The Eastern Cross/Bible/Psalms/Psalm 36
The Book of Psalms · the Psalter
Psalm 37 in the KJV and most English Bibles
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A Psalm of David. Fret not thyself because of evildoers, Neither be envious of them that do iniquity.
Τῷ Δαυίδ. Μὴ παραζήλου ἐν πονηρευομένοις, μηδὲ ζήλου τοὺς ποιοῦντας τὴν ἀνομίαν.
"Be not envious because of evil-doers, neither be envious against the workers of iniquity" (ver. 1). "For they shall soon wither like the grass, and shall fade like the herbs of the meadow" (ver. 2). That which to thee seemeth long, is "soon" in the sight of God. Conform thou thyself to God; and it will be "soon" to…
For they shall soon be withered as the grass, And shall soon fall away as the green herbs.
Ὅτι ὡσεὶ χόρτος ταχὺ ἀποξηρανθήσονται, καὶ ὡσεὶ λάχανα χλόης ταχὺ ἀποπεσοῦνται.
Hope in the Lord, and do good; And dwell on the land, and thou shalt be fed with the wealth of it.
Ἔλπισον ἐπὶ Κύριον, καὶ ποίει χρηστότητα, καὶ κατασκήνου τὴν γῆν, καὶ ποιμανθήσῃ ἐπὶ τῷ πλούτῳ αὐτῆς.
What should you do then? "Trust in the Lord". For they too trust, but not "in the Lord." Their hope is perishable. Their hope is short-lived, frail, fleeting, transitory, baseless. "Trust thou in the Lord." "Behold," you say, "I do trust; what am I to do?" "And do good." Do not do that evil which you behold in those…
Delight thyself in the Lord; And he shall grant thee the requests of thy heart.
Κατατρύφησον τοῦ Κυρίου, καὶ δώσει σοι τὰ αἰτήματα τῆς καρδίας σου.
Disclose thy way to the Lord, And hope in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
Ἀποκάλυψον πρὸς Κύριον τὴν ὁδόν σου, καὶ ἔλπισον ἐπʼ αὐτὸν, καὶ αὐτὸς ποιήσει.
"Behold" (you say), "I do long after it, I do ask for it, I do desire it. Shall I then accomplish it?" No. Who shall then? "Reveal your way unto the Lord: trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass". Mention to Him what you suffer, mention to Him what thou dost desire. For what is it that you suffer? "The flesh…
And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, And thy judgment as the noonday.
Καὶ ἐξοίσει ὡς φῶς τὴν δικαιοσύνην σου, καὶ τὸ κρίμα σου ὡς μεσημβρίαν.
Submit thyself to the Lord, and supplicate him: Fret not thyself because of him that prospers in his way, At the man that does unlawful deeds.
Ὑποτάγηθι τῷ Κυρίῳ, καὶ ἱκέτευσον αὐτόν· μὴ παραζήλου ἐν τῷ κατευοδουμένῳ ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ αὐτοῦ, ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ ποιοῦντι παρανομίας.
"What should I do then?" Hear what thou shouldest do. "Submit thee to the Lord, and entreat Him." Be this thy life, to obey His commandments. For this is to submit thee to Him; and to entreat Him until He give thee what He hath promised. Let good works "continue;" let prayer "continue." For "men ought always to pray,…
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: Fret not thyself so as to do evil.
Παῦσαι ἀπὸ ὀργῆς καὶ ἐνκατάλιπε θυμὸν, μὴ παραζήλου ὥστε πονηρεύεσθαι.
"Cease from anger, and forsake wrath." Wherefore art thou wroth? Wherefore is it that, through that passion and indignation, thou dost blaspheme, or almost blaspheme? Against "the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass, cease from anger, and forsake wrath." Knowest thou not whither that wrath tempts thee on? Thou art…
For evildoers shall be destroyed: But they that wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the land.
Ὅτι οἱ πονηρευόμενοι ἐξολοθρευθήσονται, οἱ δὲ ὑπομένοντες τὸν Κύριον, αὐτοὶ κληρονομήσουσι τὴν γῆν.
"For evil-doers shall be cut off". "But I see their prosperity." Believe Him who says, "they shall be cut off;" Him who sees better than thou, since His eye anger cannot cloud. "For evil-doers shall be cut off. But those that wait upon the Lord,"— not upon any one that can deceive them; but verily on Him who is the…
And yet a little while, and the sinner shall not be, And thou shalt seek for his place, and shalt not find it.
Καὶ ἔτι ὀλίγον καὶ οὐ μὴ ὑπάρξῃ ἁμαρτωλὸς, καὶ ζητήσεις τὸν τόπον αὐτοῦ, καὶ οὐ μὴ εὕρῃς.
"But how long is the sinner to flourish? How long shall I have to endure?" Thou art impatient; that which seems long to thee, will soon come to pass. It is infirmity makes that seem long, which is really short, as is found in the case of the longings of sick men. Nothing seems so long as the mixing of the potion for…
But the meek shall inherit the earth; And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
Οἱ δὲ πρᾳεῖς κληρονομήσουσι γῆν, καὶ κατατρυφήσουσιν ἐπὶ πλήθει εἰρήνης.
