PSALM 37 Written by David in later life . This psalm is roughly acrostic in arrangement, with the lines arranged with Hebrew sentences that begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. In style, this is a wisdom psalm directed not to God but to man, teaching after the manner of the Book of Proverbs. There is no logical outline to the psalm, so it is best studied according to its topics. Though David was troubled by the prosperity of the unrighteous, he knew by faith that their undeserved bounty would be cut off. His underlying belief is that God will intervene in His time.
1 Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong;
2 for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.
3 Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
4 Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this:
6 He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun.
7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.
8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.
9 For those who are evil will be destroyed, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.
10 A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found.
11 But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity.
12 The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them;
13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he knows their day is coming.
14 The wicked draw the sword and bend the bow to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright.
15 But their swords will pierce their own hearts, and their bows will be broken.
16 Better the little that the righteous have than the wealth of many wicked;
17 for the power of the wicked will be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous.
18 The blameless spend their days under the Lord’s care, and their inheritance will endure forever.
19 In times of disaster they will not wither; in days of famine they will enjoy plenty.
20 But the wicked will perish: Though the Lord’s enemies are like the flowers of the field, they will be consumed, they will go up in smoke.
21 The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously;
22 those the Lord blesses will inherit the land, but those he curses will be destroyed.
23 The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him;
24 though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.
25 I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken
or their children begging bread.
26 They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be a blessing.
27 Turn from evil and do good; then you will dwell in the land forever.
28 For the Lord loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones. Wrongdoers will be completely destroyed; the offspring of the wicked will perish.
29 The righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever.
30 The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom, and their tongues speak what is just.
31 The law of their God is in their hearts; their feet do not slip.
32 The wicked lie in wait for the righteous, intent on putting them to death;
33 but the Lord will not leave them in the power of the wicked or let them be condemned when brought to trial.
34 Hope in the Lord and keep his way. He will exalt you to inherit the land;when the wicked are , you will see it.
35I have seen a wicked and ruthless man flourishing like a luxuriant native tree,
36 but he soon passed away and was no more; though I looked for him, he could not be found.
37 Consider the blameless, observe the upright; a future awaits those who seek peace.
38 But all sinners will be destroyed; here will be no future e for the wicked.
39 The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord; he is their stronghold in time of trouble.
40 The Lord helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.
SECTIONS:
I Exhortation for the Righteous (dont’ enevy wicked, put your faith in the Lord)
II Expostion of the Wicked and Righteous (the futility of the wicked, the steadfastness of righteous).
III Cousel for the Righteous (depart from evil, do good, dwell in the Lord )
THEME: the major point of the psalm seems to be that the wicked’s prosperity is short-lived so don’t fret because of the wicked and instead walk in the ways of the Lord
QUESTIONS:
Why shouldn’t we fret or worry about those doing evil in this world?
What will happen to the wicked sinners?
What are we to do instead of fret?
What will happen to the righteous?
Who inherits the earth?
Where does our salvation come from?
Where do we go in times of trouble and why?
https://www.guideposts.org/faith-and-prayer/bible-resources/psalm-37-a-practical-manual-for-life
This Psalm gives us “do-not” commands, behaviors we must leave behind to find God’s blessing and peace. Do not worry or be envious (verse 1). Each day be grateful for what God has given you. Do not be an angry and vindictive. (verse 8). Forgive as you have been forgiven; practice gentleness and self-control.
But this Psalm also gives us positive actions to take to bring us into alignment with God’s plan for living joyfully.
1. Trust in the Lord (verse 3). Whatever bothers you, trust God to handle it better than you can.
2. Do good (verse 3). Life is about choices. Know that God will honor you when you do the right thing.
3. Delight yourself in the Lord (verse 4). Fall in love with Jesus. Take time every day to sit quietly in his presence. Learn to delight in him.
4. Commit your way to the Lord (verse 5). Trust all you do every day to God; he is able to handle it best.
5. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him (verse 7). This does not mean to do nothing. It means that after you have done all you can, relax in the knowledge that God will take care of the rest.
