Charles Ellicott Commentary Psalms 37
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Psalms 37
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Psalms 37
"Fret not thyself because of evil-doers, Neither be thou envious against them that work unrighteousness." — Psalms 37:1 (ASV)
Fret ... —This verb, repeated in Psalm 37:7-8, is otherwise found only in Proverbs 24:19. Its meaning is to heat or inflame oneself.
Neither be thou envious ... —This has a similar root-meaning (compare our “burn with jealousy”), and so is in close parallelism with “fret.” This verse occurs almost word for word in Proverbs 3:31; Proverbs 23:16; Proverbs 24:1; and Psalm 73:3.
"For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, And wither as the green herb." — Psalms 37:2 (ASV)
For they ... — This inevitable metaphor for the brevity of human life, made even more compelling in an Eastern region where vegetation is so rapid both in growth and decay, and generally applied in the Bible, without distinction of good or bad, with a mournful sigh over human weakness, becomes here a source of comfort to the godly man.
Green herb. — Literally, greenness of herbage.
"Trust in Jehovah, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on [his] faithfulness." — Psalms 37:3 (ASV)
The alphabetic structure helps the poet to make an emphatic threefold exhortation to piety: Trust in Jehovah; commit thy way to Jehovah; rest in Jehovah.
So shalt thou dwell ... — The Authorized Version is quite right in taking the verbs in this clause as futures. (Compare to Psalm 37:11, Psalms 37:18, and Psalm 37:22.) Emigration, when referred to by the prophets (Jeremiah 25:5 and Jeremiah 35:15), is always represented as compulsory. It was a promise of preservation from it, not a warning against it, that the pious Israelite needed.
And verily thou shalt be fed. — Taken literally, this promise may be addressed to the Levites and may contain an allusion to their precarious condition, as they were dependent on offerings and tithes. However, the Hebrew may also have these meanings:
- Thou shalt feed on (or enjoy) stability (or security). (Compare to Isaiah 33:6: and wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times.)
- Thou shalt pasture on faithfulness, that is, be supported by God’s truth and righteousness as by a rich pasture. (Compare to Psalm 23:1, and for the expression, Proverbs 15:14: feedeth on foolishness.)
Possibly both meanings were combined in the psalmist’s thought, for the faithfulness of God is the security of man.
"Commit thy way unto Jehovah; Trust also in him, and he will bring it to pass." — Psalms 37:5 (ASV)
Commit ... —See margin, and Psalms 22:8. (Compare to Proverbs 16:3.) In Psalms 55:22 the word is different.
"And he will make thy righteousness to go forth as the light, And thy justice as the noon-day." — Psalms 37:6 (ASV)
The light. —The image is from an Eastern dawn and the progress of the sun to its meridian glory. (Isaiah 58:10.)
Jump to: