Commentary - Psalm 37:25-26

Bird's-eye view

This portion of Psalm 37 serves as a potent distillation of the psalm's central theme: the stark, ultimate contrast between the righteous and the wicked. David, writing from the vantage point of a long life, offers a testimony that is both personal and profoundly theological. The passage is not a simplistic promise that the godly will never face hardship. Rather, it is a covenantal assurance, rooted in the character of God, that God's faithfulness to His people extends through time and across generations. The righteous man, who lives a life characterized by trust in God, is not on his own. He is part of a covenant family. His open-handed generosity is a reflection of God's own graciousness, and this way of life becomes a legacy of blessing for his children. This is proverbial wisdom, a description of the normative pattern of God's dealings in the world. It stands as a firm rebuke to the temptation to envy the fleeting prosperity of the wicked, urging the believer to take the long view and to trust in the settled kindness of a covenant-keeping God.

The core of these verses is the observable, experiential reality of God's providence. David is not spinning abstract theology; he is saying, "Look at what I have seen over a long lifetime." The righteous are never ultimately abandoned, and their children are not destined for destitution. This is because the economy of the righteous man is not a closed system. It is an open circuit of grace. God gives to him, and he, in turn, gives to others. This creates a downstream current of blessing that carries on to his descendants. It is a powerful statement about the tangible, multi-generational impact of a life lived in faith and generosity.

Outline

Context In Psalm 37

Psalm 37 is an acrostic psalm, which reads much like a chapter from Proverbs. It is a collection of wisdom sayings designed to instruct the righteous on how to live in a world where the wicked often appear to prosper. The psalm opens with the central exhortation: "Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity" (Ps 37:1). The entire psalm is an extended meditation on this theme. It repeatedly contrasts the ultimate fate of the wicked, who will be "cut down like the grass," with the inheritance of the righteous, who will "inherit the earth." Verses 25-26 fall within a section that provides a sharp contrast between the lifestyle and destiny of the righteous and the wicked (vv. 21-26). The wicked borrows and does not repay, but the righteous man's life is marked by God's favor, stable steps, and, as our text emphasizes, a legacy of provision and blessing.

Key Issues

The Snapshot and the Video

One of the central challenges for the believer is interpreting what we see right in front of us. We see the wicked prospering, and we see the righteous suffering, and our faith can be shaken. This is the problem the psalm addresses. The answer it provides is that we must learn to distinguish between a snapshot and a video. A snapshot captures one moment in time, and that moment can be profoundly misleading. The prosperity of the wicked is a snapshot. The hardship of the righteous is a snapshot. But God is directing a long movie, and the final scene looks very different from some of the scenes in the middle.

David, in our text, is giving us a review of the whole film. He has watched the story unfold over many decades. He is telling us the plot summary. And his conclusion is that the story ends well for the righteous and disastrously for the wicked. This is not a denial of suffering. David knew suffering intimately. This is not a promise that no Christian will ever be poor. It is a statement about the overarching narrative, the established pattern of God's covenant dealings. When we are tempted to envy the wicked man in his snapshot of success, we must listen to the testimony of the old man who has seen the whole video and knows how it ends.

Verse by Verse Commentary

25 I was young and now I am old, Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken Or his seed begging bread.

David begins with the voice of experience. I was young and now I am old. This is not a hot take from a twenty-year-old. This is the settled conclusion of a man who has walked with God through many seasons, a man who has seen it all. He sets up his testimony as reliable, as something tested by time. And what is his conclusion? Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken. This is the foundational truth. The righteous man, the one who trusts in the Lord and lives according to His ways, is never ultimately abandoned by God. He may face trials, dangers, and hardships. He may feel, for a moment, as though he is alone. But God's covenant commitment means He will never forsake His own. To be forsaken is to be utterly given over, abandoned to ruin. David says, in all my years, I have never seen God do that to one of His true people.

He then extends this principle to the next generation: Or his seed begging bread. This is where people can get tangled up. They treat this as a flat, mathematical promise that no child of a believer will ever be in need. But that is to misread proverbial literature. This is a description of the normative way God's blessings flow. It is a general truth, a statement of the covenantal pattern. A righteous man establishes a household that is under the blessing of God, and that blessing naturally overflows to his children. God's faithfulness is not just for one generation. The man who lives a life of faith builds a legacy, and that legacy includes God's providential care for his children. The picture here is of utter destitution, of being reduced to a vagrant beggar. David says this is not the destiny of the children of the covenant. God provides.

26 All day long he is gracious and lends, And his seed is a blessing.

This verse explains the mechanism. Why are the righteous not forsaken? Why are their children provided for? Because the righteous man lives in a different economy. All day long he is gracious and lends. The righteous man's life is characterized by open-handed generosity. He is not a hoarder. He is not a clutcher of his possessions. Because he trusts God to be his provider, he is free to be a conduit of God's provision to others. He lends, not as a predatory usurer, but graciously, as one who has received grace. His hands are open to God, and so his hands are open to his neighbor.

And the result of this lifestyle is that his seed is a blessing. There are two ways to read this, and both are true. First, his children become a blessing to others, continuing his legacy of generosity. They have learned from their father's example how to live in the flow of God's grace. Second, his children are themselves blessed. They are the recipients of the covenantal blessings that God promised to the faithful. Because their father honored God, God honors them. The father's gracious lending did not impoverish his family; it enriched them. He cast his bread upon the waters, and it returned to his children after many days. This is the upside-down wisdom of God's kingdom: the way up is down, the way to get is to give, and the way to provide for your own is to be generous to all.

Application

The application of this passage comes to us in two main streams. The first is a call to trust, and the second is a call to generosity. We are constantly tempted to look at the world's definition of security, which involves accumulation, self-reliance, and fretting about the future. This psalm calls us to reject that entire framework. Our security is not in our bank account; it is in the covenant-keeping character of God. David's testimony as an old man should steady our nerves. God does not forsake His people. We must therefore refuse to envy the wicked, refuse to fret, and instead "trust in the Lord, and do good" (Ps 37:3).

The second application flows from the first. If we truly trust God for our provision, it will revolutionize how we handle our resources. A man who believes he is ultimately responsible for his own security will clench his fist. A man who believes God is his provider will open his hand. The righteous man in this psalm "is gracious and lends" all day long. This is not just about money. It is about a posture of heart that is generous with time, with hospitality, with encouragement, with mercy. This is the practical outworking of faith. And as we live this way, we do not just secure our own souls; we build a legacy of blessing for our children. The greatest inheritance we can leave our children is not a pile of money, but a testimony to the faithfulness of God, demonstrated by a life of joyful, open-handed trust in Him.