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Psalm 37 Commentary

The Heritage Of The Righteous

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KEY THOUGHT: I have been young, and now am old;
Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,
Nor his descendants begging bread. [Psalm 37:25 NKJV]

Kindly read your Bible before going through the commentary!

Psalm 37 NKJV

The Heritage of the Righteous and the Calamity of the Wicked

A Psalm of David.

37 Do not fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
And wither as the green herb.

3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit[a] your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
6 He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.

7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
Do not fret—it only causes harm.

9 For evildoers shall be [b]cut off;
But those who wait on the Lord,
They shall inherit the earth.
10 For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more;
Indeed, you will look carefully for his place,
But it shall be no more.
11 But the meek shall inherit the earth,
And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

12 The wicked plots against the just,
And gnashes at him with his teeth.
13 The Lord laughs at him,
For He sees that his day is coming.
14 The wicked have drawn the sword
And have bent their bow,
To cast down the poor and needy,
To slay those who are of upright conduct.
15 Their sword shall enter their own heart,
And their bows shall be broken.

16 A little that a righteous man has
Is better than the riches of many wicked.
17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
But the Lord upholds the righteous.

18 The Lord knows the days of the upright,
And their inheritance shall be forever.
19 They shall not be ashamed in the evil time,
And in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
20 But the wicked shall perish;
And the enemies of the Lord,
Like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish.
Into smoke they shall vanish away.

21 The wicked borrows and does not repay,
But the righteous shows mercy and gives.
22 For those blessed by Him shall inherit the earth,
But those cursed by Him shall be [c]cut off.

23 The steps of a good man are [d]ordered by the Lord,
And He delights in his way.
24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;
For the Lord upholds him with His hand.

25 I have been young, and now am old;
Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,
Nor his descendants begging bread.
26 He is [e]ever merciful, and lends;
And his descendants are blessed.

27 Depart from evil, and do good;
And dwell forevermore.
28 For the Lord loves justice,
And does not forsake His saints;
They are preserved forever,
But the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off.
29 The righteous shall inherit the land,
And dwell in it forever.

30 The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom,
And his tongue talks of justice.
31 The law of his God is in his heart;
None of his steps shall [f]slide.

32 The wicked watches the righteous,
And seeks to slay him.
33 The Lord will not leave him in his hand,
Nor condemn him when he is judged.

34 Wait on the Lord,
And keep His way,
And He shall exalt you to inherit the land;
When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.
35 I have seen the wicked in great power,
And spreading himself like a native green tree.
36 Yet [g]he passed away, and behold, he was no more;
Indeed I sought him, but he could not be found.

37 Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright;
For the future of that man is peace.
38 But the transgressors shall be destroyed together;
The future of the wicked shall be cut off.

39 But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
He is their strength in the time of trouble.
40 And the Lord shall help them and deliver them;
He shall deliver them from the wicked,
And save them,
Because they trust in Him.

Footnotes

a. Psalm 37:5 Lit. Roll off onto
b. Psalm 37:9 destroyed
c. Psalm 37:22 destroyed
d. Psalm 37:23 established
e. Psalm 37:26 Lit. all the day
f. Psalm 37:31 slip
g. Psalm 37:36 So with MT, LXX, Tg.; Syr., Vg. I passed by

New King James Version (NKJV)

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Psalm 37 Commentary

A perfect fit for the Book of Proverbs, and supremely enriched by the personal experiences of David, Psalm 37 is a timeless treasure for the household of faith. It is home to a couple of poster verses that have blessed generations of believers down the ages.

“Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Or, “Better the little that the righteous have than the wealth of many wicked.” Or, “I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.”

There is more. It is a must-read for a generation that is struggling to reconcile the fact of God’s unlimited generosity and care with the present state of the saint.

The saint is humbled by God’s spending limits. The grants come in slim installments. Clearly, the saint cannot compete with the freely flowing riches of the world. The wicked look tops and never appear worried.

But that is exactly the point of this chapter. Better the little that the righteous have than the wealth of many. Shocking? Yes. The little that you have is better than the wealth of the top 10 richest but wicked men in the world! You want to read this verse again.

“Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.” The call is louder than ever before. There is safe pasture and unsafe pasture. Enjoy the safe pasture that the LORD provides. It should be a deliberate decision to start enjoying God’s menu.

Challenge the world to look at your appearance after 10 days – the Daniel way. Look at yourself and marvel at how amazingly the LORD keeps His own!

Reflect on life and see how the LORD takes care of His own. You won’t stop watching this movie! The wicked man has a completely different story. It is not hidden. Their lives may have an appearance of success, but it is all fake and temporary. It is a smokescreen. Behind the men happily lifting bottles of liquor with wide smiles are broken marriages, unfulfilled desires, sleeplessness, anxiety, fear, meaninglessness, and emptiness.

Meanwhile, the LORD preserves His own even in moments of famine. Amen! “The blameless spend their days under the Lord’s care, and their inheritance will endure forever.”

The psalmist toggles between the present and the future. The present is defined by days under the LORD’s care. The future is defined by an inheritance that will endure forever. You wonder why the world won’t see this gloriously beautiful picture.

But the saint must know that the world is constantly presenting the good meal of the LORD Jesus Christ as tasteless and bad. At the same time, the terrible, horrific, and senseless life of the wicked is smeared in gold. This psalm is doing the exact opposite. You understand why men and women should love the scriptures more than TV, social media, and football!

What a chapter!

Loving Scripture….

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24 thoughts on “Home”

  1. It has been exciting learning how God can make things happen to his choosen one, God workout something wonderful and fulfils the promises he made to the father of Joseph.

    God’s words remains true so are his promises and indeed it has been God working out the salvation of man Kind by Grace through Faith alone.

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  11. Profound. My life needs a new introduction to God. Not that I have been right, but because God desires to help me… I see an amazing Grace here. Having broken the first commandment, still God looks for me and helps me to build up with him… And live for him. A littles knowledge of the Lord will ignite my passion and desire to serve him. This morning I pledge to seek, live and serve the Lord Jesus Christ and His purposes everyday of my life.
    Beautiful lesson

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  12. The Lord reintroduces himself and shows Israel, He is all they need. Some boast in horses and others in chariots but we’ll boast in the Lord. He is able and the only one worthy of our trust. Lord teach me how to always look up to you at all times and not focus on my strength or capabilities. This is my prayer

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  14. This far too common today. Just do something that seems like true worship yet it’s intent and actual practice is not even close to the set standard by the Lord. I personally feel challenged of some things we do in our personal lives, the focus of many churches and ministries today. We’ll need to realize the Lord must be worship as he has personally guided. Provides a good start of my reflection today

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  15. In those days when there was no King everyone did as they pleased. This is a good reminder to us that we are on own when the King of Kings isn’t leading our lives we’ll be doing what is not right and the results will show clearly how life without Christ looks like. We thank God that even when it looks like he’s not there, he’s behind the scenes working. I have learnt to trust in the Lord always.

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  16. Iam seeing this being stressed… There was no King in Israel… So lawlessness is the order of the day. This shows how heartless and wicked man can be with out the right King in his life. He can do anything. May the Lord help us to allow Christ in our lives that every aspect of our lives is changed and we yield ourselves to him alone.

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  17. I’m sure as the two daughters in-law stayed in Naomi’s home they learned about the God of Israel and appreciated His works among his people. Ruth’s determination and what she says moves my heart. She’s convinced she must go with Naomi and wants to spend her life with her, this relationship was strong especially between a mother inlaw and a daughter in-law. Yet Ruth stays and how she puts it shows the depth of her heart, I’ll go with with you, your people will be my people, your God will be my God…

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