In this world we live in, there is often not only goodness and light that warms the soul, sometimes there is darkness and evil that takes lives. Take a look at the news on our social media timelines. It is so easy for someone to take the lives of others and use others for their own interests. Hoaxes and slanders are fabricated according to the interests of the orderer. Large corporations are relentlessly exploiting God's creation for their own profit. Superpowers emerge as oppressors and new empires that set their own double standards. For believers, in the midst of all these evils and oppression, what can we do?

The Psalmist invites us to put all our hope and help in God alone. Our only source of refuge is God. In the face of violence, systematic and structured evil, and those who spread slander so skillfully. These behaviors are the characteristics of the wicked who move away and rebel against Allah. They are arrogant people who think they can surpass Allah. When Allah plans good for His people, the wicked plan evil for their neighbors.

In the face of such gripping evil, the psalmist continues to repeat his request for God's protection and provision. The plans of the wicked will be thwarted by God. Those who live in violence will be hastened by calamity. In the end, we are invited to put our hope in God who brings justice to the oppressed and defends the cause of the poor. So keep living righteously and honestly before Him.

Friends of the Bible, the psalmist's confidence in the justice that God will reveal should have a great impact on a believer's faith. First, he will have the courage to stand up to the evil around him with the firm principle of not falling into evil himself. Secondly, he will be empowered to fight against injustice and oppression around him because that is what God does. May Christians always be beacons that expose the darkness around them. Have the courage to act and choose right, not because we are strong but because God is with the righteous.