Psalms 37

David, writing as an old man, teaches the believer not to be upset or envious when evil people seem to succeed. Their success is short and the Lord’s care for His people lasts. Again and again he says that those who trust the Lord and wait for Him will inherit the land.

Psalms 37:1-2

The psalm opens with a warning against burning with resentment at wrongdoers who prosper. David gives the reason right away: they are like cut grass, green today and withered soon. Their success looks solid, but it is already fading.

BSA: fret (“be angry, incensed”): The fretting here is a hot inner anger, not just mild worry.

Hebrew: תִּתְחַר (tithchar, H2734) — “burn, grow hot.” The Hebrew word for fret means to burn. Envy and anger over the wicked heat up the heart and consume the one who feels them.

See also: Psalm 73:2-3.

Psalms 37:3

Instead of fuming, David gives four steps: trust, do good, stay put in the land God gave, and nurture faithfulness. Trust is shown by ordinary obedience. Being faithful is like tending a garden or a flock, a daily care that brings security.

BSA: cultivate (“nurture, feed on”): Faithfulness is something we tend and live on, like a shepherd feeding on good pasture.

Hebrew: רְעֵה (re’eh, H7462) — “feed, graze, shepherd.” This verb comes from shepherding. It pictures grazing on faithfulness as on good pasture, so that God’s reliability becomes our daily food.

Psalms 37:4

Delight in the Lord Himself, not first in His gifts. As He becomes our joy, our desires are reshaped to match His, and He gladly grants them. This is a promise to the heart that loves God, not a blank check for every wish.

BSA: desires (“petitions, deepest longings”): These are the heart’s real requests, which are formed by delighting in God.

Hebrew: הִתְעַנַּג (hit’annag, H6026) — “take exquisite pleasure.” The word means to enjoy something richly, as in a luxury. We are invited to find God Himself that satisfying.

See also: Psalm 73:25.

Psalms 37:5-6

To commit our way to God is to hand Him our whole path and the burdens on it, and then trust Him to act. He promises to make our righteousness plain for all to see. Slander and misunderstanding will not hide it forever; it will shine like the sunrise.

BSA: Commit (“entrust, roll upon”): We roll our load off ourselves and onto the Lord.

See also: Proverbs 16:3; 1 Peter 5:7.

Psalms 37:7

Waiting on God is hard when the wicked are succeeding. David says to grow quiet and rest in the Lord, and to stop comparing ourselves with those who get ahead by wrong means. Calm trust is the answer to restless envy.

BSA: Be still (“rest, silent, in quiet trust”): This is a stillness of trust that stops arguing with God about how He runs things.

Hebrew: דּוֹם (dom, H1826) — “be silent, be still.” It means to hush the inner noise of complaint. It can also describe a stilled, silent heart before the Lord.

See also: Psalm 46:10.

Psalms 37:8

Anger over injustice can feel righteous, but David warns that it only leads to harm. Nursing wrath damages our own soul and may push us toward wrongdoing ourselves. Letting go of it leaves the matter in God’s hands.

BSA: wrath (“burning fury, intense anger”): It is the kind of anger that keeps burning inside and does damage.

See also: James 1:20.

Psalms 37:9

The two groups are set side by side. Evildoers will be cut off, as a branch is cut from a tree. Those who hope in the Lord will receive the land as an inheritance, a gift from Him that they do not seize for themselves.

BSA: hope (“wait patiently, trust”): Hope here is patient waiting on God, not wishful thinking.

Psalms 37:10

The prosperity of the wicked has a short time left. You may look for their place of power and find it empty. The psalm asks us to measure life by how things end, not by how they look right now.

BSA: little while (“small amount of time, brief period”): Compared with eternity, the wicked person’s success is only a moment.

Psalms 37:11

The meek are the humble who look to God and do not grab for themselves. They will inherit the land and enjoy peace in full measure. Jesus echoes this promise in the Beatitudes and widens it to the whole earth.

BSA: meek (“poor, humble, afflicted”): The meek are often those pressed down and left with only God to depend on. prosperity (“peace, shalom, completeness”): The blessing is wholeness of life, not just money.

Hebrew: עֲנָוִים (‘anavim, H6035) — “humble, afflicted ones.” The word describes people who are bowed low, by circumstance or by choice, and who therefore depend on God rather than on themselves.

See also: Matthew 5:5.

Psalms 37:12-13

The wicked plot and grind their teeth in hatred against the godly. But the Lord, who sees the whole story, laughs, not at suffering but at the foolishness of anyone who thinks they can beat Him. He sees their day of judgment coming.

BSA: laughs (“in contempt, with derision”): God’s laughter shows that the threat is no real danger to Him or to His people.

See also: Psalm 2:4.

Psalms 37:14-15

The wicked arm themselves to strike down the poor and honest. Yet their violence rebounds on them. The sword meant for others pierces their own heart, and their bows snap. Evil schemes often trap those who make them.

BSA: pierce (“enter into, slice through”): The same weapon they prepared turns on them.

See also: Psalm 7:15-16.

Psalms 37:16-17

A little with God’s approval is better than great wealth gained in wrong ways. The strength of the wicked, pictured as their arms, will be broken. The righteous, even when poor, are held up by the Lord Himself.

BSA: upholds (“supports, sustains”): The Lord carries the weight that the righteous cannot carry alone.

See also: Proverbs 15:16.

Psalms 37:18-19

The Lord knows each day of the blameless, caring for them one by one. Their inheritance does not run out. In hard times they will not be put to shame, and in famine they will have enough, because they depend on God rather than on the world.

BSA: knows (“to ascertain by seeing, to learn”): His knowing is attentive care, not just awareness. inheritance (“something passed down, a gift from God”): What they receive is a gift from Him that cannot be earned or lost.

