PSALM 37
The Great Riddle Psalm
Charles Spurgeon called this psalm "The Great Riddle Psalm," because it deals with the age-old question of why the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer. The psalm is a series of proverbs written acrostically by David in his old age, which forbids us from fretting over the prosperity of the wicked and the suffering of the righteous, because of the future retribution of the wicked and reward of the righteous.
Psalm 37:1-2
BIBLE TEXT: "Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb." (Psalm 37:1-2 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: "Fret not" is as much a divine commandment as "sin not."
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: We should neither be exasperated by evil-doers nor envious of them, anymore than we are of cows being fattened for the slaughter.
Psalm 37:3
BIBLE TEXT: "Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed." (Psalm 37:3 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: Faith cures fretting and is confirmed by doing good.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Genuine faith fosters good works, is found in God’s will, and fares quite well.
Psalm 37:4
BIBLE TEXT: "Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." (Psalm 37:4 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: It's not whatever we desire, but the desires themselves, that God promises to give us if we delight in Him. In other words, God promises to make us desire what He desires.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: If God takes no delight in it, then, those who delight in God will have no desire for it.
Psalm 37:5
BIBLE TEXT: "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass." (Psalm 37:5 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: If we have confidence enough in God to commit our lives to God, we can always count on God coming through for us.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Your life in your hands can only bring to pass what you can do, but your life in God’s hands can bring to pass what He can do!
Psalm 37:6
BIBLE TEXT: "And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday." (Psalm 37:6 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: Christians should keep their composure in calumny, knowing that God will clear them of all the charges and accusations of character assassins.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: If we seek God’s honor, God will see to ours!
Psalm 37:7
BIBLE TEXT: "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass." (Psalm 37:7 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: To wait in reliance upon the Lord is to rest in the Lord.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: We should never prejudge the prosperity of the wicked prior to the closing curtain being brought down on the final scene of their lives by Divine Providence.
Psalm 37:8
BIBLE TEXT: "Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil." (Psalm 37:8 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: Don’t let your anger or wrath whip up any wrongdoing in your life.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: This verse is the Old Testament equivalent of Ephesians 4:26–“Be angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath.”
Psalm 37:9
BIBLE TEXT: "For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth." (Psalm 37:9 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: Wrongdoers shall be cut off from the earth, but those who wait on the Lord shall inherit the earth.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: To impatiently look to yourself to get all you can in the here-and-now, is to lose all you’ve got in the hereafter. On the other hand, to patiently look to God to give you all He can in the hereafter, is to have forever all that God gives.
Psalm 37:10
BIBLE TEXT: "For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be." (Psalm 37:10 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: The wicked fatefully dash through this fallen world to their forever disappearance.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Though the wicked may be viewed today in a vaunted place, they will vanish and their place will be vacated tomorrow.
Psalm 37:11
BIBLE TEXT: "But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." (Psalm 37:11 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: It is the meek of the earth, those who don’t mind being overlooked by it, rather than earth’s movers and shakers, those obsessed with receiving ovations from it, who will inherit the earth.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: It is the abundance of peace, not the abundance of possessions, that will delight the meek inheritors of the earth.
Psalm 37:12-13
BIBLE TEXT: "The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming." (Psalm 37:12-13 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: The wicked, who scheme and snarl, are scoffed at and scorned by the Lord, who sees their sentencing soon coming.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: What could be more fool hearty than sinners in the hands of an angry God foolishly plotting against the people of God?
Psalm 37:14-15
BIBLE TEXT: "The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation. Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken." (Psalm 37:14-15 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: The wicked unsheathe their swords and bend their bows against the downtrodden and upright, only to have God break their bows and stab them in the heart with their own swords.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Just as Saul, who sought to slay David, ended up falling on his own sword, so shall all sinners who seek to slay the downtrodden and devout.
Psalm 37:16-17
BIBLE TEXT: "A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the Lord upholdeth the righteous." (Psalm 37:16-17 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: The paltry provisions of the righteous are preferable to the prolific prosperity of the wicked, because the wellbeing of the righteous is forever assured by God, but the fleeting wealth of the wicked will soon slip away.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: It is better to be upheld by God with a little than to be an upstart in this world with a lot.
Psalm 37:18-19
BIBLE TEXT: "The Lord knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied." (Psalm 37:18-19 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: Nothing can ever happen to the upright that catches the Almighty unawares or that can ever leave the upright ashamed or unattended.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Our great comfort is found in the fact that our lives are not governed by coincidence, but by Providence.
