Big Idea: Whatever disconsolation the prosperity of the wicked may create for the righteous, they can find consolation in trusting the Lord and doing good.

Understanding the Text

Psalm 37 is a wisdom psalm replete with wisdom terms (see the sidebar “Wisdom Psalms”).[1] The subject of the prosperity of the wicked is a typical topic of wisdom, here expressed particularly in proverbial truths (37:16, 17, 21–22, 37). The literary form is the alphabetic acrostic, using all twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, each new strophe beginning with the new letter, except waw (37:10, 11), heth (37:14, 15), and kaph (37:20), which are duplicated in their stanzas.[2] Topically speaking, the acrostic gives the composer the liberty to range broadly.

The speaker of this psalm steps forward in two in…