Psalm 37:23-31 “Righteous Giving”

Translation & Sermon By Nate Wilson for Christ the Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 13 May 2018

Skipping the greyed-out text brings presentation time down to about 40 minutes.

INTRO:

In my first sermon on Psalm 37, I got into the first several verses which were full of commands about what to do when bad guys are doing well and good guys are having a hard time, especially the command not to fret, which is repeated three times.
In my second sermon on this psalm, I started to get into the contrast-proverbs about the characteristics of the godly vs. the wicked, and the application was to be at peace and keep doing what’s right even when evil threatens to harm us, because we have a God who is powerful enough to save us from evil and to bring an end to evil.
In the third sermon I focus on how God’s righteousness is better than what the world has to offer. It possesses better things, enjoys better what it possesses, has a much better future, and leaves a better legacy.
In this fourth sermon on Psalm 37 I want to focus on the generosity of the righteous, how they are characterized by giving blessing to the world around them through their material possessions, their good deeds, and their wise words.
So let’s start back in at verse 25, which is the eleventh letter in this alphabet acrostic, the letter “m” (which is also the Hebrew letter mem).

v.23-24 Man’s[1] steps are established by Yahweh, and His way is what he delights in. When he falls, he will not be thrown off, because it is Yahweh who is holding up his hand.

The story is told of one of George Mueller’s friends picking up Mueller’s Bible and noticing that there was something written next to Psalm 37:23. Next to “man’s steps” was written “and his stops.” Not only our forward motion but also our holding patterns are ordained of God. (Boice)
God “makes firm/established” the steps of persons who delight themselves in Him and His ways.

Psalm 1:2 “…his delight is in the law of Yahweh, And he meditates in the law of His day and night.”
Psalm 18:32-33 “God equips me… and gives integrity to my way, making my feet even like the deer. And he causes me to stand upon my high places” (NAW)
Psalm 25:15 “My eyes will always be [looking] to Yahweh, because it is He who will get my feet out from the capture-net.” (NAW)

Matthew Henry commented: “The [way] of God must be a commanding, ruling principle in the heart; it must be a light there, a spring there… it will effectually prevent backsliding into sin, and the uneasiness that follows from it… God orders the steps of a good man; not only his way in general, by His written word, but his particular steps, by the whispers of conscience, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it.’”
And this delight is mutual – God “delights” in us and we delight in Him – Psalm 22:8 “Roll yourself to Yahweh! He will deliver him… because He has delighted in him” (NAW)
The Hebrew word for “ordered/established/makes firm” is the passive verb כּוֹנָנוּ which connotes advance planning, certainty in execution, being legally-defensible, and having no problems with instability or slippage. The verb is passive because it is God who does this for us[2].
These same “steps” are mentioned in the New Testament book of Romans as walking by faith in the footsteps of Abraham, trusting Jesus the Messiah to make us right with God. Romans 4:12-13 “…those who walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised. For the promise that he would be the heir of the world [inheriting the land] was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.”
Now, does that mean you will never fall and get a mouthful of dirt? Verse v.24 gives an important corrective if that is your expectation. God’s guidance and defense (as well as our confidence and steps of progress) do not mean that there will never be a tumble here and there. Our sinful nature remains with us (Rom. 7:21), and even the best Christians make false steps[3]. V.24 assumes this will happen – even to those who are righteous, even to those established by the Lord, even to those whose life pattern is to delight in God’s ways. … יִפֹּל כִּי “If/when/though he falls…” So if you trip up from time to time, don’t assume God has failed you, and don’t assume that you’re going to hell, rather, lean into God’s strong hand and trust Him to get you back up and running again.
“Where grace does not keep from going down, it shall save from keeping down. Job had double wealth at last, Joseph reigned over Egypt, Jonah was safely landed.” ~Charles Spurgeon
The image at the end of v.24 of the LORD holding our hand says a lot.

