Psalm 37:33

Psalm 37 is a teaching psalm of David, written as an acrostic whose stanzas begin with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in turn, though the pattern is uneven in places. Its subject is the trouble every believer meets when the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer. It opens, “Fret not thyself because of evildoers” (Psalm 37:1), for they will soon wither like the grass (37:2). It calls us to trust in the LORD and do good, to delight in him and to commit our way to him (Psalm 37:3–5), and it promises that he will bring forth our righteousness as the light and our judgment as the noonday (37:6). We are to rest in the LORD and wait patiently for him (37:7). The wicked plot against the just (37:12), yet in a little while they will be gone (37:10) and will vanish like smoke (37:20), while those who wait on the LORD, the meek, shall inherit the earth (37:9, 37:11). After this passage David tells how quickly a powerful wicked man passed away (37:35–36).

“The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth” (verse 21). The two men are known by what they do with money. The verb for borrowing, lâvâh, is the ordinary word for taking a loan, and in its causative form it means to lend, so the same verb returns in verse 26 for the righteous man who “lendeth”. The words “payeth not again” use shâlam, which in this sense means to make good what is owed, to make restitution. Debts sometimes go unpaid through real hardship, but the psalm marks out the wicked by their character, so this is a man who could pay and keeps what belongs to someone else. His own interest overrides his neighbour’s just claim. Proverbs warns that “the borrower is servant to the lender” (Proverbs 22:7), and it tells us to give good to those it is due to when it is in the power of our hand to do it (Proverbs 3:27–28).

The righteous man “sheweth mercy”, chânan, the verb for being gracious and showing favour. Strong’s describes it as bending or stooping in kindness to someone lower, and Scripture uses it again and again of God himself, who proclaims his name as merciful and gracious (Exodus 34:6). So a generous man bears a likeness to the God he trusts, and his giving rests on trust that God will provide for him in turn (verse 25). Verse 26 uses the same verb: “He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.” The word behind “ever” is yôwm, “day”, used here for continuing time, so his kindness is the habit of every day.

The law of Israel shaped this kind of giving. The land itself belonged to the LORD (Leviticus 25:23), and his people were to open their hand wide to a poor brother and lend him what he needed (Deuteronomy 15:7–11), lending to him without interest (Exodus 22:25). In a farming society a debt could cost a family its land or even its freedom, so a loan to someone in need was an act of compassion. Failing to repay when able was a breach of justice and of one’s word, and generosity was a mark of righteousness and of trust in God. Paul says the same of the church’s giving, for God loveth a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7).

“For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off” (verse 22). The verse gives the reason the two men of verse 21 end so differently: God himself has blessed the one and cursed the other. “Blessed” is bârak, whose root sense is to kneel and which means to bless, and when God blesses a man he gives him his favour and makes him flourish. “Blessed of him” places the source of that favour in God alone, and “cursed of him” places the judgment there too.

“Inherit” is yârash, to take possession of a land, often by driving out those who held it before, and so to inherit it. “Earth” is ʼerets, which can mean a particular land, the ground, or the whole earth. Verse 29 repeats the promise with the same verb and the same noun, which the KJV there renders “land”: “The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever.” The righteous, tsaddîyq, are the just, those in a right relationship with God. In this psalm they are the people who trust the LORD, commit their way to him and wait for him, and their righteousness is a life turned toward God in faith and obedience by someone who can still fall (verse 24). The “for ever” of verse 29 is ʻad, perpetuity, time without end.

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way” (verse 23). The KJV prints “good” in italics because the translators supplied it. The Hebrew has geber, properly a valiant man and generally simply a man or a person, and in poetry the word often stands for a human being in his weakness and mortality. The whole psalm makes plain which man is meant, the one who trusts the LORD, so “good” gives the sense.

“Ordered” is kûwn, to stand upright, and so to set up, establish, fix, prepare and make firm. The LORD sets the man’s steps on firm footing and directs them with purpose. Steps stand for the whole course of a life, from the smallest daily choice to its whole direction. Proverbs says that a man’s heart plans his way while the LORD directs his steps (Proverbs 16:9), and Jeremiah confesses, “O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself” (Jeremiah 10:23). To those who trust the LORD with all their heart and acknowledge him in all their ways, he promises to direct their paths (Proverbs 3:5–6).

The one who “delighteth in his way” is the LORD. The verb châphêts means to like, to be pleased with, to desire, and so God takes pleasure in the life of the man who walks with him. “Way”, derek, covers a person’s conduct, his character and the direction of his life. God’s delight in his people runs through Scripture. Zephaniah pictures the LORD rejoicing over them with joy (Zephaniah 3:17), Proverbs speaks of the man whose ways please the LORD (Proverbs 16:7), and Paul says that God prepared good works beforehand for his people to walk in (Ephesians 2:10).

“Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand” (verse 24). The verse is honest about the righteous, who do fall. The verb nâphal covers every kind of falling, from stumbling or collapsing to failing, being overthrown or dying. “Utterly cast down” is ṭûwl, to pitch over or reel, and so to hurl down or out. The righteous man may fall, and God sets the limit of that fall and keeps him from ruin. The reason is the LORD’s own hand. “Upholdeth” is çâmak, to prop up, to support and sustain with a steady grip, and “hand” is yâd, the open hand that stands for power, direction and care. His security rests on God’s strength, whatever his own.

Moses told Israel that underneath are the everlasting arms (Deuteronomy 33:27), and through Isaiah God tells his people to fear not, for he is with them (Isaiah 41:10). Proverbs says that a just man falls seven times and rises up again (Proverbs 24:16). Paul was confident that God, who began a good work in his people, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6), and that the love of God in Christ holds us against every power in creation (Romans 8:38–39). Jude gives glory to him that is able to keep us from falling (Jude 1:24).

“I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread” (verse 25). Here the psalm becomes David’s own witness. Speaking from old age, he looks back over a lifetime of watching how God deals with people, and he tells only what he has seen. “Forsaken” is ʻâzab, to loosen, to let go, to leave or abandon. The same verb returns in verse 28, “the LORD … forsaketh not his saints”, and in verse 33, “The LORD will not leave him in his hand”, so three times in these verses the psalm says that God holds on to his own.

“Seed” (zeraʻ) means children and descendants, and the BSB reads children. “Begging” is bâqash, to seek, to search out, to ask, so the picture is of children who must go about asking for bread, lechem, bread or food. In Israel that was the lowest point a family could reach, utter want and public shame on the family name. David’s witness is that God’s care reaches the children of the righteous as well as the righteous themselves.

The promise rests on the LORD’s own faithfulness. Samuel tied the LORD’s care for Israel to his great name and to his choice of them as his people (1 Samuel 12:22). The New Testament gives believers the same promise: “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5–6). Jesus told his disciples that their heavenly Father knows what they need and will add it to those who seek his kingdom first (Matthew 6:25–34).

“Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore” (verse 27). Among all these promises stands a command, and it echoes the psalm’s earlier call to “trust in the LORD, and do good” (37:3). “Depart” is çûwr, to turn off or turn aside, to remove or withdraw, a decisive turning away from raʻ, evil in every form. “Do good” joins ʻâsâh, to do or make, with ṭôwb, good in the widest sense: kind, right, pleasant and beneficial. One half of the command turns from sin and the other turns to good works, and a godly life needs both. That double turn is the shape of repentance. Proverbs calls us to fear the LORD and depart from evil (Proverbs 3:7), and Peter gives believers the same command, to turn from evil and do good (1 Peter 3:11).

“Dwell” is shâkan, to settle down, stay or dwell, the verb Scripture also uses for God dwelling among his people. “For evermore” is ʻôwlâm, unending time. The one who turns from evil and does good will settle in his place and stay there.

“For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off” (verse 28). This verse gives the reason beneath all the others. “Loveth” is ʼâhab, the ordinary word for love and affection, and “judgment” is mishpâṭ, a verdict or decree, and so justice and what is right. The LORD has affection for justice itself. It belongs to who he is, so he rules the world with perfect fairness, and in the end what is right will stand. Moses called him the Rock whose work is perfect and all of whose ways are judgment (Deuteronomy 32:4).

Because he loves justice, he keeps faith with his own. “Saints” is châçîyd, from a root meaning to be kind, and it means the godly, the devoted, those bound to the LORD in the loyal love Scripture calls chesed. He keeps that love toward them, and “they are preserved for ever”. “Preserved” is shâmar, to hedge about as with thorns, to guard, to keep watch over. Their keeping outlasts this life, for God holds an imperishable inheritance in heaven for them (1 Peter 1:3–4), and their resurrection is sure. The same love of justice that keeps the saints brings the wicked to their end, and so the verse closes with their children cut off.

“The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment” (verse 30). In Israel words were weighty things, able to bless or to curse, and Proverbs says that death and life are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21). The mouth (peh) and the tongue (lâshôwn) show what is in the heart, as Jesus said that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34). So it fits that the very next verse tells what fills this man’s heart, the law of his God.

“Speaketh” is hâgâh, a verb that can mean to murmur, to ponder or meditate, as well as to speak, so what the righteous man says has been turned over in his mind first. What he speaks is chokmâh, wisdom: skill in living by God’s ways, discernment, and sound counsel, which the LORD himself gives (Proverbs 2:6–7). His tongue “talketh” (dâbar, to speak or declare) of mishpâṭ, the same word as the “judgment” of verse 28. The LORD loves justice, and the righteous man talks of it.

