Don’t get worked up. Trust the Lord.

Psalm 37 is a wisdom psalm written by David towards the end of his life (v.25). The psalm is an acrostic poem following the Hebrew alphabet. The wisdom of the psalm teaches us the outcome of the wicked and the righteous.

vv.1–11—God’s people are not to “fret” (vv. 1, 7, and 8) over the prosperity of the wicked. Their time is coming, and the Lord will bring them to an end. Instead, God’s people are to trust the Lord, delight in Him, be still/silent, and put away anger. It will be the meek who inherit the land and not the wicked who operate by their corruption.

—Fret not: Don’t get worked up or overly excited.

—Commit: roll your concerns onto the Lord.

—The land: 3, 9, 11, 22, 29, and 34. The land is a central theme to the psalm and reminds the readers of God’s early promise to Abraham and his descendants that they would dwell in the land the Lord promised. In the Mosaic covenant, the Lord said that His people would remain in the land so long as they kept their vows and were loyal to Him.

vv. 12–26—The wicked’s day is coming. But even now, the Lord does not forsake His children. Instead, they are blessed and a blessing. This section wants us to compare the actions of the wicked with the righteous and see how the Lord cares for His people while also dealing with the wicked as they deserve.

—The Lord’s laughter is a mockery of the feeble efforts of the wicked.

—v.15 is a possible allusion to King Saul in 1 Samuel 31:5.

vv.27–40—No matter what the wicked may be doing today, the righteous are to do what’s right and look ahead to the future. The Lord is their salvation and will deal with the wicked at the appropriate time.