Psalm 37:34-40

34 Wait for the Lord and keep His way, and He will exalt you to inherit the land. You will watch when the wicked are destroyed.

35 I have seen a wicked, violent man well-rooted^[a] like a flourishing native tree. ^[b]

36 Then I passed by and^[c] noticed he was gone; I searched for him, but he could not be found.

37 Watch the blameless and observe the upright, for the man of peace will have a future.^[d]

38 But transgressors will all be eliminated; the future^[e] of the wicked will be destroyed.

39 The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord, their refuge in a time of distress.

40 The Lord helps and delivers them; He will deliver them from the wicked and will save them because they take refuge in Him.

Psalm 37:34-40 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 37

\\<<[A Psalm] of David>>\\. This psalm, it is very probable, was written at the same time, and upon the same occasion, with the former; and describes the different states of good and bad men; and is full of exhortations, instructions, and advice to the people of God; intermixed with various encouraging promises. A late learned writer {h} thinks it was written for Mephibosheth's consolation under Ziba's calumny. {h} Delaney's Life of King David, vol. 2. p. 219.

Footnotes

• [a] Hb obscure
• [b] LXX reads man, lifting himself up like the cedars of Lebanon
• [c] DSS, LXX, Syr, Vg, Jer; MT reads Then he passed away, and I
• [d] Or posterity
• [e] Or posterity