Psalm 37:18

The LORD knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(18) Knoweth.—See Psalm 1:6, Note.

Benson Commentary

Psalm 37:18-20. The Lord knoweth — Observeth with singular care and affection; the days of the upright — Their condition, and all things which do or may befall them; their dangers, and fears, and sufferings from ungodly men; and therefore will watch over them, and preserve them from all the designs and attempts of their enemies. Days, or years, or times, are often put for things done, or events happening in them. And their inheritance shall be for ever — To them and their seed for ever: see Psalm 37:29. When they die the inheritance is not lost, but exchanged for one infinitely better. They shall not be ashamed — For the disappointment of their hopes, but their hopes and desires shall be satisfied; as it follows. But the wicked shall be as the fat of lambs — Which in an instant melteth before the fire. They shall consume into smoke — Utterly and irrecoverably.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

37:7-20 Let us be satisfied that God will make all to work for good to us. Let us not discompose ourselves at what we see in this world. A fretful, discontented spirit is open to many temptations. For, in all respects, the little which is allotted to the righteous, is more comfortable and more profitable than the ill-gotten and abused riches of ungodly men. It comes from a hand of special love. God provides plentifully and well, not only for his working servants, but for his waiting servants. They have that which is better than wealth, peace of mind, peace with God, and then peace in God; that peace which the world cannot give, and which the world cannot have. God knows the believer's days. Not one day's work shall go unrewarded. Their time on earth is reckoned by days, which will soon be numbered; but heavenly happiness shall be for ever. This will be a real support to believers in evil times. Those that rest on the Rock of ages, have no reason to envy the wicked the support of their broken reeds.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The Lord knoweth the days of the upright - See the notes at Psalm 1:6. He knows how long they will live, and all that will happen to them. He sees their whole course of life; he sees the end. It is implied here that his eyes are on all the allotted days of their life; on all that has been ordained for them in the whole course of their life; and that nothing can shorten the days appointed to them. The wicked expect to live, hope to live, make their arrangements to live; but their eyes cannot rest on the future, and they cannot see the end - cannot tell precisely when they will be cut off. Some unexpected calamity - something which they cannot foresee - may come upon them, and cut short their days long before the expected thee; but this cannot happen in respect to Him whose eyes are on the righteous. Nothing can prevent their reaching the thee which he has fixed as the termination of their lives.

And their inheritance shall be forever - Shall be permanent, enduring. Perhaps all that was implied in tiffs language, as it was used by the psalmist, was that they would "continue," or would not be cut off as the wicked are; that is, that righteousness would contribute to length of days upon the earth (compare Psalm 37:9); yet the "language" suggests a higher idea, and is applicable to the righteous in respect to the promise that they will be put in "everlasting" possession of that which they "inherit" from God; that is, that they will be literally blessed forever. They will have a sure inheritance on earth, and it will endure to all eternity in another world.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

18, 19. God, who knows His people's changes, provides against evil and supplies all their need.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Knoweth; observeth with singular care and affection

The days of the upright, i.e. their condition, and all things which do or may befall them, their dangers and fears, and suffering from ungodly men; and therefore will watch over them, and preserve them from all the designs and attempts of their enemies.

Days, or years, or times are oft put for things done or events happening in them, as Deu 32:7 Psalm 31:15 77:5 143:5 Isaiah 63:11.

Their inheritance shall be for ever; to them and their seed for ever: compare Psalm 37:29. And when they die, their inheritance is not lost, but exchanged for one infinitely better.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

The Lord knoweth the days of the upright,.... Not only how long they shall live, and so fill up their days, the number of them, as Aben Ezra interprets it; but the nature of their days, whether prosperous or adverse; and causes both to work together for their good; and he knows the work of their days, as Jarchi explains it, the actions done by them in faith and love, and to his honour and glory, and which he approves and accepts of in Christ; see Psalm 1:6;

and their inheritance shall be for ever; in heaven, which is an eternal and never fading one, Hebrews 9:15; and therefore they ought not to fret and be envious.

Geneva Study Bible

The LORD {l} knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever.

(l) God knows what dangers hang over his, and by what means to deliver them.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

18. Jehovah knoweth, and the Omniscient is also the All-Sovereign (see on Psalm 1:6), the days of the perfect: each fraction of the lives of those who are devoted to Him (see on Psalm 15:2), with all that it brings. Cp. my times (Psalm 31:15); Matthew 6:8.

and their inheritance shall be for ever] The righteous man lives in his posterity, who continue in possession of the ancestral inheritance, while the posterity of the wicked perish (Psalm 37:28; Psalm 37:38; Psalm 34:16). The Psalmist’s view is still limited to earth (cp. Psalm 37:19). The eternal inheritance reserved in heaven is beyond his horizon.

18, 19. Stanza of Yôd. Jehovah’s care for the godly.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 18. - The Lord knoweth the days of the upright; literally, of the perfect - those who yield him a complete obedience. God takes loving note of their days, knows their number, and the events which each day will bring. He will cause all things to "work together for their good." And their inheritance shall be for ever (comp. vers. 27, 29, and 37; which all, like this verse, point, albeit vaguely, to a future life). The mere continuance of a man's posterity in a prosperous condition cannot exhaust the meaning of such phrases as, "Their inheritance shall be for ever;" "Dwell for evermore;" "The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever." If David himself meant no more than this, yet the Holy Spirit which inspired him may have meant more. At any rate, to the Christian the words will always bring up the thought of that "inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, which is reserved for us in heaven" (1 Peter 1:4). Psalm 37:18

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The life of those who love Jahve with the whole heart is, with all its vicissitudes, an object of His loving regard and of His observant providential care, Psalm 1:6; Psalm 31:8, cf. Psalm 16:1-11. He neither suffers His own to lose their heritage nor to be themselves lost to it. The αἰώνιος κληρονομία is not as yet thought of as extending into the future world, as in the New Testament. In Psalm 37:19 the surviving refers only to this present life.