Psalm 37:19

Psalm 37 is a wisdom psalm of David, written in the Hebrew as an alphabetic acrostic, and it teaches God’s people how to live when the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer. It opens, “Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity,” and gives the reason at once: the wicked will soon be cut down and wither like grass (Psalm 37:1–2). In place of fretting it calls us to “Trust in the LORD, and do good” and to “Delight thyself also in the LORD” (Psalm 37:3–6), to “Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him” (Psalm 37:7), and it promises that evildoers will be cut off while “the meek shall inherit the earth” (Psalm 37:9–11).

In Israel prosperity was often taken as a sign of God’s favour and hardship as a sign of his displeasure, so the success of the wicked was a real trial of faith. Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes wrestle with the same question, and so does Psalm 73. Psalm 37 answers it by lifting our eyes from what we see today to the end God has appointed. In these verses the wicked attack twice, and each time God’s answer comes in the very next verse. Short sayings follow that set the righteous and the wicked side by side, and the wicked lose every time.

“The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.” The verb for plotting, zâmam, means to plan or devise, usually in a bad sense, so this hostility has been thought through in advance. The verb for gnashing, châraq, means to grate or grind the teeth, and it shows the same hatred breaking out in open rage. The verse moves from the mind of the wicked man to his face.

The wicked, râshâʻ, are those whose whole way of life defies God and his law, and the just, tsaddîyq, are those who live rightly before him. The same word for the just returns as “a righteous man” in verse 16, and the same word for the wicked comes back in verses 16 and 20, so the two people who face each other here are the two the rest of the passage compares.

Scripture knows this enmity well. David prays elsewhere to be hidden from the secret counsel of the wicked (Psalm 64:2). Proverbs warns a son against men who lie in wait for blood (Proverbs 1:10–19), and warns the wicked man against lying in wait against the dwelling of the righteous, for “a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again” (Proverbs 24:15–16). When Stephen bore witness to Christ, his hearers “gnashed on him with their teeth” (Acts 7:54). Jesus uses the phrase of those cast out of the kingdom, where “there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:12), and of the furnace of fire, where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:42). There it is the anguish of the lost. Here it is the fury of the wicked against the just.

“The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.” The title here is ʼĂdônây, “the Lord”, the sovereign Master. The verb sâchaq is the ordinary word for laughing, and it can also mean to make merry or play. Here the one who laughs is the Lord, and the one he laughs at is the man grinding his teeth at God’s people. The reason follows: he sees (râʼâh) that the man’s day is coming. Psalm 2 gives the same picture of the nations plotting against the LORD: “He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision” (Psalm 2:4). Wisdom says the same to those who scorn her: “I also will laugh at your calamity” (Proverbs 1:26).

“His day” uses yôwm, the common word for a day or a span of time. With “his” it means the wicked man’s own appointed time, as when David said of Saul, “his day shall come to die” (1 Samuel 26:10). In this verse it is the day God has fixed for his judgment. The prophets speak in the same way of the day of the LORD, which is “near upon all the heathen” (Obadiah 1:15), and that day can mean a judgment within history or the last judgment.

“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.” “Drawn out” is pâthach, to open wide or loosen, used here of unsheathing the sword, chereb, the cutting weapon that Strong’s names from its destructive effect. “Bent” is dârak, to tread, and also to bend a bow, because an archer strung his bow, qesheth, by treading on it as he bent it. Both weapons are out and ready, so the wicked man’s purpose is settled before the first blow.

He has two targets. The poor and needy, ʻânîy and ʼebyôwn, are those with little wealth, influence or defence, and the prophets condemn their oppression again and again, as Amos does in his rebuke of Israel (Amos 2:6–7). Proverbs forbids robbing the poor and oppressing the afflicted (Proverbs 22:22–23).

The second target is “such as be of upright conversation”. In the English of the KJV, “conversation” means a person’s whole conduct and manner of life. The Hebrew is yishrê derek, “the upright of way”, built from yâshâr, straight or upright, and derek, a road, and so a course of life. These are the people the wicked mean to “slay”, and the verb ṭâbach means to slaughter or butcher. It is used most often of killing animals for food, and in the rest of its uses of killing people.

Those who walk in God’s ways should expect such hostility, for “all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12). The same psalm answers that “the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints” (Psalm 37:28).

“Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.” The sword is chereb again, so the weapon drawn in verse 14 ends in the heart of the one who drew it. The heart, lêb, often interchangeable with lêbâb, is the inner person, the seat of mind, will and feeling, so the wound reaches the centre of the man. The bows are broken, shâbar, a verb meaning to break or shatter, and the wicked are left without the means to do what they planned.

Scripture states this reversal many times. “He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made” (Psalm 7:15). “Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein: and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him” (Proverbs 26:27). Paul warns that God is not mocked, and that whatever a man sows he will also reap (Galatians 6:7). Evil carries the seeds of its own ruin, and God sees to it that it comes home to the one who planned it.

“A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked.” “A little” is mᵉʻaṭ, a small amount, and here it means modest means held by a tsaddîyq, a man in right standing with God. “Better” is ṭôwb, good, and “riches” is hâmôwn, a word that can also mean a multitude or a tumult. The wicked, râshâʻ, may be many and their wealth great, but God’s blessing rests on the little and his judgment on the much.

The little is better because of whose it is and where it came from. The righteous man came by it honestly, uses it for good, and has God’s favour and peace with it. The wealth of the wicked was often gathered by oppression and injustice, and it falls with its owner, as verses 9 and 10 have already said. Proverbs says the same in several ways: “Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith” (Proverbs 15:16), “Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right” (Proverbs 16:8), and “Better is the poor that walketh in his uprightness, than he that is perverse in his ways, though he be rich” (Proverbs 28:6). Paul writes that “godliness with contentment is great gain”, and warns those who want to be rich of the snares that come with it (1 Timothy 6:6–10).

Verse 17 gives the reason, and it begins with “For”: “For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the LORD upholdeth the righteous.” The arm, zᵉrôwaʻ, is the limb of strength, and so it stands for a man’s power and his means of acting. “Broken” is shâbar, the same verb used for the bows in verse 15. The strength, influence and power to oppress that the wicked rely on will all fail. Proverbs promises that the wicked will be punished (Proverbs 11:21), and that “pride goeth before destruction” (Proverbs 16:18).

“Upholdeth” is çâmak, to lean upon, support or sustain. The LORD, Yᵉhôvâh, the covenant name of God, keeps holding up the righteous so that they stand. Hannah sang, “He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail” (1 Samuel 2:9). God says through Isaiah, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee,” and promises, “I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness” (Isaiah 41:10). Psalm 1 ends on the same contrast: “For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish” (Psalm 1:6).

“The LORD knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever.” The verb yâdaʻ is the ordinary word for knowing, and when God knows his people, his knowing carries his care with it. That is how Psalm 1:6 uses it, where the LORD’s knowing the way of the righteous is what keeps them. God told Jeremiah, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee” (Jeremiah 1:5). Jesus said that the very hairs of our head are numbered (Matthew 10:30) and that our heavenly Father knows what we need (Matthew 6:32). “The days” are the whole span of the upright man’s life, every trouble and every act of faithfulness in it, and the LORD watches over all of them.

“Upright” here is tâmîym, which shares its English word with the “upright” of verse 14. It means complete, whole, sound or without blemish, and of people blameless or upright. It describes a life whole in its devotion to God, and it makes no claim of sinless perfection.

“Inheritance” is nachălâh, a possession or portion, very often the land God gave his people as a gift, divided among the tribes in Numbers 26. Here it is joined to “for ever”, ʻôwlâm, a word for long or unending time. So the promise takes in the whole of God’s covenant blessing, an enduring portion and an eternal future with him. The wicked wither like the grass of verse 2, and this inheritance lasts. Peter speaks of “an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven” (1 Peter 1:4), and the risen Christ says, “He that overcometh shall inherit all things” (Revelation 21:7).

“They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.” “Ashamed” is bûwsh, which properly means to turn pale, and so to be ashamed, disappointed or delayed. In Israel shame meant public disgrace, being found wanting before everyone. The promise is that those who trust God will find their trust proved right. “The evil time” joins raʻ, bad or evil, a word that covers calamity as well as wickedness, with ʻêth, time, and it means a season of disaster, danger or distress. Famine came with drought, war or upheaval, and it brought hunger and the breakdown of ordinary life. “Satisfied” is sâbaʻ, to be filled, to have enough and even plenty.

David bears witness to this later in the psalm: “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread” (Psalm 37:25). God is the LORD who provides, as Abraham confessed when he named the mount Jehovahjireh (Genesis 22:14). Jesus tells us to seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added (Matthew 6:33). David sang, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1), and Paul wrote, “my God shall supply all your need” (Philippians 4:19).

