Psalms 34:10

34:10 Even young lions sometimes lack food and are hungry,

but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

Psalms 37:3

37:3 Trust in the Lord and do what is right!

Settle in the land and maintain your integrity! ¹ 

Psalms 37:16

37:16 The little bit that a godly man owns is better than

the wealth of many evil men, ² 

Psalms 37:18-19

37:18 The Lord watches over the innocent day by day ³ 

and they possess a permanent inheritance. ⁴ 

37:19 They will not be ashamed when hard times come; ⁵ 

when famine comes they will have enough to eat. ⁶ 

Psalms 37:1

Psalm 37 ⁷ 

By David.

37:1 Do not fret ⁸  when wicked men seem to succeed! ⁹ 

Do not envy evildoers!

Psalms 4:8

4:8 I will lie down and sleep peacefully, ¹⁰ 

for you, Lord, make me safe and secure. ¹¹ 

Hebrews 13:5

13:5 Your conduct must be free from the love of money and you must be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you and I will never abandon you.” ¹² 

[37:3]  ¹ tn Heb “tend integrity.” The verb רָעָה (ra’ah, “tend, shepherd”) is probably used here in the sense of “watch over, guard.” The noun אֱמוּנָה (’emunah, “faithfulness, honesty, integrity”) is understood as the direct object of the verb, though it could be taken as an adverbial accusative, “[feed] securely,” if the audience is likened to a flock of sheep.

[37:16]  ² tn Heb “Better [is] a little to the godly one than the wealth of many evil ones.” The following verses explain why this is true. Though a godly individual may seem to have only meager possessions, he always has what he needs and will eventually possess the land. The wicked may prosper for a brief time, but will eventually be destroyed by divine judgment and lose everything.

[37:18]  ³ tn Heb “the Lord knows the days of the innocent ones.” He “knows” their days in the sense that he is intimately aware of and involved in their daily struggles. He meets their needs and sustains them.

[37:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “and their inheritance is forever.”

[37:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “in a time of trouble.”

[37:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “in days of famine they will be satisfied.”

[37:1]  ⁷ sn Psalm 37. The psalmist urges his audience not to envy the wicked, but to trust in and obey the Lord, for he will destroy sinners and preserve the godly. When the smoke of judgment clears, the wicked will be gone, but the godly will remain and inherit God’s promised blessings. The psalm is an acrostic; every other verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[37:1]  ⁸ tn The verb form is singular (see vv. 3-10 as well, where the second person verbs and pronouns are also singular). The psalmist’s exhortation has a wisdom flavor to it; it is personalized for each member of his audience.

[37:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “over sinners.” The context indicates that the psalmist has in mind the apparent power and success of sinners. See v. 7b.

[4:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in peace at the same time I will lie down and sleep.”

[4:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “for you, Lord, solitarily, securely make me dwell.” The translation understands לְבָדָד (lÿvadad) as modifying the verb; the Lord keeps enemies away from the psalmist so that he is safe and secure. Another option is to take לְבָדָד with what precedes and translate, “you alone, Lord, make me secure.”

[13:5]  ¹² sn A quotation from Deut 31:6, 8.