Consider the simple faith expressed in this psalm to the Lord. A confidence that evil will be punished and that good will always prevail. The future is bright. There is no need to worry.

We might assume that the author was an idealistic youth - one who has never experienced pain or disappointment. Yet this psalm did not come from any naive child. It was written by a very old man, a man who had known incredible hardships. It is a psalm of David.

Think of David. Although from a shepherd he became king, he also knew hardship. As a youth he had to flee for his life from the jealous Saul. He felt the grief over being responsible for the death of his infant son. Later, as king, he saw his children rape and kill one another. He was forced to flee Jerusalem for his life, because his own son Absalom had rebelled. Then he regained his throne at the cost of his beloved Absalom's life.

David experienced intense pain. Yet he could advise us not to worry about those who do evil. All we need do is trust in the Lord and do good. Indeed, he claims that those who commit their way to the Lord will have everything they need, even if it be but a little in comparison with those who are evil. There is nothing in the future to fear. The good will be rewarded for their efforts.

Comparing this psalm with David's life, we may think that he had an unrealistic view of providence. But consider a similar teaching from the doctrines of the New Church: "When the Lord is present with someone, he leads him, and provides that all things which happen, whether sad or joyful, befall him for good; this is the Divine providence" (Arcana Coelestia 6303). Whatever happens - being promoted or fired, realizing our dreams or having them dashed - all result in good!

A difficult idea to accept - in large part because it seems like the Lord thereby is just manipulating us, causing evil to come into our lives.

But such is not the case. The Lord would never make anything bad happen. And He would prefer that we never suffer any pain. His providence is a gentle leading which causes good things to happen, and tolerates evil things. However He permits us to hurt ourselves and He allows others to cause us pain. Not as punishment, but as the result of free choices by individuals and groups.

One of the greatest stumbling blocks to sensing mercy in His providence is that when we feel pain or worry about serious problems we think that is all there is in life. We cannot see beyond the suffering, the hurt. But while we are occupied with worry, the Lord is already looking ahead - to what can come from the experience, to how He can lead us to grow in spite of the difficulty. For the Lord's view is eternal. He sees hope when we see none. He leads to happiness when we feel hurt.

The apparently random and purposeless events in life are described in the Heavenly Doctrines with pebbles. The Lord allows a person "to go here and there, so that the moments of his life appear like scattered pebbles. But the Lord then sees whether he fills up that space between them; He sees what is lacking and where; and then, continually, what is next in order, after a hundred or a thousand years" (Spiritual Experiences 4692[m]). The Lord's sight and providence encompasses eons of time. He sees all we are, and all we might become. He then gradually provides for it - not immediately, but over the course of an eternal lifetime. Whatever happens, whatever decisions we make, or whatever others do to us - the Lord eventually turns everything to good.

Unfortunately, our view is seldom as long. We cannot see how things will turn out in twenty, much less two thousand years. And when we are suffering our sight is even more limited. So we worry about what will happen. We may try to trust in His guidance, but we are more likely to feel abandoned by the Lord. Whatever He might be doing is both invisible and insensible to us.

In such a frame of mind we might wish we could see the future, be certain of how things will work out. If we were assured of the specific outcome, or knew exactly which path were the best to follow, we could really trust in the Lord - have confidence in Him to lead us.

Yet, in this, as in all other things, the Lord knows us better than we know ourselves. He does not hide the workings of providence from us as a test of our trust, or a puzzle for us to sort out. The Divine does not tease us. But the Lord is fully aware that if we were to know the future, or if we received the "right" answers to our specific questions by a voice out of heaven, we would wind up destroying ourselves.

Imagine what we would feel like if someone predicted every last thing that we would experience for the 24 hours. At first we would disbelieve, but what if the predictions started coming true? It would be disturbing, to say the least. And would we not begin to feel restricted, and try to prevent the predictions from coming true?

We value our freedom, our sense of self. We will protect it at all costs. When we are forced to do something, or if we are pressured into one course of action, do we not rebel, wanting to act against that pressure?

Such resistance is not adolescent or infantile reaction to authority. It stems from our inner freedom of thought. For us to be human beings we need to think things out for ourselves and then act in freedom. Whatever choices we make determine the kind of person we become - and whether our choices are good or bad, at least they make us who we choose to be, not who someone else forces us to be.