If you were a child running across a farm field while holding your father’s hand, you could take off across that field pretty confidently with him, even if you were still a toddler learning to run, because, if you tripped over a prairie dog hole and lost your balance, he would pull up on your hand and, even though your feet had lost contact with the ground and you were falling, you wouldn’t wipe out completely, and your feet would be able to find the ground once again and you could keep running and laughing with your father.
The child, on the other hand, who trips and then pulls his hand out of his father’s and says, “Why did you let me trip? I don’t trust you anymore. I am not going to try to cross this field with you anymore.” That child is the one with a problem; that child can’t delight in his father’s way.
It’s the difference between Judas, who stopped trusting Jesus and fell, and Peter who fell into temptation but repented and was restored by Jesus.
As Jesus said in the parable of the two builders, “Everyone therefore who is hearing these words of mine and doing them will be likened to a smart man who built his house upon the rock, and the rain came down and the rivers went [up], and the storm-wind blew and dropped down before that house, and it did not fall down, for it had been founded upon the rock” (Mt. 7:24-25, NAW). And that rock is Christ (1 Cor. 10:4).

The verb at the end of v.24 is the same as the one at the end of v.17 – “upholds/buttresses/ supports/braces.” This is what God does for us.

In Rev. 2:1, we see Jesus “holding the seven stars [representing the churches] in His hand”
And in Philippians 3:12, we see that same picture of a child and Jesus running across the field, both holding onto the other’s hand and sure of reaching the destination together: “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.” (NKJV)

This relationship between God and believers of mutual delight and mutual holding on is the foundation those who are righteous – that is, made right with God, and it gives us the ability to give blessings to other people around us. The next proverb (the “N” segment of the alphabet acrostic) speaks of giving material blessings:

v.25-26 Now I have been a youth and also have been elderly, yet never have I seen a righteous person forsaken or his offspring scrounging for bread. Every day he is gracious and making loans, and his offspring are [headed] for blessing[4]!

Life experience is one of the informing principles in Biblical wisdom literature, even though it is not an infallible source of truth. Here David adds his encouragement to test the principle of God’s providence against life experience.

When you find yourself second-guessing God’s justice and becoming anxious that Christians are going to get the short end of the stick – when Satan whispers that your life and your family’s life will be miserable if you trust Jesus – when you are tempted to follow the crowd down the easy road that leads to destruction, here is one more tool in your toolbox to combat unbelief: Ask yourself, Have you ever seen a righteous person utterly forsaken or their children actually going hungry?
Stop for reality checks like that when you notice anxieties rising out of control. Think of the worst-case scenario and ask yourself, “Have I ever actually seen this happen?” If not, then you can use it to reassure yourself that you can trust God and stop worrying.
Charles Spurgeon noted: “Although it does occasionally occur…, yet doubtless it is so rare a thing that there are many alive who never saw it. Go into the union house [orphanage?] and see how few are the children of godly parents; enter the jail and see how much rarer still is the case.”
Also, if you think that you have seen exceptions to this principle in times of persecution, consider this rebuttal from Matthew Henry: “[O]ur Saviour has taught us to except the case of persecution for righteousness' sake out of all the temporal promises (Mark 10:30), because [to be persecuted for righteousness] has such peculiar honours and comforts attending it as make it rather a gift (Phil. 1:29) than a loss or grievance.” ~Matthew Henry

God’s word is the ultimate standard of truth to verify life experience, and God’s word says that what David observed in life experience about God not forsaking the righteous is actually true:

Genesis 28:15 "Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave [forsake] you until I have done what I have spoken to you." (Gen. 28:15, NKJV)
Deuteronomy 31:6 "Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you." (Deut. 31:6, NKJV)
Psalm 9:9-10 “And Yahweh will be a stronghold for the one who is beaten down, a stronghold for times when there is a crisis. Then those who know Your name will trust in You, for You did not forsake those who were seeking You…” (NAW)
It’s even in the New Testament: 2 Cor. 4:8-10 “We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.” (NKJV)

There is a converse to this statement, however, and that is that God does forsake and leave hungry those who do not trust in Him.

