← All Chapters The Book of Psalms · Chapter 37

Psalms 37: Fret Not, Trust Instead

When evildoers seem to prosper, David counsels the righteous to stop fretting, trust the Lord, delight in him, and patiently wait for the future he secures.

Coming soon

Psalms 37 (WEB)

1 Don’t fret because of evildoers, neither be envious against those who work unrighteousness.

2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither like the green herb.

3 Trust in Yahweh, and do good. Dwell in the land, and enjoy safe pasture.

4 Also delight yourself in Yahweh, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to Yahweh. Trust also in him, and he will do this:

6 he will make your righteousness go out as the light, and your justice as the noon day sun.

7 Rest in Yahweh, and wait patiently for him. Don’t fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who makes wicked plots happen.

8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath. Don’t fret, it leads only to evildoing.

9 For evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for Yahweh shall inherit the land.

10 For yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more. Yes, though you look for his place, he isn’t there.

11 But the humble shall inherit the land, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

12 The wicked plots against the just, and gnashes at him with his teeth.

13 The Lord will laugh at him, for he sees that his day is coming.

14 The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, to kill those who are upright on the path.

15 Their sword shall enter into their own heart. Their bows shall be broken.

16 Better is a little that the righteous has, than the abundance of many wicked.

17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but Yahweh upholds the righteous.

18 Yahweh knows the days of the perfect. Their inheritance shall be forever.

19 They shall not be disappointed in the time of evil. In the days of famine they shall be satisfied.

20 But the wicked shall perish. The enemies of Yahweh shall be like the beauty of the fields. They will vanish— vanish like smoke.

21 The wicked borrow, and don’t pay back, but the righteous give generously.

22 For such as are blessed by him shall inherit the land. Those who are cursed by him shall be cut off.

23 A man’s goings are established by Yahweh. He delights in his way.

24 Though he stumble, he shall not fall, for Yahweh holds him up with his hand.

25 I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his children begging for bread.

26 All day long he deals graciously, and lends. His seed is blessed.

27 Depart from evil, and do good. Live securely forever.

28 For Yahweh loves justice, and doesn’t forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.

29 The righteous shall inherit the land, and live in it forever.

30 The mouth of the righteous talks of wisdom. His tongue speaks justice.

31 The law of his God is in his heart. None of his steps shall slide.

32 The wicked watches the righteous, and seeks to kill him.

33 Yahweh will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged.

34 Wait for Yahweh, and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land. When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.

35 I have seen the wicked in great power, spreading himself like a green tree in its native soil.

36 But he passed away, and behold, he was not. Yes, I sought him, but he could not be found.

37 Mark the perfect man, and see the upright, for there is a future for the man of peace.

38 As for transgressors, they shall be destroyed together. The future of the wicked shall be cut off.

39 But the salvation of the righteous is from Yahweh. He is their stronghold in the time of trouble.

40 Yahweh helps them, and rescues them. He rescues them from the wicked, and saves them, Because they have taken refuge in him.

Summary

This is a wisdom psalm, an acrostic written by an old man passing on the lessons of a long life. Its great theme is the puzzle of why the wicked prosper while the righteous struggle, and its repeated answer is: do not fret. Three times David says "don't fret," pairing each warning with a positive command—trust in the Lord and do good, delight yourself in the Lord, commit your way to him, and rest in him and wait patiently. He insists that the prosperity of evildoers is brief; they will soon be cut down like grass and wither, while the meek will inherit the land and delight in abundant peace. Drawing on decades of observation, David testifies that he has never seen the righteous forsaken nor their children begging bread, for though a good man stumble he shall not fall, because the Lord upholds him with his hand. The psalm contrasts again and again the lasting future of the upright with the certain end of the wicked, who pass away and cannot be found. It closes with assurance that salvation belongs to the righteous and that the Lord is their stronghold in trouble. Jesus took up its central promise in the Beatitudes: "the meek shall inherit the earth."

Voices

  • David — The aged psalmist sharing the settled wisdom of a lifetime: trust God and do not fret over the wicked.
  • Yahweh (the LORD) — The God who upholds the righteous, secures their inheritance, and laughs at the doomed schemes of the wicked.
  • The righteous and the meek — Those who trust, delight, and wait, and who will inherit the land and dwell in peace.
  • The wicked — The prosperous evildoers who plot against the just but will soon be cut down like grass and vanish like smoke.

Key Verse

Psalm 37:4 (WEB)

Also delight yourself in Yahweh, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Lessons Learned

  • Envy of the wicked is a needless fret, since their prosperity is short-lived.
  • Trust, delight, commitment, and patient rest are the antidotes to anxious comparison.
  • When we delight in the Lord, he reshapes the very desires he then fulfills.
  • Even when the righteous stumble, the Lord holds them up and secures their future.
  • Fretting solves nothing. "Don't fret, it leads only to evildoing" (Psalm 37:8, WEB). Anxious comparison with the wicked corrodes the heart and never changes the outcome.
  • Delight reorders desire. "Delight yourself in Yahweh, and he will give you the desires of your heart" (Psalm 37:4, WEB). When God becomes our joy, our wants are transformed into things he loves to grant.
  • Commit your way and let God act. "Commit your way to Yahweh. Trust also in him, and he will do this" (Psalm 37:5, WEB). We hand him the path and the outcome and stop carrying both ourselves.
  • The meek inherit, not the mighty. "The humble shall inherit the land, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace" (Psalm 37:11, WEB)—words Jesus made his own in the Beatitudes.
  • The righteous are upheld through stumbling. "Though he stumble, he shall not fall, for Yahweh holds him up with his hand" (Psalm 37:24, WEB). Falling is not the end when God's hand is beneath you.
  1. Why does David tell us "don't fret" three times, and what does he tell us to do instead?
  2. What does it mean to "delight yourself in Yahweh," and how does that shape our desires (verse 4)?
  3. How does taking the long view of the wicked's future help us stop envying them?
  4. What life experience does David offer in verses 25-26, and how does it encourage you?
  5. Where are you tempted to fret or compare, and how could you trust and delight instead?
  1. David repeats "don't fret" (37:1, 7, 8) because envy of the wicked is a persistent temptation. In place of fretting he commands trust, delight, commitment, and patient rest (37:3-7). The cure for anxiety is not gritted teeth but a reorientation of the heart toward God.
  2. To delight in the Lord is to find our deepest joy in him, not merely in his gifts (37:4). As he becomes our treasure, our desires are gradually conformed to his, so the promise is not a blank check but a transformed heart whose wants God gladly fulfills.
  3. The wicked will soon be cut down like grass, vanish like smoke, and be sought but not found (37:2, 20, 36). Seeing their end strips away the illusion that their prosperity is enviable. The patient, eternal perspective makes present injustice bearable.
  4. David says that across a long life he never saw the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread (37:25-26). This is the testimony of experience, not naive optimism. It encourages us that God's faithfulness to his people is dependable across generations, even when seasons are hard.
  5. This is a personal-application question. Invite members to name where they feel the pull of envy or worry, and to choose one of David's antidotes—trust, delight, commit, or rest—to practice this week. As leader, keep it gentle; fretting is a habit unlearned slowly through renewed delight in God.

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB), the King James Version (KJV), and the American Standard Version (ASV), all of which are in the public domain.