Psalm 37:32-40 “Salvation is of the LORD”

Translation & Sermon By Nate Wilson for Christ the Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 20 May 2018

Omitting greyed-out text should bring delivery down to 40-odd 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. Other key commands were: Don’t be jealous; Trust God and obey Him; Settle down on the land; Associate with faithfulness; Delight yourself in the LORD; Commit your way to the LORD, and He will answer your request for salvation.
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 the fourth sermon I focused 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.
In this fifth and final sermon on Psalm 37, I want to focus on the last five proverbs describing God’s salvation and justice. The message is a simple as it is profound: God is the one who saves.
I’ll be starting at verse 32, which is the 18^th letter in this alphabet acrostic, the Hebrew letter tsade, or the English letter “R.”

· The first picture of the salvation from the Lord is a courtroom scene.

o On the one side of the courtroom is the prosecuting attorney in v.32, watching every move of the accused like a hawk - to pick him apart and find something to nail him with - that will get him put to death.

o But in this court, the defense attorney is the judge Himself! And the outcome of the trial is already in favor of the accused before the trial has begun. Why? Because the judge has already decided He isn’t going to let the prosecutor win. He isn’t going to turn the accused over to be put to death; rather the judge has predetermined that He will find the accused not guilty.

Vs. 32 Raring to put him to death, the wicked person keeps watch on the righteous person. 33 As for Yahweh, He will not abandon him into his hand, and He will not make him out to be wicked during His judgment.

· The contrast is between the fault-finding murderous wicked and the faithful savior Yahweh.

o The first verb צוֹפֶה is translated “watching.” (The NASB translated it “spying,” but it doesn’t translate this verb as “spying” anywhere else.) It has only been used once before in the Psalms, forming an interesting contrast between the focus of the godly and the focus of the wicked: Psalm 5:3 says “Yahweh, [every] morning you will hear my voice… and I will keep watch” (NAW). The eyes of the godly are on God, but the eyes of the wicked are on people – especially potential victims that they want to take advantage of.

o This is similar to what David said back in Psalm 10 about the wicked: v.8 “He sits in ambush by the subdivisions. In the hiding-places he murders an innocent man. As for his eyes, they single out the weakest. 9 He sets an ambush in the hiding-place like a lion in a den. He sets an ambush to nab a lowly one. He nabs a lowly one by drawing him into his net, 10 and the weakest crumple, are brought down, and fall by his powers. 11 He said in his heart, "God forgot! He has hidden His face; He never saw a thing!" (NAW)

o This is typical of the wicked[1]. We see it again in the life of Daniel, who was scrutinized by his gentile co-workers: ^“So the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom” (Dan. 6:4, NKJ).

o And it happened with the apostle Paul who complained of “the false brethren… who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage” (Gal. 2:4, NASB).

o This is because they reflect the character of their father the Devil who specializes in accusing people. But these scheming wicked are destined for the same defeat that Satan will experience, prophecied in Revelation 12:10 …"Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.” (NKJ) Note the connection between salvation and the coming of Christ defeating accusations in court.

· Let’s turn our eyes to the judge and savior in the courtroom in v.33

o How is it that God can be a good judge and yet defend sinners against all accusations and refuse to turn them over to punishment?

o Is it because those people God defends do relatively more good and less bad than the average person? NO! For “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:26) and “whoever keeps the whole law, and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all” (James 2:10, NASB) and “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:26) and “the LORD will by no means clear the guilty” (Ex. 34:7). So how can God do it?

o Well, in order to keep from condemning humans (who have all sinned) to eternal death, and in order to keep from leaving us under the control of (or to use the Hebrew idiom, “in the hand of”) sin and Satan, God has to be able to justly declare that human “not guilty of sin” – to find us not wicked so that He can’t condemn us in His court of judgment.

o He did this by making His own sinless Son human, then placing the guilt of our sins upon His own Son, Jesus, and then having Him suffer death and hell to fully pay the price of our sins, so that when the Accuser brings up the sins we have committed, God can say, “Jesus already died for that; justice has already been served, and I can’t find this person guilty because I already found Jesus guilty for that sin and traded Jesus’ righteous record to this person. I can’t condemn this person, this person can’t be handed over to the accuser, and this person can’t be punished with eternal death.

