Psalms 37:7

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

Wait patiently for the LORD! Wait confidently for him! Do not fret over the apparent success of a sinner, a man who carries out wicked schemes!

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

דּ֤וֹם ׀ לַיהוָה֮ וְהִתְח֢וֹלֵ֫ל ל֥וֹ אַל־תִּ֭תְחַר בְּמַצְלִ֣יחַ דַּרְכּ֑וֹ בְּ֝אִ֗ישׁ עֹשֶׂ֥ה מְזִמּֽוֹת׃

Transliteration

Be dôm to YHWH and hitḥôlēl for him; do not titḥar with one who maṣlîaḥ [in] his darkô, with ʾîš who does məzimmôt.

Grammar Details

• *dôm*: Qal imperative, masculine singular - be silent/still/wait quietly
• *YHWH*: proper noun - the LORD/Yahweh
• *hitḥôlēl*: Hithpolel imperative, masculine singular - wait patiently
• *lô*: preposition + 3rd person masculine singular suffix - for him
• *titḥar*: Hithpael imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular - fret yourself/compete with
• *maṣlîaḥ*: Hiphil participle, masculine singular - prospers/succeeds
• *darkô*: masculine singular noun + 3rd person masculine singular suffix - his way
• *ʾîš*: masculine singular noun - man
• *ʿōśeh*: Qal participle, masculine singular - does/makes
• *məzimmôt*: feminine plural noun - evil devices/plots/schemes

Word Meanings

• *dôm*: be silent/be still/wait quietly/rest
• *hitḥôlēl*: wait patiently/wait anxiously/writhe in anxiety
• *titḥar*: fret yourself/be angry/be envious
• *maṣlîaḥ*: prospers/succeeds/makes successful
• *məzimmôt*: evil devices/schemes/plots/wicked plans

