Psalms 37:21 - Meaning and Application

These verses say much the same thing as the ones before them in this psalm, and the subject is worth dwelling on. They show, first, what God asks of us as the path to happiness, and then what he promises to those who walk that path.

If we want God’s blessing, we must be careful to give everyone what is due. The wicked person borrows and does not pay back (Psalm 37:21). It is not only shameful, but sinful, to refuse to repay what we owe. Some understand this verse as showing, not only the wickedness of such people, but also the misery God brings on them, since they are driven to borrow and then cannot pay.

We must also be ready for acts of kindness and generosity. God’s goodness to the righteous often shows itself in this, that he puts them in a position to help others. A righteous person also has a heart that matches his means, so he shows mercy and gives (Psalm 37:21). He is merciful every day, and he lends as well as gives. Sometimes lending is as true a form of charity as giving, when it comes from a merciful heart.

We must turn away from sin and practice real godliness. “Turn from evil and do good” is the rule (Psalm 37:27). We should stop doing wrong and learn to hate it, then learn to do what is right and hold to it. That is true religion.

We must also use our speech well, praising God and helping other people. A righteous person’s mouth speaks wisdom (Psalm 37:30). He does not just speak carefully, but speaks words that give instruction, like Solomon. He does not waste his talk on things that are empty or off the point. Instead, he speaks about judgment, that is, God’s word, his providence, and the wise rules for living.

We must bring our will under God’s will and God’s word. “The law of his God is in his heart” (Psalm 37:31). It is pointless to call God our God if we do not receive his law into our hearts and submit to it. It is a poor kind of hypocrisy to talk wisely and speak of judgment, unless the law is really within us. God’s law must rule the heart, shape our thinking, and guide our lives. Then our steps will not slide.

On these conditions, God promises his blessing and comfort. Those who are blessed by God will inherit the earth, or the land, meaning the land of Canaan, which was the glory of all lands (Psalm 37:22). Our earthly comforts are truly sweet when we see them coming from God’s blessing. Then we can trust that we will not lack anything good for us in this world. But those who are cursed by God will be cut off and rooted out, and that sharp difference will make his blessing on the righteous stand out all the more.

God will also direct our steps and order our affairs in the way that best serves his glory (Psalm 37:23). By his grace and Holy Spirit, he guides the thoughts, feelings, and plans of good people. By his providence, he overrules events that concern them and makes their way clear, both in what they should do and what they may expect. He orders the steps of a good person, not only the broad path but the small steps too, often through the quiet prompting of conscience. He does not always show the whole road at once, but leads step by step, so his people keep depending on him.

God does this because he delights in the righteous person’s way, and because he wants that person to delight in it too. The Lord knows the way of the righteous with favor (Psalm 1:6), and therefore he guides it. Since God orders that path according to his own will, the believer also finds joy in it. God loves his own image in his people, and he is pleased with what they do under his direction.

God will also keep his people from being ruined by their falls, whether into sin or into trouble (Psalm 37:24). A good person may be caught in some fault, but God’s grace will bring him back to repentance, so he is not destroyed. He may lose, for a time, the joy of God’s salvation, but that joy will be restored. God upholds him with his hand and with his free Spirit. The root stays alive even if the leaf withers, and spring comes after winter. A good person may also be in deep distress, with troubled affairs and a crushed spirit, yet he will not be utterly cast down. God will be the strength of his heart when body and heart fail, and his comfort will keep him standing.

God also promises that we will not lack the basic support of this life (Psalm 37:25). David says, “I was young, and now I am old, and through all the changes I have seen in people’s outward lives, I have never seen the righteous abandoned by God or by people. I have not seen their children forced to beg for bread.” David himself once had to ask for bread from Abimelech the priest, but that was when Saul was chasing him. Jesus taught us to set aside cases of suffering for righteousness’ sake from these ordinary promises about earthly provision (Mark 10:30), because such suffering has its own special honor and comfort. Paul counts that kind of suffering as a gift rather than a loss or harm (Philippians 1:29).

Still, there are very few examples of godly people, or their families, being driven into the kind of deep poverty that many wicked people bring on themselves through sin. David says he had not seen the righteous abandoned, nor their children begging for bread. Some explain “forsaken” to mean this, if they do fall into need, God will raise up friends to help them, so they do not have to expose themselves to the shame of common beggars. Or if they do go from door to door for food, they will not do it in despair, like the wicked man who wanders around looking for bread and asking where it is (Job 15:23).

They will not be turned away like the prodigal son, who wanted to fill himself with the husks, but no one gave him anything (Luke 15:16). They will also not complain bitterly if they are not fully satisfied, like David’s enemies, who wandered around for food and grumbled (Psalm 59:15). Some understand this promise to speak especially about those who are generous and willing to give to the poor, meaning David had never seen anyone ruin themselves by kindness. It is holding back more than is right that leads to poverty (Proverbs 11:24).

God will also not desert us, but will kindly protect us in our troubles and hard places (Psalm 37:28). “The Lord loves justice,” meaning he delights in doing right and in those who do right. So he does not abandon his people in suffering when others grow distant from them. Instead, he sees to it that they are preserved forever, meaning that God keeps his people through every age, protects each saint through present trials, and brings them at last to the happiness that lasts forever. He will keep them for his heavenly kingdom, and that is true preservation forever (2 Timothy 4:18; Psalm 12:7).

We are also promised a settled home, first in this world as far as God allows, and then in a better world when we leave here. We shall dwell forevermore (Psalm 37:27), and we will not be cut off like the children of the wicked (Psalm 37:28). Those who make God their rest are not tossed about without a home in him. On this earth, there is no home that lasts forever, no city that stays. Only in heaven, that city with foundations, will the righteous dwell forever, and that will be their lasting home.

We are also promised that we will not become prey for our enemies, who try to ruin us (Psalm 37:32, 33). There is an enemy who takes every chance to harm us, a wicked one who watches the righteous like a lion watching its prey and seeks to kill them. This fits wicked people too. They are often clever, watching for an opening so they can hurt the righteous in a way that seems justified, and they are cruel, because they seek to kill. But it fits the devil especially, that old serpent with his tricks to trap the righteous, his schemes we should not be ignorant of, that great red dragon who seeks to kill, and that roaring lion who keeps circling, restless and raging, looking for someone to devour.

Yet the promise is that he will not succeed, whether Satan or those he uses. As a field enemy, the Lord will not leave the righteous in his hand. God will not let Satan do everything he wants, and he will not take away his strength and grace from his people. Instead, he will enable them to resist and overcome, and their faith will not fail (Luke 22:31, 32). A good person may fall into the hands of a messenger of Satan and be badly troubled, but God will not leave that person in Satan’s hands (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Nor will Satan succeed as a courtroom enemy. God will not condemn the righteous when they are judged, even if the accuser of the brothers keeps accusing them before God day and night. His false charges will be thrown out, as Satan’s charges against Joshua were rejected (Zechariah 3:1, 2). The answer is, “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan.” God is the one who justifies, that is, who declares sinners right with him, and then who can bring any charge against God’s chosen ones?