Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 37:6
(6) The light.—The image is from an Eastern dawn and the progress of the sun to its meridian glory. (Comp. Job 11:17; Isaiah 58:10.) read more
(6) The light.—The image is from an Eastern dawn and the progress of the sun to its meridian glory. (Comp. Job 11:17; Isaiah 58:10.) read more
(7) Rest . . .—Better, Hush! Be still! See margin. The good man, seeing merit unrewarded and wickedness, on the other hand, constantly successful, is tempted to repine. For a later echo of the poet’s thought, irradiated by Christian hope, we may recur to Coleridge’s well-known “Complaint” and its “reproof.” read more
Unto All Nations Psalms 37:2 A Church which is in no sense a Missionary Church is really dead. I. The spiritual prosperity of the Church at home becomes a fountain to feed missions abroad. The Gospel in its essence is remedial. It claims to be the one means of healing for the common malady of human nature. We may say that all missions are medical missions. The Gospel contemplates the whole world as one vast hospital full of sick souls and wounded hearts, and warped and diseased wills. II. And... read more
Psalms 37:1-40THERE is a natural connection between acrostic structure and didactic tone, as is shown in several instances, and especially in this psalm. The structure is on the whole regular, each second verse beginning with the required letter, but here and there the period is curtailed or elongated by one member. Such irregularities do not seem to mark stages in the thought or breaks in the sequence, but are simply reliefs to the monotony of the rhythm, like the shiftings of the place of the... read more
Psalms 37:0 The Blessed Lot of the Righteous Contrasted with the Wicked 1. Waiting for Jehovah and His promise (Psalms 37:1-11 ) 2. The doom of the wicked and the portion of the righteous (Psalms 37:12-20 ) 3. The ways of the righteous and the wicked (Psalms 37:21-29 ) 4. God’s gracious ways with the righteous (Psalms 37:30-40 ) This Psalm is also alphabetical in structure and somewhat proverbial in character. It is full of sweet comfort and encouragement to faith. All the saints of... read more
37:6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy {e} judgment as the noonday.(e) As the hope of daylight causes us not to be offended with the darkness of the night so ought we patiently to trust that God will clear our cause and restore us to our right. read more
37:7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him {f} who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.(f) When God allows the wicked to prosper, it seems to the flesh that he favours their doings, Job 21:7. read more
Psalms 25:0 In the Hebrew this prayer is arranged as an acrostic, i.e., the first word of each verse begins with a letter in alphabetical order from A-to-Z. Hereafter we shall not give as much attention to every psalm as we have thus far, but trust the reader to do the analyzing after the examples given. The purpose of this book is not so much textual explanation as a stimulus to Bible study in a broader sense, and it is assumed that the reader has been studying the Bible side by side with the... read more
A Faithful Witness Psalms 37:0 Do we not say that there are some subjects upon which only men of experience are qualified to speak? Is that law in the marketplace, in the court of justice, in the family circle? Surely it ought to be. It seems to be charged with reason which the very dullest eye can instantly perceive. Are there not some subjects with regard to which, as to their exposition and application, nearly everything depends upon the character of the expositor and the witness? In some... read more
John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 37:1-40
This is an acrostic Ps., in which the alphabetic arrangement is carried without a break through 22 stanzas of varying length, to which the vv. of the English Bible do not correspond. The contents are closely akin to the maxims of the book of Proverbs, but they are touched with a fervour which elevates them into true poetry. The creed of the Psalmist is that sooner or later, even in this life, wickedness is punished, and righteousness vindicated. This is a theory which, of course, is too simple... read more