Psalm 37 Overview
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Psalm 37
Welcome to the Overview of Psalm 37
This page will introduce and provide orientation to Psalm 37 as a whole. It includes the following sections:
Introduction to Psalm 37
Author
- Anonymous
Book
- Book 1 of the Psalter (Chapters 1–41)
Psalm 37: A Brief Summary
- Psalm 37 is a response to a person struggling to trust in YHWH when the wicked are prospering. The psalm's reply to such an individual is that any prosperity of the wicked is fleeting. In Israel, flowers that were found where cattle graze referred to grass that would wither after only a short time. In the same way, the wicked will soon wither. Moreover, the psalm's advice to the righteous is not only to trust YHWH and not be upset by the success of the wicked, but also to do good. The purpose of the psalm, therefore, is to encourage the righteous and direct them towards a trust shown by tangible and visible actions.
"They will soon wither" This title is a memorable phrase that helps remember the unique character and content of this psalm.
- The phrase “They will soon wither” captures the confidence of this psalm: David has encountered many wicked people in his lifetime, and his experience is unanimous: as surely as the flowers, also called the grass, will soon wither, so, too, the wicked will not last.
Purpose The Purpose was the psalmist's probable intent or reason for writing this psalm.
- To encourage the righteous not to be upset by the success of the wicked, but to trust in YHWH and do good.
Content The Content is a concise summary of the whole psalm's content.
- The wicked will be destroyed, and the righteous will possess the land. Therefore, don't get upset about the wicked! Trust in YHWH and do good!
Message The Message is the main idea the psalmist probably wanted the audience to remember upon or after hearing the psalm.
- The wicked will not last for long. It is the righteous who will possess the land.
Psalm 37 At-a-Glance
These sections divide the content of the psalm into digestible pieces, and are determined based on information from many of our layers, including Semantics, Poetics, and Discourse. The columns, left to right, contain: the verse numbers; the main title of the section; a brief summary of the content of that section (quote marks indicate the text is taken directly from the English text of the psalm (as per our Close-but-Clear translation); and an icon to visually represent and remember the content.
| v. 1 By David. Do not get upset about those who act wickedly; Do not be jealous of those who do wrong. | Superscription | ||||
| v. 2 For they will soon wither like grass, and they will fade like green leaves on plants. | א | Getting Upset vs. Trusting | Do not get upset about the wicked! For they will soon wither like grass. Trust in YHWH and do good, and you will enjoy the land forever. The humble will possess the land. |
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confident calm hopeful |
| v. 3 Trust in YHWH and do good! Reside in the land and graze securely! | |||||
| v. 4 And then you will delight yourself in YHWH, and he will give you your heart's desires. | ב | ||||
| v. 5 Commit your way to YHWH, and trust in him, and he will act, | |||||
| v. 6 and he will make your righteousness known like the light, and [he will make] your justice [known] like midday. | ג | ||||
| v. 7 Be silent before YHWH and wait for him! Do not get upset about someone who makes his way successful, at a person carrying out schemes. | |||||
| v. 8 Let go of anger and leave wrath behind! Do not get upset only to act wickedly! | ד | ||||
| v. 9 For those who act wickedly will be destroyed; but those who hope in YHWH—they will possess the land. | ה | ||||
| v. 10 And just a little bit longer, and the wicked person will be gone; And you will look closely at the place where he was, and he will not be there. | |||||
| v. 11 But the humble will possess the land and delight themselves in great prosperity. | ו | ||||
| v. 12 The wicked person is plotting against the righteous person and grinding his teeth at him. | ז | The Wicked Fade | Now, the wicked are plotting destruction, but their time will come. The wicked are finished… finished. |
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| v. 13 The Lord laughs at him, because he sees that his time will come. | |||||
| v. 14 The wicked have drawn swords and strung their bows in order to bring down the one who is afflicted and poor, in order to slaughter those whose conduct is upright. | ח | ||||