These are some the covenant curses of Leviticus 26:14ff. “But if y’all don’t give heed to me and y’all don’t do all of these commands, and if you despise my statutes… If… y’all keep walking defiantly in relation to me, then I – yes I – will walk defiantly in relation to y’all, [i.e. I will forsake you] and I – even I – will strike y’all sevenfold because of y’all’s sins… When I shatter y’all’s food supply, then ten women will bake y’all’s bread in one oven, and they will bring back y’all’s bread in ounce-measures; although y’all will eat, you will not be satisfied….” (NAW)
Accordingly, the only occasion in the Hebrew Bible where we see anybody “seeking bread” is Lamentations 1:11, after the Jews “rebelled” against God and were filled with unrepentant “transgression,” “sin,” and “uncleanness.”

V.26 returns to the characteristics of the righteous, noting that whereas the wicked are characterized by taking out loans (v.21), it is the righteous who are making loans – not to be loan-sharks that oppress the poor, but to be generous and gracious and merciful to the needy. Loans to the needy were to be interest-free, and often these loans would be forgiven – especially in the Sabbath years.

This, of course, is speaking of true generosity where they are sharing voluntarily from what they actually own. Government liberals who tax productive citizens in order to give handouts to unproductive citizens is not generosity; it is thievery. (Calvin)
Being able to offer loans instead of having to borrow was one of the covenant blessings of Deut. 28:12.
It’s also a wisdom principle in the Proverbs 11:24-25 “There is one who scatters, yet increases more; And there is one who withholds more than is right, But it leads to poverty. The generous soul will be made rich, And he who waters will also be watered himself.” (NKJV)

And remember that all this has a spiritual parallel.

Perhaps you are aware of believers who have experienced hunger: Abraham, the Apostle Paul (Phil. 4), and David (who had to beg for bread from the priests at Nob), but they never lost access to God’s word or to Christ, which are the spiritual bread of believers.
By the same token, there may be believers who don’t have enough financial capital to lend, yet they have spiritual capital. They have words of praise for God who gave them all things, and they have love to spare for others out of thanksgiving for the love of God toward them. (Augustine)

And remember that the things with which the righteous bless others come from God, as the righteous are grounded in a mutual delight and holding on to Him. (James1:17)
Furthermore, the blessing doesn’t stop with the righteous person. It flows to his (or her) “seed/children/offspring/descendants.”

All of God’s covenants were given not just to one generation but also to their descendants.

Gen. 17:19 “And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.” (KJV)
2 Sam. 22:50-51 “Therefore I will give thanks to You, O LORD, among the Gentiles, And sing praises to Your name. He is the tower of salvation to His king, And shows mercy to His anointed, To David and his descendants forevermore." (NKJV)
Even the New Testament: Acts 2:38-39 "… you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children..." (NKJV)

Furthermore, God blessed the children of men like Abraham, Jacob, David, Phinehaz, and Caleb just because God loved those men and they were faithful:

Deut. 4:37 “And because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them…” (NKJV, cf. 10:15)
Numbers14:24 “But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.” (KJV)
Num. 25:13 “And he [Phinehaz] shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel.” (KJV)
Psalm 25:12-13 “Who is the man who respects Yahweh? He will direct this [man] in a way He will choose. His soul will spend the night with goodness, and his seed will take possession of the land.”
Psalm 112:2 “His descendants will be mighty on earth; The generation of the upright will be blessed.” (NKJV)

Certainly there are physical and social blessings that come to children from a godly father. My father is a man of God, and his lifetime of ministry to needy people in my hometown made my life blessed. Later, when I needed financial supporters, many people told me that they wanted to support me just because they loved my Dad! Temporal blessing to a righteous man’s descendants.
There are also spiritual blessings. When I saw, day-in-and-day-out, a father who read the Bible, who led the family in prayer whenever we faced a problem, who brought me into the fellowship of other believers in church and Bible studies, who taught me God’s ways and disciplined me, and who lived with integrity like he really believed it, that made an impact on me. Of course I needed the Holy Spirit to regenerate me, but the spiritual blessings were right there. The children of those who love God are headed not only for material blessings but also spiritual blessings! And the prosperity of the children only multiplies the ability of the righteous person to give generously to their community.

Our next proverb in the alphabet acrostic starts with an “O” and focuses on what the righteous gives in terms of the legacy of the things he (or she) does – particularly their accomplishments toward justice and peace in the community.