We live in a world where advice blares from TV, talk radio, blogging sites. Friends, and sometimes even strangers, are eager to offer opinions about your life. So it’s good to know that the Bible is still relevant, reliable and true!
https://bible.org/seriespage/psalm-37-what-do-when-bad-guys-win
What do you do when the bad guys win? How do we respond when we do what’s right and get penalized, while the wicked seem to prosper. For example:
Your neighbor brags to you about how he cheats on his taxes each year. His home is loaded with the finest in furniture and appliances. He has two new luxury cars and all the latest toys. They vacationed in Hawaii last year. You are honest and pay your taxes. You give faithfully to the church. Your one clunker of a car is on its second 100,000. And the closest thing to vacation that you could afford last year was to visit the Grand Canyon for a day. Galling, isn’t it?
You’re single and trying to follow the Lord so you only date Christian guys. The girl next door has no moral standards and she’s got handsome hunks lining up to see her. Irritating, isn’t it?
I’ve had personal experience with losing while the bad guys win. I’m not in the Social Security system, so I have to set aside something for my retirement. It’s not much, not even enough at this point to live on for more than a year. We’re not being greedy or storing up treasures on earth. We give generously to the Lord’s work. But we lost both a major portion of our retirement funds and 15 years’ equity in our home due to two separate instances of being defrauded by crooked men who are doing quite well.
Sometimes it seems like it doesn’t pay to be good! When the evil prosper and the good suffer, you can be tempted to doubt God, especially if you’re the good guy! If you’re not careful to cultivate the right perspective, you can be tempted to say “Forget it!” and join the evildoers.
Although David had been anointed king as a teenager, he spent the better part of his twenties running from the ungodly King Saul. On several occasions, David did the right thing by sparing Saul’s life, only to watch Saul return to his comfortable palace, while David went back to a cave. During that time, David and his men did right by a man named Nabal, protecting his shepherds and flocks from bandits. But when David asked a small favor of Nabal in return, Nabal said, in effect, “Drop dead!” David had many occasions to reflect on the problem of personal injustice.
As an old man David wrote Psalm 37 to share his insights on this. The psalm reflects the wisdom he had gleaned from years of walking with God. We can discern some principles for how we should respond to personal injustice: When the bad guys win, submit to God, be content in Him, and do rightly, trusting the Lord to judge righteously.
Three times we are commanded not to fret (37:1, 7, 8). The Hebrew word means to burn. The verb is in the Hebrew reflexive stem which could be translated, “Don’t work yourself into a slow burn” when you see evil men prospering. Don’t let it get under your skin; it will only lead you into wrong. One reason we get irritated when we see evil men getting away with their schemes is that we are assuming that we know how to run the world better than God does. So one aspect of submission to God is to put off such irritation, giving God the sovereign right to deal with evildoers in His time and way.
We’re also commanded not to envy wrongdoers. We sometimes have selfishness and evil motives in our own hearts. Often the reason we don’t want evildoers to prosper is not that we abhor the sin they commit, but secretly we wish that we could do the same thing. We want for ourselves the pleasures of sin which they are enjoying.
We’re also commanded not to anger. The Bible teaches that most anger is sinful and that we can control it (otherwise it wouldn’t command us to stop doing it). Anger shows that we are not in submission to the sovereignty of God. We’re saying, in effect, “God, I don’t like the way You’re running things! It’s not fair! I don’t deserve this kind of treatment from these wicked people.” The bottom line is, we’re not submitting ourselves to God.
A rule of thumb for discerning righteous anger from sinful anger is this: If I am angry about injustice done toward others, it may be righteous anger. This anger should motivate me to take appropriate action on behalf of the victims. If I am angry about injustice done toward me, it’s probably sinful anger. Most anger is selfish and therefore sinful. Submitting to God when I see the bad guys winning means putting off irritation, envy, and anger.
