(Aleph) Do not fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
And wither as the green herb.
(Beth) 3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
(Gimel)5 Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
6 He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.
(Daleth) 7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
(He) 8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
Do not fret—it only causes harm.
9 For evildoers shall be cut off;
But those who wait on the Lord,
They shall inherit the earth.
(Waw) 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.
11 But the meek shall inherit the earth,
And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
(Zayin) 12 The wicked plots against the just,
And gnashes at him with his teeth.
13 The Lord laughs at him,
For He sees that his day is coming.
(Heth) 14 The wicked have drawn the sword
And have bent their bow,
To cast down the poor and needy,
To slay those who are of upright conduct.
15 Their sword shall enter their own heart,
And their bows shall be broken.
(Teth) 16 A little that a righteous man has
Is better than the riches of many wicked.
17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
But the Lord upholds the righteous.
(Yod) 18 The Lord knows the days of the upright,
And their inheritance shall be forever.
19 They shall not be ashamed in the evil time,
And in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
(Kaph) 20 But the wicked shall perish;
And the enemies of the Lord,
Like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish.
Into smoke they shall vanish away.
(Lamed) 21 The wicked borrows and does not repay,
But the righteous shows mercy and gives.
22 For those blessed by Him shall inherit the earth,
But those cursed by Him shall be cut off.
(Mem) 23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord,
And He delights in his way.
24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;
For the Lord upholds him with His hand.
(Nun) 25 I have been young, and now am old;
Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,
Nor his descendants begging bread.
26 He is ever merciful, and lends;
And his descendants are blessed.
(Samekh) 27 Depart from evil, and do good;
And dwell forevermore.
28 For the Lord loves justice,
And does not forsake His saints;
They are preserved forever,
But the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off.
(Ayin) 29 The righteous shall inherit the land,
And dwell in it forever.
(Pe) 30 The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom,
And his tongue talks of justice.
31 The law of his God is in his heart;
None of his steps shall slide.
(Tsade) 32 The wicked watches the righteous,
And seeks to slay him.
33 The Lord will not leave him in his hand,
Nor condemn him when he is judged.
(Qoph) 34 Wait on the Lord,
And keep His way,
And He shall exalt you to inherit the land;
When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.
(Resh) 35 I have seen the wicked in great power,
And spreading himself like a native green tree.
36 Yet he passed away, and behold, he was no more;
Indeed I sought him, but he could not be found.
(Shin) 37 Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright;
For the future of that man is peace.
(Taw) 38 But the transgressors shall be destroyed together;
The future of the wicked shall be cut off.
39 But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
He is their strength in the time of trouble.
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.
By Mike Chaffin
Shepherd, warrior, king, poet, songwriter, leader, man after God’s own heart. I think it is safe to say David is what has come to be known as a renaissance man. In this poem he shows us his brilliant talent and God breathed ability for poetry.
Poetry can take many forms, and this one is no different. It is an acrostic using the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet to start each stanza. In the original Hebrew Bible, the verses were not numbered. In fact, the Old Testament verses were not numbered until 1448 A.D. when Nathan, a Jewish Rabbi, separated the chapters of the Old Testament into verses. I have added each letter of the Hebrew alphabet in parenthesis at the start of each acrostic stanza.
There are other Hebrew alphabet acrostics in the Bible as well. Psalms 9 and 10 when combined form an acrostic. Psalms 25, 34, 111, 112, 119 and 145 are also acrostics. In other books of the Bible, we find the first four chapters of Lamentations are all acrostics as well as Proverbs 31. Nahum 1:2-11 is considered an acrostic by many scholars although it is either incomplete or irregular.
David and others who used the acrostic form were helping us to learn and memorize essential information about God. This mnemonic device makes it easier for us to capture the stanzas in our mind. After reading Psalm 37, take a stanza that has special meaning to you and memorize it. When broken down this way, taking it a bite at a time, you will grow in your knowledge of the Bible and God’s ways.
Another way these can be used is during prayer time. Read a stanza and pray about it, asking God for what it promises or thanking and praising Him as the case may be. Spend the next week or two reading all the acrostic poetry of the Bible. God bless.