· Proverbs like this also hold true in this world:

o for instance, the satraps of Daniel’s day got eaten by the lions that had left Daniel alone

o Or, here’s a couple of pictures I received last week in an email from Paddy Cook, the father of one of our church’s former members. This is a church building in the Eastern European country of Estonia. When the Soviet Russians took over, the KGB closed all the churches but this one, and they bugged it and kept close surveillance on it - just as our psalm says the wicked do. The KGB committed horrible atrocities against Christians in an attempt to force the religion of atheistic humanism on the population. For a generation or two, it looked like the righteous were abandoned, but then in the 1990’s, Estonia gained its independence from Russia, and God caused those wicked people to be cut off. The photo caption reads, “The KGB is gone, but the church of God remains!”

· But this is not just talking about beating bad guys in this world, note that he will not be “condemned/found to be wicked” in God’s judgment/trial.

o 2 Cor. 5 tells that “we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ” (NAV)

o David understood that ultimately salvation comes from the LORD because the Lord has provided His own Son for us to escape the moral consequences of our sin through faith in Him as the substitute to atone for our sin so that we can be called “righteous” and we can be called “his.” That is good news!

o Will you be found “not guilty” on that day? Are you trusting in the God of the Bible, Yahweh/Jesus to make you right?

· The second proverb is a one-verser which displays salvation coming from the Lord in terms of citizenship.

V.34 So wait for Yahweh and keep His way, and He will exalt you to possess the land; when wicked men are cut off you will see.

In addition to being an acrostic, another genius of this psalm is its chiastic structure, so this verse matches the verses earlier in the psalm[2] that said, “Ease off of anger and forsake fury; don't heat yourself up only to cause harm, because evil men will be cut off, but those who wait on Yahweh, they will inherit the land. For again a short time and a wicked man won't be [around], and you will see for yourself that he is not at his place, but the lowly ones will inherit the land, and will delight themselves over abundance of peace.” (Psalm 37:8-11, NAW)
The two commands here are to “wait[3] for the LORD” and to “keep His way.” These commands are related to trusting God and obeying Him.

Revelation 14:12 “Here is the patience [waiting] of the saints; here are those¹who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” (NKJV)
Attend to God and to the things He has told us to do in His word, and let Him take care of blessing you with the things you want and punishing the bad guys.

There’s a story my childhood pastor told about waiting on the Lord. He said there was a non-Christian who owned a farm right across the street from a country church. Every Sunday, as the folks were going in for worship, he’d be out there with his tractor, planting, or plowing, or whatever, breaking the Sabbath. One fall, after that farmer had reaped a great harvest – and sold it at top dollar, he went across the street to chat with the preacher.
He said, “Preacher, you know who I am?”
“Oh, yes, you’re John Smith. That’s your farm right across the way.”
“You see me on Sunday morning when everybody else is going to church—you see me out there plowing and planting?”
“Oh, yes, I’ve seen that.”
“Did you hear about my harvest?”
“Well, I heard you had a good one.”
“That’s right. Best of anybody in the county. How do you explain that, Preacher? If there’s a God and He controls things and He blesses His people, how do you explain that I’m the one that had the best harvest? I'm the one that made all the money?”
The preacher said, “Well, God doesn’t always balance His books in the month of October.”
John Calvin commented “[I]t is in vain for any to sit in judgment upon the first aspect of things... hasty judgment is then the cause of our being deceived. But if a man extend his view, as if it were from a watch-tower, to a great distance, he will find that it has been said with truth, that the end of the reprobate and the end of the righteous respectively are at length very different... [Let us] learn to suspend our judgment, if God should not immediately accomplish what he has spoken. If we should become impatient in our desires, let us moderate our minds by the reflection, that the end is not yet come, and that it behoves us to give God time to restore to order the confused state of things.”
God will lift up/exalt those who wait upon Him

