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.
37:3-4 Positively we should center our lives on God. We should continue to trust in the Lord to do what is right and persist in doing right ourselves. For the Israelite this meant staying in the Promised Land rather than leaving it for greener pastures elsewhere.
Those who take delight in the Lord will receive their hearts' desires. The righteous who delight in the Lord will want to see His will done, and that will happen eventually for them.
37:5-7a Committing one's way to the Lord means submitting one's life and its daily events to the will of God. If we do this, we will experience what He wants for us. Eventually God will reward our righteousness and show that our confidence was wise.
"An obsession with enemies and rivals cannot be simply switched off, but it can be ousted by a new focus of attention . . . It includes a deliberate redirection of one's emotions (4a, take delight; cf. Paul and Silas in prison, singing as well as praying), and an entrusting of one's career (your way, 5) and reputation (your vindication, 6) to Him."91
37:7b-8 David concluded this opening section of the psalm by returning to the idea with which he began. The righteous should not allow the success of wicked people to distract us to the point where we depart from God's will.
