Psalms 37:3

37:3 Trust in the Lord and do what is right!

Settle in the land and maintain your integrity! ¹ 

Psalms 37:18-19

37:18 The Lord watches over the innocent day by day ² 

and they possess a permanent inheritance. ³ 

37:19 They will not be ashamed when hard times come; ⁴ 

when famine comes they will have enough to eat. ⁵ 

Psalms 37:25

37:25 I was once young, now I am old.

I have never seen a godly man abandoned,

or his children ⁶  forced to search for food. ⁷ 

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¹ tn Heb “tend integrity.” The verb רָעָה (ra’ah, “tend, shepherd”) is probably used here in the sense of “watch over, guard.” The noun אֱמוּנָה (’emunah, “faithfulness, honesty, integrity”) is understood as the direct object of the verb, though it could be taken as an adverbial accusative, “[feed] securely,” if the audience is likened to a flock of sheep.

² tn Heb “the Lord knows the days of the innocent ones.” He “knows” their days in the sense that he is intimately aware of and involved in their daily struggles. He meets their needs and sustains them.

³ tn Heb “and their inheritance is forever.”

⁴ tn Heb “in a time of trouble.”

⁵ tn Heb “in days of famine they will be satisfied.”

⁶ tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

⁷ tn Heb “or his offspring searching for food.” The expression “search for food” also appears in Lam 1:11, where Jerusalem’s refugees are forced to search for food and to trade their valuable possessions for something to eat.