Psalm 37:16-26 NKJV
16 A little that a righteous man has
Is better than the riches of many wicked.
17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
But the Lord upholds the righteous.
18 The Lord knows the days of the upright,
And their inheritance shall be forever.
19 They shall not be ashamed in the evil time,
And in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
20 But the wicked shall perish;
And the enemies of the Lord,
Like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish.
Into smoke they shall vanish away.
21 The wicked borrows and does not repay,
But the righteous shows mercy and gives.
22 For those blessed by Him shall inherit the earth,
But those cursed by Him shall be cut off.
23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord,
And He delights in his way.
24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;
For the Lord upholds him with His hand.
25 I have been young, and now am old;
Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,
Nor his descendants begging bread.
26 He is ever merciful, and lends;
And his descendants are blessed.
David continues his contrast of the righteous and the wicked in today’s reading, urging us and persuading us to pursue the righteous life of those who know the LORD.
First, it’s helpful to remember what it means to be either righteous or wicked. To be righteous means to trust in the LORD’s promises of mercy for the sake of Christ, which always results in a desire to walk in the ways of our merciful God. To be wicked means not to trust in the mercy promised for Christ’s sake, which always results in a life that deviates, to a greater or lesser degree, from the LORD’s ways.
What believers have noticed since the beginning of time is that the wicked often prosper and acquire greater power and riches than the righteous do in this life, because the world in its present form, existing under the curse of sin, is ruled by the devil, who offers glory and power to those who serve him, even as he offered it to Christ Himself (cf. Matt. 4:8-9). But the devil’s days are numbered, as are the days of his wicked allies, while the days of the righteous will never end. That’s why a righteous man is always better off than the wicked, even if the righteous have little in this life while the wicked have much. The righteous look forward to eternal benefits in the LORD’s presence, while the wicked will soon be cut off and cast out into the darkness.
But David also highlights the temporal benefits of the righteous in this Psalm, the blessing God gives us even in this life. We have the LORD watching over us here and now, delighting in our simple acts of worship, smiling upon us as we trust in Him, as little children trust in their parents. He blesses us with more than we need so that we can give and show mercy to others in need. We have the LORD guiding and directing our lives so that all things work together for our good. And we have the LORD God holding us up with His almighty hand, allowing us, at times, to fall, just as loving parents have to do with their children, but never allowing us to be “utterly cast down” (v.24). Let us pray: O Lord, we thank You for the gracious promises You have given us for this life and for the next, and we rejoice in Your abundant providence and blessings. Amen.