“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.” “Perish” is ʼâbad, which properly means to wander away or be lost, and so to perish. It is used of lost asses and lost property, and here of the wicked, who come to nothing. “The enemies of the LORD” is ʼôyêb, the usual word for an enemy, from a verb meaning to be hostile. Those who attacked God’s people in verses 12 and 14 are named here for what they are, enemies of God himself.

The word the KJV translates “fat” is yâqâr, an adjective meaning precious, costly or rare, and “lambs” is kar. Under the law of Moses the fat of the sacrifices was the choicest part, and it belonged to God and was burned on the altar: “it is the food of the offering made by fire for a sweet savour: all the fat is the LORD’s” (Leviticus 3:16). Once burned, it went up in smoke and was gone. So the enemies of the LORD, for all the value they set on themselves and their prosperity, will be consumed as fully as the fat on the altar fire.

“Consume” is kâlâh, to end, cease, be finished or be consumed, and the verse says it twice: “they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.” The repetition makes the end complete. Smoke rises, thins and disappears, and that is the end of the wicked. “As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more: but the righteous is an everlasting foundation” (Proverbs 10:25). Malachi sees the same fire at the end: “For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch” (Malachi 4:1).

The psalm goes on from here to the righteous, whose steps are ordered by the LORD (Psalm 37:23) and who “shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever” (Psalm 37:29).

Everything these verses say about the righteous meets in Jesus. Peter called him “the Holy One and the Just” (Acts 3:14), the righteous one, dikaios in the Greek, whom his own people denied. Herod sought “the young child to destroy him” (Matthew 2:13), the Pharisees “held a council against him, how they might destroy him” (Matthew 12:14), and at the cross his enemies mocked him (Matthew 27:39–44). He lived without sin, the one truly of upright conversation, and yet for our sakes he became poor (2 Corinthians 8:9). As the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), he bore the plots and rage of the wicked to the end, and he did as this psalm teaches: “when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously” (1 Peter 2:23). He “endured the cross, despising the shame” (Hebrews 12:2).

At the cross the sword of the wicked turned back on itself. There Christ, “having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:15), and through death he destroyed him that had the power of death, the devil (Hebrews 2:14). God upheld his Just One and raised him from the dead (Acts 2:24). Jesus fulfilled all righteousness (Matthew 3:15) and always did what pleased the Father (John 8:29), and the Father said of him at his baptism and again on the mountain, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17, Matthew 17:5). The LORD knew his days. Now he sits at God’s right hand, “expecting till his enemies be made his footstool” (Hebrews 10:13). He will come again as the righteous Judge and make war on his enemies (Revelation 19:11–21), for God has ordained him to be the Judge of the living and the dead (Acts 10:42). The dead will be judged before the great white throne (Revelation 20:11–15), and God’s people look for new heavens and a new earth, “wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13).

What the psalm promises the righteous is ours in him. We receive the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 3:22), because God made him to be sin for us, “that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). The same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead is at work for us who believe (Ephesians 1:19–20), and in all things we are “more than conquerors through him that loved us” (Romans 8:37–39). He is the heir of all things (Hebrews 1:2), and we are joint-heirs with him (Romans 8:17).

He also shows us what the righteous man’s little is worth. Jesus taught, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:19–20). In him we have “the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:7), and the God who gave his own Son will with him “freely give us all things” (Romans 8:32). He is the bread of life (John 6:35), so those who come to him are satisfied in any famine. And whoever believes on him “shall not be ashamed” (Romans 10:11), for “hope maketh not ashamed” (Romans 5:5).

These verses look straight at the hostility of the wicked. They plan and rage, they arm themselves, and they aim at the weakest and the best. The psalm names all of it plainly, and then it shows us who God is: the Lord who laughs because he sees their day, who turns their sword back on them and breaks their arm, who holds up the righteous and knows every one of their days. What the wicked have is large and brief. What the righteous have is small in the world’s eyes and lasts for ever, because God keeps it.

So the psalm’s first word, “Fret not,” rests on solid ground. Envy looks at the riches of the wicked and forgets their end, while these verses keep the end in view. The righteous live through the evil time and the famine and are satisfied, and their hope comes to no shame. The God who keeps them is the God who upheld his Just One through the cross and raised him from the dead, and the inheritance he gives lasts for ever.