Of David.
ALEPH
Do not be provoked by evildoers;
do not envy those who do wrong.
Like grass they wither quickly;
like green plants they wilt away.
BETH
Trust in the Lord and do good
that you may dwell in the land and live secure.
Find your delight in the Lord
who will give you your heart’s desire.
GIMEL
Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him and he will act
And make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
your justice like noonday.
DALETH
Be still before the Lord;
wait for him.
Do not be provoked by the prosperous,
nor by malicious schemers.
HE
Refrain from anger; abandon wrath;
do not be provoked; it brings only harm.
Those who do evil will be cut off.
but those who wait for the Lord will inherit the earth.
WAW
Wait a little, and the wicked will be no more;
look for them and they will not be there.
But the poor will inherit the earth,
will delight in great prosperity.
ZAYIN
The wicked plot against the righteous
and gnash their teeth at them;
But my Lord laughs at them,
because he sees that their day is coming.
HETH
The wicked unsheath their swords;
they string their bows
To fell the poor and oppressed,
to slaughter those whose way is upright.
Their swords will pierce their own hearts;
their bows will be broken.
TETH
Better the meagerness of the righteous one
than the plenty of the wicked.
The arms of the wicked will be broken
while the Lord will sustain the righteous.
YODH
The Lord knows the days of the blameless;
their heritage lasts forever.
They will not be ashamed when times are bad;
in days of famine they will be satisfied.
KAPH
The wicked perish,
enemies of the Lord;
They shall be consumed like fattened lambs;
like smoke they disappear.
LAMEDH
The wicked one borrows but does not repay;
the righteous one is generous and gives.
For those blessed by the Lord will inherit the earth,
but those accursed will be cut off.
MEM
The valiant one whose steps are guided by the Lord,
who will delight in his way,
May stumble, but he will never fall,
for the Lord holds his hand.
NUN
Neither in my youth, nor now in old age
have I seen the righteous one abandoned
or his offspring begging for bread.
All day long he is gracious and lends,
and his offspring become a blessing.
SAMEKH
Turn from evil and do good,
that you may be settled forever.
For the Lord loves justice
and does not abandon the faithful.
AYIN
When the unjust are destroyed,
and the offspring of the wicked cut off,
The righteous will inherit the earth
and dwell in it forever.
PE
The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom;
his tongue speaks what is right.
God’s teaching is in his heart;
his steps do not falter.
SADHE
The wicked spies on the righteous
and seeks to kill him.
But the Lord does not abandon him in his power,
nor let him be condemned when tried.
GOPH
Wait eagerly for the Lord,
and keep his way;
He will raise you up to inherit the earth;
you will see when the wicked are cut off.
RESH
I have seen a ruthless scoundrel,
spreading out like a green cedar.
When I passed by again, he was gone;
though I searched, he could not be found.
SHIN
Observe the person of integrity and mark the upright;
Because there is a future for a man of peace.
Sinners will be destroyed together;
the future of the wicked will be cut off.
TAW
The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord,
their refuge in a time of distress.
The Lord helps and rescues them,
rescues and saves them from the wicked,
because they take refuge in him.
Psalms 37:1-40
First let’s get the obvious part out of the way. It seems odd that there are little one-word titles for each set of two verses in this psalm. This is again something that gets lost in translation. In Hebrew, these words make this psalm an acrostic poem, each word starts with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet, well until they are translated into whatever we see.
I actually saw other versions of this psalm that didn’t include those words, but I copied it exactly from the source that I use for all my Bible quotes. So anyway, that’s all those are. Since I’m not an expert in the Hebrew language, I’m not going to try to make sense of them. I’ll just focus on the rest of the message.
Speaking of the rest of the message, I think I can summarize it in two words: “Be patient.” This entire psalm seems to be offering encouragement to those who might be getting frustrated about perceived injustices in the world around them. The psalmist repeatedly assures us that the wicked will be punished and the righteous will be rewarded.
I know that is difficult to believe sometimes. It can be difficult to keep our faith through tragedies and hardships. Certainly, we can never fully understand God’s plan, and there are times that it just doesn’t make sense to our limited human sensibilities.
While reading this psalm all at once, it seems to get a bit repetitive. After all, the word “wicked” occurs 16 times; the words “right,” “upright,” “righteous,” or “righteousness” occur 13 times; “justice,” “just,” or “unjust” 6 times; “wait” 4 times. Maybe it would be more useful to read one section a day. It would make a nice 22-day calendar, and maybe meditating on patience of faith for 22 days would be helpful.
The message is valuable for all of us. We need to remind ourselves of this kind of faith. I find particular comfort in verse 37, which says, “Observe the person of integrity and mark the upright; Because there is a future for a man of peace.” Let’s all strive to build that future for ourselves, our families, our communities, and our world. Even if it is difficult to avoid the conflicts all around us, our future rests in our ability to rise above it.
Amen! Pray for peace!
Amen.