Psalms 37:7 - Meaning and Application

In these verses, the writer presses the same duties again, because we are so quick to upset ourselves with useless worry and distrust. We need repeated reminders, line by line, to calm those restless feelings and guard against them.

First, we are told to calm ourselves by trusting God: “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him” (Psalm 37:7). That means we should be content with all he does and accept it, because what he appoints is best. It also means we should trust that he will make everything work for our good, even when we cannot see how.

The sense of the verse is also, “Be silent before the Lord,” but this is not a stubborn silence. It is a humble, submissive quiet. Patiently bearing what God places on us, and patiently waiting for what he still has planned, is both our duty and our blessing, because it keeps life steadier and calmer.

We are also warned not to lose our peace because of what we see in this world. “Fret not thyself because of him who prospers in his wicked way” (Psalm 37:8) means we should not be troubled when a bad person grows rich or powerful. It also means we should not be upset when a wicked person uses that power to carry out evil against the good and seems to get away with it.

If our hearts begin to rise in anger, we should check that foolishness and “cease from anger” (Psalm 37:8). We must not let dislike of God’s ways take root in us. We should not envy wicked people’s success, because that can tempt us to follow their path, or to use desperate means to escape their control.

A fretful, discontented spirit leaves a person open to many temptations. Those who nurse that spirit are in danger of doing wrong.

Good people have no reason to envy the outward success of the wicked, because that success will soon end. “Evil-doers shall be cut off” (Psalm 37:9) by a sudden act of God’s justice, even in the middle of their prosperity. What they gained by sin will not stay with them, and they themselves will not keep it either.

Their ruin is certain, and it is near. “Yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be” (Psalm 37:10). They may seem strong now, but they will be gone in a moment. Their downfall will be complete, leaving nothing behind of their former greatness.

So we should be patient. “The Judge is standing at the door” (James 5:8-9), and “the Lord is near” (Philippians 4:5). When God brings judgment, the wicked will be fully destroyed. Their place may be searched for, but it will not be found, and nothing lasting or honorable will remain.

“The wicked shall perish” (Psalm 37:20). Their death is their ruin, because it ends all their joy and opens the way to endless misery. Blessed are those who die in the Lord, but lost forever are those who die in their sins. The wicked make themselves God’s enemies when they refuse his rule, and he will deal with them as enemies.

They will vanish like the fat of lambs, consumed into smoke. Their prosperity feeds their fleshly desires, but it is thin and empty, not solid or lasting. When judgment comes, they will be like a sacrifice consumed on the altar. God will be honored in their downfall, just as he was honored in the sacrifices offered to him.

This is another reason not to envy their prosperity. While they are being fed and fattened, they are only being prepared for the day of sacrifice, like a lamb in a large pasture (Hosea 4:16). The more they prosper, the more God will be glorified when he brings them down.

There is also no reason to envy them because the condition of the righteous is better, even in this life. In general, “a little that a righteous man has” is better than the wealth of many wicked. God often gives his good servants little of this world’s goods, while giving the wicked much of them. In this way he shows that earthly things are not the best things, because if they were, his dearest people would have the most of them.

A godly person’s small portion is better than a wicked person’s large estate. It comes from a better hand, God’s hand of special love, not just his common care. It is also held by a better title, because God gives it by promise (Galatians 3:18). It belongs to them because they are joined to Christ, the heir of all things. And it is used better, because God blesses and sets it apart for them. “To the pure, all things are pure” (Titus 1:15). A little that is used to honor God is better than much that is set aside for false worship or sinful desires.

God’s promises make the righteous secure, so they do not need to envy the prosperity of evil-doers. They shall “inherit the earth,” as much of it as God’s wisdom sees fit for them, and they have “the promise of life now present” (1 Timothy 4:8). If the whole earth were needed to make them happy, they would receive it. All things are theirs, even the world and the things of this life, as well as what is still to come (1 Corinthians 3:21-22). They hold it by inheritance, which is a safe and honored title. And when evil-doers are removed, the righteous often come into what the wicked gathered. “The wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just” (Job 27:17; Proverbs 13:22).

To those who live by faith, who wait on the Lord as people depending on him, hoping for help from him, and pleading with him, will inherit the earth (Psalm 37:9). This is a sign of God’s present favor, and a promise of better things in the life to come. God is a good Master. He gives generously and well, not only to his working servants, but also to those who wait on him.

To those who live quietly and peacefully, the meek will inherit the earth (Psalm 37:11). They are in less danger of being harmed or disturbed in what they have. They also have more peace within themselves, so they enjoy their daily blessings more fully. Jesus turned this into a gospel promise when he blessed the meek (Matthew 5:5).