Referenced Verses

• Ps 27:14 : 14 Rely on the LORD! Be strong and confident! Rely on the LORD!
• Ps 40:1 : 1 For the music director; By David, a psalm. I relied completely on the LORD, and he turned toward me and heard my cry for help.
• Prov 20:22 : 22 Do not say,“I will pay back evil!” Wait for the LORD, so that he may vindicate you.
• Jer 12:1 : 1 LORD, you have always been fair whenever I have complained to you. However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice. Why are wicked people successful? Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives?
• Ps 62:1 : 1 For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of David. For God alone I patiently wait; he is the one who delivers me.
• Ps 62:5 : 5 Patiently wait for God alone, my soul! For he is the one who gives me hope.
• Ps 73:3-9 : 3 For I envied those who are proud, as I observed the prosperity of the wicked. 4 For they suffer no pain; their bodies are strong and well-fed. 5 They are immune to the trouble common to men; they do not suffer as other men do. 6 Arrogance is their necklace, and violence covers them like clothing. 7 Their prosperity causes them to do wrong; their thoughts are sinful. 8 They mock and say evil things; they proudly threaten violence. 9 They speak as if they rule in heaven, and lay claim to the earth. 10 Therefore they have more than enough food to eat, and even suck up the water of the sea. 11 They say,“How does God know what we do? Is the Most High aware of what goes on?” 12 Take a good look! This is what the wicked are like, those who always have it so easy and get richer and richer. 13 I concluded,“Surely in vain I have kept my motives pure and maintained a pure lifestyle. 14 I suffer all day long, and am punished every morning.”
• Isa 30:15 : 15 For this is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel says:“If you repented and patiently waited for me, you would be delivered; if you calmly trusted in me you would find strength, but you are unwilling.
• Lam 3:25-26 : 25 ט(Tet) The LORD is good to those who trust in him, to the one who seeks him. 26 It is good to wait patiently for deliverance from the LORD.
• Hab 2:3 : 3 For the message is a witness to what is decreed; it gives reliable testimony about how matters will turn out. Even if the message is not fulfilled right away, wait patiently; for it will certainly come to pass– it will not arrive late.
• Gal 6:9 : 9 So we must not grow weary in doing good, for in due time we will reap, if we do not give up.
• Heb 10:36-37 : 36 For you need endurance in order to do God’s will and so receive what is promised. 37 For just a little longer and he who is coming will arrive and not delay.
• Jas 5:7-9 : 7 Patience in Suffering So be patient, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s return. Think of how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the ground and is patient for it until it receives the early and late rains. 8 You also be patient and strengthen your hearts, for the Lord’s return is near. 9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be judged. See, the judge stands before the gates! 10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers and sisters, take the prophets who spoke in the Lord’s name. 11 Think of how we regard as blessed those who have endured. You have heard of Job’s endurance and you have seen the Lord’s purpose, that the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
• Rev 13:3-9 : 3 One of the beast’s heads appeared to have been killed, but the lethal wound had been healed. And the whole world followed the beast in amazement; 4 they worshiped the dragon because he had given ruling authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast too, saying:“Who is like the beast?” and“Who is able to make war against him?” 5 The beast was given a mouth speaking proud words and blasphemies, and he was permitted to exercise ruling authority for forty-two months. 6 So the beast opened his mouth to blaspheme against God– to blaspheme both his name and his dwelling place, that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 The beast was permitted to go to war against the saints and conquer them. He was given ruling authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation, 8 and all those who live on the earth will worship the beast, everyone whose name has not been written since the foundation of the world in the book of life belonging to the Lamb who was killed. 9 If anyone has an ear, he had better listen! 10 If anyone is meant for captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed by the sword, then by the sword he must be killed.This requires steadfast endurance and faith from the saints.
• Dan 11:36 : 36 “Then the king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every deity and he will utter presumptuous things against the God of gods. He will succeed until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been decreed must occur.
• Jonah 1:11 : 11 Because the storm was growing worse and worse, they said to him,“What should we do to you so that the sea will calm down for us?”
• Eccl 5:8 : 8 Government Corruption If you see the extortion of the poor, or the perversion of justice and fairness in the government, do not be astonished by the matter. For the high official is watched by a higher official, and there are higher ones over them!
• Isa 8:17 : 17 I will wait patiently for the LORD, who has rejected the family of Jacob; I will wait for him.
• Isa 10:13-14 : 13 For he says:“By my strong hand I have accomplished this, by my strategy that I devised. I invaded the territory of nations, and looted their storehouses. Like a mighty conqueror, I brought down rulers. 14 My hand discovered the wealth of the nations, as if it were in a nest, as one gathers up abandoned eggs, I gathered up the whole earth. There was no wing flapping, or open mouth chirping.”
• Ps 50:8 : 8 I am not condemning you because of your sacrifices, or because of your burnt sacrifices that you continually offer me.
• Job 21:7-9 : 7 The Wicked Prosper“Why do the wicked go on living, grow old, even increase in power? 8 Their children are firmly established in their presence, their offspring before their eyes. 9 Their houses are safe and without fear; and no rod of punishment from God is upon them. 10 Their bulls breed without fail; their cows calve and do not miscarry. 11 They allow their children to run like a flock; their little ones dance about. 12 They sing to the accompaniment of tambourine and harp, and make merry to the sound of the flute. 13 They live out their years in prosperity and go down to the grave in peace. 14 So they say to God,‘Turn away from us! We do not want to know your ways. 15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What would we gain if we were to pray to him?’ 16 But their prosperity is not their own doing. The counsel of the wicked is far from me! 17 How Often Do the Wicked Suffer?“How often is the lamp of the wicked extinguished? How often does their misfortune come upon them? How often does God apportion pain to them in his anger? 18 How often are they like straw before the wind, and like chaff swept away by a whirlwind? 19 You may say,‘God stores up a man’s punishment for his children!’ Instead let him repay the man himself so that he may be humbled! 20 Let his own eyes see his destruction; let him drink of the anger of the Almighty. 21 For what is his interest in his home after his death, when the number of his months has been broken off? 22 Can anyone teach God knowledge, since he judges those that are on high? 23 Death Levels Everything“One man dies in his full vigor, completely secure and prosperous, 24 his body well nourished, and the marrow of his bones moist. 25 And another man dies in bitterness of soul, never having tasted anything good. 26 Together they lie down in the dust, and worms cover over them both. 27 Futile Words, Deceptive Answers“Yes, I know what you are thinking, the schemes by which you would wrong me. 28 For you say,‘Where now is the nobleman’s house, and where are the tents in which the wicked lived?’ 29 Have you never questioned those who travel the roads? Do you not recognize their accounts– 30 that the evil man is spared from the day of his misfortune, that he is delivered from the day of God’s wrath? 31 No one denounces his conduct to his face; no one repays him for what he has done. 32 And when he is carried to the tombs, and watch is kept over the funeral mound, 33 The clods of the torrent valley are sweet to him; behind him everybody follows in procession, and before him goes a countless throng. 34 So how can you console me with your futile words? Nothing is left of your answers but deception!”
• Josh 10:12 : 12 The day the LORD delivered the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua prayed to the LORD before Israel:“O sun, stand still over Gibeon! O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon!”