Psalm 37 is the 37th psalm of the

Book of Psalms The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived f ...

, beginning in English in the

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...

: "Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity". The Book of Psalms is part of the

third section The Third Section of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery (russian: Tretiye Otdeleniye, or ''III otdeleniye sobstvennoy E.I.V. kantselyarii'' - in full: Третье отделение Собственной Его Императорского В ...

of the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...

, and a book of the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

. In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond th ...

and Latin

Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...

translations of the Bible, this psalm is Psalm 36. In Latin, it is known as Noli aemulari in malignantibus. The psalm has the form of an

acrostic An acrostic is a poem or other word composition in which the ''first'' letter (or syllable, or word) of each new line (or paragraph, or other recurring feature in the text) spells out a word, message or the alphabet. The term comes from the Fre ...

Hebrew poem,New American Bible, Revised Edition
Note on Psalm 37
accessed 21 March 2021 and is thought to have been written by

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

in his old age.

Charles H. Spurgeon Charles Haddon Spurgeon (19 June 1834 – 31 January 1892) was an English Particular Baptist preacher. Spurgeon remains highly influential among Christians of various denominations, among whom he is known as the "Prince of Preachers". He wa ...

Treasury of David (The Sword and the Trowel Magazine, 1885)
/ref> The psalm forms a regular part of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

and other Protestant liturgies. It has inspired hymns based on it, and has been

set to music Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics *Set (mathematics), a collection of elements *Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively Electro ...

, by Baroque composers such as

Heinrich Schütz Heinrich Schütz (; 6 November 1672) was a German early Baroque composer and organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as one of the most important composers of the 17th century. He ...

as well as romantic composers such as

Anton Bruckner Josef Anton Bruckner (; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist best known for his symphonies, masses, Te Deum and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-Germ ...

Text

Hebrew Bible version

The following is the Hebrew text of Psalm 37:

King James Version

# Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. # For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. # Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. # Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. # Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. # And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. # Rest in the LORD, 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. # Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. # For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. # For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. # But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. # The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. # The LORD shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming. # 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. # Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken. # A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked. # For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the LORD upholdeth the righteous. # The LORD knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever. # They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied. # But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away. # The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth. # For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off. # The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. # Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand. # I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. # He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed. # Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore. # For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. # The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever. # The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment. # The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide. # The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him. # The LORD will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged. # Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it. # I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. # Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found. # Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace. # But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off. # But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble. # And the LORD shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.

Interpretation

Psalm 37 is a response to the problem of evil, which the

often expresses as a question: why do the wicked prosper and the good suffer? In the

New American Bible, Revised Edition New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

, published by the

Catholic Church in the USA With 23 percent of the United States' population , the Catholic Church is the country's second largest religious grouping, after Protestantism, and the country's largest single church or Christian denomination where Protestantism is divided in ...

, the psalm answers that this situation is only temporary: God will reverse things, rewarding the good and punishing the wicked here on earth. This interpretation is shared by

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

Matthew Henry Matthew Henry (18 October 166222 June 1714) was a Nonconformist (Protestantism), Nonconformist minister and author, who was born in Wales but spent much of his life in England. He is best known for the six-volume biblical commentary ''Exposition ...

calls it David's call to patience and confidence in God by the state of the godly and the wicked.

Charles Spurgeon Charles Haddon Spurgeon (19 June 1834 – 31 January 1892) was an English Particular Baptist preacher. Spurgeon remains highly influential among Christians of various denominations, among whom he is known as the "Prince of Preachers". He wa ...

calls it "the great riddle of the prosperity of the wicked and the affliction of the righteous". It is written as an

and divided into discrete sections. Each section ends with God's resolution of the question. The psalm has also been understood as a prayer of the persecuted who has taken refuge in the

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

or figuratively of refuge in God. The psalm concludes with a plea to God for those who honor him, to bless them with his justice and to protect them from the snares of the wicked. The theme of inheriting the land reoccurs five times in this Psalm (in verses 9, 11, 22, 29 and 34). Prior to this in

Psalm 25 Psalm 25 is the 25th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul.". The Book of Psalms is part of the third section of the Hebrew Bible, and a book of the Christian Old T ...

:13 the rich as also said to inherit the land as well. Albert Barnes also compares the wicked being cut off in psalm 37:2 and 10 with the wicked being cut off in

Psalm 73 Psalm 73 (Masoretic numbering, psalm 72 in Greek numbering) is the opening psalm of Book 3 of the Book of Psalms and the second of the "Psalms of Asaph". It has been categorized as one of the Wisdom literature , Wisdom Psalms", but some writers ar ...

:27.

Uses

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

*Verse 21 is found in

Pirkei Avot Pirkei Avot ( he, פִּרְקֵי אָבוֹת; also transliterated as ''Pirqei Avoth'' or ''Pirkei Avos'' or ''Pirke Aboth''), which translates to English as Chapters of the Fathers, is a compilation of the ethics, ethical teachings and Maxim ...

Chapter 2, no. 14. *Verse 25 is part of the final paragraph of

Birkat Hamazon Birkat Hamazon ( he, בִּרְכַּת הַמָּזוׂן, The Blessing of the Food), known in English as the Grace After Meals ( yi, ; translit. ''bentschen'' or "to bless", Yinglish: Bentsching), is a set of Hebrew blessings that Jewish l ...

New Testament

The

Beatitudes The Beatitudes are sayings attributed to Jesus, and in particular eight blessings recounted by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew, and four in the Sermon on the Plain in the Gospel of Luke, followed by four woes which mirr ...

in the New Testament are influenced by this psalm. Verse 11 was cited by

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

in Matthew 5:5. The original reads, : ''But the meek shall inherit the earth;'' :: ''and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.''

Islam

"The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever" is referenced in the

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...

Book of Common Prayer

In the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

's ''

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...

'', this psalm is appointed to be read on the evening of the seventh day of the month.Church of England
Book of Common Prayer: The Psalter
as printed by

John Baskerville John Baskerville (baptised 28 January 1707 – 8 January 1775) was an English businessman, in areas including japanning and papier-mâché, but he is best remembered as a printer and type designer. He was also responsible for inventing "wov ...

in 1762, pp. 196ff

Musical settings

wrote a setting of a paraphrase of Psalm 37 in German, "Erzürn dich nicht so sehre",

SWV SWV (Sisters with Voices) is an American R&B vocal trio from New York City whose members are Cheryl (Coko) Gamble, Tamara (Taj) Johnson, and Leanne (Lelee) Lyons. Formed in 1988 as a gospel group, SWV became one of the most successful R&B g ...

134, for the '' Becker Psalter'', published first in 1628. Verses 30–31 in Latin were set by

as "Os Justi" in 1879.

References

External links

* * * in Hebrew and English - Mechon-mamre * Text of Psalm 37 according to th
1928 Psalter

Of David. / Do not be provoked by evildoers; do not envy those who do wrong.
text and footnotes, usccb.org United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

introduction and text, biblestudytools.com
Psalm 37 – "Wisdom Over Worry"
enduringword.com
Psalm 37 / Refrain: The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord.

Psalm 37
at biblegateway.com
Hymns for Psalm 37
hymnary.org {{Psalms 037 Works attributed to David