Yet, when we are confused or suffering, we have a tremendous yearning to see something of the potential the Lord sees for us and those we love. Unfortunately, if we were able to glimpse it, we would probably work against it. A paradox which can be frustrating and lead us to worry about the future.

It would be much better if we could just let go and trust the Lord to make the best of whatever we do. That is what the angels do. They have no memory of past events from their earthly life to trouble them. Nor do they have any desire to know what is to come. For they are content in the present. Imagine if we could be so fully engaged in our present activities, dealing with what we can do rather than what is beyond our power, that we had no time to worry about the future! It is a goal worth striving for.

But for now, we tend to worry. We tend to worry about our jobs, our health, our children, the international situation, our spiritual state. It can on go on and on. Certainly some amount of thoughtful consideration is important. We are meant to make plans for the future - use good judgment to provide for our families. And we can delight in looking forward to continued productivity or happier times. But planning and worrying about what might or might not occur can become excessive.

The Psalms admonish us: "Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; do not fret - it only causes harm" (37:8). Do not worry, it only causes pain. Thinking too much of the future can lead us to forget that the Lord's providence is silently guiding us. The doctrines of the New Church point out that, "a longing to know the future is innate with most people; but this longing derives its origin from the love of evil" (Divine Providence 179).

Anxiety about the future stems from a lack of confidence that the Lord can lead us to happiness. Since He works invisibly, we can think that we are the only ones who have any direct influence upon what happens. It is a subtle trust in self, and denial that the Lord can be relied upon. Certainly it appears as if we have to do all the work, but it is not the reality. For we could not have created ourselves. We can't even make ourselves happy!

So the Heavenly Doctrines describe the Lord's providence "as when one walks in thick forests, the exit out of which he does not know; but when he finds it, he attributes the discovery to himself, whereas providence meantime is as one who stands in a tower, sees the wanderings of such a person, and leads him without his knowing it to the place of exit" (Spiritual Experiences 4393). The Lord is in the tower, inspiring our thoughts, motivating our actions so that we can be led from darkness into light.

But His guiding can only be effective when we cooperate. We have to search for ways out of the forest. The Lord gave us the ability to think so we would use it. If we sit back and ponder our situation, how hopeless it may seem, little is accomplished. Can we add one cubit to our height by worrying about it? We also need to act. If we stand around and complain about how lost we are, or how unfair life is, it is very difficult for the Lord to lead us anywhere. He will not drag us out of our forests against our wills.

It is as the Psalm said: "Trust in the Lord and do good." Such simple advice, but so true! We cannot alter the past, but we can do something in the present, enabling the Lord to create a happy future.

There will still be times of selfishness where we long to know how things could possibly work out, and there will still be things happening to us which are not pleasant. We cannot control life. But we can avoid being defeated by it. We have been given the knowledge of how the Lord operates to bring about happiness in the long term. We have been given the freedom to act with reason. We have the basis for trusting in Him.

Let us then listen to the Psalm, not worrying about the future, not worrying about what is or what might be. Let us do the good that we can, and leave the rest to the Lord. After all, He should be able to do a much better job than we. Let us commit our ways to the Lord, trusting in Him, and He can give us the heavenly desires of our hearts.

(Referencias: Arcana Coelestia 6303; Divine Providence 176; Spiritual Experiences 2178, 4393, 4692)

8988. '[His] master shall bring him to God' means the state he then enters in keeping with Divine order. This is clear from the meaning of 'bringing to God', when the subject is those who are imbued with truths and cannot be imbued with good, as causing them to enter a state in keeping with Divine order; for 'bringing to' means entering, and 'God' means Divine order, which is dealt with below. The fact that these things are meant is evident from the details contained in the rest of this verse. These describe the state of those imbued with truths and not with complementary good, that is to say, a state of everlasting obedience. For those living in this condition are in servitude compared with those imbued with good complementing truths. For being governed by good the latter's actions spring from affection; and those who act from affection do so from the will, thus from themselves since whatever forms part of a person's will is part of his true self; for indeed the essence (esse) of a person's life is his will. But those whose actions spring from obedience act not from their own will, but from their master's, thus not from themselves, but from another; therefore in comparison they are in servitude. Actions that spring from truths and not from good spring solely from the understanding, for truths have connection with the understanding and forms of good with the will; and actions that spring from the understanding and not from the will spring from that which stands outside and serves. The understanding has been given to a person in order that he may receive truths and introduce them into his will to become forms of good; for when truths become part of the will they are called forms of good.