When we see the bad guys winning, we need to shift our focus from the evildoers to God. David says that the antidote for getting frustrated with the prosperity of the wicked is to be deliberately God-centered.
“Trust in the Lord” -God will vindicate you in His time. “Do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.” Leave things in God’s hands (trust) and go on with your normal duties. Don’t let the other person’s sin lead you into sin. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him.” That’s the hard part of submission, isn’t it! He may not act on your timetable. It may take months, years, or even a whole lifetime for God to act and vindicate you. But if you trust Him to be a just and righteous God and if you submit to Him, then you’ll wait patiently.
To be “humble” or “meek” means to realize our own weakness and sinfulness so that we rely on God, not ourselves. When we are aware of our own sinfulness then we won’t self-righteously judge the wicked. Apart from God’s mercy, we would act just as they do. Humility means being aware of our own inadequacy apart from the Lord, but at the same time of our adequacy in him. Meekness does not mean weakness but, rather, brokenness. A humble or meek person is like a strong but broken horse: powerful, yet submissive to its master’s touch.
“Delight yourself in the Lord.” Be captivated with the Lord and all that He is. Rather than focusing on the things which the world seeks, focus on God. In gaining God, you gain everything else you ever need: “He will give you the desires of your heart.” This doesn’t mean that He will give you anything your selfish heart desires. But if you delight yourself in God then your desires will be in line with his. Matthew 6:33 of the Old Testament: “Seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness and all these things [your needs] will be added unto you.”
You may apply these principles to your marriage (or to any relationship). Say that a husband wrongs his wife (insensitivity, verbal abuse, adultery, etc). She will be tempted to get irritated, to be envious (“he does as he pleases, but I can’t”), and to get angry. If she responds, by getting even or standing up for her rights, she will only cause more damage to the relationship. But if she responds to the wrong done to her by trusting in God and patiently waiting on Him, her husband may be brought to repentance and the marriage may be saved. But whatever the outcome, she enjoys the abundant peace that comes from the Lord.
God isn’t worried about the proud schemes of the wicked. He knows that the victories of the wicked only last for a season, and then their schemes will come back on their own heads. As Christians, we can be assured that if the Lord doesn’t settle the account in this life, there is a coming judgment when everything will be made right (Rev. 6:10-11). We can leave vengeance to God, being content in Him.
Personal injustice often hits us in the pocketbook. (I speak from experience!) But there are great lessons to be learned when the bad guys win by stealing your money or goods. Here are two:
God will provide for your needs, and your needs may be less than you think. You may only have a little, but it will be enough. You may fall financially or materially but you won’t totally fail. God will sustain you. Sometimes he has to take away our things to reveal to us how much we take pleasure in this world and how little we take pleasure in him. We need to learn that if we have food and covering, with these we can be content, as long as we have God.
If you expect God to provide, then trust Him by giving. Many years ago a secretary of a British missionary society called on a Calcutta merchant for a donation. The man wrote a check for $250, a sizeable amount in those days. Just then an urgent cablegram was brought in, informing the merchant that one of his ships and all its cargo had been lost at sea. The merchant explained and told the secretary, “I need to write you another check.” The secretary understood perfectly and returned the check for $250. The merchant wrote another check and handed it to him. The secretary was amazed to see that the new check was for $1,000. “Haven’t you made a mistake?” he asked. “No,” said the merchant, as his eyes filled with tears. “That cablegram was a message from my Heavenly Father which said, ‘Do not lay up treasures on earth.’”
If you’re walking uprightly before God and giving generously to support the Lord’s work, and someone cheats you out of money (or you lose it some other way), you can be content that God will provide for your needs. He’s not blind to what’s going on. Keep walking uprightly, being generous, and trusting Him, and He will take care of you and your family’s needs.
When the bad guys win, do rightly. When you’re wronged, the temptation is to retaliate with wrong. But our focus should be on pleasing God in spite of how others wrong us. David outlines three areas of righteous living: Righteous actions, speech and thinking.
