Reading through Psalm 37 a while ago I saw a recurring theme that I had never observed before in all my readings of it. This theme revolves around the issue of land (presumably the land of Canaan, the land promised by God to Abraham for the Jewish people). I cannot help but wonder if Jesus was drawing on this psalm in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) in his teaching of the Beatitudes. Notice how the theme is woven beautifully throughout the song.
The psalmist introduces the concept early:
Psalm 37:3-4
“Trust in the LORD, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Delight yourself also in the LORD,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.”
This is just the beginning of a string of commands from the author to the reader, with exhortations to commit one’s way to God, rest in Him, not to fret, and to cease from anger. The psalmist gives the reason for all these commands:
Psalm 37:9
“For evildoers shall be cut off;
But those who wait on the LORD,
They shall inherit the earth.“
The psalmist continues in the next two verses to reiterate God’s promise that the wicked will receive their just comeuppance, and then reminds the reader that
“…the meek shall inherit the earth.“
Psalm 37:11
The psalmist continues in this elaborate contrast between the wicked and the righteous, once again revisiting the theme of land:
“The wicked borrows and does not repay,
Psalm 37:21-22
But the righteous shows mercy and gives.
For those blessed by Him shall inherit the earth,
But those cursed by Him shall be cut off.”
Oh, and just in case we haven’t yet quite gotten the point, the psalmist caps it off:
“Depart from evil, and do good; [recall v.3]
Psalm 37:27-29
And dwell forevermore.
For the LORD loves justice,
And does not forsake His saints;
They are preserved forever,
But the descendants of the wicked are cut off.
The righteous shall inherit the land,
And dwell in it forever.“
So what? What difference does this make today? It seems to me that the repetition of the idea of the land marks ideas that the psalmist meant to go together, namely these – righeousness, meekness, waiting on God, and God’s blessings (specifically eternal life). In other words, God is promising to bless us when we choose the path of righteousness by practicing meekness and waiting on God. But how do we do that?!? This brings us back to the opening paragraph of the psalm. We practice meekness in two ways: positively stated – by trusting in God, committing our life to Him, resting in Him, waiting patiently for Him; negatively stated – by ceasing from our anger and not worrying.
It’s that last part that gets me every time.
Reading the Old Testament 