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Texts -- Psalms 37:21-40 (NET)

Context
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 . 37:40 The Lord helps them and rescues them; he rescues them from evil men and delivers them, for they seek his protection .

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  • [Psa 37:21] Good Man’s Steps Are Led Aright, The
  • [Psa 37:23] Steps Of Those Whom He Approves, The

Questions

Sermon Illustrations

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

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 ...
  • 37:9-11 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...
  • 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...
  • 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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