1). The Wise Thing To Do Is Not To Fret When The Wicked Appear To Prosper, But Rather To Trust And Rest In YHWH (Aleph to Waw - Psalms 37:1-9) .
Those who are wise will not allow fretting or anger to possess them in the face of the behaviour of the unrighteous, but will instead trust in YHWH, commit their way to Him, and then confidently rest in Him, for they can know that what they have is permanent, while what the unrighteous have is temporary and will pass away (compare Matthew 6:19-20).
A ‘Do not fret yourself because of evildoers,
Nor be you envious against those who work unrighteousness.
For they will soon be cut down like the grass,
And wither as the green herb.'
It is often so easy to look around at the prosperity of evildoers and find it a great burden on the heart. It all seems so strange. Why do the wicked prosper, and the good suffer? Why does evil appear to triumph? However, the Psalmist tells us not to fret at such things, nor to be envious of those who work unrighteousness. Rather than fretting we are to turn to trusting prayer, rather than being envious we are to consider all the blessings that are ours in God.
For he reminds us that the unrighteous are not really to be envied. We should remember that their time is but short in the light of eternity. They may appear to be prospering, but the truth is that they will soon be cut down like mown grass, and will wither like the green herb subjected to the burning sun. For them there is no future, and their ‘blessings' are but temporary. After that before them lies only darkness and emptiness.
B ‘Trust in YHWH, and do good,
Dwell in the land, and feed on his faithfulness.
Delight yourself also in YHWH,
And he will give you the desires of your heart.
G Commit your way to YHWH,
Trust also in him, and he will bring it about.
And he will make your righteousness to go forth as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.'
Notice the threefold command in Psalms 37:3-7, ‘trust in YHWH', ‘commit your way to YHWH', ‘rest in YHWH'. Here is the secret of the spiritual life. First trust and response to God, then commitment of our ways to God resulting in confidence in Him and obedience, and finally rest and contentment as we do trust in Him.
“Peace perfect peace, in this dark world of sin?
The blood of Jesus whispers peace within.”
Peace perfect peace, the future all unknown?
Jesus we know and He is on the throne.
The first thing that we note is that the one who trusts in YHWH and delights in Him, and thus ‘does good', the One Who dwells in the Lord's land and walks in His presence and feeds on His faithfulness, and delights himself in YHWH, will receive the desires of his heart. And what are the desires of his heart? They are that he might know YHWH better and rejoice in the light of His countenance and presence, and that he himself might be enabled to shine as a light in a dark world, that men might see his good works and glorify his Father Who is in Heaven (Matthew 5:16). And these blessings he knows that he will receive in all their fullness.
‘Delight yourself in YHWH.' Certainly it is good for us to meditate on Who He is and on His love, and to delight in Him as our Father and our God, but in parallel with the next foursome (compare also Isaiah 58:14) perhaps we should translate (equally permissibly) as ‘So shall you delight yourself in YHWH', linking more directly with trusting in YHWH. Then the thought is that our trust in Him is what results in our delight in Him. Both ideas are of course equally true and valuable. We should delight in Him because we trust Him and rely on Him, and we should also delight in Him for His own sake.
‘Feed on His faithfulness.' Just as the contented sheep enjoy the green pastures provided by Him (Psalms 23:2), so should they feed on His faithfulness, knowing that as a result they are safe from all their enemies and will receive all that they need (compare John 10:27-28).
And as he trusts in YHWH and delights in Him, he is also to commit his way to YHWH. This is literally ‘roll your way on YHWH'. The burden may be too heavy to lift, but it can be rolled onto YHWH. Then the Christian can know that in response to his trust and commitment, YHWH will take over responsibility for his burden and will bring about His will with regard to it. He will indeed bring him in the way that his hearts seeks. He will make his righteousness go forth as the light, shining forth on men so as to enlighten others and enable them to rejoice in the glory of God. And he will make the Christian's ‘justice', his truth and rightness, to be like the noonday, glorious and unshadowed in any way. ‘Reflecting as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, they will be changed from glory into glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord' (2 Corinthians 3:18) as they walk in God's light (1 John 1:5-7).
D ‘Rest in YHWH, and wait patiently for him,
Do not fret yourself because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who does craft things.
H Cease from anger, and forsake wrath,
Do not fret yourself, it tends only to evildoing.
For evildoers will be cut off,
But those that wait for YHWH,
They will inherit the land.'
So rather than fretting at what they cannot understand, they are to rest in YHWH. They are to wait patiently for Him to intervene and Himself bring about His purposes and His will, confident that all is in His hands.
The literal Hebrew is ‘be silent to YHWH', that is, be still before Him in the calmness and certainty of faith. ‘In returning and rest you will be saved, in quietness and confidence will be your strength' (Isaiah 30:15; compare Isaiah 7:4).
What they are not to do is fret at the prospering of the wicked, the men who bring about wicked devices, and do crafty things, even though God allows such people to have their evil way for a time. They must wait patiently for God and not allow themselves to be gripped by anger. If it arises within them they must quell it. They must ‘cease from anger, and forsake wrath'. For the only person whom they will harm by their anger is themselves. They must not fret themselves, for the only result of that will be that they also do evil. And then they will be just as bad as those about whom they are fretting.
This does not mean that we should not be concerned about injustice against others, especially the weak and the poor. It is the building up of passions within ourselves that is to be rejected. Where we can actually intervene and bring about good in love and righteousness we should certainly do so. But we must remember that ‘the wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God' (James 1:20). And meanwhile we must ‘bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, pray for those who use you badly' (Luke 6:27-28).
Indeed we must rather remember that such evildoers will be ‘cut off', and must therefore ourselves steer clear of such a catastrophe by living for Him and in His ways. For in the end it is those who wait for YHWH, those who are patient because their trust is in Him, who will finally ‘inherit the land', that is, will receive all the good that God has promised. The wicked may appear to hold sway for a time, but in the end it is God's people who will triumph and who will indeed one day possess all things.
Probably in mind here is what happened when God's redeemed people entered Canaan. Their enemy were cut off from among them. But then they dallied in the ways of the Canaanites and in the end they lost out on the land. In contrast those who waited for YHWH did finally inherit the land. God's ways might move forward slowly, but in the end they are very sure.