Psalms 37:12

THE FUTILITY OF THE WRONGDOER'S ACTIVITY

"The wicked plotteth against the just

And gnasheth upon him with his teeth.

The Lord will laugh at him;

For he seeth that his day is coming.

The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow,

To cast down the poor and needy,

To slay such as are upright in the way.

Their sword shall enter into their own heart,

And their bows shall be broken."

"And gnasheth on him with their teeth" (Psalms 37:12). The technical meaning here is "grinding their teeth,"[7] which is an animalistic expression of fanatical rage and hatred. The mob that stoned Stephen did this (Acts 7:54).

"He seeth that his day is coming" (Psalms 37:13). "`His day,' here is the judgment day."[8] Although the Old Testament does not have nearly as much teaching about the Judgment Day as the New Testament, yet the conception is locked into every page of it, There were many false ideas about the Judgment Day, which Amos attempted to correct in his famous description of it (Amos 5:18-20).

The ultimate defeat and overthrow of the wicked envisioned here is not something in which God would intervene and accomplish, but an overthrow already on the way. God "sees it coming" and merely laughs at the futile devices of the wicked.