We look at the world around us; we see wickedness and injustice everywhere. Not only that, we see guilty people not only getting away with what they are doing but actually prospering. People are getting into power by trampling over others and using their power for evil, while the godly are marginalised and suffer hardships.

It was Martin Luther who said, "For every man on every occasion can find in the Book of Psalms words which fit his needs, which feels to be as appropriate as if they had been set there just for his sake.”

Psalm 37 was been given to us to teach us how to think and act when we see the wicked prospering while the righteous are in disgrace and adversity. How do we reconcile these two things in our minds? We can easily get sucked into a downward spiral of doubt, resentment and discouragement. But this Psalm can give us much understanding and encouragement in such times.

What not to do?

v1 "Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong."

v7 “Do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.

v8 “Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.”

How do we naturally react when we see the prevalence and flourishing of evil, injustice, oppression and wickedness? We fret. It’s not really a word we use too much in our vocabulary today, but the Hebrew word used in this Psalm literally means to get heated up. We start to boil on the inside with annoyance, frustration and anger. Why is God allowing this to happen? Why are they getting away with this? Why is nothing done about it?

One place you're sure to see people getting heated up about something is if you're sitting beside a passionate football fan as they watch their beloved team, and a refereeing decision doesn't go their way. Do they pause and reflect for a moment and, considering the rules of the game, evaluate how closely the decision was in line with those rules before calmly commenting on their conclusions and moving on?

No, they immediately gesticulate and shout angrily at the referee, who is clearly biased or holds a grudge against their team for some reason or other. And it doesn't stop there; the burning sense of injustice may last the rest of the day and beyond.

That is getting heated up.

David could also look back to an incident in his own life recorded in 1 Samuel 25 when David encountered Nabal. David had done Nabal an excellent service, protecting and taking care of Nabal's flocks, but Nabal, instead of rewarding David, insulted him. David burned with anger and picked up his sword and told his men ‘let’s go down and teach that guy a lesson!’ And he would have killed Nabal, and his household in his anger had Nabal's wife Abigail not wisely intercepted David and persuaded him otherwise.

God says to us, no. Don't get heated up when you see the prosperity of the wicked. Don't go down that road, for it only leads to evil. Because, like David, there is a danger that in your anger you end up following the same sinful course they are on.

Another temptation is to be envious of those who do wrong (v1.). You might say to yourself, ‘these people seem free to indulge their every desire, and they look like they're enjoying themselves. Meanwhile, what am I doing disciplining myself, restraining myself, and following God’s ways? I would rather be like them, be with them, and have a good time with them.’ And the temptation quickly grows to envy the wicked.

God knows we can be tempted both in these ways, so he warns us against these reactions.

Why?

But why? Why is it that we don't need to fret about or envy the wicked when they are prospering?

v2 "For like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away."

v9 "For those who are evil will be destroyed." 

v10 "A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found."

v20 "But the wicked will perish: Though the Lord’s enemies are like the flowers of the field, they will be consumed, they will go up in smoke." 

v35-36 "I have seen a wicked and ruthless man flourishing like a luxuriant native tree, but he soon passed away and was no more; though I looked for him, he could not be found." 

The answer is that we have no reason to because the prosperity they have will be short-lived. The wicked are compared throughout the Psalm to grass or flowers of the field that flourish only briefly and then wither away. The satisfaction of sin is fleeting and earthly treasures are confined to this short life and are of no value beyond the grave. Their joy will end at the moment of death, and all their worldly prosperity will be gone.

Psalm 73 is a psalm where the writer is also struggling with the prosperity of the wicked, and the turning point of the Psalm is verse 17, which says, “till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny." And that final destiny is not good. For every sin, there is a price to pay. There is no doubt in Psalm 37 that the ruin of the wicked is inevitable and will be complete.

The Psalmist wants us to gain proper perspective, for what we see today is not the end of the story. When I was at school, in English Literature, we studied the book ‘Of Mice and Men’ by John Steinbeck. Now in ‘Of Mice and Men’, if you know the story, something very shocking happens at the end of the book. Well, on the first day, when the books were being handed out, and I opened the front cover, someone had helpfully written in one short sentence what happens in the final chapter. Of course, this changed how I read the book, for in the back of my mind was this vital piece of knowledge, I knew where it was all leading to.