Psalm 75:5-7 “Do not lift up your horn on high; Do not speak with a stiff neck. For exaltation comes neither from the east Nor from the west nor from the south. But God is the Judge: He puts down one, And exalts another.” (NKJV)
1 Peter 5:6-7 “…let yourselves start being humbled under the mighty hand of God, in order that He may exalt y’all in [His] appointed time, y’all having pitched your every anxiety upon Him...” (NAW)
Matt. 25:34 “Then the King will say to those off to His right, ‘Come here, you who have been blessed by my father! Start inheriting the kingdom prepared for y’all from the foundation of the world…’” (NAW)
Cf. Hannah’s song in 1 Samuel 2:1ff "My heart rejoices in the LORD; My hornis exalted in the LORD. I smile at my enemies, Because I rejoice in Your salvation. No one is holy like the LORD, For there is none besides You, Nor is there any rock like our God. Talk no more so very proudly; Let no arrogance come from your mouth, For the LORD is the God of knowledge; And by Him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty men are broken, And those who stumbled are girded with strength. Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, And the hungry have ceased to hunger. Even the barren has borne seven, And she who has many children has become feeble. The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and brings up. The LORD makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up. He raises the poor from the dust And lifts the beggar from the ash heap, To set them among princes And make them inherit the throne of glory. For the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, And He has set the world upon them. He will guard the feet of His saints, But the wicked shall be silent in darkness…” (NKJV)
“[T]hose that keep God's way may be assured that in due time he will exalt them, to inherit the land (v. 34); he will advance them to a place in the heavenly mansions, to dignity, and honour, and true wealth, in the New Jerusalem, to inherit that good land, that land of promise, of which Canaan was a type; he will exalt them above all contempt and danger.” ~Matthew Henry

God will also cut off the wicked, and you will see His justice come full circle.

Revelation 19:1-4 “After these things I hearda loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, ‘Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to theLord our God! For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her.’ Again they said, ‘Alleluia! Her smoke rises up forever and ever!’” You will one day watch with the saints in heaven as that smoke curls up from the torment of the wicked in hell, and you will be praising God for bringing about justice.

· The next proverb starts in v.35 and frames salvation (or lack thereof) in what most scholars believe is an agricultural picture, comparing a wicked man to a tree that gets removed.

Vs.35 There was a wicked man I saw, formidable and coming out like a new normal, 36 but then he passed on, and look, he wasn’t [there]. I even searched for him, but he was not to be found!

Two phrases are used to describe the wicked man in v.35. The first isעָרִ֖יץ , which I translated “formidable” and others have translated “powerful/violent/ruthless[4] (God is described with this adjective later in the prophets, so I prefer to focus on the “awe-inspiring” meaning rather than on the connotation of being “uncompassionate.”)

At first blush, the power which oftentimes the wicked hold can be pretty intimidating, tempting us to act out of fear of them to do what will make them happy instead of fearing God and keeping God’s way. But that is a short-sighted impression.
Isaiah punctured that inflated image like a pin in a balloon with his prophecies: For thus says Yahweh, "Even the captives of the mighty will be taken and the prey of the formidable one will be rescued, and I myself will fight against those who fight against you, and I myself will cause to save your children… and all flesh will know that I am Yahweh who causes you to be saved and your Redeemer is the Mighty One of Jacob.” (Isaiah 49:25-26, NAW, cf. Isa. 25:4-5)

The second phrase David uses to describe the initially-impressive façade of the wicked is that of a spreading, green bay/laurel tree (KJV/ESV), or a tall cedar of Lebanon (LXX, Syr., Eth.), or a luxuriant, flourishing tree in its native soil (NASB/NIV). The Hebrew phrase is וּמִתְעָרֶה כְּאֶזְרָח רַעֲנָן and it doesn’t show up anywhere else in the Bible as a phrase, so it’s meaning is a little uncertain, thus the wide range of translation.

