Psalm 37 Part 2

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Introduction

We will continue comparing the righteous and the evil doers. And we will still focus on inheriting the land.

The righteous part 4 Vs. 21b-28a

But the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth.

22  For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth;

And they that be cursed of him shall be cut off.

The righteous , not only has enough for himself, but is able to help others in need. This is in contrast to the evil doer who borrow and never repay. The evil doer never has enough, the righteous is content.
Notice the two outcomes: the evil doer will be cursed and cut off or destroyed or consumed. The righteous shall inherit the earth or land.
People may strive for righteousness, but it is only achieved by accepting Christ as your savior. Whit Christ one inherits the land, without Christ one is destroyed. It’s a theme present throughout the Bible.

23  The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD:

And he delighteth in his way.

24  Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down:

For the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.

The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD. Some have substituted the word established. But the word translated ordered means to stand erect; to set up; to found; to adjust, fit, direct. The idea here is, that all that pertains to the journey of a good man through life is directed, ordered, fitted, or arranged by the Lord. That is, his course of life is under the Divine guidance and control. The word good has been supplied here by our translators, and there is nothing corresponding to it in the original. It is simply there, “the steps of man are ordered.”
And the righteous delighteth in his way. The general idea is that the righteous is the object of the Divine favour, and is under the care of God.
Though he fall: The word here does not refer to his falling into sin, but into misfortune, disappointment, reverses, calamities. The image is that of a man who is walking along on a journey, but who stumbles, or falls to the earth—a representation of one who is not always successful, but who finds disappointment spring up in his path. He shall be brought on his knees, but not on his face; or, if laid prone for a moment he shall be up again. No saint shall fall finally or fatally. Sorrow may bring us to the earth, and death may bring us to the grave, but lower we cannot sink, and out of the lowest of all we shall arise to the highest of all. Because For the Lord upholdeth him with his hand. It is by no power of his own that he is recovered, but it is because, even when he falls, he is held up by an invisible hand.

25  I have been young, and now am old;

Yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken,

Nor his seed begging bread.

26  He is ever merciful, and lendeth;

And his seed is blessed.

David is saying: I have passed through life, making many observations and the result of these observations I have developed certain convictions.

“I am old.” Life is nearly ended. The joys, the hopes, the vigour of youth, are all gone. The mature strength of manhood is now no more. The confines of life are nearly reached. The next remove is to another world, and that now must be near; and it is a solemn thing to stand on the shores of eternity; to look out on that boundless ocean, to feel that earth, and all that is dear on earth, is soon to be left for ever.

Yet have I not seen the righteous for saken. Forsaken by God; so forsaken that he has not a friend; so forsaken that he has nothing with which to supply his wants.

Nor his seed begging bread. Nor his children beggars. This was a remarkable testimony

For ever merciful is He is merciful all day in the Hebrew; His character is to constantly show kindness. The word merciful here means kind, compassionate, benignant,—and particularly in this respect, that he is willing to lend to others when he has the means.
And lendeth. The wicked man borrows, but does not pay again (ver. 21); the righteous man lends to his neighbour.
And his seed is blessed. His children; his posterity, as the result of this conduct on his part. The effect of what he does passes over from him to them, conveying rich blessings to them.

27  Depart from evil, and do good;

And dwell for evermore.

28  For the LORD loveth judgment,

And forsaketh not his saints;

They are preserved for ever:

But the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.

Depart from evil and do good, this is the theme of the entire Psalm. As Lot left Sodom without casting a look behind, so must we leave sin. No truce or compromise is to he held with sin, we must turn away from it without hesitation, and set ourselves practically to work in the opposite direction. The one who neglects to do good will soon fall into evil. “
And dwell for evermore.” Obtain an abiding and quiet inheritance. Short lived are the gains and pleasures of evil, but eternal are the rewards of grace. That is, dwell in the land: meaning that righteousness will be connected with length of days and with prosperity; that its effects will be permanent on a family, descending from one generation to another
The Lord loveth judgment is understood to means God loves to do right and reward those that do right.
They are preserved for ever. They are ever under his paternal eye, and he will keep them. It will be literally true that they will be preserved for ever, that they will never be suffered to perish.
But the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. Like we learned last week, they will be destroyed or consumed; they will forever be apart from God.

29  The righteous shall inherit the land,

And dwell therein for ever.

30  The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom,

And his tongue talketh of judgment.

31  The law of his God is in his heart;

None of his steps shall slide.

Again we have the righteous-declared righteous for accepting Christ-shall, not maybe, or if, inherit the land.The word inherit suggests the idea that they are heirs, and that God will treat them as his children.
Romans 8:17 KJV 1900
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Titus 3:7 KJV 1900
That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Hebrews 6:17 KJV 1900
Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:
The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom. That is, It is a characteristic of the righteous to speak wise things; not to speak folly. His conversation is serious, earnest, true, pure; and his words are faithful, kind, and just. This, as a part of human conduct, is one of the reasons why God will bless him with prosperity and length of days.
And his tongue talketh of judgment. That is, of just or righteous things
The law of God is in his heart ; here law means the truth of God. As long as the truth of God is in our hearts, our words and conduct will be right.
None of his steps shall slide. Marg., goings. The idea is, that his course will be firm and steady. He will not fall into sin, and his life will be prosperous and happy. This is in accordance with the general sentiment in the psalm, that religion tends to promote prosperity, happiness, and length of days on the earth.

The Evil doers Part 4 Vs 32

The wicked watcheth the righteous,

And seeketh to slay him.

