Psalm 37
A Psalm of David
Pt. 5

There is a little nuanced contrast between this section and the one we just finished. In the previous section David said “I have not seen…” and it this one he says “I have seen…” The contrasting things are remarkable.

32 The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him.

One of the consistent errors of less-than-mature believers is that they underestimate the wickedness of the wicked. Evil has a destructive quality which it cannot shed but which is consistently revealed in its’ attitudes toward godly people.

The godly need not be aggressive or oppressive in order to garner the hatred of the wicked, they need only be consistently and persistently godly. That is enough for it is a testimony against those who are set to violate the Laws of God that they are under judgment and subject to Wrath.

Sometimes the “slay”ing is the assassination of character rather than the taking of life. (The wicked are careful, they do not want to run afoul of the laws of man.) But the attitude is one of murder. So said Jesus Himself.

Matt 5:21-22

21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. KJV

The disdain of the wicked for the righteous, the consideration that one has no value at all, that is the core of the sin of the murderer. The father of the wicked, the scripture says, “was a murderer from the beginning,” and it was his hatred of the pure state of Adam and Eve which drove him to undermine their relationship with God.

Let the wicked gain power without accountability and what follows is always, not sometimes but always, murder.

Dare not, dear Christian, to doubt the words of the great king David.

33 The LORD will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged.

David’s theme here in this Psalm has been that God oversees and cares for His Own. He will not leave them nor abandon them but, most of all, He will not sanction the condemnation of His sheep. Though man contrive ever so many ‘laws’ and ‘rules’ and ‘regulations’ with which the catch the saint and ‘justly’ murder him, God Himself will never sanction such.

This reminds us of the duty of man, all men, to only enact laws which conform to the Law of God in spirit and are enforced with genuine Justice. God refuses to condemn the unjustly convicted.

34 Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.

No doubt the greatest challenge of the righteous is this “wait”ing on the Lord, this patient endurance as wrongs are committed against him. But it is a reflection of his Faith to trust that God will indeed execute Justice though He bear long with the wicked.

But David was confident and he had seen God move on many occassions.

35 I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.

36 Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.

Not a wicked man can be found that has “won.” O, he may have prospered in this life and not actually held to account for his evil deeds but there is a Law of the Universe which cannot be undone, “it is appointed unto man once to die and….. after that….. The Judgment.”

He leaves this life and all he has gained behind and he goes into a world where Justice in its purest form imaginable prevails, rules and is exercised with a Vengeance man cannot comprehend. No one who opposes God wins.

37 Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.

An interesting statement. The “perfect,” or mature, man, the man who consistently follows righteousness and lives in obedience to the Revealed Will of God from a heart of love for Him, will also come to an end. But what an End! He, too, shall face the Judgment of God and he, too, will enter a world where Justice prevails, but all of his sins he will find to have been remitted by the Work of Jesus Christ and his eternal end will be “Shalom,” Peace and Blessing as unimaginable as the Wrath which falls upon the “wicked in great power.” So he says in the next statement.

38 But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off.

And this is not an inconsistent thing. Every single one of them shall suffer the same fate.

Ps 9:17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. KJV

39 But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble.

40 And the LORD shall help them and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.

The Principle which must be ever remembered by the righteous as they seek to be godly in a wicked world.

— June 19, 2020