Lectionary Calendar
Saturday, November 23rd, 2024
the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Commentaries
Philpot's Commentary on select texts of the Bible Philpot's Commentary
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliographical Information
Philpot, Joseph Charles. "Commentary on Psalms 37". Philpot's Commentary on select texts of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/jcp/psalms-37.html.
Philpot, Joseph Charles. "Commentary on Psalms 37". Philpot's Commentary on select texts of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/
Whole Bible (47)Old Testament (1)Individual Books (6)
Verse 5
Ps 37:5
"Commit your way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass." — Ps 37:5
What shall God bring to pass? The thing that lies deepest in the heart—"your way." Does not ’your way’ lie deepest in your soul—the path that God has led, the path that God is now leading you by? You may be troubled in your soul, doubting and fearing in your mind, distressed in your feelings; you may sink down to the lowest point that a child of God can sink to; yet that way, in which you are so deeply sunk, if the Lord enables you from time to time to commit it to him, and trust in him, he will bring to pass above what your heart desires.
Look at the movements of your heart God-ward; look at your predicaments, temptations, and trials; look at that which rolls backwards and forwards in your mind, that which is tossed to and fro on the waves of your anxious bosom—what lies nearest, dearest, and deepest—let honest conscience speak. That, whatever it be, the Lord tells you, and sometimes enables you to commit, to trust to him.
Now whatever it be—so committed and so trusted, the Lord has declared in his unerring word of truth, he "will bring it to pass;" he will fulfill it when his time has arrived. Does darkness envelope it? do mountains of difficulty stand up in the way of its fulfillment? Never mind; God will bring it to pass in the face of all, over mountains and through difficulties, in spite of, and in the midst of, all surrounding obstacles. He "will bring it to pass,"—that which lies deepest in your heart, nearest your affections, and that which you are enabled in the actings of living faith sometimes to commit into the hands of the Lord God Almighty.
Verse 16
Ps 37:16
"Better the little that the righteous have than the wealth of many wicked." Ps 37:16
Hard may be your lot here below, you suffering saints of the most High, as regards external matters; painful may be the exercises through which you almost daily pass, through the rebellion and desperate wickedness of your carnal mind; grievous temptations may be your continual portion; many a pricking thorn and sharp brier may lie in your path; and so rough and rugged may be the road, that at times you may feel yourself of all men to be the most miserable; and so indeed you would be but for the grace of God in your heart now, and the glory prepared for you beyond the grave.
Yet with it all, were your afflictions and sorrows a thousand times heavier, well may it be said of you—"Happy, thrice happy, are you, O Israel!" Whom upon earth need you envy if you have the grace of God in your heart? With whom would you change, if ever the love of God has visited your soul? Look around you; fix your eyes upon the man or woman who seems surrounded with the greatest amount of earthly happiness, and then ask your own conscience—"Would I change with you, you butterfly of fashion, or with you, you gilded dragon-fly, that merely live your little day; sunning yourself for a few hours beneath the summer sun, and then sinking into the dark and dismal pool which awaits you at evening-tide?"
Then with all your cares at home and abroad—with all your woes and trials, sunk under which you feel yourself at times one of the most miserable beings that can crawl along in this valley of tears—would you change with anybody, however healthy, or rich, or favored with the largest amount of personal prosperity, if at the same time destitute of the grace of God?
Verse 39
Ps 37:39
"But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord—he is their strength in the time of trouble." — Ps 37:39
Times of trouble try the saint of God, and they are meant to do so; that is the very purpose why they are sent, for "the Lord tries the righteous." Still the promise holds good—"he is their strength in the time of trouble." When he breaks up the fountains of the great deep of sin and iniquity, he strengthens his people that they may not be carried away by the flood. When he hides his face, he strengthens them to say, "Though he slays me, yet will I trust in him." When temptation besets them severely, when they are put into the furnace, the Lord is with them there, as he was with the three men whom Nebuchadnezzar cast in. The Son of God is there with them, so that not a hair of their head is singed, nor does the smell of fire pass upon them (Da 3:27).
In all their afflictions he is afflicted, and by sharing it with them supports them under it. He is thus their strength; for he strengthens them with strength in their soul. He enables them to bear the weighty cross—to sustain the heavy load of trial and affliction—to put their mouth in the dust as needing and deserving his chastising strokes, and submit to his righteous dispensations and dealings as plainly sent by a gracious and loving hand.
And ever and anon he drops in a sustaining word, gives an encouraging look, bestows a soft and healing touch, and thus helps them to wait in faith and hope until in due time he sends full deliverance. Thus he helps and delivers, and will do so in every time of trouble down to their dying-bed, when he will give them their full and final deliverance from the body of sin and death, and a world full of iniquity and sorrow.