By David.

37:1 Do not fret when wicked men seem to succeed!
Do not envy evildoers!
37:2 For they will quickly dry up like grass,
and wither away like plants.
37:3 Trust in the LORD and do what is right!
Settle in the land and maintain your integrity!
37:4 Then you will take delight in the LORD,
and he will answer your prayers.
37:5 Commit your future to the LORD!
Trust in him, and he will act on your behalf.
37:6 He will vindicate you in broad daylight,
and publicly defend your just cause.
37:7 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!
37:8 Do not be angry and frustrated!
Do not fret! That only leads to trouble!
37:9 Wicked men will be wiped out,
but those who rely on the LORD are the ones who will possess the land.
37:10 Evil men will soon disappear;
you will stare at the spot where they once were, but they will be gone.
37:11 But the oppressed will possess the land
and enjoy great prosperity.
37:12 Evil men plot against the godly
and viciously attack them.
37:13 The Lord laughs in disgust at them,
for he knows that their day is coming.
37:14 Evil men draw their swords
and prepare their bows,
to bring down the oppressed and needy,
and to slaughter those who are godly.
37:15 Their swords will pierce their own hearts,
and their bows will be broken.
37:16 The little bit that a godly man owns is better than
the wealth of many evil men,
37:17 for evil men will lose their power,
but the LORD sustains the godly.
37:18 The LORD watches over the innocent day by day
and they possess a permanent inheritance.
37:19 They will not be ashamed when hard times come;
when famine comes they will have enough to eat.
37:20 But evil men will die;
the LORD’s enemies will be incinerated—
they will go up in smoke.
37:21 Evil men borrow, but do not repay their debt,
but the godly show compassion and are generous.
37:22 Surely those favored by the LORD will possess the land,
but those rejected by him will be wiped out.
37:23 The LORD grants success to the one
whose behavior he finds commendable.
37:24 Even if he trips, he will not fall headlong,
for the LORD holds his hand.
37:25 I was once young, now I am old.
I have never seen a godly man abandoned,
or his children forced to search for food.
37:26 All day long he shows compassion and lends to others,
and his children are blessed.
37:27 Turn away from evil! Do what is right!
Then you will enjoy lasting security.
37:28 For the LORD promotes justice,
and never abandons his faithful followers.
They are permanently secure,
but the children of evil men are wiped out.
37:29 The godly will possess the land
and will dwell in it permanently.
37:30 The godly speak wise words
and promote justice.
37:31 The law of their God controls their thinking;
their feet do not slip.
37:32 Evil men set an ambush for the godly
and try to kill them.
37:33 But the LORD does not surrender the godly,
or allow them to be condemned in a court of law.
37:34 Rely on the LORD! Obey his commands!
Then he will permit you to possess the land;
you will see the demise of evil men.
37:35 I have seen ruthless evil men
growing in influence, like a green tree grows in its native soil.
37:36 But then one passes by, and suddenly they have disappeared!
I looked for them, but they could not be found.
37:37 Take note of the one who has integrity! Observe the godly!
For the one who promotes peace has a future.
37:38 Sinful rebels are totally destroyed;
evil men have no future.
37:39 But the LORD delivers the godly;
he protects them in times of trouble.
37:40 The LORD helps them and rescues them;
he rescues them from evil men and delivers them,
for they seek his protection.

This psalm is an almost complete acrostic.

According to the Harper Bible Commentary, the focus on the individual (rather than on the nation) argues for a post-exilic date.  The indication from v25 is that the author was of later years.  The psalm reflects some of the characteristics of wisdom literature, yet ‘one finds that unlike Proverbs it does not seek to form disciples and unlike Job it does not seek to solve problems. Rather it provides points for meditation and for preaching within the postexilic assembly.’

Great peace – ‘Perhaps they have not abundance of wealth to delight in; but they have that which is better, abundance of peace, inward peace and tranquility of mind, peace with God, and then peace in God, that great peace which those have that love God’s law, whom nothing shall offend (Ps. 119:165), that abundance of peace which is in the kingdom of Christ (Ps. 72:7), that peace which the world cannot give (Jn. 14:27), and which the wicked cannot have, Isa. 57:21.’ (MHC)

I was young and now I am old – ‘Let old people make it their business to tell what they have seen of God’s wonders in providence and in grace.  They cannot be better employed than in thus commending the loving-kindness of the Lord to the rising generation.’ (Plumer)

‘There is a sad kind of feeling which a man has when he is constrained to say, “I have been young;” for it suggests the memory of joys, and hopes, and friends, that are now gone for ever. But a man may have some claim to respect for his opinions when he is constrained to say it; for he can bring to the coming generation such results of his own experience and observation as may be of great value to those who are “young.”’ (Barnes)

Forsaken – not by God, or by the people of God.

‘Job’s comforters would grant no exceptions to [the literal sense of this truth]; but Paul, and others before him, knew of an abundance which might be material or spiritual, as God saw fit (e.g. Ps. 73:26; Hab. 3:17f.; Matt. 4:4; 2 Cor. 6:10; Phil. 4:12).’ (Kidner)

Verses 21 and 26 clarify that the generosity of the believing community contributes in large measure to this happy state.

Matthew Henry: ‘It is not now universally true that the “righteous” are not “forsaken,” in the sense that they do not want, or in the sense that their children are not constrained to beg their bread, but the following things, are true: (a) that religion tends to make men industrious, economical, and prudent, and hence tends to promote prosperity, and to secure temporal comforts; (b) that religion of itself impoverishes no one, or makes no one the poorer; (c) that religion saves from many of the expenses in life which are produced by vicious indulgence; and (d) that, as a general rule, it saves men and their children from the necessity of public begging, and from the almshouse.’

Psa 37:26

The generosity of the righteous to one another is one reason why v25 holds true in so many (but not all) instances.