Psalms 37:3-4

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

Settle in the land and maintain your integrity! ¹ 

37:4 Then you will take delight in the Lord, ² 

and he will answer your prayers. ³ 

Psalms 37:16-19

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

the wealth of many evil men, ⁴ 

37:17 for evil men will lose their power, ⁵ 

but the Lord sustains ⁶  the godly.

37:18 The Lord watches over the innocent day by day ⁷ 

and they possess a permanent inheritance. ⁸ 

37:19 They will not be ashamed when hard times come; ⁹ 

when famine comes they will have enough to eat. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 37:29

37:29 The godly will possess the land

and will dwell in it permanently.

[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.

[37:4]  ² tn Following the imperatives of v. 3 the prefixed verbal forms with vav (ו) in v. 4 indicate result. Faith and obedience (v. 3) will bring divine blessing (v. 4).

[37:4]  ³ tn Or “and he will give you what you desire most.” Heb “and he will grant to you the requests of your heart.”

[37:16]  ⁴ 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.

[37:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “for the arms of the evil ones will be broken.”

[37:17]  ⁶ tn The active participle here indicates this is characteristically true.

[37:18]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “and their inheritance is forever.”

[37:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “in a time of trouble.”

[37:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in days of famine they will be satisfied.”