"But the meek shall inherit the land" (ver. 11). That land is the one of which we have often spoken, the holy Jerusalem, which is to be released from these her pilgrimages, and to live for ever with God, and on God. Therefore, "They shall inherit the land." What shall be their delight? "And they shall delight…
The sinner will watch for the righteous, And gnash his teeth upon him.
Παρατηρήσεται ὁ ἁμαρτωλὸς τὸν δίκαιον, καὶ βρύξει ἐπʼ αὐτὸν τοὺς ὀδόντας αὐτοῦ.
But the Lord shall laugh at him: For he foresees that his day will come.
Ὁ δὲ Κύριος ἐκγελάσεται αὐτὸν, ὅτι προβλέτει ὅτι ἥξει ἡ ἡμέρα αὐτοῦ.
Then follow these words: "The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth" (ver. 12): "But the Lord shall laugh at him" (ver. 13). At whom? Surely at the sinner, "gnashing upon" the other "with his teeth." But wherefore shall the Lord "laugh at him"? "For He foreseeth that his day is…
"The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright heart" (ver. 14). "Their weapon shall enter into their own heart" (ver. 15). It is an easy thing for his weapon, that is, his sword, to reach thy body, even as the sword of the persecutors…
"And their bows shall be broken." What is meant by, "And their bows shall be broken"? Their plots shall be frustrated. For above He had said, "The wicked have drawn out the sword and bent their bows." By the "drawing out of the sword" he would have understood open hostility; but by the" bending of the bow," secret…
..."For the arms of the wicked shall be broken" (ver. 17). Now by "their arms" is meant their power. What will he do in hell? Will it be what the rich man had to do, he who was wont "to fare sumptuously" in the upper world, and in hell "was tormented"? Therefore their arms shall be broken; "but the Lord upholdeth the…
..."The Lord knoweth the ways of the spotless ones" (ver. 18). When they suffer ills, they are believed to be walking ill ways by those who are ignorant, by those who have not knowledge to discern "the ways of the spotless ones." He who "knoweth those ways," knoweth by what way to lead His own, "them that are gentle,"…
"They shall not be ashamed in the evil time" (ver. 19). In the day of trouble, in the day of distress, they shall not be "ashamed," as he is ashamed whose hope deceives him. Who is the man that is "ashamed"? He who saith, "I have not found that which I was in hopes of." Nor undeservedly either; for thou didst hope it…
"For the wicked shall perish. But the enemies of the Lord, when they shall begin to glory, and to be lifted up, immediately shall consume away utterly, even as the smoke" (ver. 20). Recognise from the comparison itself the thing which he intimates. Smoke, breaking forth from the place where fire has been, rises up on…
"The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again." He receiveth, and will not repay. What is it he will not repay? Thanksgiving. For what is it that God would have of thee, what doth He require of thee, except that He may do thee good? And how great are the benefits which the sinner hath received, and which he will not…
"I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread". If it is spoken but in the person of one single individual, how long is the whole life of one man? And what is there wonderful in the circumstance, that a single man, fixed in some one part of the earth, should…
Observe therefore what follows, and be not slothful. "Depart from evil, and do good". Do not think it to be enough for you to do, if you dost not strip the man who is already clothed. For in not stripping the man who is already clothed, you have indeed "departed from evil:" but do not be barren, and wither. So choose…
"The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom" (ver. 30). See here is that "bread." Observe with what satisfaction this righteous man feedeth upon it; how he turns wisdom over and over in his mouth. "And his tongue talketh of judgment."
"The law of his God is in his heart". Lest haply you should think him to have that on his lips, which he has not in his heart, lest you should reckon him among those of whom it is said, "This people honour Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me." [Isaiah 29:13] And of what use is this to him? "And none of…
"The wicked watches the righteous, and seeks to slay him". For he says, what it was foretold in the book of Wisdom that he should say, "He is grievous unto us, even to behold; for his life is not like other men's." [Wisdom 2:15] Therefore he "seeks to slay him." What? Does the Lord, who keeps him, who dwells with him,…
"The wicked therefore watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him. But the Lord will not leave him in his hands" (ver. 33). Wherefore then did He leave the Martyrs in the hands of the ungodly? Wherefore did they do unto them "whatsoever they would"? Some they slew with the sword; some they crucified; some they…
"Wait on the Lord" (ver. 34). And while I am waiting upon Him, what am I to do?-"and keep His ways." And if I keep them, what am I to receive? "And He shall exalt thee to inherit the land." "What land"? Once more let not any estate suggest itself to your mind:-the land of which it is said, "Come, ye blessed of My…
"I have seen the ungodly lifted up on high, and rising above the cedars of Libanus". And suppose him to be "lifted up on high;" suppose him to be towering above the "rest;" what follows?
"I passed by, and, lo, he was not! I sought him, and his place could nowhere be found!" (ver. 36). Why was he "no more, and his place nowhere to be found"? Because thou hast "passed by." But if thou art yet carnally-minded, and that earthly prosperity appears to thee to be true happiness, thou hast not yet "passed by"…
"Keep innocency" (ver. 37); keep it even as thou usedst to keep thy purse, when thou wert covetous; even as thou usedst to hold fast that purse, that it might not be snatched from thy grasp by the thief, even so "keep innocency," lest that be snatched from thy grasp by the devil. Be that thy sure inheritance, of which…
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