Bible Bites - Psalm 37:27–29: A Walk by Faith
27 Turn away from evil and do good; so shall you dwell forever. 28 For the LORD loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. 29 The righteous shall inherit the land, And dwell in it forever.
It is tough to witness the injustice that seems to be everywhere in our world. We've all heard the cynical phrase, "Nice guys finish last"—the idea that doing good is a liability and that if we want to get ahead, we have to play dirty. But Psalm 37:27–29 offers a different reality. Evil eventually leads to being cut off from God; it is a dead end. Conversely, Scripture urges us to turn away from the world's wickedness and persevere in doing good (1 Peter 3:11, Psalm 34:14)—not just for a season, but consistently. When we turn from evil, we are not forsaken. God guards, protects, and sustains those who are His, promising rich blessings both now and in the age to come.
We must be careful not to mistake material wealth for the only sign of God's blessing. While men like Joseph, Abraham, and David were certainly entrusted with great riches, that was never the true focus of God's favor, nor was it the reason they followed Him. David's praise was rooted in God's mercy, grace, and righteousness—not his material possessions (1 Timothy 6:6-7). He praised God in the best of times and the worst of trials. Even when fleeing for his life, he wrote, "I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth" (Psalm 34:1).
A lack of material wealth is a blessing in itself. When the rich young man asked Jesus what he must do to have eternal life, Jesus pointed him to the commandments. The young man claimed he had kept them all since his youth, but still sensed something was missing. Jesus replied, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me" (Matthew 19:21). When the young man heard this, he went away sorrowful because he had great possessions. It was too hard for him to let go. Jesus then told the disciples, "...it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (Matthew 19:24). Here we see that wealth, though often a blessing, can act as a barrier. We can so easily trust in what we have instead of the One who gives (Proverbs 11:28, 1 Timothy 6:17).
When we suffer and it looks like evil is prevailing, remember that God sees our trials and tribulations. He has given us great promises, and He is faithful to keep them (Hebrews 10:23). One I stand on in difficult times is, "All things are worked together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). This promise is echoed in Psalm 37; we can be sure that whatever we walk through, God will turn it to good. I've seen this many times in my life—most of my breakthroughs came through trials. Sometimes, the trial was the result of my own mistake, but by God's grace, it was used as a teaching moment to build me up, not as a punishment. At other times, we walk through the fires of life not because of a mistake, but to refine us, just as gold is refined in fire to remove impurities (1 Peter 1:6-7).
For the righteous, God promises that we will inherit the land and dwell forever. This promise is echoed in the Beatitudes: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth" (Matthew 5:5). God loves justice—He takes it so seriously that the injustice of sin demands a payment in blood, for the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Our sin demanded payment, but in His great mercy, Jesus paid that price on the cross. We are now set free because He bore that cost. The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Because of His love and sacrifice, we get to live out the promise of God to inherit the earth and live forever.
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