Psalm 37:7-17

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 37:7-20

In these verses we have, I. The foregoing precepts inculcated; for we are so apt to disquiet ourselves with needless fruitless discontents and distrusts that it is necessary there should be precept upon precept, and line upon line, to suppress them and arm us against them. 1. Let us compose ourselves by believing in God: ?Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him (Ps. 37:7), that is, be well reconciled to all he does and acquiesce in it, for that is best that is, because it is what God has... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 37:7

Rest in the Lord ,.... Or "be silent to the Lord" F16 דום ליהוה "tace Domino", Pagninus, Montanus; "sile", Musculus, Piscator, Tigurine version, Cocceius, Gejerus, Michaelis; so Ainsworth. ; be still, and know that he is God; quietly submit to his will, and acquiesce in all the dispensations of his providence: it does not design a stupid indolence, or a stoical apathy, that we should be like sticks and stones, without any concern at the hand of God upon us; nor an entire silence... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 37:8

Cease from anger ,.... Either at these wicked men who are so prosperous, or at God, who for the present suffers it; see Jonah 4:9 , Proverbs 19:3 ; and forsake wrath ; which is anger wrought up to a greater degree; and the rather to be shunned and avoided, as being very disagreeable to the character of a good man; fret not thyself in any wise to do evil ; evil may be done by fretting at the prosperity of wicked men, or by imitating them, doing as they do, in hope of being... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 37:9

For evildoers shall be cut off ,.... Though they flourish for a while, they shall be cut down like the grass or flower of the field, or they shall be cut off as branches from a flourishing tree; they shall be cut off from the earth, and rooted out of it by death or some desolating judgment; see Proverbs 2:22 ; and therefore not to be envied and fretted at; but those that wait upon the Lord shall inherit the earth ; such who attend his word, worship, and ordinances; obey his commands,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 37:10

For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be ,.... Not that they shall be annihilated or reduced to nothing, because nonentities have no place nor being any where; when they die they shall lift up their eyes in hell; their bodies will rise again at the last day; they shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and go into everlasting punishment; but they shall be no more in the world, and in the same flourishing and prosperous circumstances they were: and this their... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 37:11

But the meek shall inherit the earth ,.... See Gill on Psalm 37:9 ; of this character See Gill on Psalm 22:26 . Our Lord seems to refer to this passage in Matthew 5:5 ; and shall delight themselves is the abundance of peace ; of spiritual peace enjoyed in a way of believing, arising from a comfortable view of interest in the blood, righteousness, and sacrifice of Christ; and of all happiness and prosperity in the kingdom of Christ here on earth, at which time there will be... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 37:12

The wicked plotteth against the just ,.... Forms schemes to make him uneasy, uncomfortable, and unhappy: and gnasheth upon him with his teeth : which expresses his malice and hatred, as David's enemies did upon him, Psalm 35:16 ; and Stephen's, Acts 7:54 . read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 37:13

The Lord shall laugh at him ,.... Have him and his plots in derision, confound his schemes, and disappoint him of his designs, bring him into calamity, and laugh at it; see Psalm 2:4 ; for he seeth that his day is coming ; either the day of the Lord, which he has appointed to judge the world in, and which comes suddenly, at unawares, as a thief in the night, and is known unto the Lord, though to none else; or the day of the wicked man's ruin and destruction, to which he is appointed,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 37:14

The wicked have drawn out the sword ,.... That is, out of the scabbard; they drew upon the righteous, in order to sheath it in them; or they sharpened the sword, as Aben Ezra observes some interpret the word; it may be literally rendered, "opened the sword" F17 חרב פתחו "aperuerunt gladium", Gejerus. , which before lay hid in the scabbard: and have bent their bow ; having put the arrow in it, in order to shoot. The former expression may design the more open, and this the more... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 37:15

Their sword shall enter into their own heart ,.... As Saul's did into his, 1 Samuel 31:4 ; and their bows shall be broken ; the meaning is, that their efforts shall be fruitless, and their attempts in vain; the mischief they have contrived and designed for others shall fall upon themselves; see Psalm 7:15 ; and therefore the saints should not be fretful and envious. read more

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