Psalm 37
David’s prayer in Psalm 37 helps us learn to submit to God — to trust our Good Shepherd, to focus on our responsibility to do what is good and right (no matter how it feels), to wait for God’s provision and guidance, and, most of all, to find delight in what is most precious — knowing the Lord!
Do not worry…
Trust in the Lord and do good;
Dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord;
Trust in him and he will do this: he will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
Do not worry… Do not worry (Psalm 37:1-8).
More Thoughts
If God is all powerful, and truly seeks our good, then why does He allow bad things to happen to people? Why does God allow all the suffering we experience in this life, if He loves us and is all-powerful and all-knowing? What does the Catholic Church say about the meaning of suffering?
St. Paul was regularly attacked because of the faith, and eventually paid the highest price. He wrote much on the topic of suffering, especially about accepting suffering as a way of life when we follow Christ.
“It is those who want to make a good appearance in the flesh who are trying to compel you to have yourselves circumcised, only that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. .. .. But may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” -Galatians 6:12-14
Pope John Paul II explains why St. Paul writes so much on suffering: “The Apostle shares his own discovery and rejoices in it because of all those whom it can help – just as it helped him – to understand the salvific meaning of suffering” (Salvifici Doloris, 1). (see more)