The Apparent Good Fortune of the Godless Compared with the Believers’ True Happiness.
The wicked watcheth the righteous and seeketh to slay him, to that end he has laid his plans.
V. 33. The Lord will not leave him in his hand, will not give the righteous up to the evil intention of the wicked, nor condemn him when he is judged, the divine judgment will acquit him, even if men should declare him guilty.
V. 34. Wait on the Lord, with quiet, steady confidence, and keep His way, and He shall exalt thee to inherit the land, this promise being given six times in this one psalm; when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.
V. 35. I have seen the wicked in great power, proud, ruthless, arrogant, and spreading himself like a green bay-tree, a tree in full foliage, teeming with strength.
V. 36. Yet he passed away, rather, “lo, one passed by,” spoken as of a casual passer-by, and, lo, he was not, gone without causing so much as a ripple; yea, I sought him, but he could not be found. “The paths of glory lead but to the grave.”
V. 37. Mark the perfect man and behold the upright, watching closely how the Lord deals with such a person; for the end of that man is peace, the man of peace receiving everlasting peace as the reward of God’s mercy.
V. 38. But the transgressors shall be destroyed together; the end of the wicked, their entire posterity, shall be cut off. V. 39. But the salvation of the righteous, their final deliverance from every evil, of body and soul, property and honor, is of the Lord: He is their Strength in the time of trouble, in every form of distress and oppression.
V. 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, making Jehovah their sole refuge.
The lesson of the psalm is beautifully summarized in the well-known hymn of Paul Gerhardt “Commit Whatever Grieves Thee,” which has brought consolation to many a troubled heart.