Psalm 37:9

For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

Psalm 37:9-11. For evil-doers shall be cut off — Namely, from the earth, as appears by comparing this with the next clause, and with Psalm 34:16. Their end shall certainly be most miserable. But those that wait, &c., shall inherit the earth — According to God’s promise, often made to such; which also generally was literally fulfilled in that state of the church; and if in any instances it was not, it was fulfilled with far greater advantage in spiritual and eternal blessings. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be — Namely, in the land of the living. His time and prosperity are very short, and therefore no matter for envy. He shall be dead and gone; as the phrase here used is commonly taken. Thou shalt diligently consider his place — Industriously seeking to find him; and it shall not be — That is, his place, and estate, and glory shall be gone. Or, he shall not be, as איננו, eenennu, rather signifies. But the meek — The godly, who are frequently so called; those who patiently bear God’s afflicting hand, and meekly pass by injuries from ungodly men; shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace — Partly of outward peace and prosperity, which God, in his due time, will give them: but principally of inward peace and satisfaction of mind, arising from a sense of God’s favour and the assurance of their own endless happiness.

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

For evil-doers shall be cut off - See Psalm 37:2. This will be the termination of their course. They shall not ultimately prosper. God will order all things in equity, and though such men now seem to be prosperous, and to be the objects of the divine favor, yet all this is temporary. The day of retribution will certainly come, and they will be dealt with as they deserve. The reference here probably is to judgment in this life, or to the fact that God will, as a general law, show his disapprobation of the course of the wicked by judgments inflicted on them in this world. See Psalm 55:23, "Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days." Proverbs 10:27, "the years of the wicked shall be shortened." Compare Job 15:32. The idea here is that wicked men will be cut down before they reach the ordinary term of human life, or before they would be cut off if they were not wicked. Compare Psalm 37:35-36. This is not indeed universally true, but there are instances enough of this kind to establish it as a general rule. Intemperance, voluptuousness, the indulgence of violent passions, and the crimes proceeding therefrom, shorten the lives of multitudes who, but for these, might have lived long on the earth. As it is a general rule that virtue, piety, the fear of God, temperance, honesty, and the calmness of spirit which results from these, tend to lengthen out life, so it is certain that the opposites of these tend to abridge it. Neither virtue nor piety indeed make it absolutely certain that a man will live to be old; but vice and crime make it morally certain that he will not. At all events, it is true that the wicked are to live but a little while upon the earth; that they soon will, like other men, be cut down and removed; and therefore we should not fret and complain in regard to those who are so soon to pass away. Compare Psalm 73.

But those that wait upon the Lord - The pious; they who fear God and serve him.

They shall inherit the earth - Compare the notes at Psalm 37:3. See also Psalm 37:11, Psalm 37:22, Psalm 37:25.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

9. Two reasons: The prosperity of the wicked is short; and the pious, by humble trust, will secure all covenant blessing, denoted here by "inherit the earth" (compare Ps 25:13).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Shall be cut off, to wit, from the earth, by comparing this with the next clause, and with Psalm 34:16. Their end shall certainly be most miserable.

Shall inherit the earth, according to God’s promise oft made to such; which also for the most part was literally fulfilled in that state of the church; and if it was not, it was fulfilled with far greater advantage in spiritual and eternal blessings.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

For evildoers shall be cut off,.... Though they flourish for a while, they shall be cut down like the grass or flower of the field, or they shall be cut off as branches from a flourishing tree; they shall be cut off from the earth, and rooted out of it by death or some desolating judgment; see Proverbs 2:22; and therefore not to be envied and fretted at;

but those that wait upon the Lord shall inherit the earth; such who attend his word, worship, and ordinances; obey his commands, trust in his grace and mercy; or, as the Targum, "trust in the word of the Lord"; who wait upon him for the manifestations of himself, for the performance of his promises, for answer of prayer, for supplies of grace, and live in the expectation of the heavenly glory; these shall have for their inheritance, not the land of Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey, which the obedient Jews enjoyed; but either this world and the necessaries of it, which such persons have the promise of, a right unto through Christ, are heirs of, and do enjoy what they do with a blessing; or else the new earth after this, in which only righteous ones, those that wait upon the Lord, and trust in him, will dwell; unless the heavenly country, the good land afar off, is meant, often called an inheritance.

Geneva Study Bible

For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

9. the earth] Rather, as in Psalm 37:3, the land; and so in Psalm 37:11; Psalm 37:22; Psalm 37:29; Psalm 37:34. As the nations were “cut off” before Israel (Deuteronomy 12:29; Deuteronomy 19:1), that Israel might possess the Promised Land, so will the wicked be destroyed, that the true Israel may have undisturbed enjoyment of their inheritance. Cp. Psalm 25:13.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 9. - For evil-doers shall be out off. It is foolish to "fret" and rage and storm against the ungodly whom we see prospering, since they will certainly be "cut off" sooner or later - sooner rather than later, according to the belief of the writer (see vers. 2, 10). But those that wait upon the Lord (see Ver. 7), they shall inherit the earth. It is doubly foolish, since when the wicked are "cut off," as they will be assuredly some day, the godly will find themselves the inheritors of the earth. This prophecy is partially fulfilled from time to time, and will find its complete fulfilment in the "new heavens and new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness" (2 Peter 3:13). Psalm 37:9

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

On הרף (let alone), imper. apoc. Hiph., instead of הרפּה, vid., Ges. ֗75, rem. 15. אך להרע is a clause to itself (cf. Proverbs 11:24; Psalm 21:5; Psalm 22:16): it tends only to evil-doing, it ends only in thy involving thyself in sin. The final issue, without any need that thou shouldst turn sullen, is that the מרעים, like to whom thou dost make thyself by such passionate murmuring and displeasure, will be cut off, and they who, turning from the troublous present, make Jahve the ground and aim of their hope, shall inherit the land (vid., Psalm 25:13). It is the end, the final and consequently eternal end, that decides the matter.