The wicked watcheth the righteous, etc. Observes closely; looks out for him; has his eye on him, seeking an opportunity to slay him

The sense is, that the wicked are the enemies of the righteous, and seek to do them wrong. It is a characteristic of the wicked that they seek to destroy the righteous. This was manifested in the case of the prophets; in the case of the apostles; in the case of the Saviour; and it has been so manifest in the deaths of the martyrs, and all the persecutions which the Church has suffered,

The righteous part 5 Vs. 33-34

The LORD will not leave him in his hand,

Nor condemn him when he is judged.

34  Wait on the LORD, and keep his way,

And he shall exalt thee to inherit the land:

When the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it

The LORD will not leave the righteous in the evildoers hand. That is, He will rescue him out of the hand of the wicked; he will not leave him, so that the wicked shall accomplish his purpose. David here undoubtedly means to refer mainly to what will occur in the present life—to the fact that God will step in to deliver the righteous from the evil designs of the wicked, as he intervenes to save his people from famine and want. This is the tendency and bearing of the Divine interventions and the Divine arrangements.
Nor condemn, when standing before God He will not condemn the righteous because they have accepted Christ and God sees them as His son.
Wait on the Lord, hard to do. We live in a microwave society; want every thing now. This reiterates what we have been learning: hope in the Lord, Depend on the Lord, and commit to the LORD.
Exalt means to rise or raise, God will raise the righteous to inherit the land. And when the wicked are cut off destroyed the righteous will see it.
Revelation 20:11-14 (KJV) 11  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

The Evil doers Part 5 Vs. 35-36

35  I have seen the wicked in great power,

And spreading himself like ga green bay tree.

36  Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not:

Yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.

The word power refers to inspiring terror. Here it is used of someone who was prosperous, powerful, and controlling , but this power was not used for beneficial purposes. Instead it was used for oppression, injustice, and wrong doing in general.
The power was spreading like a green bay tree or a tree that seems to pour itself out, or to spread itself out in every direction,—sending its limbs aloft, and its branches far on every side.
Yet he passed away. Comp. The allusion here, of course, is to the man, and not to the tree. The idea is that he passed out of view—he was gone; he had no permanent abode on earth, but with all his pomp and splendour he had disappeared. Neither his prosperity, his greatness, nor his wealth, could secure him a permanent abode on earth. David says that after the most diligent search, he could not find him. He had disappeared entirely from among men. BUT

The righteous part 6 Vs. 37

Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright:

For the end of that man is peace.

Mark the perfect man. The word perfect here is used to designate a righteous man, or a man who serves and obeys God. The word mark here means observe, take notice of. The argument is, “Look upon that man in the end, in contrast with the prosperous wicked man. The point of the David’s remark turns on the end, and the idea is, that the end of the two is such as to show that there is an advantage in being righteous, and that God is the friend of the righteous.
For the end of that man -the righteous- is peace. Peace is from the shalom which has many meanings, such as: safe, i.e. (figurative) well, happy, friendly; also (abstract) welfare, i.e. health, prosperity, peace.
Safe In The Arms of Jesus 2nd verse
Safe in the arms of Jesus, Safe from corroding care, Safe from the world’s temptations; Sin cannot harm me there. Free from the blight of sorrow, Free from my doubts and fears; Only a few more trials, Only a few more tears!
The meaning here,is, that the future of the righteous man—the whole future—would be peace; (a) as a general rule, peace or calmness in death as the result of Christ; and (b) in the coming world, where there will be perfect and eternal peace. As a usual fact religious men die calmly and peacefully, sustained by hope and by the presence of God; as a universal fact, they are made happy for ever beyond the grave.

The Evil doers Part 6 Vs. 38

But the transgressors shall be destroyed together:

The end of the wicked shall be cut off.

The transgressors, also translated as apostate, trespass and revolt, shall be destroyed or perish together.The word together here—יַחְדָּו, yahhdav—means properly a union of them; then, together—either (a) in one place, Gen. 13:6,—or (b) at one time, Ps. 4:8; or (c) all as one, Ps. 14:3,—or (d) mutually with one another, as when men strive together, Deut. 25:11. The idea here is, that one would be destroyed as well as another; that there would be no exception; that they would go to the same ruin. They might be destroyed at different times, or in different ways, but it would be the same destruction in the end.
Shall be cut off. That is, they shall be cut off; or, there will be a cutting off. This means here, evidently, (a) that as an ordinary fact they would be cut down before they had reached the full limit of their life, (b) in the future world they would be cut off from hope and happiness for ever.
The meaning of these 2 verses is that while the future of the one would be peace, the future of the other would be a cutting off, or destruction.

The righteous part 7 Vs. 39-40

But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD:

He is their strength in the time of trouble.

40  And the LORD shall help them, and deliver them:

He shall deliver them from the wicked,

And save them, because they trust in him.

But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD. Or, salvation comes to the righteous from the Lord. While the wicked are cut off, the righteous shall be safe. There are evidently two ideas here: (1) that there will be salvation to the righteous, while the wicked are cut off; (2) that this comes from the Lord, and not from themselves. It is not owing to any power of their own that they are safe, but is solely because they are kept by the Lord.

Why? He is our strength, the word strength means a fortified place; figurative a defence :- force, fort (-ress), rock, strength (-en), (× most) strong (hold).
Proverbs 18:10 KJV 1900
The name of the Lord is a strong tower: The righteous runneth into it, and is safe.
Psalm 62:2 KJV 1900
He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved.
Psalm 144:2 KJV 1900
My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; My shield, and he in whom I trust; Who subdueth my people under me.

And save them. Or, preserve them. He will keep them to everlasting life.

Because they trust in him. They rely on him, and not on themselves. This verse is a summing up of the sentiments of the psalm, and is designed to confirm the main thought which runs through it, to wit, that we should not fret, or murmur, or repine at the prosperity of wicked men

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