The first word in the phrase is a participle which means “he exposes himself – comes out of a protective structure,”
followed by a noun that is translated “native/born at home/from the same country” in every one of its 17 occurrences throughout the OT except here, where some versions translate it “bay tree” or “laurel tree,” two names for a kind of evergreen[5] native to the Mediterranean (Plumer) that is “all leaves and no fruit” (Henry). However, this kind of tree is not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible, and it seems to be unnecessarily added by the KJV and ESV. The criticism of adding words can also be leveled at the NASB and NIV, which add the word “soil” and the preposition “in,” neither of which are in the Hebrew text either.
The last word in the phrase is an adjective that means something “fresh/new/green.” Every time that adjective appeared in writings previous to this Psalm (and most of the times afterwards), it was describing the trees where idol-worshippers did their pagan ceremonies[6], and, although the word “tree” doesn’t actually appear in the Hebrew here, I strongly suspect a connection between this wicked man and paganism.
Speaking of “native trees” I have an illustration from my own backyard. The heat from the rising sun on the East side of my house has been a problem, so I have sought to solve the problem by planting trees on that East side to create some shade. I started by planting seeds from apples, pears, peaches, cherries – every kind of fruit we eat, even oak acorns, hoping to get trees growing, but none of the seeds ever sprouted. Then I decided what we needed was saplings rather than seeds, so I paid good money for two cherry trees and planted them, but within a couple of years both of those trees were dead. As far as I can tell, the main reason none of these trees was successful is that none of them were native. If you drive around my neighborhood, what you mostly see is elm and maple trees. Every fall, those elm-seed pods cover the ground, and every Spring, I have to dig out scores of little elm saplings that threaten to overtake my yard. About three years ago, it struck me, if I want a shade-tree, what I need is one of these native Elms that grow like gangbusters here! So I let one of those little Elm saplings grow instead of uprooting it. The big tree in the background of the photo is that Elm sapling three years later! The little oak tree in the foreground is about 2 years old while the big elm in the background is about 4 years old. That’s the difference between the growth of a native tree and one that is not native. If that little oak sapling makes it to four years old, it still won’t be as big as that elm is now!
Anyway, as I puzzled long and hard over how to bring this Hebrew phrase over into contemporary English, I have come to the conclusion that this is describing ungodly people “coming out of the closet” and trying to establish a “new normal.” The wicked today act as though God’s ways are passé, as if those who really belong are those who are in rebellion against God, and that it’s o.k. to “let it all hang out” now and openly do what was once considered sinful and shameful because there aren’t enough godly people anymore to enforce the old rules of morality, and there is presumably no God who will come back and enforce those old laws either.
It wasn’t long ago that the so-called “New Atheists” were claiming that Christianity was going to go extinct and that Secular Humanism would become the reigning world religion. They said us Bible-thumpers were on the wrong side of history. But they were deluded. Their inbred news-media blinds them to the reality that they are only a tiny and shrinking minority of the world population with one of the lowest birthrates of any religious group, while Christianity is far outstripping every other world religion.

The reality check comes in v.36. Fast-forward a little in time, and those sneering wicked aren’t around anymore. They’re gone. Think of what happened to King Saul. Like a tornado that rips trees right from where they stand and takes them who-knows-where, God’s justice rips through the surface of time and ends the rampages of wicked people.

“The wicked, in their end, will be cut off from all good and all hopes of it; a final period will be put to all their joys, and they will be for ever separated from the fountain of life to all evil… The transgressors shall be destroyed together, v. 38. In this world God singles out here one sinner and there another, out of many, to be made an example… as a warning; but in the day of judgment there will be a general destruction of all the transgressors, and not one shall escape.” ~Matthew Henry
This should make us pause in awe at our God. He has brought salvation to His people time and time again by overturning the mightiest empires in the world, from Egypt to Babylon to Rome to the Soviet Union - and there will be more! Are you safe under His protection?

Our fourth proverb frames the Lord’s salvation in “before and after” pictures:

Vs.37 Use care regarding a man of integrity, and observe a righteous man[7], because there will be an “after” for the man of peace, 38 but transgressors will be altogether destroyed; the “after” of wicked men will be cut off.

It opens with commands to make sure that godly folks stick around and to watch what happens with them.

The first command in Hebrew (sh^emar) is the exact same as the one that all the English versions translated “keep” in the middle of v.34. Most English versions translate it “mark” or “consider” here, but I think the plain meaning of the Hebrew verb implies that we should take care of godly people, make it easy for them to keep living nearby, protect them, do what it takes to keep them around because, as we noted in the last sermon passage, the righteous are a generous source of blessing to everyone around them. (I see our city of Manhattan working hard to attract nationally-franchised companies, but we need to be sure to invest in keeping citizens whom God will bless, because God’s dealings with individuals affects entire communities.)
The second command is to “see to/look at/behold/observe” the righteous – not because you seek their downfall (like the wicked do), but rather to learn from them and to strengthen your trust in God as you see God care for them and bless their future. Do you have mentors – godly men or women that you can keep an eye on so you can learn from them, imitate them, and find encouragement from their blessings? Mentorship is an important part of the Christian life.