Righteousness begins in your thought life (“heart”). God changes us by renewing our minds (Rom. 12:1-2) through His Word. If you are not steeping your mind in Scripture so that it shapes your thinking in every situation, you won’t respond in a godly manner when someone wrongs you.
If your thought life is being shaped by Scripture, then when someone wrongs you, rather than lashing out with abusive speech, you will speak words of wisdom that build up and bless. And you won’t retaliate with wrong actions. Instead, you will seek to overcome evil with good. Instead of being mean, you’ll respond with kindness.
When the bad guys win, trust God to judge righteously. He is a God of justice and will right all wrongs someday. Have you ever noticed in the Book of Revelation how God lets wicked Babylon go on in sensuality and wealth until the last hour? Then in one day, in one hour, her judgment falls (Rev. 18:8, 10, 17, 19). Right up to the eleventh hour it looks like wickedness will triumph. Don’t be fooled! In that final hour, God will act on behalf of His saints.
Unrighteous anger is a refusal to wait for justice; it is the demand that life and God get on our schedule. typical ways we might see unrighteous anger manifested: It could be anything that interferes with our own satisfaction. It could be a slow car in the wrong lane, a loud patron in a theater, a cruel spouse, a defiant child, a hard to deal with co-worker or a physical problem.
Think of a time in your life, the life of a family member, or of a friend, when you or they had been treated unjustly. How did it make you feel? This kind of anger (against injustice) can energize our hatred of sin (not sinners) or can be ugly and vindictive and consume us as we try to play God’s role in the world.
Unrighteous anger demands for “the self” a world under our control. We can’t wait for God’s redemption. Our timing is what matters and we demand immediate. When that demand isn’t met, anger is our response.Take a moment and think about how “unrighteous anger” can consume and condemn others.
Eph. 4:26 says, “In your anger do not sin.” It clearly states that not all anger is unrighteous.
When injustice happens, the lack of anger is a sign of something being terribly wrong. This can be in a society or in a heart. Righteous anger grieves and struggle, and asks God questions “What are you doing? Why are you not doing something? When are you going to do something about this?”
It is right to be angry with injustice and to take that anger to God. But then, we are to act in ways that are God-honoring. How differently would it look if real and perceived injustice in our cities were dealt with in God-honoring ways? How can we move out into the world in ways that are God-honoring?
Look at the following Psalms:
Ps. 27:14 “Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.”
Ps. 33:20 “We wait in hope for the LORD; He is our help and our shield.”
Ps. 130:5 “I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in His word I put my hope.”
Can you see where hope in God and a willingness to wait on Him are linked?
Notice what the Psalm says we do when we are angry? We can: Refuse to fret and, instead, reflect and get perspective. Wait and be still before the Lord. Delight yourself in him.
https://www.dayspring.com/articles/how-to-delight-in-the-lord
Are you looking to focus on delighting in the Lord and in the little blessings that He has given you in the new year? Today, God invites you to quietly lay down the things we do out of performance and busyness and instead, open the gift He’s placed in each of us: delight. How do you experience God’s delight? Would you be surprised if I told you that God’s biggest delight, his greatest joy is – you?
Here are 4 action steps to incorporate God’s delight in everyday life:
1. If you’re good at taking care of others, feel God’s delight by prioritizing your well-being. Why are we so hard on ourselves, when God’s love is gentle? How can you fill other’s needs, if your tank is empty?
Delight Tip: Prioritize enjoying what brings you joy. Take a walk outside today. Let God touch you.
Studies show just 10 minutes outside refreshes and helps with anxiety — depression in school, work and everyday life. Put on your shoes and go. You’ll return refreshed! We may feel selfish prioritizing filling our tanks. Yet, God says we can only comfort others, with the comfort we first receive ourselves! (2 Cor 1:4)
2. Contentment is nurtured with love, not guilt. Feel God’s delight by being gentle with yourself. Most problems that stress us can’t solved in a day. We are such strong thinkers, but it leads us to easily ruminate, which means to obsess and worry. One way to reduce this is by enjoying activities that foster positive thoughts about God’s care for you.