They will also delight themselves in an abundance of peace (Psalm 37:11). They may not have much wealth to enjoy, but they have something better, an abundance of peace. That means inward calm, peace with God, and then peace in God. It is the great peace enjoyed by those who love God’s law, and nothing causes them to stumble (Psalm 119:165). It is the abundance of peace found in Christ’s kingdom (Psalm 72:7), the peace the world cannot give (John 14:27), and the peace the wicked cannot have (Isaiah 57:21). They will find delight in this peace, and it will be like a continual feast. Those with much wealth often only burden and trouble themselves with it, and get little joy from it.

God knows their days (Psalm 37:18). He notices them closely, everything they do, and everything that happens to them. He keeps count of the days of their service, and not one day’s work will go unrewarded. He also keeps count of the days of their suffering, so they may receive a reward for those as well. He knows their bright days and delights in their prosperity. He also knows their dark and cloudy days, the days of their trouble, and he gives strength for each day as needed.

Their inheritance will last forever, not the land they hold now, but that lasting, unshakable inheritance stored up for them in heaven. Those who are sure of an eternal inheritance in the next world have no reason to envy the wicked their short-lived possessions and pleasures in this world.

Even in the worst times, it will go well with them (Psalm 37:19). They will not be ashamed of their hope in God, or of the faith they have openly confessed. That comfort will support them in evil times. When others are discouraged, they will lift up their heads with joy and confidence. Even in famine, when others are starving around them, they will be satisfied, as Elijah was. In one way or another, God will give them what they need, or he will give them contented hearts without it. So if they are pressed down and hungry, they will not fret or curse their king and their God like the wicked do (Isaiah 8:21). Instead, they will rejoice in God, the God who saves them, even when the fig tree does not blossom (Habakkuk 3:17, 3:18).

God’s people have no reason to fret because the wicked sometimes succeed in their plans against the righteous. Even if some of their evil schemes work, and that makes us fear they may succeed in everything, we should stop being angry and not give up the cause. Their plots will become their shame (Psalm 37:12, 37:13). The wicked really do plot against the just. There is a deep hatred in the seed of the wicked one against the righteous seed. Their aim is to destroy their righteousness if they can, or, if that fails, to destroy them. They work with cunning and careful planning, and with fierce rage too. They gnash their teeth against the righteous, eager to destroy them if they had the power, and angry because they do not. Yet all this only makes them look foolish. The Lord will laugh at them (Psalm 2:4, 2:5). Though they are proud and insulting, God will cover them with contempt. He is not only displeased with them, he despises them and all their efforts as powerless and useless.

God sees that his day is coming, the day when he will settle accounts and show his righteousness clearly. Men have their day now. “This is your hour” (Luke 22:53). But God will soon have his day, a day of repayment that will set everything right and make what now seems glorious look ridiculous. It is a small thing to be judged by human judgment (1 Corinthians 4:3). God’s day will bring the final verdict. It is also the day of their ruin, the day set for the wicked man’s fall. That day is coming, though not yet. The fact that it is delayed does not mean it will not come. Knowing that such a day is coming will help the daughter of Zion, the people of God, despise the rage of their enemies and laugh them to scorn (Isaiah 37:22).

Their attempts will also become their destruction (Psalm 37:14, 37:15). See how cruel their plans against good people are. They prepare weapons of death, sword and bow alike, and nothing less will satisfy them. They hunt for precious lives. Their purpose is to cast down and kill. They thirst for the blood of the saints. They press their plans far ahead, and they seem close to carrying them out. They have drawn the sword and bent the bow, and all these weapons are aimed at the helpless, the poor, and the needy. That shows how cowardly they are. They are also aimed at the guiltless, those who live upright lives and have done them no wrong, which shows how wicked they are. Uprightness itself will not protect against their malice.

But their malice will turn back on themselves. Their sword will enter their own heart. That means the righteous will be kept safe from their harm, and the wicked will fill up the measure of their own sin by what they do. Sometimes the very thing they planned against harmless neighbors becomes their own ruin. In any case, God’s sword, brought out by their provocation, will give them their death blow.

Those who are not cut off right away will still be disabled from doing more harm, so the church’s safety will be secured. Their bows will be broken (Psalm 37:15). Their tools of cruelty will fail, and they will lose those they used as tools for their bloody purposes. Their arms will be broken too, so they will not be able to carry out their plans (Psalm 37:17).

But the Lord holds up the righteous, so they do not sink under the weight of their troubles or are crushed by the violence of their enemies. He supports them both in their integrity and in their prosperity. Those who are held up by the Rock of Ages have no reason to envy the wicked, whose support is only like broken reeds.