Psalms 37

Psalms 37:1

Psalm 37: True PeaceDavid had suffered plenty at the hands of ungodly, unscrupulous men during his lifetime. Now an old man, he shares some advice on how to react when we become a victim of wicked schemes and venomous tongues. 37:1, 2 First, we must not allow ourselves to fret because of evildoers. The danger is that we will lie in bed at night and rehearse the whole outrageous episode. First we think of all they said and did, then we go over how we answered them, then we wish we had thought of some other choice brickbats to hurl at them! Soon our digestive juices have turned to sulfuric acid and we lie and toss and turn, wondering when sleep will ever come! Our fretting is hurting no one but ourselves and accomplishes nothing. We must not do it! Whatever else we do, we must not be envious of the unrighteous! This earth is the only heaven they’re ever going to have. The scythe of retribution will soon mow them down, and their spectacular careers will fade and wither. 37:3 That’s the negative side of the picturedon’t be agitated over them and don’t wish you were like them. On the positive side, the first thing to do is to trust in the LORD, and do good. This trust does not mean an unfounded, breezy optimism that everything will turn out right. Instead, it means a deep, abiding reliance on the God who has promised to punish the ungodly and to reward the righteous. His Word can never fail. The upright will indeed dwell in the land and enjoy security. Despite the fiercest attacks of demons or men, no sheep of Christ will ever perish (Joh_10:27-29). A dwelling place in the Father’s house is guaranteed to all who trust Christ (Joh_14:1-6). John Wesley once sent financial help to a preacher-friend named Samuel Bradburn. Enclosing a five-pound note, he wrote: “Dear Sammy: `Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.’” In expressing his thanks, Bradburn said, “I have often been struck with the beauty of the passage of Scripture quoted in your letter, but I must confess that I never saw such a useful expository note on it before.” 37:4 But suppose you have had great desires to carry on a certain ministry for the Lord. You feel confident that He has been leading you, and your only desire is to glorify Him. Yet a powerful adversary has opposed, blocked, and thwarted you at every bend in the road. What do you do in a case like this? The answer is that you delight yourself also in the LORD, knowing that in His own time He shall give you the desires of your heart. It is not necessary for you to fight back. “The battle is not yours, but God’s” (2Ch_20:15). “The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace” (Exo_14:14). 37:5, 6 Or it may be that you have been misquoted, falsely accused or slandered. If there were some shred of truth to the charges they wouldn’t be so hard to take. But they are absolutely untrue and malicious. What should you do? Commit the entire matter to the LORD. Roll the whole weight of it onto Him. Let Him act on your behalf, and then you will be completely vindicated. It will become clear for all to see that you were innocent after all. Barnes says: If you are slandered, if your character is assailed and seems for the time to be under a cloud, if reproach comes upon you from the devices of wicked men in such a way that you cannot meet itthen, if you will commit the case to God, He will protect your character, and will cause the clouds to disperse, and all to be as clear in reference to your character and the motives of your conduct as the sun without a cloud. 37:7, 8 Having committed your way to the Lord, the next step is to rest in Him. Since He is carrying your burden, it is not necessary for you to bear it also. Too often that is exactly what we do. We cast our care hesitatingly on Him, then promptly take it back on ourselves. It is God’s will that I should cast On Him my care each day. He also bids me not to cast My confidence away. But oh, I am so foolish That when taken unawares, I cast away my confidence And carry all my cares. T. Baird"And wait patiently for Him." Notice how the believer’s resource is repeatedly said to be in the Lord: Trust in the LORD (v. 3). Delight in the LORD (v. 4). Commit your way to the LORD (v. 5). Rest in the LORD (v. 7a). Wait patiently for Him (v. 7b). Sometimes this is the hardest thing for us to do. Waiting is the thing we do least well! But true faith waits, confident that God is able to do what He has promised (Rom_4:21). A second time David says, “Do not fret . . . .” Why the repetition? For needed emphasis, of course. Even after determining not to get upset over the way we are treated, we often go back and stir up the mud all over again in our minds. But this is both self-defeating and hazardous. Even if the evil person prospers in his wayeven if he succeeds in carrying out wicked schemesthe Christian should not become emotionally disturbed or build up anger, resentment, malice, and hatred. If we allow ourselves to indulge in these attitudes, they can eventually lead to violent words and acts. Then we become offenders ourselves. 37:9-11 The day is coming when all the wrongs of earth will be righted. At that time the evildoers shall be cut off and the trusting saints will possess all the blessings He has promised. It will not be very long until the wicked vanish from the scene. If you look diligently for them in their usual hangouts your search will be in vain! In that day the meek shall inherit the earth and thoroughly enjoy its unprecedented prosperity. When will that day come?

