34:16 But the Lord opposes evildoers
and wipes out all memory of them from the earth. 1
By David.
37:1 Do not fret 3 when wicked men seem to succeed! 4
Do not envy evildoers!
64:2 Hide me from the plots of evil men,
from the crowd of evildoers. 5
94:4 They spew out threats 6 and speak defiantly;
all the evildoers boast. 7
1 tn Heb “the face of the
2 sn Psalm 37. The psalmist urges his audience not to envy the wicked, but to trust in and obey the Lord, for he will destroy sinners and preserve the godly. When the smoke of judgment clears, the wicked will be gone, but the godly will remain and inherit God’s promised blessings. The psalm is an acrostic; every other verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
3 tn The verb form is singular (see vv. 3-10 as well, where the second person verbs and pronouns are also singular). The psalmist’s exhortation has a wisdom flavor to it; it is personalized for each member of his audience.
4 tn Heb “over sinners.” The context indicates that the psalmist has in mind the apparent power and success of sinners. See v. 7b.
5 tn Heb “workers of wickedness.”
6 tn Heb “they gush forth [words].”
7 tn The Hitpael of אָמַר (’amar) occurs only here (and perhaps in Isa 61:6).