V.27 Obviate evil and practice good, and settle down for ever, 28 because Yahweh loves justice, and He will not forsake His godly ones forever; they have been preserved, but the offspring of wicked men have been cut off. 29 Righteous men will possess the land, and they will settle down forever on it.

· In a number of Biblical Hebrew alphabet acrostics, one letter is intentionally put out of place, and in Psalm 37, that happens in verses 27-29. Verse 27 starts with the 15^th letter of the Hebrew alphabet (samek), and verse 30 starts with the 17^th letter of the alphabet (pe), but there is no word inbetween verses 27 and 30 that starts with the 16^th letter of the alphabet (ayin). However, the root of the Hebrew verb for “do/practice” in v.27 does start with that 16^th letter, so I tried to reflect that Hebrew poetry pattern by starting v.27 out with the English word “obviate,” a synonym for “depart/turn away from” that starts with the 15^th letter of the English alphabet and follow that up with a synonym for “do” that starts with “p,” the 16^th letter of the English alphabet, and then we’ll consider the three verses together as one proverb through verse 29.

· The first command in v.27 is “Obviate/turn away/depart from evil”

o In the wisdom literature, fearing the LORD is frequently put in parallel with departing from evil, for instance

§ Job 28:28 “…behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, And to depart from evil is understanding.” (NKJV)

§ Proverbs 3:7 “Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil.” (NKJV, cf. Prov. 14:16, 16:6, etc.)

o That makes sense because if you are afraid of God’s wrath against sin, you will not go there. Oh that we had such a healthy fear of God that we would turn away from those sins that entice us!

o But when we fail to fear God and we get into evil, we can still turn away from that evil and claim the blood of Christ to wash us clean from our sins, as Isaiah wrote: ^“Wash, make yourselves clean, cause the evil of your deeds to turn away from before my eyes; cease the evil.” (Isa. 1:16 NAW)

o The same command is to be found in the New Testament:

§ 2 Timothy 2:19-22 “…Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity… Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from [dishonor], he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” (NKJV)

§ 1 Peter 3:10 “The one who wants to love life and to see good days, let him stop his tongue from bad and his lips such that they don’t utter deceptiveness. Let him lean away from evil and start doing good. Let him seek peace and start chasing it down. Because the Lord’s eyes are on the righteous and His ears are toward their request, but the Lord’s face is against doers of evil.” (NAW) Which implies that fearing the Lord is still part of turning away from evil!

· The second command in v.27 is the converse: “Practice/do good”

o What does it mean to “do good”?

§ In Deuteronomy 12:28 Moses explained: "Be careful to listen to all these words which I command you, so that it may be well with you and your sons after you forever, for you will be doing what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God.” (NASB) Obeying the commands of the first five books of the Old Testament, the Torah (that comes up again in this Psalm in v.31).

§ And Jesus affirmed the same in Matt. 19:16. When the rich young ruler asked what good deeds he must do, Jesus said, “If you wish to enter into the Life, start keeping His commandments,” and started listing off the 10 commandments. That’s “doing good.”

§ Conversely, “not doing good” is defined in Ezekiel 18:18 "…because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother and did what was not good among his people, behold, he will die for his iniquity.” (NASB)

o Problem: Psalm 14:3 says that“The entirety has turned away, together they have become tainted, there is not one who does good – there is not even one!” (NAW)

§ But the whole council of scripture makes a distinction between absolutely good and not evil, which God alone is, and the kind of goodness which God gives to humans to practice in response to His gift of righteousness to them.

§ So yes, there is a sense in which no human is good, and truly no human is perfect enough to escape God’s wrath against sin.

§ Yet, God said that Job “turned away from evil” (Job 1:8) and that King Hezekiah had “done good” (Isa. 38:3) because these two men trusted God to forgive their sin and turned away from sin and practiced God’s righteousness in a manner relatively consistent with the righteousness of God which they had received by faith.

o This is what the Apostle John wrote about in His letter: “2:1 My children, I am writing these things to you so that you might not sin, yet if someone sins, we have an advocate before the Father: righteous Jesus Christ. 2:2 And He Himself is appeasement concerning our sins (and not concerning ourselves only, but also concerning the entire world). 2:3 And by this we know that we have come to know Him: if we are keeping His commands… 2:29 If you know that He is righteous, you should also be aware that everyone who does what is right has been born out of Him… 3:6 Everyone who is remaining in Him is not sinning; everyone who is sinning has not seen Him and has not known Him. 3:7 Dear children, no one must lead you astray; the one who is doing the right is righteous, just as He is righteous” (NAW).

o And it is on this basis that the Apostle Paul also commanded Christians to “do good”

§ Galatians 6:10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. (NKJV, cf. Hebrews 13:16)

§ 1 Timothy 6:17-19 “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.”

