Psalm 37:30-40

30 The mouth of the righteous ¹utters wisdom, And his tongue ²speaks justice.

31 The ³law of his God is in his heart; His ⁴steps do not slip.

32 The ⁵wicked spies upon the righteous And ⁶seeks to kill him.

33 The LORD will ⁷not leave him in his hand Or ⁸let him be condemned when he is judged.

34 ⁹Wait for the LORD and keep His way, And He will exalt you to inherit the land; When the ¹⁰wicked are cut off, you will see it.

35 I have ¹¹seen a wicked, violent man Spreading himself like a ¹²luxuriant tree in its native soil.

36 Then he passed away, and lo, he ¹³was no more; I sought for him, but he could not be found.

37 Mark the ¹⁴blameless man, and behold the ¹⁵upright; For the man of peace will have a ¹⁶posterity.

38 But transgressors will be altogether ¹⁷destroyed; The posterity of the wicked will be ¹⁸cut off.

39 But the ¹⁹salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; He is their strength ²⁰in time of trouble.

40 ²¹The LORD helps them and delivers them; He ²²delivers them from the wicked and saves them, Because they ²³take refuge in Him.

Psalm 37:30-40 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.

Cross References

• 1. Psalms 49:3; Proverbs 10:13
• 2. Psalms 101:1; Psalms 119:13
• 3. Deuteronomy 6:6; Psalms 40:8; Psalms 119:11; Isaiah 51:7; Jeremiah 31:33
• 4. Psalms 26:1; Psalms 37:23
• 5. Psalms 10:8; Psalms 17:11
• 6. Psalms 37:14
• 7. Psalms 31:8; 2 Peter 2:9
• 8. Psalms 34:22; Psalms 109:31
• 9. Psalms 27:14; Psalms 37:9
• 10. Psalms 52:5, 6; Psalms 91:8
• 11. Job 5:3; Jeremiah 12:2
• 12. Job 8:16
• 13. Job 20:5; Psalms 37:10
• 14. Psalms 37:18
• 15. Psalms 7:10
• 16. Isaiah 57:1, 2
• 17. Psalms 1:4-6; Psalms 37:20, 28
• 18. Psalms 37:9; Psalms 73:17
• 19. Psalms 3:8; Psalms 62:1
• 20. Psalms 9:9; Psalms 37:19
• 21. Psalms 54:4
• 22. Psalms 22:4; Isaiah 31:5; Daniel 3:17; Daniel 6:23
• 23. 1 Chronicles 5:20; Psalms 34:22

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "native;" Heb obscure
• [b] Ancient versions read "I passed by"
• [c] Lit "complete;" or "perfect"
• [d] Lit "an end"
• [e] Lit "end"