Chapter: Psalm 37

Wisdom Psalms

Some Psalms reflect the wisdom movement in Israel which taught that the foundation of wisdom is faith in God and reverence for him. Wisdom psalms are meditations on the good life, the blessings of living the wise way of life of dependence on God as opposed to the way destruction which the foolish live who rely on themselves to work out their own destiny.

Examples: Psalms 37, 49, 73

37

Noli æmulari

¹ Fret not yourself because of the ungodly, *

neither be envious of those who are evildoers.

² For they shall soon be dried up like the grass, *

and be withered even as the green herb.

³ Put your trust in the Lord, and do good; *

dwell in the land, and surely you shall be fed.

⁴ Delight yourself in the Lord, *

and he shall give you your heart’s desire.

⁵ Commit your way unto the Lord and put your trust in him, *

and he shall bring it to pass.

⁶ He shall make your righteousness as clear as the light *

and your just dealing as the noonday.

⁷ Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; *

do not grieve yourself over the one whose way prospers, over the one who carries out evil counsels.

⁸ Refrain from wrath, and let go of anger; *

fret not yourself, lest you be moved to do evil.

⁹ For evildoers shall be rooted out, *

but those who wait patiently for the Lord, they shall inherit the land.

¹⁰Yet a little while, and the ungodly shall be clean gone; *

you shall look for their place, and they shall not be there.

¹¹But the meek-spirited shall possess the land *

and shall be refreshed with an abundance of peace.

¹²The ungodly plot against the just *

and gnash at them with their teeth.

¹³ The Lord shall laugh at them in scorn, *

for he sees that their day is coming.

¹⁴The ungodly have drawn out the sword and have bent their bow *

to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay those who walk aright.

¹⁵Their sword shall go through their own heart, *

and their bow shall be broken.

¹⁶The little that the righteous has *

is better than great riches of the ungodly.

¹⁷For the arms of the ungodly shall be broken, *

but the Lord upholds the righteous.

¹⁸The Lord knows the days of the godly, *

and their inheritance shall endure for ever.

¹⁹They shall not be confounded in perilous times, *

and in the days of famine they shall have enough.

²⁰As for the ungodly, they shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be consumed as in a fiery furnace; *

even as smoke shall they vanish away.

²¹The ungodly borrow and do not repay, *

but the righteous are merciful and generous.

²²Those who are blessed by God shall possess the land, *

but those who are cursed by him shall be rooted out.

²³The Lord orders a man’s steps; *

he makes his footsteps sure and preserves him on his path.

²⁴ Though he fall, he shall not be cast down, *

for the Lord upholds him with his hand.

²⁵I have been young, and now I am old, *

yet I never saw the righteous forsaken, nor his children begging bread.

²⁶The righteous is ever merciful in lending, *

and his seed shall be blessed.

²⁷Flee from evil, and do that which is good, *

and dwell in the land for ever.

²⁸For the Lord loves that which is right; *

he forsakes not those who are godly, and they are preserved for ever.

²⁹The unrighteous shall be punished; *

as for the seed of the ungodly, it shall be rooted out.

³⁰The righteous shall inherit the land *

and dwell therein for ever.

³¹The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, *

and his tongue talks of judgment.

³²The law of his God is in his heart, *

and his footsteps shall not falter.

³³The ungodly lie in wait for the righteous *

and seek occasion to slay him.

³⁴The Lord will not leave him in their hand, *

nor allow him to be condemned when he is judged.

³⁵Hope in the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt you so that you shall possess the land; *

when the ungodly perish, you shall see it.

³⁶I myself have seen the ungodly in great power, *

and flourishing like a tree in full leaf.

³⁷I went by, and behold, they were gone; *

I sought them, but their place could nowhere be found.

³⁸ Mark the blameless, and take heed of the upright, *

for there is a future for the peaceable.

³⁹As for the transgressors, they shall perish together, *

and the end of the ungodly is that they shall be rooted out at the last.

⁴⁰But the salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord, *

who is also their strength in the time of trouble.

⁴¹And the Lord shall stand by them and save them; *

he shall deliver them from the ungodly and shall save them, because they put their trust in him.