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.

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

9396. 'And he took the book of the covenant' means the Word in the letter to which the Word in heaven was joined. This is clear from the meaning of 'the book' as the Word in its entirety, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'the covenant' as a joining together, dealt with in 665, 666, 1023, 1038, 1864, 1996, 2003, 2021, 6804, 8767, 8778. 'The book of the covenant' is used here to mean everything the Lord spoke from Mount Sinai, for verse 4 just above says, And Moses wrote all Jehovah's words. In a restricted sense therefore 'the book of the covenant' is used to mean the Word revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai, and in a broad sense to mean the Word in its entirety since this is the Divine Truth revealed by the Lord. And since it is through this Truth that the Lord joins Himself to a member of the Church, that Truth too is meant by 'the book of the covenant'; for 'a covenant' is a joining together.

[2] But the nature of the Lord's being joined to a member of the Church through the Word is unknown at the present day because heaven at the present day is closed. Scarcely anyone today talks to angels or spirits and therefore knows the way in which they understand the Word. But this was well known to the ancients, and especially to the most ancients; for talking to spirits and angels was common among them. The reason for this was that people in ancient and especially in most ancient times were more internal, for they thought in the spirit virtually separated from the body, whereas people today are more external and think in the body virtually separated from the spirit. So it is that heaven has seemingly forsaken mankind, for heaven's contact is with the internal man when this can be unshackled from the body, but not directly with the external man. This explains why the nature of the Lord's being joined to a person through the Word is unknown at the present day.

[3] Those whose thought is based on what the body perceives with the senses and not on what the spirit perceives with the senses cannot possibly do other than think that the meaning the Word has in heaven is like the meaning it has in the world, that is, in the letter. If it were said that the meaning the Word has in heaven is like the thought of the internal man, which is free from material ideas, that is, from worldly, bodily, and earthly ideas, this would be considered an absurdity at the present day, especially if it were said that the meaning the Word has in heaven is as different from the meaning it has in the world or in the letter as a heavenly paradise is from an earthly paradise, or as heavenly food and drink are from earthly food and drink. How great that difference is may be seen from the consideration that the heavenly paradise consists in intelligence and wisdom, heavenly food in every good of love and charity, and heavenly drink in every truth of faith rooted in that good. Is there anyone at the present day who would not be astounded to hear that when a paradise, garden, or vineyard is mentioned in the Word those in heaven do not perceive a paradise, garden, or vineyard but instead such things as are attributes of intelligence and wisdom coming from the Lord? Or that when food and drink are mentioned, for instance bread, flesh, wine, or water, those in heaven perceive instead such things as are aspects of the good of love and the truth of faith received from the Lord? Or that this perception of the Word comes about not as a result of interpretations of its statements nor by seeing them as comparisons, but that it is due to correspondences and is their actual and real perception of it? For the heavenly virtues of wisdom, intelligence, the good of love, and the truth of faith correspond in actual reality to those worldly objects. In the same way the internal man has been created to correspond to the external man, and so therefore has heaven, which resides in the internal man, to correspond to the world, which resides in the external man. The same is so with everything generally. The truth that the Word is understood and perceived in heaven according to correspondences, and that this level of meaning is the internal sense, has been shown everywhere in the explanations prior to this.

[4] Anyone who grasps what has just been stated is capable of knowing and in some manner perceiving that a person is joined by means of the Word to heaven and through heaven to the Lord, and that without the Word no such joining together would be possible. See what has been shown many times about these matters, in 2143, 7153, 7381, 8920, 9094 (end), 9212 (end), 9216 (end), 9357, and elsewhere. From all this it is now clear why Moses took the book of the covenant and read it in front of the people, and then sprinkled the blood over the people and said, Behold, the blood of the covenant. And the reason why all this was done was that in heaven 'the blood of a sacrifice' is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, which on our planet is the Word, see 9393. Since 'the covenant' means a joining together, and since Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, that is, the Word, is the means by which the joining together is accomplished, everything that belongs to Divine Truth from the Lord or belongs to the Word is called 'the covenant', such as the tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written, also the judgements, statutes, and all else that is contained in the Books of Moses, and in general that is contained both in the Old Testament Word and in the New.

[5] The Tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written [were called the Covenant].

This may be seen in Moses,

Jehovah wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten words. Exodus 34:28.

In the same author,

I went up into the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which Jehovah made with you. Jehovah gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant. I came down from the mountain, when the mountain was burning with fire; the two tablets of the covenant however were on my two hands. Deuteronomy 9:9, 11, 15.

And in the same author,

Jehovah declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, the ten words which He wrote on tablets of stone. Take care, lest you forget the covenant of Jehovah your God, which He made with you. Deuteronomy 4:13, 23.

Because the two tablets had been laid up in the ark, which was in the middle or inmost part of the tabernacle, the ark was called the ark of the covenant, Numbers 10:33; 14:44; Deuteronomy 10:8, 31:9, 25-26; Joshua 3:3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17; 4:7, 9, 18; 6:6, 8; 8:33; Judges 20:27; 1 Samuel 4:3-5; 2 Samuel 15:24; 1 Kings 3:15; 6:19; 8:1, 6; Jeremiah 3:16.