· The third verb in v.27 is also a command in all the Hebrew and Greek texts, although, for some reason the NAS, NIV, and ESV interpret it as though it were the natural result of turning away from evil and doing good. (What is stranger still, they all interpreted it as a command back in v.3 when the same word occurred: “Believe Yahweh and do what is good. Settle down on the land and associate with faithfulness..." ~NAW) I think it’s most reasonable to interpret it as a command: “Settle down/dwell/abide for ever/for the long-haul.”

o Taking possession of the land which God makes available to you and settling down in it is a major theme of Psalm 37; it’s repeated six times.

o What does this mean? Psalm 34:14 suggests by way of parallel that “settle/dwell/abide” means to“seek peace and pursue it: “Negate evil, and do good. Seek peace, and hunt it down! “(NAW)

o Create peace in your community. This is a way that you can be generous and bless the world around you with your actions.

§ The Jews described it with the word “shalom,”

§ Jesus and the Apostles talked about much the same idea when they spoke of the kingdom of God coming to earth. (Of course the kingdom of God is spiritual, but it has temporal effects on the world when it comes.)

o This is the opposite of merely surviving and hunkering down until we get raptured out. While there have certainly been times when persecution has been so intense that Christians have had to lay pretty low, we must never give in to the enemy’s intimidation and withdraw into safe places and stop giving blessing to the world around us.

§ God commanded Adam and Eve to “take dominion over” the world,

§ In Jesus’ parable of the talents, He said “Occupy until I come” (KJV),

§ And in His Great Commission, Jesus said “Disciple all the nations.”

§ We are to take dominion, we are to occupy/do business; and we are not to stop short of bringing blessing to every last ethnic group in the world!

o Proactively settling in for longevity is God’s antidote to our feelings that the world is going to hell in a handbasket, our feelings that there’s too much unfairness out there.

§ It includes conducting business and discovering scientific breakthroughs (Gen. 1:28, Luke 19:13)

§ raising children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Eph. 6:4),

§ investing in needy people (Gal. 2:10),

§ exercising your spiritual gifts within your local church body (Rom. 12, 1 Co. 12),

§ sharing the good news of Jesus with the lost (Mark 16:15),

§ coaching believing disciples into spiritual maturity, and all the things Jesus commanded us to do. (Mt. 28:19-20)

· Note in verse 28 that the curse (and its corresponding blessing) is also generational. Gerald Wilson pointed this out in his contribution to the NIV Application Commentary: “In this case, it is the ‘offspring’ of the wicked who will experience obliteration. This gives us a reverse hint as to how the psalmist understands that the righteous can hope to dwell forever – through their descendants. The wicked, however, have no such hopes, since even their children will be cut off.”

· The generational nature of God’s blessing and cursing can also give us a reason to be patient in the immediate context of injustice. John Calvin commented that “although the judgments of God are not immediately executed upon the wicked and ungodly, yet they are not on that account anything the better of it, since the punishment justly due to them will extend to their children…‘the seed of the wicked shall be cut off’... If then the curse of God is not forthwith inflicted upon them, it need not surprise us if He delay for a time to manifest the favour which He bears towards the faithful.” In other words, your children may see more blessing than you!

· Verse 28 gives us reasons why we can confidently invest our labor in bringing blessing to world around us, the two main reasons being that God loves justice and that God will never forsake the chesidim his godly, faithful saints.

o Do you believe that? God does not like injustice. When you see injustice and it bothers you, know that it bothers God too, and He’s not going to ignore it forever. God also loves His people, and never takes His loving gaze off them. He is never going to leave those high-and-dry who, out of respect and love for Him, turn away from evil and do what is good and spread His kingdom through their actions.