For the church it will begin when the Savior descends into the clouds to catch away His waiting people and take them to their heavenly home. For the believing remnant of Israel and the nations it will begin when the Lord Jesus returns to earth to decimate His foes and to reign for a thousand years of peace. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus looked forward to this glorious day in these words: “Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth” (Mat_5:5). 37:12, 13 In the meantime the cheats, the extortioners and the oppressors lay their plans against God’s children. They express the bitterest hostility toward those who love the Lord. But Jehovah is not agitated by the sound of their grinding teeth. He knows that the day of reckoning is not far away. It is good for us when we can look upon our foes with that same detached nonchalance, when, as someone has suggested, we can leave behind us the world of little men. 37:14, 15 It often seems that “truth is forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne.” The wicked are well-armed and well-trained. The righteous, by comparison, seem ill-equipped and continually outwitted. But there are certain inflexible laws at work in the moral realm. The way of the transgressor is hard in the end. Sins are sure to come home to roost some day. Men can’t get away with their sins forever.

The boomerang effect is always at work: Their sword shall enter their own heart. When they need them most their weapons will fail: their bows shall be broken.37:16 The few possessions of the righteous are better than the enormous riches of many wicked since the saint has the Lord while the sinner does not. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews, after documenting all the incomparable wealth that the believer enjoys in Christ, adds rather wryly: “Be content with such things as you have, for He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’” (Heb_13:5). 37:17, 18 The arms of the wicked (that is, their strength) shall be broken. But not so the righteous. They will be upheld by the LORD of infinite power. He knows the number of the days of the upright, all that those days contain, and where they will lead at last. He knows that the heritage of the just will last foreveran inheritance which is incorruptible, undefiled and unfading, reserved in heaven for all those who by God’s power are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1Pe_1:4-5). 37:19 The saints shall not be ashamed of their faith when hard times come. They have the hidden spiritual resources to see them through. In days of scarcity they enjoy a special kind of abundance. First of all, they have learned to live sacrificially, so that they do not feel deprived when the meal barrel is low. But also they have the Lord, who is able to spread a table in the wilderness. They have the privilege of seeing God provide for them in miraculous ways, and there is a special, secret-sweet flavor to all such manna from heaven. 37:20 But the wicked shall perish. Throughout the Psalm this death bell tolls for the enemies of the LORD. They are called wicked, wrongdoers, those who prosper in their way, men who carry out evil devices, enemies of the Lord, those cursed by the Lord, children of the wicked, and transgressors. The word “wicked” is mentioned fourteen times in this Psalm and constitutes one of its keynotes. The Lord’s foes are like the splendor of the pastures or meadows. One day they luxuriate in wild flowers and verdure; the next day they are mowed down by the reaper or withered with the change of season. Insubstantial as smoke, they shall vanish away. 37:21 The wicked borrows and does not repay. This may mean that he is careless about paying back or cannot. But with all his money, why can’t he repay? The answer is that he is always over-extended. In his greed for money he speculates. When he loses, he borrows to cover his losses. It’s the old story of borrowing from Peter to pay Paul. He builds his empire on credit and then, when reverses come, he grows desperate to prop up his sagging fortunes. Behind the outward veneer of prosperity lies financial chaos. Though the righteous are often far from affluent, yet they are incredibly generous, always finding it more blessed to give than to receive. They have proved that if a believer really wants to give, he will never lack the means to do it. As Paul taught: And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that always having all sufficiency in all things have an abundance for every good work (2Co_9:8). 37:22 The destiny of the righteous and the wicked hinges on their relationship to the Lord. Those who have been justified by faith are blessed by the Lord; they will possess the land. Those who have refused God’s offer of salvation have put themselves in the unenviable position of standing under His curse; they will be destroyed. 37:23, 24 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD . . . . Although the word good is not in the original text, the idea is certainly included in verses 23 and 24. God plans and orders the pathways of the man who lives in fellowship with Him. He upholds the one whose ways please Him. Though such a man may fall into trials and tribulations, he will never be engulfed by them, for the Lord holds him securely by His hand. It is also true that if a righteous man falls into sin, he will not be abandoned by the Lord, though this is not the specific kind of fall that this verse is referring to. 37:25 Throughout David’s lifeand he was an old man when he wrote thishe had never seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread. If someone objects that he has known instances where these things have actually happened, we would make two comments. First, David may have meant that he never knew of the righteous man to be finally forsaken. Or second, he may have been stating a general principle, without barring the possibility of isolated exceptions. Scripture often does this. It makes sweeping statements describing the normal outworking of spiritual laws. Exceptions do not disprove the overall principles. 