10 And yet a little, and the wicked is not, And thou hast considered his place, and it is not.
High they were `for' a little, and they are not, And they have been brought low. As all `others' they are shut up, And as the head of an ear of corn cut off.
He turneth not again to his house, Nor doth his place discern him again.
I have seen the wicked terrible, And spreading as a green native plant, And he passeth away, and lo, he is not, And I seek him, and he is not found!
The upright do see and rejoice, And all perversity hath shut her mouth. Who `is' wise, and observeth these? They understand the kind acts of Jehovah!
and they were crying with a great voice, saying, `Till when, O Master, the Holy and the True, dost Thou not judge and take vengeance of our blood from those dwelling upon the land?' and there was given to each one white robes, and it was said to them that they may rest themselves yet a little time, till may be fulfilled also their fellow-servants and their brethren, who are about to be killed -- even as they.
And of all things the end hath come nigh; be sober-minded, then, and watch unto the prayers,
for of patience ye have need, that the will of God having done, ye may receive the promise, for yet a very very little, He who is coming will come, and will not tarry;
`And God said to him, Unthinking one! this night thy soul they shall require from thee, and what things thou didst prepare -- to whom shall they be? so `is' he who is treasuring up to himself, and is not rich toward God.'
Thy beholders look to thee, to thee they attend, Is this the man causing the earth to tremble, Shaking kingdoms? He hath made the world as a wilderness, And his cities he hath broken down, Of his bound ones he opened not the house. All kings of nations -- all of them, Have lain down in honour, each in his house, And -- thou hast been cast out of thy grave, As an abominable branch, raiment of the slain, Thrust through ones of the sword, Going down unto the sons of the pit, As a carcase trodden down.
And it cometh to pass, `in' about ten days, that Jehovah smiteth Nabal, and he dieth, and David heareth that Nabal `is' dead, and saith, `Blessed `is' Jehovah who hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and His servant hath kept back from evil, and the wickedness of Nabal hath Jehovah turned back on his own head;' and David sendeth and speaketh with Abigail, to take her to him for a wife.
For a wind hath passed over it, and it is not, And its place doth not discern it any more.
Only, in slippery places Thou dost set them, Thou hast caused them to fall to desolations. How have they become a desolation as in a moment, They have been ended -- consumed from terrors. As a dream from awakening, O Lord, In awaking, their image Thou despisest.
For he seeth wise men die, Together the foolish and brutish perish, And have left to others their wealth.
As a dream he fleeth, and they find him not, And he is driven away as a vision of the night, The eye hath not seen him, and addeth not. And not again doth his place behold him.
Thou dost not take away my transgression, And cause to pass away mine iniquity, Because now, for dust I lie down: And Thou hast sought me -- and I am not!
And he cometh in, and eateth, and drinketh, and saith, `Look after, I pray you, this cursed one, and bury her, for she `is' a king's daughter.' And they go to bury her, and have not found of her except the skull, and the feet, and the palms of the hands. And they turn back, and declare to him, and he saith, `The word of Jehovah it `is', that He spake by the hand of this servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel do the dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel, and the carcase of Jezebel hath been as dung on the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel, that they say not, This `is' Jezebel.'
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 37
Commentary on Psalms 37 Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalm 37
This psalm is a sermon, and an excellent useful sermon it is, calculated not (as most of the psalms) for our devotion, but for our conversation; there is nothing in it of prayer or praise, but it is all instruction; it is "Maschil-a teaching psalm;' it is an exposition of some of the hardest chapters in the book of Providence, the advancement of the wicked and the disgrace of the righteous, a solution of the difficulties that arise thereupon, and an exhortation to conduct ourselves as becomes us under such dark dispensations. The work of the prophets (and David was one) was to explain the law. Now the law of Moses had promised temporal blessings to the obedient, and denounced temporal miseries against the disobedient, which principally referred to the body of the people, the nation as a nation; for, when they came to be applied to particular persons, many instances occurred of sinners in prosperity and saints in adversity; to reconcile those instances with the word that God had spoken is the scope of the prophet in this psalm, in which,
In singing this psalm we must teach and admonish one another rightly to understand the providence of God and to accommodate ourselves to it, at all times carefully to do our duty and then patiently to leave the event with God and to believe that, how black soever things may look for the present, it shall be "well with those that fear God, that fear before him.'
A psalm of David.
Psa 37:1-6
The instructions here given are very plain; much need not be said for the exposition of them, but there is a great deal to be done for the reducing of them to practice, and there they will look best.
Psa 37:7-20
In these verses we have,
Psa 37:21-33
These verses are much to the same purport with the foregoing verses of this psalm, for it is a subject worthy to be dwelt upon. Observe here,
Psa 37:34-40
The psalmist's conclusion of this sermon (for that is the nature of this poem) is of the same purport with the whole, and inculcates the same things.