[6] The Books of Moses were called the Book of the Covenant

This is clear from the ones found in the temple by Hilkiah the [high] priest, about which the following things are said in the second Book of Kings,

Hilkiah the high priest found the book of the law in the house of Jehovah.

And they read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant found in the house of Jehovah. 2 Kings 22:8; 23:2.

[7] The Old Testament Word was called the Covenant

This may be seen in Isaiah,

To those holding fast to My covenant I will give in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than sons and daughters. Isaiah 56:4-5.

In Jeremiah,

Hear the words of this covenant. Cursed is the man who will not hear the words of this covenant which I commanded your fathers. Obey My voice, and do those things, according to all that I command you. Jeremiah 11:2-4.

In David,

All the ways of Jehovah are mercy and truth to those keeping His covenant and His testimonies. Psalms 25:10.

In the same author,

The mercy of Jehovah is from eternity to eternity on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children's children, to those keeping His covenant, and to those remembering His commandments. Psalms 103:17-18.

And in the same author,

They did not keep God's covenant and refused to walk in His law. Psalms 78:10.

Here 'God's covenant' is called God's law. 'The law' is used in a broad sense to mean the whole Word, in a narrower sense to mean the historical section of the Word, in a restricted sense the Word that was written through Moses, and in a very restricted sense the Ten Commandments, see 6752.

[8] The New Testament Word too is the Covenant

This may be seen in Jeremiah,

Behold, the days are coming in which I will make with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a new covenant. This is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days: I will put My law in the midst of them, and will write it on their heart. Jeremiah 31:31-33.

'The house of Israel' stands for the spiritual Church, and 'the house of Judah' for the celestial Church. And in David,

I will also make Him the Firstborn, supreme over the kings of the earth; and My covenant will stand fast with Him. I will not profane ¹ My covenant, and the utterance of My lips I will not alter. Psalms 89:27-28, 34.

This refers to the Lord. 'My covenant will stand fast with Him' stands for the union of the Divine Himself and the Divine Human, thus also for the Word since the Lord's Divine Human was the Word made flesh, that is, made man (homo), John 1:1-3, 14.

[9] The reason why Divine Truth or the Word is a covenant or joining together is that the Word is the Divine from the Lord, thus is the Lord Himself; and this being so, when the Word is received by a person the Lord Himself is received. From this it is evident that it is through the Word that the Lord is joined to a person; and since the Lord is joined to the person, so too is heaven joined to that person. For heaven is called heaven by virtue of the Divine Truth emanating from the Lord and therefore from the Divine. This explains why those in heaven are said to be 'in the Lord'. Regarding the truth that the Divine joins Himself to those who love the Lord and keep His Word, see John 14:23.

[10] From all this it becomes clear that 'the blood of the covenant' means the Lord joined through heaven to a person by means of the Word, as also in Zechariah,

I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be cut off; on the other hand He will speak peace to the nations; His dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. As for you also, through the blood of your covenant I will let out your bound ones from the pit in which there is no water. Zechariah 9:10-11.

[11] A person with no knowledge at all of the internal sense cannot see in these verses anything other than such things as are implied in their literal meaning, that is to say, that the chariot from Ephraim, horse from Jerusalem, and battle bow were going to be cut off, and in the final words that through 'the blood of the covenant' - meaning the Lord's blood - those buried in sins were going to be delivered, various ways being used to explain who exactly are meant by 'bound ones in the pit in which there is no water'. But a person who knows the internal sense of the Word sees that these verses refer to Divine Truth, and that after it has been laid waste, that is, is no longer received in belief and heart by anyone, it will be restored through God's truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Human, and that those who believe and do it will be joined by means of it to the Lord Himself. All this becomes clearer still from the inner meaning of individual words in these verses, for example from the meaning of 'chariot' as doctrine taught by the Church, 2760, 5321, 5945, 8215, and of 'Ephraim' as the Church's enlightened understanding, 5354, 6222, 6238; from the meaning of 'horse' as an understanding of the Word, 2760-2762, 3217, 5321, 6125, 6534, 8029, 8146, 8148, ² and of 'Jerusalem' as the spiritual Church, 2117, 3654, 9166; from the meaning of 'bow' as the doctrine of truth, 2686, 2709, and of 'battle' or 'war' as conflict involving truths, 1664, 2686, 8295.

[12] From these meanings it is evident that 'cutting off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow' means God's truth laid waste so far as any understanding of it in the Church is concerned, and that 'through the blood of the covenant those bound in the pit in which there is no water were going to be let out' means a restoration effected through Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Human. The meaning of 'blood' as Divine Truth and of 'the covenant' as a joining together has been shown above; and for the meaning of 'those bound in the pit' as members of the spiritual Church who were saved by the Lord's Coming into the world, see 6854. The description 'pit where there is no water' is used because 'water' means truth, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 5668, 7307, 8137, 8138, 8568, 9323.

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