A Song for the Anxious (Ps. 37)

And there are lots of potential puzzles in Psalm 37. The Psalmist says that he has never seen the children of the righteous begging for bread.

Seriously? Maybe the Psalmist just didn’t get out very much! It kind of sounds like he is saying that if someone is begging they must be wicked – or at least his parents must be wicked – after all, if the children of the righteous never beg – then what does that say about beggars and their parents?! Job’s friends seem to have thought that way.

And Jesus was once asked, “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind.” Jesus answered “Neither”!

It might sound like Jesus is rejecting the logic of Psalm 37! But then we face this title again: “Of David.” And we realize that David is singing this song to Israel. King Jesus sings this song to us.

He is describing his kingdom. He is describing the way things should be – and indeed the way things will be. This is what his kingdom looks like. Do you want a world in which no children are begging for bread? Then live this way.