Knowing the conclusion might spoil a good novel, but it's of great benefit to us to know the ending of God's story. The goal of this Psalm is to give us an eternal perspective by telling us how the story will end for evil-doers and the righteous (as we will see later on).

But it was Dostoevsky who said, "Try to pose yourself the task, not to think of a polar bear, and you will see that the cursed thing will come to mind every minute." No, the way to stop yourself from thinking about polar bears is not to sit there telling yourself over and over again not to think about polar bears but to introduce a new thought to your mind.

And so God doesn't just give a negative command but a positive alternative we can give ourselves to instead. So instead of fretting about the prosperity of the wicked and envying them, what are we to do instead?

An Alternative

V3a "Trust in the Lord" 

The Psalmist calls us to place our confidence in the Lord. To put our trust and our hope in him. The Christian life is a life of faith, and we need to be growing in our faith by continually coming back to God's promises he has given us in his word. When we see things going wrong in our world and our lives, we need to go back to God's promises to remind us that he is still the Sovereign King over his creation.

Why do we trust someone? Think about the people that you trust most. Why do you trust them? Surely you trust them because you know their character. Now, what about God? Consider what God’s word tells us of his character and how he has revealed himself to you in his intervention in your life. Our trust in our God is based on what we know of his character.

But it doesn't stop there. This is not an invitation to sit back and relax. We are not to become a kind of faithful and trusting vegetable sitting there passively watching the world go by.

V3b "and do good."

v27 "Turn from evil and do good." 

Our faith is to show itself in action through serving God and walking in his ways. It is not to trust God and then do whatever you like. It's not trusting him and then testing his patience with your sin. It's not trusting in our own righteousness, either. No, trust in the Lord and do good.

And we are given some examples throughout the Psalm of what doing good looks like:

• V21 - “the righteous give generously”

• V26 - “They are always generous and lend freely”

While the wicked exploit the goodwill of others, we are called to give generously of what we have. This includes our wealth, our time, our energy, and our gifts for the advancement of God's kingdom and the welfare of those around us. You are called to use what God has given you and carry out the work he has given you to do in the situation he has placed you in.

• V30 - “The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom and their tongues speak what is just”

What we speak must be glorifying God and edifying others with the wisdom that comes from God.

• V31 - “The law of their God is in their hearts their feet do not slip.”

We are to receive the word of God into our hearts and let our lives be governed by it, for it is from the heart that our words and actions have their source. Take God's word as your guide and strength. Don't turn from it, but keep serving God and walking in his ways. Hate your sin and leave it behind, and do not become weary of doing good.

V4 "Take delight in the Lord"

We are to delight in the beauty of the Lord’s character and find our comfort in his loving kindness. For in God true satisfaction and joy are found. In Psalm 43, the Psalmist is feeling oppressed and rejected. What does he do? He says, "I will go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight."

The world likes to paint the Christian as a sombre individual that is scared to step out of line and can never enjoy themselves. But that is a lie of the Devil, and you could never come to that conclusion from reading the Bible. When talking about the believers, God’s word speaks of rejoicing, good news, blessing, and joy. When we are fretting, we quickly lose our joy. When you find yourself fretting come back to the Lord, for the Christian's joy is not dependent on circumstances or material possessions which change; our delight is in the Lord, who does not change.

Habukkuk displayed this when he said:

“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”

Are we delighting in the Lord? How can we tell? Think of two people who could be described as delighting in each other - how would they express it? Well they are probably spending a lot of time together, spending time talking to and listening to other person. Surely they would be lifting the other person up with their words and speaking in glowing terms about them to others.

It is the same we God; delighting in him will show itself in spending time with him, listening to the word he has given you, talking to him in prayer and praising him privately, with other people and to other people.

V5 "Commit your way to the Lord"

Commit here literally means to roll your burdens unto God. We will be burdened at times in this life, God tells us when we are to cast the burdens unto him and leave them with him. We can trust him with our burdens, for he works for the good of his children. This a repeated command throughout the Bible:

• Prov 16 v 3 - “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.”

• Psalm 55 v 22 - “Cast your cares on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.”

• 1 Peter 5 v 7 - “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

V7 "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him" 

We are called to be still and submit to God’s will, believing the God’s way is best and that he will accomplish his good purposes. Because remember, this is not the end of the story. Showing patience and quieting our souls is the exact opposite of fretting. It is not for us to know God’s timetable or to be informed of all his plans. Instead, he says to us, ‘Trust me and keep going, one foot in front of another, running the race. Don’t get distracted by the people around you running in different directions, you keep focused on the Lord.’