37:26 Far from having to send out his children to beg, the righteous man is a generous donor and lends frequently. By following God’s Word he practices industriousness, thrift and conservation. By working hard, shopping carefully, eliminating waste, and avoiding extravagance, he is able to stretch his funds and thereby to help others who are in need. His descendants become a blessing because they have learned these lessons thoroughly at home and follow them throughout their own lives. 37:27 This verse is one of several in the Bible that seem to teach salvation by good works. We know from passages such as Eph_2:8-10 and Tit_3:5 that this is not the case. We must conclude that if a man is saved he will produce good works, and that such faithful saints are the only ones who will abide forever. 37:28 The LORD loves justice, and it is in keeping with His justice to make His saints eternally secure. It is not that the saints deserve eternal life, but that Christ died to purchase it for them, and that God must honor the terms of the purchase. The psalmist loves to meditate on the security of the believer (see vv. 18, 24, 28 and 33). All who have been born again through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ can know on the authority of the Word of God that they are saved forever. F. W. Dixon wrote: If you lack assurance there is only one way to gain it or regain ittake the Word of God. Take it and believe it. God says you are His; that you are safe and absolutely secure, and that He will never let you go; take a large dose of that. But while the righteous will be preserved forever, the children of the wicked shall be cut off. It is a melancholy business to contemplate the doom of the unsaved. What will it mean to be separated from God, from Christ, and from hope for all eternity? 37:29 Israel’s prime hope was to live in the land under the reign of the Messiah. Devout Jews admittedly had a heavenly hope as well (Heb_11:10), but the emphasis in the OT era was upon material blessings in the land of Israel during the golden age of peace and prosperity. When we read that the righteous will dwell upon the land forever, we must understand that the earthly kingdom of Christ will last for one thousand years, then merge into His everlasting kingdom. It may be that in the eternal state redeemed Israel will inhabit the new earth mentioned in Rev_21:1; if that is the case then the promise of possessing the land forever can be taken literally. The contrast between the righteous and the wicked continues. 37:30, 31 The just man’s speech is brimful of wisdom. What he says is sound, Scriptural, and solid. He speaks justicenot crookedness and deceit. He meditates continually on the Word of God, and this keeps his steps from slipping into sin and shame. As Spurgeon has mentioned, he has: the best thingthe law of his God, in the best placein his heart, producing the best resulthis steps do not slip. 37:32, 33 The wicked watches for an opportunity to pounce on the innocent and destroy him. But Jehovah will neither abandon the innocent to the power of the foe nor allow him to be declared guilty if a case against him comes to a trial. God is the Guardian and Advocate of all His own people. 37:34 Our best policy is therefore to trust (wait on the LORD) and obey (keep His way). There’s no other way to be happy in Jesus! But that is not all. For the sixth time the psalmist promises that all such will inherit the land. Then he adds a further assurance. When the wicked are destroyed, the believers’ only involvement will be that of spectators. They will not take pleasure in this awful event, but will themselves stand free from any form of judgment. 37:35 David was keen and perceptive in observing human life. He had once observed a wicked, overbearing man spreading himself like a luxuriating tree in its native soil. Apparently the thought is that this tree had never suffered the setback caused by transplanting. It was still in its native soil and thus vigorous and large. The wicked man was correspondingly prosperous and powerful. 37:36 But the next time David was passing through that place, the man was gone. He sought him but couldn’t find him anywhere. The man prospered for awhile. His power lasted for a short time, but then he himself was gone, and so were his prosperity and power. 37:37, 38 The psalmist counsels us to notice the contrast between the blameless, upright man and the transgressors. There is a posterity for the man of peace, whereas the future of the wicked shall be cut off. Both the righteous and the unrighteous produce long lines of physical descendants. Tholuck says of the man of peace, “It shall go well at last to such a man.” But the wicked has no such promising tomorrow. 37:39, 40 The greatest thing about the righteous is their connection with God. He is their Savior and their strength in time of trouble. No wonder Christians turn instinctively to Him in time of need! They find that He helps them, delivers them, and saves them because they depend on Him completely. Are you in trouble right now? Trust in Him. He will see you through!