· So out of a relationship with our generous Lord, we give material blessing to the world around us, we give the fruits of good deeds to the world around us, and thirdly, we give the gift of good words to the world around us.

V.30-31 Quoting wisdom is characteristic of the mouth of a righteous person, and his tongue speaks justice. The instruction of his God is in his heart; his steps will not be unstable.

· The verb here haggeh is the same one translated “meditates” back in Psalm 1:2 “for his delight is in the law of Yahweh, And he meditates in the law of Him day and night” (NAW),

o and that explains where the righteous got the wisdom he utters (or quotes): It was from reading the Bible!

o Psalm 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments... (NKJ)

o And it wasn’t just from reading the Bible once through, haggeh connotes repetition; like muttering or quoting phrases over and over again. It’s a good sign when phrases you frequently use (and people begin to quote you on) are phrases from God’s word.

o In elementary and junior high school, I had a P.E. coach who developed a habit of looking us kids square in the eye and calling us men and women of God. And now whenever I think of Coach Young, that’s the first thing that comes to mind is him calling me a man of God. That was a word-gift that helped shape my soul, the gift of wise speech.

o The Apostle Paul commanded “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Col. 3:16, NKJV, cf. Col. 4:6). and

o Ephesians 4:29 “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear.” (NASB)

· Concerning the tongue “speaking justice,” the meaning is parallel to “uttering wisdom.” I see three contexts in which the phrase “speaking justice” occurs in the Bible:

o First is in terms of quoting Bible verses: One of the synonyms for the law in the Old Testament was the “judgments” of God which are worthy to be spoken of. (Deut. 5:1 And Moses called all Israel, and said to them: "Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your hearing today, that you may learn them and be careful to observe them. ~NKJ)

o The second context is informal judgment-calls about things in life – telling someone that what they are doing is right or wrong because God says so. Not too long ago I accidentally backed my trailer into a stranger’s car in a parking lot, leaving a scratch on the side of their car. The scratch was not very big, and the car was old and had so many other scratches they probably wouldn’t notice one more, and my car has lots of blemishes from other people who ran into my car in other parking lots and never offered to fix my car up, and besides, it was inconsiderate of them to park so close to the loading area, so I decided I wasn’t going to do anything about it. One of my friends saw me leave the parking lot without doing anything to make that scratch right, and he “spoke justice” to me. He gently reminded me that I needed to offer to make that damage right, and that straightened out my unjust thinking.

o The third context of “speaking justice” is in actual court cases. Frequently, the phrase devar ha-mishpat means a judicial ruling on a legal matter: for instance, Deut. 17:8-9 "If a matter arises which is too hard for you to judge, between degrees of guilt for bloodshed, between one judgment or another, or between one punishment or another, matters of controversy within your gates, then you shall arise and go up to the place which the LORD your God chooses. And you shall come to the priests, the Levites, and to the judge there in those days, and inquire of them; they shall pronounce upon you the [devar hamishpat] sentence of judgment.” (cf. 2 Kings 25:6, 2 Chron 19:6, etc.) If you ever are in a place of authority to make judicial rulings, do it according to truth and God’s word.

· The “wisdom” and “justice” that comes out in the speech of a righteous person comes from the Bible, “God’s Torah/Instruction,” as David called it in v.31. As a result of grounding his life in God’s word, his (or her) “steps of progress” will not “give out/be unsteady/slide.” We often focus on the outwardly-visible steps and the words that we can hear, but the most important thing is the heart. What is your heart full of? What are you filling your heart full of? That’s what will proceed out of your mouth and overflow into your deeds (Mat. 12:34,35; 15:18,19; Mark 7:21; Luke 6:45).

· God commanded His people in the Old Testament to keep His word in their hearts: Deut. 6:6 “And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart” (NASB)

· David showed us an example of this in

· Ps. 119:11 “Thy word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against Thee.” (NASB)

· Psalm 17:4-5 “By the word of Your lips, pertaining to the works of mankind, I myself have guarded [against] paths of robbery, to hold onto my progress in your tracks; my footsteps have never been overthrown.” (NAW)

· Psalm 26:1 “…it is in Yahweh that I have trusted; I will not give out.” (NAW, cf. 18:36)

· God promised to put His law in the hearts of believers in the New Covenant in Jer. 31:33.