| v. 15 Their swords will go into their hearts, and their bows will be broken. | |||||
| v. 16 A little belonging to the righteous person is better than the abundance of many wicked people. | ט | The righteous and their inheritance will last. The wicked will perish like wild flowers. |
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| v. 17 For the arms of the wicked will be broken, but YHWH is upholding the righteous. | |||||
| v. 18 YHWH knows the days of the blameless, and their inheritance will be forever. | י | ||||
| v. 19 They will not come to shame during hard times, and they will eat their fill during times of famine. | |||||
| v. 20 For the wicked will perish, and YHWH's enemies [will perish] like flowers in a pasture. They are finished like smoke! They are finished! | כ | ||||
| v. 21 The wicked person is borrowing and will not repay, but the righteous person is giving generously. | ל | The Righteous Last | YHWH blesses the righteous, who are generous with what they have. |
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| v. 22 For those blessed by him will possess the land, and those cursed by him will be destroyed. | |||||
| v. 23 When a person's steps are made steadfast by YHWH, then he will be pleased with his way. | מ | ||||
| v. 24 When he falls, he will not fall flat. because YHWH is supporting his hand. | |||||
| v. 25 I was once a young man; and now I am old, and I have not seen a righteous person abandoned or his children looking for food. | נ | ||||
| v. 26 He is always lending generously, and his children will become a blessing. | |||||
| v. 27 Turn away from evil and do good, and you will reside forever! | ס | Evildoers are destroyed! Those who follow YHWH’s instruction will reside in the land forever. |
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| v. 28a* For YHWH loves justice, and he will not abandon those who are loyal to him. | |||||
| v. 30* A righteous person's mouth utters what is wise, and his tongue speaks what is just. | פ | ||||
| v. 31* The instruction of his God is in his heart. His steps will not slip. | |||||
| v. 28b* Wrong-doers are exterminated, and the children of the wicked are destroyed! | ע | ||||
| v. 29* The righteous will possess the land and reside on it forever. | |||||
| v. 32 The wicked person is watching for the righteous person and trying to kill him. | צ | Watching and Waiting | You will see the wicked destroyed. Look closely at the upright, for their future is peace. YHWH rescues… rescues the righteous. |
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| v. 33 YHWH will not abandon him into his hand, and he will not let him be condemned as guilty when he enters into judgment. | |||||
| v. 34 Hope in YHWH and keep his way, and he will exalt you to possess the land. You will see when the wicked are destroyed. | ק | ||||
| v. 35 I once saw a ruthless wicked person, and he was ascending like a native tree. | ר | ||||
| v. 36 Then I passed by, and—get this!—he was gone; then I looked for him, and he was not found. | |||||
| v. 37 Pay attention to the blameless one and look at the upright one, because the future of a [blameless] person is peace. | ש | ||||
| v. 38 But those who rebel are completely exterminated! The future of the wicked is destroyed! | |||||
| v. 39 But the salvation of the righteous comes from YHWH, their fortress during times of trouble, | ת | ||||
| v. 40 and YHWH helps them and rescues them. He will rescue them from the wicked and save them, because they have sought refuge in him. | |||||
Background Orientation for Psalm 37
Following are the common-ground assumptionsCommon-ground assumptions include information shared by the speaker and hearers. In our analysis, we mainly use this category for Biblical/Ancient Near Eastern background. which are the most helpful for making sense of the psalm.
- YHWH is the judge of all the earth who rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked (see Gen 18:25).
- The success of the wicked poses a perennial challenge to the idea of YHWH's justice (see Jer 12:1; Mal 3:14-15; Ps 73; Job 20-21; cf. The Babylonian Theodicy VII, XXIII in COS 1.154).
- YHWH promised to give the land of Canaan to Abraham and his descendants (see Gen 12:7; 15:7, 18-21), and in the conquest of Canaan under Joshua, YHWH fulfilled his promise (see Josh 21:43-45; Jdg 2:6; 1 Kgs 8:56). But Israel's continued possession of the land depended on their faithfulness to the covenant (see Lev 26; Deut 28; cf. Ezra 9:10-12; 1 Chron 28:8) (cf. Martin 2013).