“The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him” (verse 32). The wicked man, râshâʻ, is the ungodly man, morally wrong and set against God’s standards. “Watcheth” is tsâphâh, to lean forward and peer into the distance, to watch closely and keep under observation, and he studies the righteous for a weakness or an opening. “Seeketh” is bâqash, the same verb as “begging” in verse 25, here for a determined hunt, and “slay” is mûwth, to die, which in its causative form means to kill or put to death. Such a threat could come by violence, and also through false accusation, a corrupt court or the abuse of power by the influential. The psalm has already said that the wicked plot against the just (37:12), and Proverbs says that the wicked lose their sleep until they have done mischief (Proverbs 4:16). This hatred of the righteous is as old as Cain, who rose up against his brother Abel and slew him (Genesis 4:8), and Jesus called those blessed who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake (Matthew 5:10–12).

“The LORD will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged” (verse 33). “Leave” is ʻâzab again, the verb of verses 25 and 28. “Hand” is yâd, as in verse 24, and here it stands for the wicked man’s power and custody. The righteous man is held in the LORD’s hand, and the LORD refuses to leave him in the hand of his enemy. “Condemn” is râshaʻ, a legal word meaning to declare guilty, to pronounce wicked. “When he is judged” comes from shaphat, to judge, and pictures the righteous man on trial. In Israel justice was given by the elders at the city gate or by tribal leaders, and false witness, corruption and the power of the strong were real dangers to the weak. Above every human court stands the LORD, and he will see the righteous man acquitted.

The LORD is a refuge and a fortress for those who dwell in his shelter (Psalm 91:1–2), a refuge for the oppressed in times of trouble (Psalm 9:9–10), and Paul asks who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect, since it is God that justifies (Romans 8:33–34). Because the LORD will act, his people can lay down their fretting, as the psalm told them from its start (37:1, 37:7).

Every line of this portrait finds its fullness in “Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1), the Holy One and the Just (Acts 3:14). He went about doing good (Acts 10:38) and was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). He came to fulfil the law (Matthew 5:17), and his steps were ordered by his Father, for he came down from heaven to do the will of him that sent him (John 6:38). The Father spoke his delight in him at his baptism and again at his transfiguration (Matthew 3:17, Matthew 17:5). His mouth spoke wisdom, for he said what the Father gave him to say (John 12:49), and the crowds were astonished at his teaching (Matthew 7:28–29). He is made unto us wisdom and righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30).

He is also the righteous man who shows mercy and gives. He became poor for our sakes, that we through his poverty might be rich (2 Corinthians 8:9), and he gave his life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45), the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), because God so loved the world (John 3:16). We owed a debt beyond our paying, and he blotted out the handwriting that was against us and nailed it to his cross (Colossians 2:13–14). He is the bread of life (John 6:35), and those who belong to him are fed for ever.

The wicked watched him and sought to slay him. Herod sought the young child to destroy him (Matthew 2:13), and the religious leaders sought to kill him (John 5:18, John 7:1). He was given into the hands of wicked men and condemned by a human court. He became obedient unto death (Philippians 2:8) and bore the curse for us (Galatians 3:13), and on the cross he cried, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). He was forsaken so that all who believe in him would be kept. Then God raised him up, having loosed the pains of death (Acts 2:24), and so vindicated the Prince of life (Acts 3:15). On the cross he triumphed over principalities and powers (Colossians 2:15), and those who share the fellowship of his sufferings share his vindication (Philippians 3:10).

Through him the promises of these verses come to us. He is the heir of all things (Hebrews 1:2), and all who belong to Christ are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise (Galatians 3:29). God’s righteousness comes to us through faith in him (Romans 3:21–26), for God made him to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him (2 Corinthians 5:21). Justified by faith, we have peace with God (Romans 5:1). To all who receive him he gives power to become the sons of God (John 1:12), chosen in him before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4), and he lives in them (Galatians 2:20). He sits at the right hand of God and makes intercession for us (Romans 8:34).

These verses show us who God is. He loves justice, he delights in the way of the one who walks with him, and he holds on to his own. He orders their steps, holds them up when they fall, provides for their children, keeps them out of the power of those who hate them, and keeps for them an inheritance that lasts for ever. He gives them his law to carry in their hearts, wisdom for their mouths and an open hand toward those in need, so that they come to resemble him.

The psalm also gives us an old man’s word to stand on. David watched God at work for a lifetime and could say, “yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken”. The wicked prosper for a while, watch the righteous and lay their plans, and the LORD sees all of it and has already said how it ends. So the righteous can go on giving, speaking the truth and doing good without fretting, because the land is theirs by promise. On the day you fall, verse 24 still stands: “the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.”