There are three synonyms describing the godly in v.37

Tam = perfect/mature/blameless/integrity
Yashar = upright/righteous - made right through God’s provision of redemption
And the iysh shalom “man of peace” – The phrase “man of peace” is a Hebrew idiom for a “close friend[8]” but in parallel with the words for “upright” and “blameless” this is clearly a believing friend who has peace as a fruit of God’s Spirit. Jesus said, “Blessed are the peace-makers, for it is they who will be called the children of God.” (Matthew 5:9, NAW)
These are the kind of people to keep around and to watch and learn from.

The reasoning behind these two commands is given in the second half of v.37 “because there will be an achariyt/end/future/posterity – literally an “after” (as in the opposite of “before”). There’s going to be a before and an after, and the after is going to be better than the before. Watch for it!

Prov. 23:17-18 “Do not let your heart envy sinners, But be zealous for the fear of the LORD all the day; For surely there is a hereafter, And your hope will not be cut off.”
Jeremiah 29:11 “I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (NKJV)

The wicked, on the other hand are cut off. Think of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.

It’s what the covenantal curses promised in Leviticus 26:30 Then I will destroy your high-places… and I will put your corpses on top of … your idols, and my soul will disdain you.” (NAW)
And it’s what the prophets prophesied, for instance in Isaiah 13:9 “Look, the day of Yahweh comes, Cruel wrath and fierce anger, to make the land into a desolation and to destroy …sinners from it.” (NAW)

This is the end, the “after” of those who do not orient themselves around God and His salvation, and this is why we need to keep and watch people who are oriented around God’s salvation.
The last proverb in Psalm 37 sums up by stating outright that salvation comes from the Lord:

Vs.39 Verily the salvation of righteous men is from Yahweh; He is their strength in a time of crisis. 40 Yahweh will also help them and deliver them. He delivers them from evil men and saves them because they have taken refuge in Him.

In the Hebrew, there are both past tense and future tense verb forms in this verse, but they all state timeless truths[9].
Where does your sense of safety come from? In what do you find your strength in a time of crisis/trouble/stress? If it comes from anything or anyone but the LORD God, you need to reconsider the orientation of your life, because the only sure source of salvation and strength in crisis is Jesus. Take refuge in Him to make you right and keep you safe, and you will not be disappointed.
Augustine: “At present therefore let the righteous bear with the sinner; let the wheat bear with the tares; let the grain bear with the chaff: for the time of separation will come… for it was for this reason that the just and the unjust were at the first together; that the one should lay a stumbling-block, that the other should be proved; that afterwards the one should be condemned, the other receive a crown.”
“‘God will deliver.’ By this he admonishes the children of God to learn patiently to endure afflictions, and that, if God should prolong them, they should often recall this to their remembrance, that after he has tried their patience, he will in the end deliver them.” ~Calvin
Plumer: “He shall save them completely and finally. He shall do this, for by his nature and by his word he is bound to do it; Because they trust in him. God cannot deny himself, and so he cannot but save all who have at his bidding confided in him.”
So take refuge in the Lord Jesus.

Conclusion

Luther: “O shame on our faithlessness, mistrust, and vile unbelief, that we do not believe such rich, powerful, consolatory declarations of God, and take up so readily with little grounds of offence, whenever we but hear the wicked speeches of the ungodly. Help, O God, that we may once attain to the right faith. Amen.”

Psalm 37:32-40[A]

