Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 37:9
For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.
9. the earth ] Rather, as in Psa 37:3, the land; and so in Psa 37:11 ; Psa 37:22 ; Psa 37:29 ; Psa 37:34. As the nations were “cut off” before Israel (Deu 12:29; Deu 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. Psa 25:13.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For evil-doers shall be cut off – See Psa 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 Psa 55:23, Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days. Pro 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 Psa 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 Ps. 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 Psa 37:3. See also Psa 37:11, Psa 37:22, Psa 37:25.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 9. They shall inherit the earth.] The word arets, throughout this Psalm, should be translated land, not earth; for it is most probable that it refers to the land of Judea; and in this verse there is a promise of their return thither.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Shall be cut off, to wit, from the earth, by comparing this with the next clause, and with Psa 34:16. Their end shall certainly be most miserable.
Shall inherit the earth, according to Gods 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.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. Two reasons: The prosperityof the wicked is short; and the pious, by humble trust, will secureall covenant blessing, denoted here by “inherit the earth”(compare Ps 25:13).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole 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 Pr 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.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
9. For the wicked shall be cut off. It is not without cause that he repeatedly inculcates the same thing, namely, that the happiness and prosperity which the ungodly enjoy is only a mask or phantom; for the first sight of it so dazzles our senses, that we are unable to form a proper estimate of what will be its issue, in the light of which alone we ought to judge of the value of all that has preceded. But the contrast between the two clauses of the verse ought to be observed. First, in saying that the wicked shall be cut off, he intimates that they shall flourish fresh and green till the time of their destruction shall arrive; and, secondly, in allotting the earth to the godly, saying, They shall inherit the earth, he means that they shall live in such a manner as that the blessing of God shall follow them, even to the grave. Now, as I have already said, the present condition of men is to be estimated by the state in which it will terminate. From the epithet by which he distinguishes the children of God, we learn that they are exercised by a severe conflict for the trial of their faith; for he speaks of them, not as righteous or godly, but as those that wait upon the Lord. What purpose would this waiting serve, unless they groaned under the burden of the cross? Moreover, the possession of the earth which he promises to the children of God is not always realised to them; because it is the will of the Lord that they should live as strangers and pilgrims in it; neither does he permit them to have any fixed abode in it, but rather tries them with frequent troubles, that they may desire with greater alacrity the everlasting dwelling-place of heaven. The flesh is always seeking to build its nest for ever here; and were we not tossed hither and thither, and not suffered to rest, we would by and by forget heaven and the everlasting inheritance. Yet, in the midst of this disquietude, the possession of the earth, of which David here speaks, is not taken away from the children of God; for they know most certainly that they are the rightful heirs of the world. Hence it is that they eat their bread with a quiet conscience, and although they suffer want, yet God provides for their necessities in due season. Finally, although the ungodly labor to effect their destruction, and reckon them unworthy to live upon the earth, yet God stretches forth his hand and protects them; nay, he so upholds them by his power, that they live more securely in a state of exile, than the wicked do in their nests to which they are attached. And thus the blessing, of which David speaks, is in part secret and hidden, because our reason is so dull, that we cannot comprehend what it is to possess the earth; and yet the faithful truly feel and understand that this promise is not made to them in vain, since, having fixed the anchor of their faith in God, they pass their life every day in peace, while God makes it manifest in their experience, that the shadow of his hand is sufficient to protect them.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
Psa 37:9 For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.
Ver. 9. For evildoers shall be cut off ] Yea, they shall soon be cut off, Psa 37:10 , and so shall all such as, having a while fretted at them, do at length revolt to them; as David was ready to do, once at least, Psa 73:12-14 , and as some others did out and out, as they say, Psa 37:10 , therefore his people return hither to their temporal undoing at least.
But those that wait upon the Lord
They shall inherit the earth
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
be cut off: i.e. die. Used of Messiah (Dan 9:26), whose resurrection was sure. (Psalm 16, &c).
the earth = the land, as in Psa 37:3, Psa 37:29, Psa 37:34.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
evildoers: Psa 37:35, Psa 37:36, Psa 55:23, Job 20:23-29, Job 27:13, Job 27:14-23
inherit: Psa 37:11, Psa 37:12, Psa 37:29, Psa 25:13, Isa 58:14, Isa 60:21, Heb 11:16, Rev 5:10
the earth: Or, “the land,” airetz, probably the land of Judea, given by God himself as an inheritance to their fathers, and their posterity forever, and this verse seems to contain a promise of their return thither.
Reciprocal: 1Ki 2:4 – fail 2Ki 6:33 – wait for the Psa 37:22 – cut off Psa 37:34 – Wait Pro 2:21 – General Pro 10:25 – the whirlwind Pro 10:30 – the wicked Isa 57:13 – but he Mat 5:5 – they Luk 12:46 – cut him in sunder
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 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 Psa 34:16. Their end shall certainly be most miserable. But those that wait, &c., shall inherit the earth According to Gods 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 , eenennu, rather signifies. But the meek The godly, who are frequently so called; those who patiently bear Gods 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 Gods favour and the assurance of their own endless happiness.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2. The assurance of just punishment 37:9-22
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Perhaps the wicked were grabbing land that did not belong to them. David assured the people that the wicked would not succeed long. Those who submitted to God’s authority would eventually possess the land He had promised them (cf. Mat 5:5). The meek are those who choose the way of patient faith rather than self-assertion, as the preceding verses make clear.