· And Jesus challenged people to examine their hearts, saying, “blessed are the pure in heart” (Mt. 5:8) - as opposed to those who are outwardly religious-looking, and “…out of the abundance of the heart the mouth tends to speak. The good man, out of his good treasury casts forth good things, and the evil man, out of his evil treasury casts forth evil things.” (Matt. 12:34b-35, NAW)

· The Apostle James wrote: “he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless… Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.” (James 1:25-26 & 3:13-14, NKJV)

· A heart that has been cleansed by Jesus’ blood and loves Jesus and His Word will result in blessing the world around you with the wisdom of God in the things you say. This also is righteous giving.

Conclusion/Review

Delight in the ways of the LORD as your foundation and recognize that all you have to give is what He has given you first.
Receive His material provision for you and give of it generously to those in need.
Fear Him and do the things He has called His people to do so that your works create peace in your community.
Fill your heart with His word so that you can speak wisdom & justice that bless the world.

Psalm 37:23-31[A]

Septuagint (Psalm 35)	Brenton’s translation of LXX	Douay-Rheims Vulgate	King James Authorized Version	Nathan A Wilson’s Version	Masoretic Text
23 παρὰ κυρίου τὰ διαβήματα ἀνθρώπου κατευθύνεται, καὶ τὴν ὁδὸν αὐτοῦ θελήσει·	23 The steps of a man are rightly ordered by the Lord: and he will take pleasure in his way.	23 With the Lord shall the steps of a man be directed, and he shall like well his way.	23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and[B] he delighteth in his way.	23 Man’s steps are established by Yahweh, and His way is what he delights in.	כג מֵיְהוָה מִצְעֲדֵי[C] גֶבֶר כּוֹנָנוּ וְדַרְכּוֹ יֶחְפָּץ.
24 ὅταν πέσῃ, οὐ καταραχθήσεται, ὅτι κύριος ἀντιστηρίζει χεῖρα αὐτοῦ.	24 When he falls, he shall not be ruined: for the Lord supports his hand.	24 When he shall fall he shall not be bruised, for the Lord putteth his hand under him.	24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down[D]: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.	24 When he falls, he will not be thrown off, because it is Yahweh who is holding up his hand.	כד כִּי יִפֹּל לֹא יוּטָל[E] כִּי יְהוָה סוֹמֵךְ יָדוֹ.
25 νεώτερος ἐγενόμην καὶ γὰρ ἐγήρασα καὶ οὐκ εἶδον δίκαιον ἐγκαταλελειμμένον οὐδὲ τὸ σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ζητοῦν ἄρτους·	25 I was once young, indeed I am now old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed seeking bread.	25 I have been young and now am old; and I have not seen the just forsaken, nor his seed seeking bread.	25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging[F] bread.	25 Now I have been a youth and also have been elderly, yet never have I seen a righteous person forsaken or his offspring scrounging for bread.	כה נַעַר הָיִיתִי גַּם זָקַנְתִּי וְלֹא רָאִיתִי צַדִּיק נֶעֱזָב וְזַרְעוֹ מְבַקֶּשׁ לָחֶם.
26 ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν ἐλεᾷ καὶ δανείζει, καὶ τὸ σπέρμα αὐτοῦ εἰς εὐλογίαν ἔσται.	26 He is merciful, and lends continually; and his seed shall be X blessed.	26 He sheweth mercy, and lendeth all the day long; and his seed shall be in blessing.	26 He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is X blessed.	26 Every day he is gracious and making loans, and his offspring are [headed] for blessing!	כו כָּל הַיּוֹם חוֹנֵן וּמַלְוֶה וְזַרְעוֹ לִבְרָכָה.
