The Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 37:7-11

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

Confidence in God.

The text of the whole psalm is in the first two verses. We are not to be discouraged in the service of God by the prosperity of the wicked; for it is more apparent than real, and is a short-lived prosperity. At the seventh verse the psalm takes a fresh start from the same key-note.

I. SILENT TRUST IN GOD, WAITING FOR HIM, IS THE ONLY TRUE SOLUTION OF THE DIFFICULTY. (Psalms 37:7.) Do not vainly argue the question; be silent to God, and he will speak by-and-by and explain the difficulties of his providence.

II. ENVIOUS ANGER THAT THE WICKED ARE BETTER OFF THAN YOU IS SINFUL. (Psalms 37:8.) It is an arraignment of God's providence, which is presumptuous, and a discontent which is ungrateful, and an undervaluing of that inward prosperity which is the greatest good of life.

III. IT IS THE RIGHTEOUS WHO REALLY INHERIT THAT WHICH IS BEST IN THIS LIFE. (Psalms 37:9, Psalms 37:10.) The prosperity of evil-doers will soon come to an end; for it is unrighteous, and cannot last in the world of a righteous God. But the righteous have an inward life that turns outward things into gold; they feast royally at the table of God, as is said in the twenty-third psalm.

IV. THE PRECEDING THOUGHT IS REPEATED WITH THE PROMISE OF AN ABUNDANCE OF PEACE. (Psalms 37:11.) Our Lord repeats the former part of this verse in the Sermon on the Mount. "The meek—those who do not vainly strive and fret over the impossible or the inevitable—shall inherit the earth." And shall have peace of heart and mind, which the wicked have not.—S.

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