4 Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
4 You're not at all like the wicked, who are mere windblown dust -
4 The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
4 But not the wicked! They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind.
9 For those who are evil will be destroyed, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.
9 For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.
9 For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.
9 Before long the crooks will be bankrupt; God-investors will soon own the store.
9 For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the Lord, They shall inherit the earth.
9 For the wicked will be destroyed, but those who trust in the Lord will possess the land.
(Read Psalm 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.
10 A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found.
10 For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.
10 In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.
10 Before you know it, the wicked will have had it; you'll stare at his once famous place and - nothing!
10 For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more; Indeed, you will look carefully for his place, But it shall be no more.
10 Soon the wicked will disappear. Though you look for them, they will be gone.
(Read Psalm 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.
36 but he soon passed away and was no more; though I looked for him, he could not be found.
36 Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.
36 But he passed away,
36 The next time I looked there was nothing - a punctured bladder, vapid and limp.
36 Yet he passed away, and behold, he was no more; Indeed I sought him, but he could not be found.
36 But when I looked again, they were gone! Though I searched for them, I could not find them!
(Read Psalm 37:34-40)
Duty is ours, and we must mind it; but events are God's, we must refer the disposal of them to him. What a striking picture is in verses 35,36, of many a prosperous enemy of God! But God remarkably blights the projects of the prosperous wicked, especially persecutors. None are perfect in themselves, but believers are so in Christ Jesus. If all the saint's days continue dark and cloudy, his dying day may prove comfortable, and his sun set bright; or, if it should set under a cloud, yet his future state will be everlasting peace. The salvation of the righteous will be the Lord's doing. He will help them to do their duties, to bear their burdens; help them to bear their troubles well, and get good by them, and, in due time, will deliver them out of their troubles. Let sinners then depart from evil, and do good; repent of and forsake sin, and trust in the mercy of God through Jesus Christ. Let them take his yoke upon them, and learn of him, that they may dwell for evermore in heaven. Let us mark the closing scenes of different characters, and always depend on God's mercy.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 1:4
Commentary on Psalm 1:4-6
(Read Psalm 1:4-6)
The ungodly are the reverse of the righteous, both in character and condition. The ungodly are not so, ver. 4; they are led by the counsel of the wicked, in the way of sinners, to the seat of the scornful; they have no delight in the law of God; they bring forth no fruit but what is evil. The righteous are like useful, fruitful trees: the ungodly are like the chaff which the wind drives away: the dust which the owner of the floor desires to have driven away, as not being of any use. They are of no worth in God's account, how highly soever they may value themselves. They are easily driven to and fro by every wind of temptation. The chaff may be, for a while, among the wheat, but He is coming, whose fan is in his hand, and who will thoroughly purge his floor. Those that, by their own sin and folly, make themselves as chaff, will be found so before the whirlwind and fire of Divine wrath. The doom of the ungodly is fixed, but whenever the sinner becomes sensible of this guilt and misery, he may be admitted into the company of the righteous by Christ the living way, and become in Christ a new creature. He has new desires, new pleasures, hopes, fears, sorrows, companions, and employments. His thoughts, words, and actions are changed. He enters on a new state, and bears a new character. Behold, all things are become new by Divine grace, which changes his soul into the image of the Redeemer. How different the character and end of the ungodly!