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Texts -- Psalms 37:1-39 (NET)

Context
Psalm 37
37:1 By David . Do not fret when wicked men seem to succeed! Do not envy evildoers ! 37:2 For they will quickly dry up like grass , and wither away like plants . 37:3 Trust in the Lord and do what is right ! Settle in the land and maintain your integrity ! 37:4 Then you will take delight in the Lord , and he will answer your prayers . 37:5 Commit your future to the Lord ! Trust in him, and he will act on your behalf. 37:6 He will vindicate you in broad daylight , and publicly defend your just cause . 37:7 Wait patiently for the Lord ! Wait confidently for him! Do not fret over the apparent success of a sinner, a man who carries out wicked schemes ! 37:8 Do not be angry and frustrated ! Do not fret ! That only leads to trouble ! 37:9 Wicked men will be wiped out , but those who rely on the Lord are the ones who will possess the land . 37:10 Evil men will soon disappear ; you will stare at the spot where they once were, but they will be gone . 37:11 But the oppressed will possess the land and enjoy great prosperity . 37:12 Evil men plot against the godly and viciously attack them . 37:13 The Lord laughs in disgust at them, for he knows that their day is coming . 37:14 Evil men draw their swords and prepare their bows , to bring down the oppressed and needy , and to slaughter those who are godly . 37:15 Their swords will pierce their own hearts , and their bows will be broken . 37:16 The little bit that a godly man owns is better than the wealth of many evil men, 37:17 for evil men will lose their power , but the Lord sustains the godly . 37:18 The Lord watches over the innocent day by day and they possess a permanent inheritance . 37:19 They will not be ashamed when hard times come; when famine comes they will have enough to eat . 37:20 But evil men will die ; the Lord’s enemies will be incinerated – they will go up in smoke . 37:21 Evil men borrow , but do not repay their debt, but the godly show compassion and are generous . 37:22 Surely those favored by the Lord will possess the land , but those rejected by him will be wiped out . 37:23 The Lord grants success to the one whose behavior he finds commendable . 37:24 Even if he trips , he will not fall headlong , for the Lord holds his hand . 37:25 I was once young , now I am old . I have never seen a godly man abandoned , or his children forced to search for food . 37:26 All day long he shows compassion and lends to others, and his children are blessed . 37:27 Turn away from evil ! Do what is right ! Then you will enjoy lasting security. 37:28 For the Lord promotes justice , and never abandons his faithful followers . They are permanently secure , but the children of evil men are wiped out . 37:29 The godly will possess the land and will dwell in it permanently . 37:30 The godly speak wise words and promote justice . 37:31 The law of their God controls their thinking ; their feet do not slip . 37:32 Evil men set an ambush for the godly and try to kill them. 37:33 But the Lord does not surrender the godly, or allow them to be condemned in a court of law . 37:34 Rely on the Lord ! Obey his commands ! Then he will permit you to possess the land ; you will see the demise of evil men. 37:35 I have seen ruthless evil men growing in influence , like a green tree grows in its native soil . 37:36 But then one passes by , and suddenly they have disappeared ! I looked for them, but they could not be found . 37:37 Take note of the one who has integrity ! Observe the godly ! For the one who promotes peace has a future . 37:38 Sinful rebels are totally destroyed ; evil men have no future . 37:39 But the Lord delivers the godly ; he protects them in times of trouble .

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Hymns

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  • Serahkan pada Tuhan [KJ.417]
  • Yang Diperbuat Allahku [KJ.378]
  • [Psa 37:1] Fret Not Thyself
  • [Psa 37:1] Why Should I Vex My Soul?
  • [Psa 37:3] Put Thou Thy Trust In God
  • [Psa 37:4] O Lord, I Will Delight In Thee
  • [Psa 37:5] Commit Thou All Thy Griefs
  • [Psa 37:5] Commit Whatever Grieves Thee
  • [Psa 37:7] Wait, And Murmur Not
  • [Psa 37:9] Jehovah Is Our Strength
  • [Psa 37:16] Little That The Righteous Hold, A
  • [Psa 37:21] Good Man’s Steps Are Led Aright, The
  • [Psa 37:23] Steps Of Those Whom He Approves, The