Septuagint (Psalm 35)	Brenton’s translation of LXX	Douay-Rheims Vulgate	King James Version	Nathan A Wilson’s Version	Masoretic Text
32 κατανοεῖ ὁ ἁμαρτωλὸς τὸν δίκαιον καὶ ζητεῖ τοῦ θανατῶσαι αὐτόν,	32 The sinner watches the righteous, and seeks to slay him.	32 The wicked watcheth the just man, and seeketh to put him to death,	32 The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him.	32 Raring to put him to death, the wicked person keeps watch on the righteous person.	לב צוֹפֶה רָשָׁע לַצַּדִּיק וּמְבַקֵּשׁ לַהֲמִיתוֹ.
33 ὁ δὲ κύριος οὐ μὴ ἐγκαταλίπῃ αὐτὸν εἰς τὰς χεῖρας αὐτοῦ οὐδὲ μὴ καταδικάσηται αὐτόν, ὅταν κρίνη~~ται~~ αὐτῷ.	33 But the Lord will not leave him in his hand[s], nor by any means condemn him when he is judged.	33 But the Lord will not leave him in his hand[s]; nor condemn him when he shall be judged.	33 The LORD will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged.	33 As for Yahweh, He will not abandon him into his hand and will not make him out to be wicked during His judgment.	לג יְהוָה לֹא יַעַזְבֶנּוּ בְיָדוֹ וְלֹא יַרְשִׁיעֶנּוּ בְּהִשָּׁפְטוֹ.
34 ὑπόμεινον τὸν κύριον καὶ φύλαξον τὴν ὁδὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὑψώσει σε τοῦ κατακληρονομῆσαι γῆν· ἐν τῷ ἐξολεθρεύεσθαι ἁμαρτωλοὺς ὄψῃ.	34 Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are destroyed, thou shalt see [it].	34 Expect the Lord and keep his way: and he will exalt thee to inherit the land: when the sinners shall perish thou shalt see.	34 Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.	34 So wait for Yahweh and keep His way, and He will exalt you to possess the land; when wicked men are cut off you will see.	לד קַוֵּה אֶל יְהוָה וּשְׁמֹר דַּרְכּוֹ וִירוֹמִמְךָ לָרֶשֶׁת אָרֶץ בְּהִכָּרֵת רְשָׁעִים תִּרְאֶה.
35 εἶδον ἀσεβῆ ~~ὑπερυψούμενον~~ καὶ ἐπαιρόμενον ὡς ~~τὰς~~ ~~κέδρους~~ ~~τοῦ~~ ~~Λιβάνου·~~	35 I saw the ungodly ~~very highly exalting himself,~~ and lifting himself up like ~~the cedars of Libanus~~.	35 I have seen the wicked ~~highly exalted~~, and lifted up like ~~the cedars of Libanus~~.	35 I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green ~~bay tree~~[B].	35 There was a wicked man I saw, formidable and coming out like a new normal,	לה רָאִיתִי רָשָׁע עָרִיץ וּמִתְעָרֶה כְּאֶזְרָח רַעֲנָן.
36 καὶ παρῆλθον, καὶ ἰδοὺ οὐκ ἦν, καὶ ἐζήτησα αὐτόν, καὶ οὐχ εὑρέθη [ὁ τόπος] αὐτοῦ.	36 Yet I passed by, and lo! he was not: and I sought him, but his [place] was not found.	36 And I~~[C]~~ passed by, and lo, he was not: and I sought him and his [place] was not found.	36 Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he [could] not be found.	36 but then he passed on, and look, he wasn’t [there]. I even searched for him, but he was not to be found!	לו וַיַּעֲבֹר[D] וְהִנֵּה אֵינֶנּוּ וָאֲבַקְשֵׁהוּ וְלֹא נִמְצָא.
37 φύλασσε ~~ἀκακίαν~~ καὶ ἰδὲ εὐθύτητα, ὅτι ἔστιν ~~ἐγκατάλειμμα~~ ἀνθρώπῳ εἰρηνικῷ·	37 Maintain ~~innocence~~, and behold uprightness: for there is a ~~remnant~~ to the peaceable man.	37 Keep ~~innocence~~, and behold justice: for there are ~~remnants~~ for the peaceable man.	37 ~~Mark~~ the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.	37 Use care regarding a man of integrity and observe a righteous man, because there will be an “after” for the man of peace,	לז שְׁמָר תָּם וּרְאֵה יָשָׁר כִּי אַחֲרִית לְאִישׁ שָׁלוֹם.
38 οἱ δὲ παράνομοι ἐξολεθρευθήσονται ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό, τὰ ἐγκαταλείμματα τῶν ἀσεβῶν ἐξολεθρευθήσονται.	38 But the transgressors shall be utterly destroyed together: the remnants of the ungodly shall be utterly destroyed.	38 But the unjust shall be destroyed together: the remnants of the wicked shall perish.	38 But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end[E] of the wicked shall be cut off.	38 but transgressors will be altogether destroyed; the “after” of wicked men will be cut off.	לח וּפֹשְׁעִים נִשְׁמְדוּ יַחְדָּו אַחֲרִית רְשָׁעִים נִכְרָתָה.
39 σωτηρία δὲ τῶν δικαίων παρὰ κυρίου, καὶ ὑπερασπιστὴς αὐτῶν ἐστιν ἐν καιρῷ θλίψεως,	39 But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord; and he is their defender in the time of affliction.	39 But the salvation of the just is from the Lord, and he is their protector in the time of trouble.	39 But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble.	39 Verily the salvation of righteous men is from Yahweh; He is their strength in a time of crisis.	לט וּתְשׁוּעַת צַדִּיקִים מֵיְהוָה מָעוּזָּם בְּעֵת צָרָה.
40 καὶ βοηθήσει αὐτοῖς κύριος καὶ ῥύσεται αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐξελεῖται αὐτοὺς ἐξ ἁμαρτωλῶν καὶ σώσει αὐτούς, ὅτι ἤλπισαν ἐπ᾿ αὐτόν.	40 And the Lord shall help them, and deliver them: and he shall rescue them from sinners, and save them, because they have hoped in him.	40 And the Lord will help them and deliver them: and he will rescue them from the wicked, and save them because they have hoped in him.	40 And the LORD shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.	40 Yahweh will also help them and deliver them. He delivers them from wicked men and saves them because they have taken refuge in Him.	מ וַיַּעְזְרֵם יְהוָה וַיְפַלְּטֵם יְפַלְּטֵם מֵרְשָׁעִים וְיוֹשִׁיעֵם כִּי חָסוּ בוֹ.

