The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord;he is their stronghold in time of trouble.  The Lord helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him.    Who are the righteous ones? Verse 34 says it's those who hope in the Lord, or wait upon the Lord. Brothers and sisters, we need to learn to wait upon God, otherwise we're always rushing back and forth in front of Him. When teenagers come home, the only thing you can say to them is "hi" or "bye", because they only stay briefly. We're often like that in front of God. God wants to speak to us, but He's not given the opportunity to show us the way. We can understand what God wants us to do when we are willing to wait upon God.   Not only should we know God's will, we also need the courage to follow His will. The righteous ones seek God's will and also follow it; they don't just go "good things" or whatever they want to do, but instead they understand what God wants to accomplish in their lives and have the courage to follow God's way. Verse 39 says that these people will ultimately be delivered and saved. From human perspective, the righteous one are often in all kinds of hardship, but it says here that they will end up being delivered and saved. In fact, the original text means we'll fulfill His purpose. God allows all kinds of hardship to come to us for good purposes, as we ultimately want to be more like Jesus Christ. The evil ones sometimes look prosperous, but you will not see them in eternity, because our God is eternal, and from the perspective of eternity the evil ones will ultimately perish.   May God help us to be willing to seek His will and follow His way, because such people will ultimately be saved. Verse 39 says that God is "our stronghold in time of trouble," and verse 40 says that we can take refuge in Him when needed, hallelujah! Don't envy people of the world, but rather let us envy those are righteous before God. In our lifetime, let us live according to the perfect will of God, so may God strengthen our faith!   Pray with Pastor Tong         Lord, help me to be eager to be a righteous person, let me seek your will and obey your commands, so that your will in our life may be accomplished. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!