In this psalm, there are repeated contrasts between the righteous and the wicked, which are given for the encouragement of those who want to live for God and please Him, and for warnings to those who want to do their own thing. Each verse begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet so that the psalm reads like a saying in the book of Proverbs. Perhaps the Spirit of God used this means to show us how important it is for a child of God to live for Him every day and serve Him in every way we can, even though we face wickedness and temptation daily. The popularity and riches of evil people without interest in God are only temporary.
The first six verses encourage the believer as to what to do. Following the Lord now means we will follow Him forever. Don’t worry about things you can’t do anything about. Don’t be disturbed by what is going on around us. Trust in the Lord, do what is right, delight in the Lord, commit your way to the Lord, rest in the Lord, and don’t lose your temper over what is happening. Leave justice and judgment to Him. Our concern over the prosperity of the wicked does not change anything. Just be patient and rest in the Lord. Our delight will come from Him, not from things or wicked people. It is in Him that real, lasting pleasure comes. We find special delight in someone we know well and know she loves us. When we know a person for a long time, our delight is greater in the things we share in common.
When we commit our lives, families, work, and possessions to the Lord to control and guide us in each aspect of life, we know it is all in good hands. We can trust Him better than we can trust ourselves, so don’t be impatient. He is doing what is best because He is omniscient. For us to be envious, bitter, or antagonistic only hurts us and makes us “fret.” Instead, let our faith in Him be unwavering and lasting. When we live for God and walk with Him in this life, He supports us and gives us the ability to live for Him and His glory. So, we are encouraged not only to know what to do but also what not to do. The cure for envy of the prosperity of the wicked and indignation at the evil practices in which they engage is to not fret but trust in the Lord, delight in Him, and He will delight in us. When we commit ourselves to the Lord, we find our rest in Him.
In a practical sense, to learn how to deal with envy and anxiety, there are four positive steps: Trust, dwell, delight, and commit ourselves to Him. Trust is the opposite of fret. When we dwell with our Lord, we rely on
Him for spiritual food and rest. To commit our way to Him places ourselves and the outcome of our lives completely into His hands. When we rest in Him, we will not scheme or manipulate things but calmly leave everything to Him, which can be difficult if we are inclined to do things our own way. Anger and worry reveal a lack of faith in God and His guidance. Those emotions are destructive to ourselves and others. Instead, let us direct our attention, trust, and hope to our Lord and be at peace. Meekness in one’s life is demonstrated by calm faith, humility, and hope in the Lord and His deliverance.
There are encouragements in this psalm that remind us of the fact that we can live right where we are and still bring glory to God. Even the way a person handles money reveals a lot about that person’s character. The wicked covet and steal. The righteous give generously. The wicked focus on themselves and what they can get out of something or someone. The righteous focus on the welfare of others. God delights in one who trusts Him to meet their needs and who does His will. He will direct the paths of that person.
The next verses contrast the wicked and the just, the righteous and the lawless, and the blessed with the cursed. The success of the wicked is only a temporary illusion because their end is destruction. It is the people of God, specifically the Jews, who are God’s chosen earthly people and who will inherit the earth. God promised blessings to them, and they will find peace someday when they finally learn to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as “The King of the Jews” and love and trust Him. The earth does not belong to aggressive evil people but to the righteous who submit to the Lord. Those who have no fear of God and have no faith in Him scheme, plot, and fight for what they want because they have no guidance from God, nor do they care for righteousness or the righteous. The Lord laughs at the determination of the wicked to direct their own course and future. Their wickedness will ultimately destroy them when it enters their own heart.
It is with patience and trust that those who are righteous, those who want to please God, find in the trials of life that the Lord sustains us. When we stumble, He holds us up and supports us. The Lord draws near to the righteous even though He is unseen, and His help strengthens them. In contrast, the wicked wither and die like grass in the meadow. For the wicked, payday is coming. They only have a little while, and then their doom is sealed. There is a catalog of the calamities that will fall on them. Despite what many people think, happiness doesn’t come from riches but from righteousness. We should not be concerned with prosperity in the mammon of unrighteousness because it doesn’t last, and those who live for it will perish with nothing to show for life and nothing for eternity.
Blessings and cursings were the two conditions of the Old Testament covenants. Today, they are still our options based on our personal relationship with God. There are rewards for the righteous and meek of Israel, for they will inherit the earth and have peace, but the wicked will be cut off. The righteous benefit from God's guidance to do what is right, and the Lord delights in our lives when we follow His leading. When we know what God wants and are willing to take His advice and counsel, we can go forward with confidence in Him and the right outcome. God’s provision is great and, as a general principle, meets the needs of His people.
It is a general truth, but not a particular one, that the righteous are not forsaken, and their descendants will not be hungry. This guarantee relates to eternity, not abundance, in this life. There are some of God’s people He can trust with poverty and hunger for His sovereign purposes. Many of the chosen saints of God have gone through and are going through very great difficulties, so the Lord’s people can demonstrate their faith. One of those pieces of evidence is that we can show our love toward those suffering by seeking to make sure they are cared for. When we see one suffer, we should never say he brought it on himself or God is testing him. We are being tested to see who we are and what we can do to help those suffering. There is no excuse to ignore those in need when we can meet that need. God expects His people to depart from evil and do good, and they will live forever because of their faith in Him.
“The steps of a good man” are established and solid. God loves justice and gives that assurance to His people. When one is a believer in Christ and committed to righteousness in life, the law of God is in his heart. To a person of faith, unchanging truth is not burdensome or superficial. To “wait on the Lord and keep His way” is a final challenge to believers to trust Him without reservation. It is sometimes difficult to wait, but it is essential. When one does this, people will see reality and understand why he lives for the future, not just the present. Unbelievers do not have anyone to turn to but themselves, and so the future is hopeless. Complete reliance on the Lord is the basis of our faith and assures us that He will not only give full salvation in the future but also help us now when there is trouble, and He gives deliverance.
God never goes back on His promises. As an older man looking back over life, he sees the long view of God’s dealings with His people, and he sees that God is making provision for them in His own way.
Sometimes, and because of events, some of God’s people hunger and die. Some are under the bondage of wicked men who lead nations. Sometimes, national calamities strike, leaving people without the necessities to sustain life. The general view is that millions of God’s people, through the centuries, have been blessed with food and shelter. In these, we can be content. That contrasts with riches, which can buy what is needed but do not bring contentment.
When a person’s thoughts are stayed on the Lord, His grace, and His love, then the paths of life will be sure and steadfast. “As a man thinketh in His heart, so is he.” Wicked people are not concerned with justice but with opportunities to advance themselves. Sometimes, they find the fall of a believer a reason for smug criticism. But we must leave the results of opposition to our Lord to vindicate us and carry out justice. His justice is impartial. It is based on the unchanging standards of His character that have been given to us in His law.
The righteous can rest assured that our Lord is near to help us when we call and to deliver us when we are in danger. He can save us from the power of sin now and the presence of sin in the future. What a wonderful work God has done for us in choosing us by sovereign grace, saving us from sin and its penalty, and saving us for heaven!
PSALM 37. TRUE REST: a contrast between the godly and the wicked. As an older man, David advises how to react when we become victims of evil schemes and/or words.