Psalms 37

He Will Not Forsake His Saints

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▼ This psalm is an acrostic poem, each stanza beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet
 Of David.

1  b Fret not yourself because of evildoers;
be not c envious of wrongdoers!
 2 For they will soon d fade like e the grass
and wither f like the green herb.
 3  g Trust in the  Lord, and do good;
h dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. ▼
▼ Or  and feed on faithfulness, or  and find safe pasture

 4  j Delight yourself in the  Lord,
and he will k give you the desires of your heart.
 5  l Commit your way to the  Lord;
m trust in him, and he will act.
 6  n He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
and your justice as o the noonday.
 7  p Be still before the  Lord and wait patiently for him;
q fret not yourself over the one who r prospers in his way,
over the man who carries out evil devices!
 8  s Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
t Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
 9  u For the evildoers shall be cut off,
but those who wait for the  Lord shall v inherit the land.
 10  In w just a little while, the wicked will be no more;
though you look carefully at x his place, he will not be there.
 11 But y the meek shall inherit the land
and delight themselves in z abundant peace.
 12  The wicked aa plots against the righteous
and ab gnashes his teeth at him,
 13 but the Lord ac laughs at the wicked,
for he sees that his ad day is coming.
 14  The wicked draw the sword and ae bend their bows
to bring down the poor and needy,
to slay those whose af way is upright;
 15 their sword shall enter their own heart,
and their ag bows shall be broken.
 16  ah Better is the little that the righteous has
than the abundance of many wicked.
 17 For ai the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
but the  Lord aj upholds the righteous.
 18  The  Lord ak knows the days of the blameless,
and their al heritage will remain forever;
 19 they are not put to shame in evil times;
in am the days of famine they have abundance.
 20  But the wicked will perish;
the enemies of the  Lord are like an the glory of the pastures;
they vanish—like ao smoke they vanish away.
 21  The wicked borrows but does not pay back,
but the righteous ap is generous and gives;
 22 for those blessed by the  Lord ▼
▼ Hebrew  by him
 shall ar inherit the land,
but those cursed by him as shall be cut off.
 23  The at steps of a man are au established by the  Lord,
when he delights in his way;
 24  av though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,
for the  Lord aw upholds his hand.
 25  I have been young, and now am old,
yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
or his children ax begging for bread.
 26 He is ever ay lending generously,
and his children become a blessing.
 27  az Turn away from evil and do good;
so shall you ba dwell forever.
 28 For the  Lord bb loves justice;
he will not forsake his bc saints.
They are preserved forever,
but the children of the wicked shall be bd cut off.
 29 The righteous shall inherit the land
and be dwell upon it forever.
 30  The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,
and his tongue speaks justice.
 31  bf The law of his God is in his heart;
his bg steps do not slip.
 32  The wicked bh watches for the righteous
and seeks to put him to death.
 33 The  Lord will not bi abandon him to his power
or let him bj be condemned when he is brought to trial.
 34  bk Wait for the  Lord and keep his way,
and he will exalt you to inherit the land;
you will look on bl when the wicked are cut off.
 35  bm I have seen a wicked, ruthless man,
spreading himself like bn a green laurel tree. ▼
▼ The identity of this tree is uncertain

 36 But he passed away, ▼
▼ Or  But one passed by
 and behold bq he was no more;
though I sought him, he could not be found.
 37  Mark the blameless and behold the upright,
for there is a future for the man of br peace.
 38 But bs transgressors shall be altogether destroyed;
the future of the wicked bt shall be cut off.
 39  bu The salvation of the righteous is from the  Lord;
he is their stronghold in bv the time of trouble.
 40 The  Lord helps them and bw delivers them;
bx he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they by take refuge in him.
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