Waiting is a hard thing! Even waiting a few seconds while a video buffers can be infuriating. And yet we will wait if believe that what we are waiting for will be worth the wait.

This brings us to the promises.

Promises  

v23-24 The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.

The Lord will keep his people. While others may fall as the flimsy foundations they have built their lives on crumble away, those who trust in God have their houses built on the rock. And therefore, they have no reason to envy those dwelling in houses built on the sand. God's people can have joy and confidence that God will keep those who delight in him. We can stand firm in the Lord. Through afflicted, we will not be crushed, and though we stumble, we will not be cast down.

The stumbles of the Lord's people will not be final or permanent. We will not finally be overwhelmed by anything to Lord brings into our lives.

Unlike the promises of people, we can take this promise with confidence because the Lord Almighty is able to keep it no matter what. He has the power to keep us. The Lord is our security and he will ensure that we will not fall even as we go through the valley of the shadow of death.

v4 - He will give you the desires of your heart.

This is not an invitation to compose a sort of Santa list of all the things we might want. This is not a genie-in-a-bottle sort of scenario. We’ve got to look at v4 to see what precedes this promise. “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Whoever delights in the Lord will want and desire the things that are pleasing to him. If you delight yourself in the Lord, your desires will be in line with his for you. And what is his desire for you - that you be conformed to the image of His Son producing the good spiritual fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. There are many days, perhaps, when this is not our greatest desire, and we would rather we prosper in a different way by being successful, finding that someone or being free from that affliction. But God is interested in our ultimate good, and Psalm 84 v 11 says, “no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” For as Romans 8 v 32 says, “He who did not spare his own son – will he not also graciously give us all things.”

v11 -  "The meek will inherit the land" 

v18 - their inheritance will endure forever.

v22 - “those the Lord blesses will inherit the land" 

v29 - “The righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever." 

v34 - "He will exalt you to inherit the land;" 

One thing we know about an inheritance is that it is not earned, but it is passed from parents to their children. In the same way, God has given his children a glorious inheritance through Jesus. The promise here is that those who live a life of faith in Jesus, waiting on him and depending on him, will inherit the earth. When we serve sin, it is a cruel master that takes and takes and leaves us with nothing. But when we serve the Lord, he is a good master who provides for and rewards his servants. The Lord will see that we will receive our reward, and unlike the treasures of this world, the inheritance that God gives is incorruptible, secure and everlasting.

v11 "But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity"

v37 "Consider the blameless, observe the upright; a future awaits those who seek peace."

The last promise is peace. The righteous have peace in life, peace in death and peace beyond death. Peace with God and peace in God. Though the righteous may be poor and despised in this life, in the new heavens and the new earth there will no death, suffering or tears any longer. The future that awaits the righteous is a future of everlasting peace. If you are struggling today, child of God and wondering if it is all worth it, through this Psalm, your Heavenly Father gives you a definitive yes! He will bring you to the peace and safety of your eternal home, to the place your saviour has prepared for you.

Where are you in the Psalm?

To conclude, there is a crucial point we haven't addressed. Where are you in the Psalm?

The Psalm clearly talks about two separate groups:

• The wicked, those who do evil, those who do wrong and sinners

• the righteous, those whose ways are upright, the meek, the blameless and the just,

Which group do we belong to? In light of the contrasting destinies of both groups, it is a crucial question. Psalm 53 says that “there is no one who does good, not even one. None of us can say we’ve lived up to the standard presented in this Psalm. So are the promises in this Psalm unattainable? Are they just a cruel joke or a pointless pipe dream?

No, because the purpose of this Psalm ultimately is to point us to Jesus who is the one who fulfilled this Psalm perfectly. He was the true, righteous one and though the wicked seemed to prosper against him he trusted his Father, he committed his spirit to his Father, and he kept going on his way to the cross, that by the cross those that trust in him might receive his perfect righteousness.

Psalm 37 gives assurance to those trusting in Christ as their saviour, that have received this righteousness and follow him in it. If you have not trusted in Jesus you can have no such assurance, but it could be yours even today if you trust in Christ as your Lord and saviour.