- In the end, "all of [YHWH's] people will be righteous, and they [i.e., the righteous] will possess the land forever" (Isa 60:21; cf. Isa 57:13; 65:9; Jer 30:3; Gen 13:15; 17:8; 48:4; Exod 32:13; Josh 14:9).
Background Situation for Psalm 37
The background situation is the series of events leading up to the time in which the psalm is spoken. These are taken from the story triangle – whatever lies to the left of the star icon.
Participants in Psalm 37
There are # participants/characters in Psalm 37:
Profile List
| David/Psalmist |
| Concerned individual |
| YHWH |
| "the Lord" (v. 13) |
| "the righteous person's God" (v. 31) |
| "the fortress of the righteous" (v. 39) |
| Wicked |
| "those who act wickedly" (vv. 1, 9) |
| "those who do wrong" (v. 1) |
| "someone who makes his way successful" (v. 7) |
| "a person carrying out schemes" (v. 7) |
| "the wicked (person)" [singular] (vv. 10, 12, 21, 32, 35) |
| "the wicked" [plural] (vv. 14, 16-17, 20, 28B, 34, 38, 40) |
| "YHWH's enemies" (v. 20) |
| "those cursed by YHWH" (v. 22) |
| "wrong-doers" (v. 28B) |
| "those who rebel" (v. 38) |
| Children of the wicked (v. 28b) |
| Righteous people |
| "those who hope in YHWH" (v. 9) |
| "the humble" (v. 11) |
| "the righteous (person)" [singular] (vv. 12, 16, 21, 25, 30, 32) |
| "the righteous" [plural] (vv. 17, 29, 39) |
| "one who is afflicted and poor" (v. 14) |
| "those whose conduct is upright" (v. 14) |
| "the blameless" (v. 18) |
| "those blessed by YHWH" (v. 22) |
| "person" in whose way YHWH delights (v. 23) |
| "YHWH's loyal ones" (v. 28a) |
| "blameless one" (v. 37) |
| "upright one" (v. 37) |
| Children of the righteous (vv. 25-26) |
Profile Notes
- The psalmist, identified in the superscription as "David" (v. 1), speaks throughout this psalm. At two points in the psalm he speaks in the first person and gives personal anecdotes (vv. 25, 35-36). The speaker is, apparently, an old man (v. 25) who has "seen it all" (note the verb רָאִיתִי in vv. 25, 35) and gives wisdom based on his experience.
- The concerned individual to whom the many second person singular forms refer (vv. 1-10, 27, 34, 37) is never explicitly described in the psalm. Nevertheless, based on the instruction given to him we can infer that this (idealized, hypothetical) addressee is a relatively young person (without the same lived experience as the speaker) who is deeply troubled by the apparent success of the wicked (see esp. vv. 1, 7-8, 10). We might imagine someone with the same attitude as that which Malachi describes: "You have said, 'It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts? And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape'" (Mal 3:14-15, ESV; cf. Ps 73).
- The righteous, according to Ps 37, are those who put their hope in YHWH (v. 9), i.e., who have sought shelter in him (v. 40). They have internalized YHWH's instruction (cf. v. 31), and so they live in a way that is blameless (v. 18) and upright (v. 14). Because living according to YHWH's instruction means being generous (cf. vv. 21, 26) and not joining the wicked in their quest for unjust gain, the righteous often become, in material terms, "afflicted and poor" (v. 14; cf. Ruiz 2009, 182-186). Even so, YHWH provides for them so that they always have enough (cf. v. 19).
- Also in view, at least peripherally, are the children of the righteous (vv. 25-26) and the children of the wicked (v. 28B, cf. v. 38b). Long life in the land implies descendants. For the righteous to possess the land and reside on it "forever" (v. 29, cf. v. 27), therefore, implies that they will have children and that their children will possess the land. Similarly, the utter destruction of the wicked and their removal from the land implies the cessation of their family line.