[2] The condition however of one who serves the Lord by doing according to His commandments, and by being obedient in that kind of way, is not that of a slave; rather, it is that of one who is free. For perfect freedom consists for a person in being led by the Lord, 892, 905, 2870, 2872. The Lord breathes the good into the person's will from which his actions spring; and although that good comes from the Lord, the person nevertheless has the feeling that his actions are from himself, that is, he does them in freedom. This freedom exists with all who abide in the Lord; and coupled with it there is indescribable happiness.

[3] The reason why 'God' here means Divine order is that in the Word the name 'God' is used where truth is referred to, and 'Jehovah' where good is referred to, 2769, 2807, 2822, 3921 (end), 4402, 7010, 7268, 8867. Therefore Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good is meant in the highest sense by 'God', and His Divine Good from which Divine Truth emanates is meant by 'Jehovah'. The reason for this is that Divine Good is Essential Being (Esse), and Divine Truth is the Coming-into-Being (Existere) from it, since what emanates from something comes into being from it. The situation with good and truth in heaven or among angels is similar, and that in the Church among men is similar. Good there is the essential being, and truth is the coming-into-being from it. Or what amounts to the same thing love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour is the essential being of heaven and the Church, while faith is the coming-into-being from it. All this makes plain why it is that 'God' can also mean Divine order; for Divine Truth emanating from the Lord is what constitutes order in heaven, so completely that it is order itself. For more about Divine Truth's being order, see 1728, 1919, 7995, 8700.

Therefore when man or angel receives Divine Truth from the Lord within good, there resides with him that order which exists in the heavens. As a consequence he is a heaven or kingdom of the Lord in particular; he is such in the measure that he is imbued with good from truths, and after this in the measure that he is endowed with truths from good. And - what is an arcanum - angels themselves appear in heaven in a human form that accords exactly with the truths present with them within good, together with beauty and brilliance which accord with the character of the good from truths. The souls of members of the Church present a similar appearance in heaven. The Divine Truth itself emanating from the Lord brings this about, as may be recognized from what has been shown at the ends of a number of chapters regarding heaven as the Grand Man, and its correspondence with individual aspects of a human being.

[4] This arcanum is what the following words are used to mean in John, in the Book of Revelation,

He measured the wall of the holy Jerusalem, a hundred and forty-four cubits, which is the measure of a man (homo), that is, of an angel. Revelation 21:17.

Will anyone ever understand these words if he does not know what the holy Jerusalem, its wall, measure, the number 144, and so 'a man, that is, an angel' all mean? By the new or holy Jerusalem is meant the Lord's New Church, which is going to take the place of the Christian Church existing at the present time, 2117; by 'the wall' is meant the truths of faith which will defend that Church, 6419; by 'measuring' and 'the measure' is meant its state in respect of truth, 3104; by the number 144 is meant much the same as by 12, since 144 is the number that is the product of 12 multiplied by itself, and by these numbers all truths in their entirety are meant, see 7973. These meanings make plain what is meant by 'the measure of a man, that is, of an angel', namely actual truth emanating from the Lord in the form it assumes, which is that of a man-angel in heaven, as stated above. All this reveals the arcanum which the words quoted above embody; it reveals that they describe the truths of that Church which is going to take the place of the Christian Church existing at the present time.

[5] The fact that they are truths from good is described in the very next verse, in these words,

The construction of its wall was jasper, but the city was pure gold, like pure glass. Revelation 21:18.

'Jasper' means truth such as that Church's will be, for truths are meant by 'stones' generally, 1298, 3720, 6426, and truths that come from the Lord by 'precious stones', 643; and 'gold' means the good of love and wisdom, 113, 1551, 1552, 5658. Would anyone ever discern that such meanings are embodied in those words? Yet who can fail to see from them that countless arcana lie concealed in the Word, which are not at all made apparent to anyone except by means of the internal sense, and that this sense, like a key, is the means of opening up God's truths as they exist in heaven, and therefore heaven and the Lord Himself, who is the All in all of the Word in its inmost sense?