God Speaks
A psalm of David.
1 Don’t worry about the wicked
or envy those who do wrong.
2 For like grass, they soon fade away.
Like spring flowers, they soon wither.
3 Trust in the Lord and do good.
Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.
4 Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you your heart’s desires.
5 Commit everything you do to the Lord.
Trust him, and he will help you.
6 He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn,
and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.
7 Be still in the presence of the Lord,
and wait patiently for him to act.
Don’t worry about evil people who prosper
or fret about their wicked schemes.
8 Stop being angry!
Turn from your rage!
Do not lose your temper—
it only leads to harm.
9 For the wicked will be destroyed,
but those who trust in the Lord will possess the land.
10 Soon the wicked will disappear.
Though you look for them, they will be gone.
11 The lowly will possess the land
and will live in peace and prosperity.
12 The wicked plot against the godly;
they snarl at them in defiance.
13 But the Lord just laughs,
for he sees their day of judgment coming.
14 The wicked draw their swords
and string their bows
to kill the poor and the oppressed,
to slaughter those who do right.
15 But their swords will stab their own hearts,
and their bows will be broken.
16 It is better to be godly and have little
than to be evil and rich.
17 For the strength of the wicked will be shattered,
but the Lord takes care of the godly.
18 Day by day the Lord takes care of the innocent,
and they will receive an inheritance that lasts forever.
19 They will not be disgraced in hard times;
even in famine they will have more than enough.
20 But the wicked will die.
The Lord’s enemies are like flowers in a field—
they will disappear like smoke.
21 The wicked borrow and never repay,
but the godly are generous givers.
22 Those the Lord blesses will possess the land,
but those he curses will die.
23 The Lord directs the steps of the godly.
He delights in every detail of their lives.
24 Though they stumble, they will never fall,
for the Lord holds them by the hand.
25 Once I was young, and now I am old.
Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned
or their children begging for bread.
26 The godly always give generous loans to others,
and their children are a blessing.
27 Turn from evil and do good,
and you will live in the land forever.
28 For the Lord loves justice,
and he will never abandon the godly.
He will keep them safe forever,
but the children of the wicked will die.
29 The godly will possess the land
and will live there forever.
30 The godly offer good counsel;
they teach right from wrong.
31 They have made God’s law their own,
so they will never slip from his path.
32 The wicked wait in ambush for the godly,
looking for an excuse to kill them.
33 But the Lord will not let the wicked succeed
or let the godly be condemned when they are put on trial.
34 Put your hope in the Lord.
Travel steadily along his path.
He will honor you by giving you the land.
You will see the wicked destroyed.
35 I have seen wicked and ruthless people
flourishing like a tree in its native soil.
36 But when I looked again, they were gone!
Though I searched for them, I could not find them!
37 Look at those who are honest and good,
for a wonderful future awaits those who love peace.
38 But the rebellious will be destroyed;
they have no future.
39 The Lord rescues the godly;
he is their fortress in times of trouble.
40 The Lord helps them,
rescuing them from the wicked.
He saves them,
and they find shelter in him.
Source: New Living Translation: BibleGateway.com
We Respond
Reflection: In Christ in the Psalms, Fr. Reardon* proposes that this psalm may be viewed as either a parent instructing and warning a child to follow God and His ways or God the Father instructing His children as to how the world works. The author of this blog favors the latter. In Hebrew, Psalm 37 is also an alphabetic acrostic with each line beginning with the successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
*Christ in the Psalms by Patrick Henry Reardon
Prayer: (This prayer by one of His children is a response to Father God’s instructions in Psalm 37.)
Dear Father God, thank You for instructing Your children. May all those whom You have adopted into Your family by faith in Jesus heed what You have to say to us in this psalm. Help me to look to You continually and not to worry about the wicked and definitely not envy them; help me to remember how fleeting their seeming success really is. You will hold them accountable either here on earth or in Your final judgment. Trusting in You and doing good (as You direct) is how I can live in safety and prosper. If I take delight in You, You promise to give me what my heart desires. If I commit everything to You and completely rely on You, You promise to help me, to make my innocence shine forth, and to make justice shine on me like the sun. I’ll do my best to be still and patiently wait for You to take action on my behalf. Please help me not to fret or worry about evil people who prosper in their wicked schemes. I know that getting angry and losing my temper only harms me or others. If we who are God-fearing keep trusting, You promise to deal with and destroy the wicked and make them completely disappear while we live in peace and prosperity. When the wicked snarl and plot against the godly, You, LORD, laugh because of the judgment they’ll face. When the wicked war against the poor and needy, You make their weapons ineffective and turn back to harm them, It’s better to be poor and love You than to be rich and evil. You, LORD, shatter the strength of the wicked, but take good care of the godly. Day by day You watch over the innocent, giving them an everlasting inheritance. In hard times, like famine, they won’t be disgraced but always have enough to share with others. You will cause the wicked to die like cut flowers and disappear like smoke. The wicked ones You curse will die after refusing to pay their debts. The ones You bless will give generously and inhabit eternal estates. You direct the steps of the godly and delight in every detail of their lives. You hold their hand and keep them from falling. This is true for both young and old. They are never abandoned or not provided for. They lend generously to others and have children who do the same. By Your grace, righteous ones turn from evil, do good, and have forever homes. You love justice and never abandon Your people (those who by faith strive to live like You), but the ones who imitate the evil one will suffer death forever. Your godly ones give good counsel and teach how to distinguish right from wrong. They’ve made Your laws their own and strive to never stray from them. The wicked lay in ambush looking for an excuse to kill the godly. You, LORD, won’t let their plans succeed or let the godly be condemned. I put my hope totally in You, LORD. May I have the privilege of leading others to do the same, so that we can all follow the path You have laid out for us. You’ll honor the godly by giving them the land You’ve promised. Those who fight against God will be destroyed. Yes, it’s true wicked and ruthless people often flourish, but we won’t be able to find them when You destroy them. You’ve designed a wonderful future (on earth now and forever in heaven) for those who (because of Jesus) are good, faithful, and love peace, but the rebellious have no future. They will be destroyed. You save those who reflect You. You rescue them, help them, and shelter them from all kinds of trouble because they trust in You. Thanks again for being such a great, awesome, and loving God. AMEN
Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, if He wants you to work on the suggestions below or something else more personal that He points out.)
- I will read Psalm 37 aloud and contemplate how it can be applied in my life.
- I will talk with someone about what it means to be godly vs wicked.
- I will help someone to move from being wicked to being godly.
- I will rely on the Holy Spirit to help me model what it means to truly trust God.
Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.