EXPOSITION OF PSALM 37 (4)
Verses 27-40

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This psalm is divided into three divisions: 1. a warning to the righteous regarding the wicked (vv.1f); 2. the antidote for fretting over the wicked and envying their prosperity (vv.3-8); 3. the contrast between the righteous and the wicked (vv.9-40). We expounded the first two divisions in the first message of this series. We expounded verses 9-26 of the last division in the preceding two messages. We will expound verses 27-40 in this message, concluding our observation of the contrast between the righteous and the wicked.

37:27 "Depart from evil, and do good; ..." Here is the sum of this entire psalm, in both a negative and a positive exhortation. Negatively, one must "depart from evil", as Lot departed from Sodom without looking back (Genesis ch.19). Positively, one must "do good", having previously obeyed the command to "trust in the LORD" (v.3). He who would be a do-gooder without first trusting in Christ for salvation will progress farther into evil in the sight of God, and never depart from it.

"... And dwell forevermore." This is the promise of God to those who obey the first part of this verse. They will forevermore "dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness" (v.3). God repeatedly assures them that they "should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16, 36; 5:24; 6:40, 47).

37:28 "For the LORD loves justice, ..." This is the reason why those who "depart from evil, and do good" will "dwell forevermore": Jehovah loves to do what is just and right. "For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him" (Isaiah 30:18).

"... And does not forsake His saints; ..." This is a result of Jehovah's love for justice. It would be unjust of Him to forsake those who have trusted in Him. He therefore will never do so. "For He Himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you'" (Hebrews 13:5).

"... They are preserved forever, ..." Here is declared the eternal security of the saints. They are from eternity "preserved in Jesus Christ" (Jude v.1; cp. Ephesians 1:3-6). They therefore in this life are assured that "your whole spirit, soul, and body [will] be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it" (1 Thessalonians 5:23f).

"... But the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off." These "descendants of the wicked" are those of whom Christ says "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do" (John 8:44). They therefore will refuse to "depart from evil, and do good" (v.27). They will "be cut off" for the same reason the righteous "are preserved forever": "For the LORD loves justice" (v.28; cp. Genesis 18:25).

37:29 "The righteous shall inherit the land, / And dwell in it forever." These "righteous" ones are the justified, those who have been declared righteous by God through the imputation of Christ's righteousness to them. They have forsaken attempts to be justified by their own works in order to be justified by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 3:19-4:8), who now is their Righteousness (Jeremiah 23:5f; 1 Corinthians 1:30). The "land" promised to them is the "new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells" (2 Peter 3:13). They will "inherit" this land because they are – in contrast to the "descendants of the wicked" (v.28) – "children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ" (Romans 8:16f).

37:30 "The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, ..." The righteous acknowledges "Christ Jesus ... became for us wisdom from God" (1 Corinthians 1:30). His mouth "speaks wisdom" by declaring the gospel of Christ, for "we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory" (1 Corinthians 2:7).

"... And his tongue talks of justice." For example, he declares how "God might be just [in justifying the ungodly] and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus" (Romans 3:26).

37:31 "The law of his God is in his heart; ..." The Hebrew word for law (torah) means basically "teaching". This "law of God" is the instruction from God to His people as to what they should believe and how they should live.

"... None of his steps shall slide." "Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the LORD upholds him with His hand" (v.24). The wicked, however, will slide irretrievably into eternal calamity (Deuteronomy 32:35).

37:32 "The wicked watches the righteous, / And seeks to slay him." "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8). He is aided by his minions (John 8:44).

37:33 "The LORD will not leave him in his hand, ..." Jehovah may for some righteous reason permit Satan to lay his hand on the righteous, as He did to Job (Job 1:12-19; 2:6-8). But He will in the end gloriously deliver the righteous from Satan's hand, as He did to Job (Job 42:10ff).

"... Nor condemn him when he is judged." Jehovah will entertain no accusation or condemnation against the righteous. This is true because He has eternally justified them and Christ forever intercedes for them (Romans 8:33, 34, 1).

37:34 "Wait on the LORD, ..." The root of the word wait means "to look for with great expectation". To "wait on the LORD" is to believe that Jehovah will fulfill His promise, and to wait patiently and with great endurance until He has done so, without acting in such a way as to attempt to fulfill the promise yourself. Accordingly, Jacob declared on his death bed, "I have waited for your salvation, O LORD!" (Genesis 49:18).

"... And keep His way, ..." Recognize Christ as the only Way to the Father, and go to the Father through Christ alone (John 14:6). And "As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him" (Colossians 2:6), thereby keeping Jehovah's Way.

"... And He shall exalt you to inherit the land; ..." This is the fifth time this inheritance is cited. It is promised to "those who wait on the LORD" (v.9), "the meek" (v.11), "those blessed by Jehovah" (v.22), "the righteous" (v.29), and those who "keep His way" (v.9). Will you inherit the earth?

"... When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it." The saint will live to see that the course of life taken by the wicked will lead to their destruction. "And they shall go forth and look upon the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me" (Isaiah 66:24). O, my friend, I pray I do not see you then and there!

37:35 "I have seen the wicked in great power, / And spreading himself like a native green tree." Having earlier spoken of what he had not seen (v.25), David here contrasts with what he has indeed seen. He probably refers to King Saul. Saul was a wicked king with much authority. He also prospered like a healthy tree in its own native soil, unlike one that is transplanted.

37:36 "Yet he passed away, and behold, he was no more; / Indeed I sought him, but he could not be found." "For evildoers shall be cut off" and removed from the earth (vv.9f).

37:37 "Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright; ..." This "blameless man" is the "upright". No man is so in and of himself. But everyone "who fears God and shuns evil" will be pronounced by Him "blameless and upright" – as was Job (Job 1:1; 2:3). Now "mark" and "observe" such a man for a specific reason:

"... For the future of that man is peace." And Christ will be his peace, for "this One shall be peace" (Micah 5:5). Through faith in Him we have eternal "peace with God" (Romans 5:1).

37:38 "But the transgressors shall be destroyed together; / The future of the wicked shall be cut off." What a contrast to the blameless and upright is the future of the transgressor and wicked! This is at least the sixth time this promise is given (see vv.2, 9, 22, 28, 34). How many times must the wicked be so warned?

37:39 "But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; ..." The same God who destroys the wicked saves the righteous, for "the recompense of a man's hands will be rendered to him" (Proverb 12:14).

"... He is their strength in the time of trouble." Until the day He saves them He will be their place of safety. Christ is this stronghold in this troublesome time (Psalm 27:1; 28:8).

37:40 "And the LORD shall help them and deliver them; / He shall deliver them from the wicked, / And save them, ..." Having delivered them from all their sins, He will deliver them from all their enemies.

"... Because they trust in Him." Therefore, "Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the workers of iniquity. ... Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness" (vv.1-3).

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