See also: 1 Peter 1:4.

Psalms 37:20

The enemies of the Lord will vanish like the bright flowers of a field that wither, or like smoke that rises and disappears. Their glory looks beautiful for a season but has no lasting substance.

BSA: smoke (“the fleeting nature of earthly things”): Smoke is visible for a moment and then gone, as earthly power is.

See also: Isaiah 40:6-8.

Psalms 37:21-22

The wicked take and give nothing back, while the righteous give freely. The contrast is in character: greed against grace. Those whom God blesses will have the land, but those He curses will be removed. Generosity is a sign of belonging to Him.

BSA: gracious (“showing kindness, favor”): The righteous act toward others as God has acted toward them.

See also: Psalm 112:5.

Psalms 37:23

The Lord directs the steps of a person who belongs to Him, and He takes pleasure in that person’s way. Our path is not left to chance. God cares about each step, and He finds joy in the journey, not only in the destination.

BSA: ordered (“established, set up”): God makes the steps firm, as a builder sets a foundation.

Hebrew: כּוֹנְנוּ (konenu, H3559) — “established, made firm.” The word means to set something in place securely. God not only points the way but steadies the walker’s feet.

See also: Proverbs 3:5-6.

Psalms 37:24

The believer may stumble, but a fall is not the end. The Lord has hold of his hand, so he will not be thrown to the ground and stay there. God’s grip on us is stronger than our grip on Him.

BSA: overwhelmed (“utterly cast down”): The fall may hurt, but he is not left lying where he fell.

Hebrew: יוּטָל (yutal, H2904) — “be hurled down.” The Hebrew pictures being thrown headlong. A godly person may trip, but God will not let him be flung down and left.

See also: Psalm 73:23; Micah 7:8.

Psalms 37:25-26

David speaks from a long life. He has never seen the righteous deserted or their children begging. The principle is that God provides for those who trust Him, and that generous people leave a blessing behind them. It is a testimony of faithful care, not a rule for every single case.

BSA: abandoned (“not forsaken, nor abandoned”): God does not leave His own to fend for themselves.

Psalms 37:27

Faith shows in a double turn: away from evil and toward good. Both are needed. The promise is that those who live this way will have a lasting home with God, while the wicked have none.

BSA: abide (“dwell, live securely”): The promise is a safe, settled life under God’s care.

See also: Psalm 34:14.

Psalms 37:28

God’s justice flows from His love: He loves what is right and so will not abandon His faithful ones. They are kept safe forever, but the line of the wicked will be cut off. Believers can rest in a God who cares about justice.

BSA: saints (“pious ones, faithful followers”): These are people devoted to God, who belong to Him.

Hebrew: חֲסִידָיו (chasidav, H2623) — “His faithful ones.” The word comes from chesed, God’s loyal love. His saints are those who answer His loyal love with loyalty of their own.

Psalms 37:29

The promise of the land is repeated, as it is throughout the psalm. For Israel it was the Promised Land. Christians have long seen in it the larger promise of a lasting home given by God to His people.

See also: Matthew 5:5.

Psalms 37:30-31

The righteous speak wisdom and justice because God’s instruction is in their heart. What fills the heart comes out in speech and steadies the feet. A life rooted in God’s word does not easily slip.

BSA: law (“instruction, divine guidance”): The law is God’s guidance for living, not only a list of rules. falter (“to slip, waver, or slide”): The heart that holds God’s word keeps its footing.

Hebrew: תּוֹרַת (torat, H8451) — “instruction, teaching.” Torah means teaching from a father to his child. The psalmist treasures God’s word as a guide that lives within him.

See also: Psalm 40:8.

Psalms 37:32-33

The wicked lie in ambush, even seeking to kill the righteous. But the Lord does not abandon them to their enemies’ power. Nor will He let them be falsely condemned when their case is judged. God remains their defender.

BSA: power (“hand”): The Hebrew speaks of the hand; the enemy’s hand will not hold them, because God’s hand does.

Psalms 37:34

Waiting and obeying go together. The one who waits for the Lord and walks His way will be lifted up, and will live to see the wicked removed. Patience is not passive; it keeps walking in God’s path.

BSA: raise (“exalt, lift up”): God Himself will lift up those who have been kept low.

Psalms 37:35-36

David recalls a ruthless man who flourished like a great tree in its home soil. Then he passed away and could not be found, however hard David looked. What seemed so permanent was gone in a moment.

BSA: flourishing (“prospering, thriving”): The man looked healthy and secure, but it was only for a time.

See also: Psalm 73:18-19.

Psalms 37:37-38

David invites us to look at the blameless and see where their road leads. The man of peace has a future, while transgressors are destroyed. The end of the story, not the middle, shows who was wise.

BSA: posterity (“the end, future”): It means that the end of the peaceful man’s life holds something good.

Hebrew: אַחֲרִית (acharit, H319) — “end, future, what comes after.” The same word can mean the outcome of a life and the descendants who follow. The man of peace has a good ending and a lasting legacy; the wicked have neither.

Psalms 37:39-40

The psalm ends by pointing to the source of all this: salvation comes from the Lord. He is a fortress in trouble, and He helps, rescues and saves those who take refuge in Him. Trust is the way in, and He is the safe place.

BSA: stronghold (“security, fortified place”): He is a safe fortress where His people are protected in trouble. refuge (“to trust, seek protection”): Taking refuge means running to God for shelter and trusting Him to cover us.

Hebrew: חָסוּ (chasu, H2620) — “they took refuge.” The verb pictures a bird or traveler running into shelter from a storm. Those who flee to God for cover are safe.

See also: Psalm 46:1.