Psalm 37:20
BIBLE TEXT: "But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away." (Psalm 37:20 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: The wicked, having spurned the substitutionary sacrifice of the Lamb of God, shall pay for their own sins by being consumed by the fire of God’s wrath and going up in the smoke of God’s judgment.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: As stubble will go up in flames if it dares to fight fire, so will all the enemies of Christ who dare to contend with Him.
Psalm 37:21-22
BIBLE TEXT: "The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth. For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off." (Psalm 37:21-22 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous are benevolent and want nothing in return.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: The generous, who donate to the disadvantaged, are blessed by the Lord and bequeathed the earth, but the greedy, who default on their debts, are cursed by God and cut off.
Psalm 37:23-24
BIBLE TEXT: "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand." (Psalm 37:23-24 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: In order to be able to delight in good men, God orders their steps, but even when good men are not kept from going down, God, who upholds them, will keep them from staying down.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Whatever wrong the Christian has done, he or she can never be undone, because he or she can never fall below the reach of the upholding, uplifting and nail-scarred hand of Christ.
Psalm 37:25a
BIBLE TEXT: "I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken…" (Psalm 37:25a KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: David is not just stating a personal observation, but also a divine promise and absolute truth, found elsewhere in Scripture, when he says he has never seen the righteous forsaken.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: No saint of God is ever forsaken by God, not even in the most dire and desperate straits. While it may appear to be true, it is never actually true.
Psalm 37:25b
BIBLE TEXT: "I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen…[the] seed [of the righteous] begging bread." (Psalm 37:25b KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: When David says he has never seen the seed of the righteous begging bread, he is stating a personal observation, not a divine oracle.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Although it may be a rarity, and one David never saw, it is certainly not an impossibility, that the seed of the righteous may be seen begging bread.
Psalm 37:26
BIBLE TEXT: "He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed." (Psalm 37:26 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: The posterity of the righteous will be blessed by God over the mercifulness and magnanimity of their parents.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Although it may be spiritual rather than tangible, the charitableness of Christians to others will be a blessing to their own children.
Psalm 37:27
BIBLE TEXT: "Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore." (Psalm 37:27 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: True repentance, which alone leads to eternal life, is turning from evil to good for good!
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: To truly repent or to turn from evil to good is not a once in a lifetime experience, but a lifelong process.
Psalm 37:28-29
BIBLE TEXT: "For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever." (Psalm 37:28-29 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: The Lord loves to right wrongs, by not only preserving and compensating the righteous, but also by punishing and cutting off the wicked.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Make no mistake about it; God’s love of those to be judged does not negate His love of judgment.
Psalm 37:30-31
BIBLE TEXT: "The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment. The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide." (Psalm 37:30-31 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: Because God’s Word is in their hearts, the righteous are wise in their speech and sure in their walk.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: There is no way for one to have loose lips or to live a loose life if he has the law of God in his heart.
Psalm 37:32-33
BIBLE TEXT: "The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him. The Lord will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged." (Psalm 37:32-33 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: The wicked long to lay their hands on the righteous, but the Lord will never leave the righteous in the hands of the wicked.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: The Lord will never allow either the lies of the wicked or of the wicked one, who is the father of lies, to stand forever against the righteous, but will eternally exonerate the righteous. (Matthew 13:38; John 8:44)
Psalm 37:34
BIBLE TEXT: "Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it." (Psalm 37:34 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: Those who keep waiting on the Lord and keep themselves in the way of the Lord, will eventually and eternally be exalted by the Lord.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: It is our blessed hope, as the heirs of Christ, that enables us to wait on Christ. (Titus 2:13; Romans 8:17)
Psalm 37:35-36
BIBLE TEXT: "I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found." (Psalm 37:35-36 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: Although the power of the wicked springs up and the possessions of the wicked spread out, like a well-rooted tree, the wicked themselves are soon uprooted and removed from sight.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: The wicked are never gone, but not forgotten, but soon forgotten once they’re gone.
Psalm 37:37-38
BIBLE TEXT: "Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace. But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off." (Psalms 37:37-38 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: One must live well to die well, but to live wickedly is to definitely die wretchedly.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: Mark the pious man, for he shall come to a peaceful end, but not the pagan, for his end shall be precipitous.
Psalms 37:39-40
BIBLE TEXT: "But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: he is their strength in the time of trouble. And the Lord shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him." (Psalm 37:39-40 KJV)
BIBLE TWEET: The Lord is the salvation of all who trust in Him, as well as their strength in time of trouble.
BIBLE TAKEAWAY: If we always depend upon the Lord, we will always be delivered by the Lord!