Psalm 37:1

Objection 7. But the righteous do fall. Solution -- Psalms 37:24 . Though he do fall, yet he falls not finally, nor totally, for he "is not utterly cast down;" and besides, there is an upholding providence of God in all the falls of the righteous.

Objection 8. We see some wicked men that do not so fall into adversity, but rather are in prosperity to their dying days. Solution -- Psalms 37:28 . Though they do, yet, "their seed shall be cut off."

Objection 9. But some wicked men are strong yet, and in their seed spread also. Solution -- Psalms 37:35-36 . Note also that these "spreading bay trees" many times "soon pass away;" and they and their houses are sometimes "utterly cut off."

Objection 10. But upright men are under many and long crosses. Solution -- Psalms 37:37 . Yet "his end is peace."

Objection 11. But nobody stands for the godly when they come into question. Solution -- Psalms 37:39-40 . "Their salvation is of the Lord;" he is their strength, he will help them and deliver them, etc.

But if we would be thus delivered, observe:

Whole Psalm. This Psalm may well be styled, The good man's cordial in bad times; a sovereign plaister for the plague of discontent; or, a choice antidote against the poison of impatience. Nathaniel Hardy, in a Funeral Sermon, 1649.

Whole Psalm. This Psalm very much reminds one in its construction of the sententious and pithy conciseness of the Book of Proverbs. It does not contain any prayer, nor any direct allusion to David's own circumstances of persecution or distress. It is rather the utterance of sound practical wisdom and godliness from the lips of experience and age, such as we might suppose an elder of the church, or a father of a family, to let fall as he sat with his household gathered around him, and listening to his earnest and affectionate admonitions. Barton Bouchier.

Whole Psalm. The present Psalm is one of the alphabetical Psalms, it is called "Providentiae speculum," by Tertullian; "Potio contra murmur," by Isidore; "Vestis piorum," by Luther. Christopher Wordsworth.

Verse 1. Fret, or, inflame not, burn not thyself with anger or grief. John Diodati.

Verse 1. Neither be thou envious, etc. Queen Elizabeth envied the milkmaid when she was in prison; but if she had known what a glorious reign she should have had afterwards for forty-four years, she would not have envied her. And as little needeth a godly man, though in misery, to envy a wicked man in the ruff of all his prosperity and jollity, considering what he hath in hand, much more what he hath in hope. John Trapp.

Verse 1. Would it not be accounted folly in a man that is heir to many thousands per annum that he should envy a stage player, clothed in the habit of a king, and yet not heir to one foot of land? who, though he have the form, respect, and apparel of a king or nobleman, yet he is, at the same time, a very beggar, and worth nothing? Thus, wicked men, though they are arrayed gorgeously, and fare deliciously, wanting nothing, and having more that heart can wish, yet they are but only possessors: the godly Christian is the heir. What good doth all their prosperity do them? It does but hasten their ruin, not their reward. The ox that is the labouring ox is the longer lived than the ox that is in the pasture; the very putting of him there doth but hasten his slaughter; and when God puts the wicked men into fat pastures, into places of honour and power, it is but to hasten their ruin. Let no man, therefore, fret himself because of evil doers, nor be envious at the prosperity of the wicked; for the candle of the wicked shall be put into everlasting darkness; they shall soon be cut off, and wither as a green herb. Ludovic de Carbone, quoted by John Spencer.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 1. The art of tranquillity. W. Jones.

Verse 1-2. A frequent temptation, and a double corrective -- a sight of sinners in death and hell.