Waiting for Justice (Psalm 37)

In Psalm 37, King David contrasts the righteous and the wicked—those who are faithful to God and those who are not. He sets the tone with this command in verse 1: “Do not be agitated by evildoers; do not envy those who do wrong.”

Now I know what you may be thinking…Why would anyone in their right mind be agitated or even envious of a wicked, evil, unfaithful human being? Well, the answer in short: because they are prosperous.

Think about it for a second. Do you know someone a little less than righteous who has been very successful in life, financially and/or otherwise? Probably so. And does it ever frustrate you that they seem to be much more successful than you, even though your faithfulness to God outweighs theirs? Probably so.

Why does this phenomenon happen? Why does it seem that the wicked are blessed while the righteous suffer? Better than asking why, let’s ask what—what do we do about it?

David answers that for us in verses 3-7 with phrases such as, “Trust in the Lord and do what is good…Take delight in the Lord…Commit your way to the Lord…Be silent before the Lord and wait expectantly for Him…”

As believers, we must remain faithful to our God. We must trust Him. We must delight in Him and in Him alone. And maybe most importantly, we must wait with great expectations.

What are we waiting for? We are waiting for justice. We are waiting for the day when God fully and finally straightens things out. The wicked will get their due. David says that God looks at the wicked person and “laughs” because “He sees that his day is coming” (verse 13).

So justice will be served, and not only for the wicked, but also for the righteous. Verse 28 promises us that “the Lord loves justice and will not abandon His faithful ones.” Our faithfulness will be rewarded. So don’t give up and don’t give in. Instead, “Wait for the Lord and keep His way, and He will exalt you to inherit the land” (verse 34).