[1] Plumer: “No sinner ever loved a saint. To do that is infallible evidence of conversion (1 John 3:14). But, except so far as God permits, the malice of the wicked against the pious is impotent.”

Henry: “[I]t may very well be applied to the wicked one, the devil, that old serpent, who has his wiles to entrap the righteous, his devices which we should not be ignorant of,--that great red dragon, who seeks to slay them,--that roaring lion, who goes about continually, restless and raging, and seeking whom he may devour. But it is here promised that he shall not prevail, neither Satan nor his instruments.”

[2] Note also the match in the chiastic structure between v.32 and v.12ff.

[3] cf. Deuteronomy 12:28 "Observe [keep] and obey all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and your children after you forever…” (NKJV) Psalm 27:14 “Wait on Yahweh; be strong and cause your heart to be firm, and wait on Yahweh.” (NAW) Hosea 12:6 So you, by the help of your God, return; Observe[keep] mercy and justice, And wait on your God continually. (NKJV)

Plumer: “God's way is the path he marks out to us in his word and providence. Tarry for God, expect him, do your duty even in the humblest condition and state…”

[4] “The word here rendered in great power, is by the Chaldee, Marloratus and Fahritius rendered strong; by the Septuagint and kindred versions, highly exalted; by Musculus, great and terrible; by Ainsworth, daunting terrible; by Green, formidable to all around him; by Bythner [and Matthew Henry], formidable; by Hengstenberg, insolent; by Venema, violent; by Calvin, Edwards, Jebb and Alexander, terrible.” (Plumer)

[5] Keil & Delitzsch commentary calls it an “oak” or “terebinth.”

[6] 1 Ki. 14:23, 2 Ki. 16:4, 17:10, 2 Chr. 28:4, Isa. 57:5, Jer. 2:20, 3:6, 13, 17:2 & 8, Ezek. 6:13

[7] This could alternately be translated “Keep integrity and see righteousness,” which is the sense of the LXX & Vulgate.

[8] The three other times that this phrase appears in the OT are: Psalm 41:9 “Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me.” Jeremiah 38:22 … "Your close friends have set upon you And prevailed against you; Your feet have sunk in the mire, And they have turned away again." And Obadiah 1:7 “All the men in your confederacy Shall force you to the border; The men at peace with you Shall deceive you and prevail against you. Those who eat your bread shall lay a trap for you. No one is aware of it.” (NKJV)

[9] Keil: “The moods of sequence in Psa 37:40 are aoristi gnomici.”
NET: “The prefixed verbal forms with vav (‌ו‎‏‎) consecutive carry on the generalizing tone of the preceding verse.”