Psalm 37

The subtitle wasn’t part of the original psalm. And the possible byline “of David,” isn’t necessarily a byline. The vague phrase could mean the song was written by David, about David, or was inspired by David. Almost half of the psalms are attributed to David in this way, 73 of 150. Ancient Jewish history tells of David playing a lyre and writing songs. For one, he wrote a song of mourning at the battlefield death of King Saul and his sons: “How have the mighty fallen!” (2 Samuel 1:19-27 New American Standard Bible). An ancient Jewish scroll from about the time of Jesus, discovered among the famous Dead Sea Scrolls, reports that David wrote 3,600 songs.

The original Hebrew word for “trust” can also mean truth, faith, or faithfulness.

If David wrote this last line and he meant God would never let good people suffer, he needed to get out of the palace more and he needed to read the book of Job, written to illustrate that sometimes good people suffer through no fault of their own. Many Jews seemed to believe that if people were successful, that was a sign God was pleased with them. As for people suffering, that was seen as deserved punishment sent from God. Jesus tried helping his disciples to stop thinking that way when they wanted to know why a man was born blind. They asked, “Is it because he did something wrong? Or did his parents sin?” (John 9:2). Neither, Jesus said. Some scholars say this final line in Psalm 37:25 reads like someone added it to the original. That’s partly because it adds a fifth, oddball line to the usual four lines.

The Hebrew word for “integrity” is shalom. It’s a sprawling word that means a wide variety of good things—much like the word “grace.” So, we have to look for context clues when we take a stab at understanding which idea the writer had in mind.  Shalom can mean: wellbeing, peace of mind, good health, financial security, and safety. If it’s part of what makes life good, it’s part of shalom.