Delight Tip: Listen to a worship song. Music is used in therapy to help us express hidden emotions. It calms and alleviates pain. When you feel too stressed to pray, put on a worship song and let God love you.
3. You are good at listening to others, but may find it hard to share your hardships. Feel God’s delight through a real person. We don’t want to bother others. But, did you ever notice how you feel better after talking to someone about your troubles — even if the problem hasn’t been fixed?
Delight Tip: Call a grace-filled friend to catch up. Research shows stress and anxiety are reduced and people bounce back sooner (resiliency) when people share their stories and talk about how they feel when events impact them (rather than just describing what happens).“Carry one another’s burdens…” (Galations 6:2).
4. Give yourself grace. Feel God’s delight. Rest and refresh your soul. “…Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you.” (1 Kings 19:7) Elijah did everything he knew to do—even defeating the prophets of Baal. Yet, his problems got worse. Stress broke Elijah’s spirit. Yet, Elijah fell asleep and woke up to find water and some fresh bread —left just for him. Not only that, God sent an angel to touch him—twice.
God knew Elijah needed physical rejuvenation – sleep, eating well, getting away – and emotional safety – to be touched, heard and understand – first, in order to experience the delight of hearing God’s whisper in a gentle breeze.
Delight Tip: Prioritize an activity that helps you rest and refresh. To hear God’s voice, first give yourself the permission to unplug and do what gives you joy.
When I take delight in my children, I spend time with them and watch the things they do. I hold them close, talk with them, and listen to them. I recognize the unique things about them that make them who they are. I think about them often. I focus on the great things about them that I love. I remember the words they’ve said that melt my heart, the great memories we’ve created together, and the times when we overcame something challenging together.
We can do the same things with God. We take delight in God by spending time with Him, watching the things He’s doing in our lives. We can notice who He is. We can hold Him close, talk with Him, listen to Him. We can think about Him throughout our day and focus on His greatness and love. We can remember the times He has moved in our lives, the things He has done for us in the past,and the prayers He has answered.
This is delighting in the Lord. This is how He becomes our main source of delight. Often we rush through life. We might have our quiet time in the morning. We read through our prayer list and say a few words to God, at least on the good days. And then we close our books and get on with our day. Life keeps us busy and we rarely take a moment to think about God again until the next morning, as long as we can wake up early enough to spend a few moments of quiet time with Him.
But God calls us to something deeper. He’s not be something on our to-do list. He wants to be our one and only and desires to be our passion and delight. He wants our relationship with Him to be so important, vital and valuable to us that it begins to weave itself all throughout our days and our lives.
I don’t usually have to put my children on my to do list because they are loud and obtrusive and not easy to forget. They’re in my face and asking for food, play, and attention all the time. But God isn’t so obvious. I have to deliberately choose to spend time with Him and make the space in my life to desire and delight in Him. He can be loud and obtrusive, but usually, He’s not. He waits for us.
“And he will give you the desires of your heart.” We need the whole section of verses in order to understand this last part. Trust in the Lord, do good, and delight in the Lord, only then will He give you your heart’s desires. It’s not because we have to win Him over or work hard to earn things from God. The reason that we do those things, is so that our heart’s desires become His desires. When this happens, it’s a beautiful thing. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The people and the things of this world will always disappoint. But our hope is not in this world. When we let go of our expectations of the people and circumstances in our life and instead look expectantly to God, that is when we can begin to see all the amazing and beautiful things He is doing in and around us.
As you spend time in God’s presence, talking with Him, studying Him and His word, He will reveal His heart. Set reminders on your phone if you have to, but train yourself to weave God into every area of your life. You’ll begin to see the world and circumstances as He does. And your desires will begin to match His desires. Your ability to trust in His goodness and faithfulness in any circumstance you face will begin to grow. Notice what God is doing, keep a journal of prayers, answers, and list of all the things you are thankful for. Take the time to thank Him for the things you have in your life.
SONG: One Day-Cochren & Co., One Day-J. Wilbur Chapman