Passage
The Lord knoweth the dayes of vpright men, and their inheritance shall bee perpetuall.
Psalms 37:18 (GNV)
Nearby Context
Psalms 37:16 A small thing vnto the iust man is better, then great riches to the wicked and mightie.
Psalms 37:17 For the armes of the wicked shall be broken: but the Lord vpholdeth the iust men.
Psalms 37:18 The Lord knoweth the dayes of vpright men, and their inheritance shall bee perpetuall.
Psalms 37:19 They shall not be confounded in the perilous time, and in the daies of famine they shall haue ynough.
Psalms 37:20 But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be consumed as the fatte of lambes: euen with the smoke shall they consume away.
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "lord", "knoweth", "dayes", "vpright", "inheritance", "shall", and "perpetuall". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "lord" and "knoweth", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 17's "For the armes of the wicked shall..." into verse 19's "They shall not be confounded in the...", so "lord" and "knoweth" belong inside that flow. In Psalms context, the local focus is worship, trust, the LORD's kingship, and covenant mercy.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "lord" and "knoweth" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.