27 ἔκκλινον ἀπὸ κακοῦ καὶ ποίησον ἀγαθὸν καὶ κατασκήνου εἰς αἰῶνα αἰῶνος·	27 Turn aside from evil, and do good; and dwell for ever.	27 Decline from evil and do good, and dwell for ever and ever.	27 Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore.	27 Obviate evil and practice good, and settle in for longevity,	כז סוּר מֵרָע וַעֲשֵׂה טוֹב וּשְׁכֹן לְעוֹלָם.
28 ὅτι κύριος ἀγαπᾷ κρίσιν καὶ οὐκ ἐγκαταλείψει τοὺς ὁσίους αὐτοῦ, εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα φυλαχθήσονται. [ἄνομοι δὲ ἐκδιωχθήσονται], καὶ σπέρμα ἀσεβῶν ἐξολεθρευθήσεται·	28 For the Lord loves judgment, and will not forsake his saints; they shall be preserved for ever[: the blameless shall be avenged], but the seed of the ungodly shall be utterly destroyed.	28 For the Lord loveth judgment, and will not forsake his saints[: they shall be preserved for ever]. The unjust shall be punished, and the seed of the wicked shall perish.	28 For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed[G] of the wicked shall be cut off.	28 because Yahweh loves justice, and He will not forsake His godly ones forever; they have been preserved, but the offspring of wicked men have been cut off.	כח כִּי יְהוָה אֹהֵב מִשְׁפָּט וְלֹא יַעֲזֹב אֶת חֲסִידָיו לְעוֹלָם נִשְׁמָרוּ וְזֶרַע רְשָׁעִים נִכְרָת.
29 δίκαιοι δὲ κληρονομήσουσι γῆν καὶ κατασκηνώσουσιν εἰς αἰῶνα αἰῶνος ἐπ᾿ αὐτῆς.	29 But the righteous shall inherit the earth, and dwell upon it for ever.	29 But the just shall inherit the land, and shall dwell therein for evermore.	29 The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever.	29 Righteous men will possess the land, and they will settle down forever on it.	כט צַדִּיקִים יִירְשׁוּ אָרֶץ וְיִשְׁכְּנוּ לָעַד עָלֶיהָ.
30 στόμα δικαίου μελετήσει σοφίαν, καὶ ἡ γλῶσσα αὐτοῦ λαλήσει κρίσιν·	30 The mouth of the righteous will meditate wisdom, and his tongue will speak of judgment.	30 The mouth of the just shall meditate wisdom: and his tongue shall speak judgment.	30 The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment.	30 Quoting wisdom is characteristic of the mouth of a righteous person, and his tongue speaks justice.	ל פִּי צַדִּיק יֶהְגֶּה חָכְמָה וּלְשׁוֹנוֹ תְּדַבֵּר מִשְׁפָּט.
31 ὁ νόμος τοῦ θεοῦ αὐτοῦ ἐν καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ, [καὶ] οὐχ ὑποσκελισθήσεται τὰ διαβήματα αὐτοῦ.	31 The law of his God is in his heart; [and] his steps shall not slide.	31 The law of his God is in his heart, [and] his steps shall not be supplanted.	31 The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.	31 The instruction of his God is in his heart; his steps will not be unstable.	לא תּוֹרַת אֱלֹהָיו בְּלִבּוֹ לֹא תִמְעַד אֲשֻׁרָיו.

[1] The word for “man” is a specialized word that generally refers to a victorious soldier. The only other time in the Psalms it has shown up before this was in Psalm 34:8 “…Oh the blessings of the mighty man who takes refuge in Him!” “Taking refuge” in the Lord is parallel to what v.23 says here “delighting in the way of the Lord.”

[2] Psalm 10:16-17 “Yahweh is king forever and ever. [The] nations perished from His earth. It is the desires of the lowly ones that You, Yahweh heeded. You will cause their heart to stand firm…” (NAW)

[3] Calvin and Adam Clarke both commented that it is out of keeping with the context of this verse to interpret “fall” as “fall into sin” but rather it means to fall into adversity.

[4] The only time that the Hebrew word “for blessing” in v.26 occurs in the Bible - previous to the time that this Psalm was written - was Deuteronomy 23:5, which recounts how God turned Balaam’s intent to curse God’s people into blessings for the people, so perhaps v.26 alludes to that. “…[He] would not listen to Balaam, but the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you.” (NKJV) It doesn’t matter if the wicked curse, the godly will be blessed.