Questions

Sermon Illustrations

Psalm 37:1; What if God Had an Answering Machine?; The Meek

Resources/Books

Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • The texts of the individual psalms do not usually indicate who wrote them.1However some of the titles of the individual psalms do contain information about the writers.2This is the only really reliable information we have as ...
  • The messianic psalms are perhaps the most commonly known type. They predict the coming of a messiah. Franz Delitzsch broke these psalms down into five kinds. The first is the purely prophetic, which predicts that a future Dav...
  • I. Book 1: chs. 1-41II. Book 2: chs. 42-72III. Book 3: chs. 73-89IV. Book 4: chs. 90-106V. Book 5: chs. 107-150...
  • The title of this psalm identifies the writer as David. All but four of the psalms in Book 1 of the Psalter (Pss. 1-41) identify David as their writer, all except Psalms 1, 2, 10, and 33. The occasion of his writing this one ...
  • 37:1-2 The righteous should not envy those who practice evil nor fret because they prosper. Their success will be only temporary. Even though they may prosper all their lives their success is brief in the light of eternity.37...
  • 37:9-11 Perhaps the wicked were grabbing land that did not belong to them. David assured the people that the wicked would not succeed long. Those who submitted to God's authority would eventually possess the land He had promi...
  • 37:23-24 The Lord delights in how a good person lives, and He blesses his or her activities. Even though he may stumble as he goes through life, he will not experience a fatal fall from which he cannot rise.37:25-26 God is fa...
  • 37:32-34 The wicked really tries to overcome God when he sets himself against the righteous. The wicked will inevitably fail because God's power is much greater than his own. Consequently the righteous only needs to wait for ...
  • 41:10 David had asked God to restore his health so he might repay his enemies. This may seem to be an unworthy motive in view of the Lord Jesus' instruction to love our enemies and do them good (Matt. 5:44). However, individu...
  • 49:13-14 The writer marvelled at the folly of the proud wicked. How silly it is to live only for the present. Death will end it all. The wicked may dominate the upright in this life, but a new day is coming in which God will ...
  • This is one of the acrostic psalms (cf. Pss. 9, 10; 25; 34; 37; 112; 119; and 145). Each line in the Hebrew text begins with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The writer evidently expressed his thoughts this way so the ...
  • Allen, Ronald B. "Evidence from Psalm 89."In A Case for Premillennialism: A New Consensus, pp. 55-77. Edited by Donald K. Campbell and Jeffrey L. Townsend. Chicago: Moody Press, 1992._____. Lord of Song. Portland: Multnomah P...
  • 10:17 Jeremiah called those living during the siege of Jerusalem to pack their bags. He often warned his hearers of the coming invasion by speaking as if the enemy was attacking. Consequently it is very difficult, if not impo...
  • This pericope contains one of Jeremiah's "confessions,"a self-revelation of the prophet's own struggles to cope with God's actions (cf. 10:23-24; 15:10-12, 15-21; 17:9-11, 14-18; 18:18-23; and 20:7-18).219The heart of this on...
  • 3:19 Jeremiah prayed that the Lord would remember his affliction and bitterness (cf. Job 13:15).3:20-21 He himself remembered something that gave him hope.3:22 The prophet remembered that the Lord's loyal love (Heb. hesed) ne...
  • The following prayer is mainly thanksgiving for deliverance from drowning. It is not thanksgiving for deliverance from the fish. Jonah prayed it while he was in the fish. Evidently he concluded after some time in the fish's s...
  • "The opening verses of Nahum form a prologue dominated by the revelation of God's eternal power and divine nature in creation (cf. Rom 1:20). As in Romans 1:18-32, this revelation is characterized preeminently by God's justic...
  • It was common when Jesus lived for forerunners to precede important individuals to prepare the way for their arrival. For example, when a king would visit a town in his realm his emissaries would go before him to announce his...
  • This pericope describes the character of the kingdom's subjects and their rewards in the kingdom.236"Looked at as a whole . . . the Beatitudes become a moral sketch of the type of person who is ready to possess, or rule over,...
  • 5:38 Retaliation was common in the ancient Near East. Frequently it led to vendettas in which escalating vengeance continued for generations. Israel's "law of retaliation"(Lat. lex talionis) limited retaliation to no more tha...
  • Another question led to this teaching. The thematic connection with Jesus' words about the small beginning of the kingdom (vv. 19, 21) should be obvious. As elsewhere, Luke recorded Jesus teaching lessons and using illustrati...
  • 10:8 Paul quoted Moses again (Deut. 30:14) to reaffirm the fact that the great lawgiver taught that salvation came by faith. The "word of faith"means the message that righteousness comes by faith. Faith is easy compared to a ...
  • Abbot, T. K. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistles to the Ephesians and to the Colossians. International Critical Commentary series. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1897.Aldrich, Roy L. "The Gift of God."Biblioth...
  • Adamson, James B. The Epistle of James. New International Commentary on the New Testament series. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1976; reprint ed. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1984.Bailey, Mark...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

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