Reflections on Psalms 37

 Psalms 37(Contemporary English Version)

1. (By David.) Don't be annoyed by anyone who does wrong, and don't envy them.
   
2. They will soon disappear like grass without rain.
   
3. Trust the LORD and live right! The land will be yours, and you will be safe.
   
4. Do what the LORD wants, and he will give you your heart's desire.
   
5. Let the LORD lead you and trust him to help.
   
6. Then it will be as clear as the noonday sun that you were right.
   
7. Be patient and trust the LORD. Don't let it bother you when all goes well for those who do sinful things.
   
8. Don't be angry or furious. Anger can lead to sin.
   
9. All sinners will disappear, but if you trust the LORD, the land will be yours.
   
10. Sinners will soon disappear, never to be found,
    
11. but the poor will take the land and enjoy a big harvest.
    
12. Merciless people make plots against good people and snarl like animals,
    
13. but the Lord laughs and knows their time is coming soon.
    
14. The wicked kill with swords and shoot arrows to murder the poor and the needy and all who do right.
    
15. But they will be killed by their own swords, and their arrows will be broken.
    
16. It is better to live right and be poor than to be sinful and rich.
    
17. The wicked will lose all of their power, but the LORD gives strength to everyone who is good.
    
18. Those who obey the LORD are daily in his care, and what he has given them will be theirs forever.
    
19. They won't be in trouble when times are bad, and they will have plenty when food is scarce.
    
20. Wicked people are enemies of the LORD and will vanish like smoke from a field on fire.
    
21. An evil person borrows and never pays back; a good person is generous and never stops giving.
    
22. Everyone the LORD blesses will receive the land; everyone the LORD curses will be destroyed.
    
23. If you do what the LORD wants, he will make certain each step you take is sure.
    
24. The LORD will hold your hand, and if you stumble, you still won't fall.
    
25. As long as I can remember, good people have never been left helpless, and their children have never gone begging for food.
    
26. They gladly give and lend, and their children turn out good.
    
27. If you stop sinning and start doing right, you will keep living and be secure forever.
    
28. The LORD loves justice, and he won't ever desert his faithful people. He always protects them, but destroys the children of the wicked.
    
29. God's people will own the land and live here forever.
    
30. Words of wisdom come when good people speak for justice.
    
31. They remember God's teachings, and they never take a wrong step.
    
32. The wicked try to trap and kill good people,
    
33. but the LORD is on their side, and he will defend them when they are on trial.
    
34. Trust the LORD and follow him. He will give you the land, and you will see the wicked destroyed.
    
35. I have seen brutal people abuse others and grow strong like trees in rich soil.
    
36. Suddenly they disappeared! I looked, but they were gone and no longer there.
    
37. Think of the bright future waiting for all the families of honest and innocent and peace-loving people.
    
38. But not a trace will be left of the wicked or their families.
    
39. The LORD protects his people, and they can come to him in times of trouble.
    
40. The LORD helps them and saves them from the wicked because they run to him.

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David had much experience with wicked people who sought to destroy him, and as an older man he shared his counsel in this psalm. His counsel is succinctly stated in the first three verses and then further developed in the remaining verses. It is this: "Do not be agitated by evildoers; do not envy those who do wrong. For they wither quickly like grass and wilt like tender green plants. Trust in the LORD and do what is good; dwell in the land and live securely."

Allowing ourselves to be agitated and envious of wicked people around us is a diversion that can keep us from doing what is good and threaten to take us down along with the wicked. Besides, attempts to respond to the wicked is an exercise in futility. It will not be our words or our actions against them that will thwart them, but God's. We need only to "Take delight in the LORD, and He will give you your heart's desires." (37:4) Our heart's desires will not be fulfilled by attacking the wicked who may be making our lives difficult. They will be fulfilled by taking delight in the Lord. We need only to "Be silent before the LORD and wait expectantly for Him," and to "Refrain from anger and give up your rage." Being agitated with the wicked "can only bring harm." (37:7, 8) We need to keep a single focus - taking delight in the Lord. In so doing we will gain a different perspective. Rather than the wicked seeming to loom so large and threatening, we will realize that "The Lord laughs at him because He sees that his day is coming." (37:13)

As we take delight in the Lord and take on His perspective of our situation, we come to realize that in the Lord we have all we need. We are better off with the Lord and a little than the wicked are with their abundance. The Lord will meet all our needs and watch over us and our inheritance in Him will last forever. But the wicked "will perish . . . they will fade away like smoke." (37:20)

Though verse 34 is not the last verse of the psalm, it is a good summary of David's counsel to us. "Wait for the LORD and keep His way, and He will exalt you to inherit the land. You will watch when the wicked are destroyed." Rather than fretting we need to wait. As tempting as it may be to fret and as powerful as our inclination may be to strike back, neither of these will be profitable. We will only profit by waiting for the Lord.