Psalm 37

We live east of Eden.

Every headline reminds us. Nations rage. Scandals surface. Corruption hides in plain sight.

From the ayatollahs in Iran to the disgrace surrounding Jeffrey Epstein, to the steady drumbeat of political corruption in our own land — it can feel as if the wicked are not only surviving, but thriving.

It feels normal. It feels permanent.

But it is not new.

Augustine wrote in The City of God:

“Two cities have been formed by two loves: the earthly by the love of self, even to the contempt of God; the heavenly by the love of God, even to the contempt of self.”

Two loves. Two cities.

Psalm 37 lives in that tension.

Context

A psalm of David.

Not a lament. Not a complaint.

It reads like settled wisdom — almost like Proverbs in poetic form.

David writes, “I have been young, and now am old…” (v.25)

He has watched power rise and fall.

Saul hunted him. Foreign nations threatened Israel. Violence was common. The arrogant advanced.

The same question pressed on him that presses on us.

Text

Psalm 37

Main Idea

The prosperity of the wicked is temporary. The inheritance of the righteous is secure.

Therefore, do not fret.

The Question

Why do the wicked prosper?

Why do corrupt rulers remain? Why does injustice appear to win?

Psalm 37 does not fully explain why they prosper. Instead, it reframes what prosperity truly is.

1) Their Prosperity Is Temporary

(vv.1–2, 10, 35–36)

“Do not fret because of evildoers… For they will soon fade like the grass.”

“Yet a little while and the wicked will be no more.”

David says he saw a wicked man spreading like a flourishing tree — and then he was gone.

Grass looks strong in spring. By summer heat, it is gone.

What seems permanent rarely is.

2) Their End Is Certain

(vv.12–15, 20, 38)

“The Lord laughs, for He sees that his day is coming.”

“The wicked will perish… like smoke they vanish away.”

God is not threatened. He is not scrambling.

Judgment delayed is not judgment denied.

3) Their Definition of Prosperity Is Too Small

(vv.16–19, 22, 29)

“Better is the little of the righteous than the abundance of many wicked.”

“The Lord knows the days of the blameless, and their inheritance will be forever.”

“The righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever.”

We measure prosperity by power. Influence. Wealth. Freedom from consequences.

David measures it by inheritance.

Security under God. Peace that endures. A future that death cannot touch.

Our vision is often trapped in the present moment. David stretches it into eternity.

4) The Righteous Are Called to a Different Posture

(vv.3–8, 34)

“Trust in the Lord and do good.” “Delight yourself in the Lord.” “Commit your way to the Lord.” “Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him.” “Cease from anger and forsake wrath.” “Wait for the Lord and keep His way.”

The first battlefield is internal.

Fretting reshapes the heart. Envy corrodes confidence. Anger distorts obedience.

Faith steadies the soul.

5) The Cross Is the Ultimate Answer to Sin and Suffering

Psalm 37 reaches its clearest fulfillment in Christ.

On Palm Sunday, Jesus entered Jerusalem to shouts of praise. It looked like public victory.

Days later, He faced the cross.

Religious leaders plotted. Political power protected itself. A righteous man was executed.

If there were ever a moment when the wicked seemed to prosper — it was there.

Yet at the cross, evil did not win.

What looked like defeat became redemption. What appeared to be injustice became the means of salvation. The resurrection declared what Psalm 37 promises:

The wicked do not have the final word. The righteous are not abandoned. The inheritance is secure.

The cross does not answer every question about why evil rises. It answers what God does about it.

Sin is judged. Death is defeated. Hope is secured.

Closing Response

Where are you tempted to fret? What headline unsettles you?

What injustice consumes your thoughts?

Psalm 37 does not deny evil. It reorders our confidence.

Trust in the Lord. Do good. Wait patiently.

The earthly city boasts loudly. The heavenly city endures quietly.

And the final word belongs to God.