(You can get the gist of Psalm 37 by just reading the first lines of each stanza, up until lines 35-38. Then the whole stanza is necessary to understand the meaning. )
1 Do not be agitated by evildoers…
3 Trust in the Lord and do what is good…
5 Commit your way to the Lord…
7 Be silent before the Lord and wait expectantly for Him…
8 Refrain from anger and give up your rage…
10 A little while, and the wicked person will be no more…
12 The wicked person schemes against the righteous…
14 The wicked have drawn the sword and strung the bow…
16 The little that
the righteous man has is better
than the abundance of many wicked people.
18 The Lord watches over the blameless all their days…
20 But the wicked will perish…
21 The wicked man
borrows and does not repay,
but the righteous one is gracious and giving.
23 A man’s steps are
established by the Lord,
and He takes pleasure in his way.
25 I have been young
and now I am old,
yet I have not seen the righteous abandoned…
27 Turn away from evil and do what is good…
30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom…
32 The wicked one lies in wait for the righteous…
34 Wait for the Lord and keep His way…
35 I have seen a
wicked, violent man
well-rooted like a
flourishing native tree.
36 Then I passed by and noticed he was gone;
I searched for him, but he could not be found.
37 Watch the
blameless and observe the upright,
for the man of peace will have a future.
38 But transgressors will all be eliminated;
the future of the wicked will be destroyed.
39 The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord,
their refuge in a time of distress.
(translation from the Holman Christian Standard Bible)
betsybeadhead 