Psalm 37

A David Psalm

1-2 Don't bother your head with braggarts or wish you could succeed like the wicked. In no time they'll shrivel like grass clippings and wilt like cut flowers in the sun.
3-4 Get insurance with God and do a good deed, settle down and stick to your last. Keep company with God, get in on the best.
5-6 Open up before God, keep nothing back; he'll do whatever needs to be done: He'll validate your life in the clear light of day and stamp you with approval at high noon.
7 Quiet down before God, be prayerful before him. Don't bother with those who climb the ladder, who elbow their way to the top.
8-9 Bridle your anger, trash your wrath, cool your pipes—it only makes things worse. Before long the crooks will be bankrupt; God-investors will soon own the store.
10-11 Before you know it, the wicked will have had it; you'll stare at his once famous place and—nothing! Down-to-earth people will move in and take over, relishing a huge bonanza.
12-13 Bad guys have it in for the good guys, obsessed with doing them in. But God isn't losing any sleep; to him they're a joke with no punch line.
14-15 Bullies brandish their swords, pull back on their bows with a flourish. They're out to beat up on the harmless, or mug that nice man out walking his dog. A banana peel lands them flat on their faces— slapstick figures in a moral circus.
16-17 Less is more and more is less. One righteous will outclass fifty wicked, For the wicked are moral weaklings but the righteous are God-strong.
18-19 God keeps track of the decent folk; what they do won't soon be forgotten. In hard times, they'll hold their heads high; when the shelves are bare, they'll be full.
20 God-despisers have had it; God's enemies are finished— Stripped bare like vineyards at harvest time, vanished like smoke in thin air.
21-22 Wicked borrows and never returns; Righteous gives and gives. Generous gets it all in the end; Stingy is cut off at the pass.
23-24 Stalwart walks in step with God; his path blazed by God, he's happy. If he stumbles, he's not down for long; God has a grip on his hand.
25-26 I once was young, now I'm a graybeard— not once have I seen an abandoned believer, or his kids out roaming the streets. Every day he's out giving and lending, his children making him proud.
27-28 Turn your back on evil, work for the good and don't quit. God loves this kind of thing, never turns away from his friends.
29 Live this way and you've got it made, but bad eggs will be tossed out. The good get planted on good land and put down healthy roots.
30-31 Righteous chews on wisdom like a dog on a bone, rolls virtue around on his tongue. His heart pumps God's Word like blood through his veins; his feet are as sure as a cat's.
32-33 Wicked sets a watch for Righteous, he's out for the kill. God, alert, is also on watch— Wicked won't hurt a hair of his head.
34 Wait passionately for God, don't leave the path. He'll give you your place in the sun while you watch the wicked lose it.
35-36 I saw Wicked bloated like a toad, croaking pretentious nonsense. The next time I looked there was nothing— a punctured bladder, vapid and limp.
37-38 Keep your eye on the healthy soul, scrutinize the straight life; There's a future in strenuous wholeness. But the willful will soon be discarded; insolent souls are on a dead-end street.
39-40 The spacious, free life is from God, it's also protected and safe. God-strengthened, we're delivered from evil— when we run to him, he saves us.

Psalm 37

1 Fret not thyself because of evil-doers, Neither be thou envious against them that work unrighteousness.

2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, And wither as the green herb.

3 Trust in Jehovah, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on his faithfulness.

4 Delight thyself also in Jehovah; And he will give thee the desires of thy heart.

5 Commit thy way unto Jehovah; Trust also in him, and he will bring it to pass.

6 And he will make thy righteousness to go forth as the light, And thy justice as the noon-day.

7 Rest in Jehovah, and wait patiently for him: Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, Because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: Fret not thyself, it tendeth only to evil-doing.

9 For evil-doers shall be cut off; But those that wait for Jehovah, they shall inherit the land.

10 For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: Yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and he shall not be.

11 But the meek shall inherit the land, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

12 The wicked plotteth against the just, And gnasheth upon him with his teeth.

13 The Lord will laugh at him; For he seeth that his day is coming.

14 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.

15 Their sword shall enter into their own heart, And their bows shall be broken.

16 Better is a little that the righteous hath Than the abundance of many wicked.

17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken; But Jehovah upholdeth the righteous.

18 Jehovah knoweth the days of the perfect; And their inheritance shall be for ever.

19 They shall not be put to shame in the time of evil; And in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.

20 But the wicked shall perish, And the enemies of Jehovah shall be as the fat of lambs: They shall consume; In smoke shall they consume away.

21 The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again; But the righteous dealeth graciously, and giveth.

22 For such as are blessed of him shall inherit the land; And they that are cursed of him shall be cut off.

23 A man’s goings are established of Jehovah; And he delighteth in his way.

24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For Jehovah upholdeth him with his hand.

25 I have been young, and now am old; Yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his seed begging bread.

26 All the day long he dealeth graciously, and lendeth; And his seed is blessed.

27 Depart from evil, and do good; And dwell for evermore.

28 For Jehovah loveth justice, And forsaketh not his saints; They are preserved for ever: But the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.

29 The righteous shall inherit the land, And dwell therein for ever.

30 The mouth of the righteous talketh of wisdom, And his tongue speaketh justice.

31 The law of his God is in his heart; None of his steps shall slide.

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

33 Jehovah will not leave him in his hand, Nor condemn him when he is judged.

34 Wait for Jehovah, and keep his way, And he will exalt thee to inherit the land: When the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.

35 I have seen the wicked in great power, And spreading himself like a green tree in its native soil.

36 But one passed by, and, lo, he was not: Yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.

37 Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright; For there is a happy end to the man of peace.

38 As for transgressors, they shall be destroyed together; The end of the wicked shall be cut off.

39 But the salvation of the righteous is of Jehovah; He is their stronghold in the time of trouble.

40 And Jehovah helpeth them, and rescueth them; He rescueth them from the wicked, and saveth them, Because they have taken refuge in him.