Psalms 37:15

_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 CONVERSATION._ The wicked ... sword ... Their sword ... heart - (Psalms 7:15; Matthew 26:52; Revelation 13:10.) [Teth (T)]...

In the 15th verse, David is not speaking of the laughter of God, but is denouncing vengeance against the ungodly, just as we have already seen in the second psalm, at the fourth verse, that although God, by conniving at the wicked, has often suffered them for a time to run to every excess in mirth and rioting, yet he at length speaks to them in his anger to overthrow them. The amount of what is stated is, that the ungodly should prevail so little, that the sword which they had drawn should return into their own bowels, and that their bow should be broken in pieces....

7-20 Let us be satisfied that God will make all to work for good to us. Let us not discompose ourselves at what we see in this world. A fretful, discontented spirit is open to many temptations. For, in all respects, the little which is allotted to the righteous, is more comfortable and more profitable than the ill-gotten and abused riches of ungodly men. It comes from a hand of special love. God provides plentifully and well, not only for his working servants, but for his waiting servants. They have that which is better than wealth, peace of mind, peace with God, and then peace in God; that peace which the world cannot give, and which the world cannot have. God knows the believer's days. Not one day's work shall go unrewarded. Their time on earth is reckoned by days, which will soon be numbered; but heavenly happiness shall be for ever. This will be a real support to believers in evil t...

Verse Psalms 37:15. _THEIR SWORD SHALL ENTER INTO THEIR OWN HEART_] All their execrations and maledictions shall fall upon themselves, and their power to do mischief shall be _broken_....

THEIR SWORD SHALL ENTER INTO THEIR OWN HEART - Their purposes will recoil on themselves; or they will themselves suffer what they had devised for others. See the same sentiment expressed in Psalms 7:15; Psalms 9:15; compare Esther 7:10. AND THEIR BOWS SHALL BE BROKEN - They will be defeated in their plans. God will cut them off, and not suffer them to execute their designs....

EXPOSITION THIS is another of the alphabetical psalms (see above, Psalms 9:1; Psalms 25:1; and 34.), and, though more free from irregularities than the previous ones, is not altogether without them. While, generally, each letter heads a stanza consisting of two verses, there are three occasions on which the stanza assigned to a letter is formed of only one verse (see Psalms 37:7, Psalms 37:20, and Psalms 37:34). Further, there are two occasions when the stanza begins with a wrong letter, לtaking the place of ,ע and וof .ת The

THEIR SWORD SHALL ENTER INTO THEIR OWN HEART,.... As Saul's did into his, 1 Samuel 31:4; AND THEIR BOWS SHALL BE BROKEN; the meaning is, that their efforts shall be fruitless, and their attempts in vain; the mischief they have contrived and designed for others shall fall upon themselves; see Psalms 7:15; and therefore the saints should not be fretful and envious....

Let us read tonight part of the thirty-seventh Psalm. David here first of all dissuades himself and us from falling into a very common evil, that of envying the wicked because of their prosperity, and murmuring against God because we, perhaps, are not so highly favored in our earthly affairs. Psalms 37:1. _Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of inequity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb._ No one envies the grass, let it be never so green; no one envies flowers, let them be never so fragrant, for we know that grass must be cut, and that flowers must wither. Let us look upon the wicked in the same light; their time of perishing shall soon come, their end hasteth on apace; therefore, let all envying be out of the question, since they are such short-lived beings....

Psalms 37 The Blessed Lot of the Righteous Contrasted with the Wicked _ 1. Waiting for Jehovah and His promise (Psalms 37:1)_ 2. The doom of the wicked and the portion of the righteous (Psalms 37:12) 3. The ways of the righteous and the wicked (Psalms 37:21) 4. God's gracious ways with the righteous (Psalms 37:30) This Psalm is also alphabetical in structure and somewhat proverbial in character. It is full of sweet comfort and encouragement to faith. All the saints of God have fed on its beautiful statements,

XXXVII. An acrostic poem. Its object is to teach patience and hope. The pious Jews, the Hasidim of Psalms 4:3 * who observe the Law strictly, are at present poor and oppressed. They are to wait for the end, when God will separate the good from the bad and will recompense men according to their deserts. PSALMS 37:1 agrees almost verbally with Proverbs 29:14. For the envy intended, see Psalms 73:3. Psalms 37:4_ a_. Render as _mg._ Godly men find their delight in Yahweh because they do His will, and He in return answers their praye