Psalms 37:3

Trust in the Lord,.... Not in men, who are fading and perishing like the green grass and tender herb; nor in riches, which are very uncertain things; but in the Lord, in whom is everlasting strength;

Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

Trust in the Lord; depend upon God’ s providence and promise for thy protection and sustentation, for their infidelity is the root of their wickedness. Do good; continue in the practice of that which is good and well-pleasing to God. So shalt thou dwell in the land, i.e. upon this condition shalt dwell safely and quietly in Canaan; as God had oft promised. In the Hebrew it is, dwell in the land, as if, it were a command to abide in Canaan when troubles come, and not to flee to the Philistines or other heathens for shelter, as he had foolishly done. But it is rather a promise, by comparing this with ,29; such promises being oft expressed by imperative verbs put for futures, as 42:18 . Verily thou shalt be fed, Heb. thou shalt be fed (i.e. every way provided for) in truth, i.e. truly or assuredly; or with or by faith, as this word signifies, i. e. by thy trusting in the Lord; thou shalt live by thy faith, as is said, .

Psalms 37:3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; [so] shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.Ver. 3. Trust in the Lord, and do good] These and the following are excellent means and medicines against the fret. True faith will trust in God where it cannot trace him; it will also work by love, and by doing good approve itself to be right; as it appeared by the fruits that it was a good land; and as it appeared by the coats that Dorcas was a good woman. So shalt thou dwell in the land] Heb. Dwell thou in the land, viz. be content with thy lot, not looking at the larger allowances of wicked rich men; who the more they have of the fat of the earth the more they will fry and blaze in hell. Do thou abide in thy station, and serve God’ s providence in thy particular calling. And verily thou shalt be fed] Fed like a sheep, under the conduct and keeping of a good sheppherd, as the word signifieth. Kimchi readeth it, Pasce in veritate, Feed others with the truth; as the lips of the righteous feed many. Tremellius rendereth it, Pascere fide, feed on faith; that is, nourish thyself, and live by it, according to that of Habakkuk, Habakkuk 2:4, "The just shall live by his faith." Some render it, Pasce fidem, feed faith, sc. by pondering the promises of God, which are, Pabulum fidei, the food of faith. Others, Pascere fideliter, get thy living faithfully and honestly by thy true labour.

(3) The alphabetic structure helps the poet to make an emphatic threefold exhortation to piety. Trust in Jehovah; commit thy way to Jehovah; rest in Jehovah.So shalt thou dwell . . .—The Authorised Version is quite right in taking the verbs in this clause as futures. (Comp. Psalms 37:11; Psalms 37:18; Psalms 37:22.) Emigration, when referred to by the prophets (Jeremiah 25:5; Jeremiah 35:15), is always represented as compulsory, and it was a promise of preservation from it, not a warning against it, that the pious Israelite needed. And verily thou shalt be fed.—Taken literally this promise may be addressed to the Levites, and may contain allusion to their precarious condition, dependent as they were on offerings and tithes, but the Hebrew may also have the meanings: (1) Thou shalt feed on (or enjoy) stability (or security). (Comp. Isaiah 33:6 : “and wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times.”) (2) Thou shalt pasture on faithfulness, i.e., be supported by God’s truth and righteousness as by a rich pasture. (Comp. Psalms 23:1, and, for the expression, Proverbs 15:14, “feedeth on foolishness.”) Possibly both were combined in the psalmist’s thought, for the faithfulness of God is the security of man.

Verse 3. Dwell in the land] Do not flee to foreign climes to escape from that providence which, for thy own good, denies thee affluence in thy own country. And verily thou shalt be fed.] God will provide for thee the necessaries of life: its conveniences might damp thy intellect in its inventions, and lead thee into idleness; and its superfluities would induce thee to pamper thy passions till the concerns of thy soul would be absorbed in those of the flesh and, after having lived an animal life, thou mightest die without God, and perish everlastingly. The original, ורעה אמונה ureeh emunah, might be translated, "and feed by faith." The Septuagint has καιποιμανθησῃεπιτῳπλουτῳαυτης, and thou shalt feed upon its riches. The Vulgate AEthiopic, and Arabic, are the same. The Syriac, seek faith. The Chaldee, be strong in the faith. The Anglo-Saxon, [Anglo-Saxon], and feeded thou shalt be in its welfare. Old Psalter, and thu sal be fed in ryches of it. But it is probable that אמונה emunah here signifies security. And thou shalt be fed in security. Dr. Delaney supposed that the Psalm might have been written by David in the behalf of Mephibosheth, who, being falsely accused by his servant Ziba, had formed the resolution to leave a land where he had met with such bad treatment. David, being convinced of his innocence, entreats him to dwell in the land, with the assurance of plenty and protection. It is more likely that it is addressed to the captives in Babylon; and contains the promise that they shall return to their own land, and again enjoy peace and plenty.

1–11. Warnings and counsels for times of temptation.

Trust in the Lord - Confide in him; rest on him. Instead of allowing the mind to be disturbed and sad, because there are wicked men upon the earth; because they are prosperous and apparently happy;

3. Trust—Opposed to “fret,” Psalms 37:1. Do good—The wickedness of men, and the apparently deranged state of things, should not lessen or discourage good works.