Bird's-eye view
Psalm 37 is one of the great wisdom psalms, and it sets before us the fundamental contrast that runs through all of Scripture, which is the stark difference between the righteous and the wicked. David, writing in his old age, is giving us a long view of God's providence. He tells us not to fret because of evildoers, for they will soon fade like the grass. But the righteous will inherit the land. This is not a prosperity gospel promise that if you are good you will get rich. It is a covenantal promise that God's people, in God's Son, will inherit the earth. The entire psalm is a call to trust in the Lord and do good, to delight in Him, and to commit your way to Him.
Our short passage here, verses 30 and 31, provides a diagnostic snapshot of the righteous man. How do you know him? What are his characteristics? The answer is that you know him from the inside out. What is in his heart inevitably makes its way to his mouth and governs the stability of his feet. This is a description of a man who has been transformed by grace. This is not a portrait of a naturally good man, for there are no such creatures. This is a portrait of a redeemed man, one whose heart has been taken over by the law of his God. And because of that glorious, internal reality, his external life, his words and his walk, are brought into conformity with the wisdom and justice of God.
Outline
- 1. The Source of Righteous Speech (v. 30)
- a. The Mouth and its Wisdom (v. 30a)
- b. The Tongue and its Justice (v. 30b)
- 2. The Foundation of a Righteous Walk (v. 31)
- a. The Internalized Law (v. 31a)
- b. The Unwavering Step (v. 31b)
Context In Psalms
This passage sits in the middle of a psalm that is structured as an acrostic, with each stanza beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This literary device gives the psalm a sense of completeness, as though David is giving us an A to Z on the topic of trusting God in a world where the wicked often appear to prosper. The theme is consistent throughout: a stark contrast between the ultimate fate of the wicked and the blessed inheritance of the righteous. Verses 30-31 function as a close-up, showing us the internal mechanics of what makes the righteous man different. It is not his circumstances, but his character, a character that is God-wrought and God-sustained.
Verse by Verse Commentary
Psalm 37:30
30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, And his tongue speaks justice.
The first thing to get straight is what the Bible means by "the righteous." This is not a man who, through sheer grit and moral fiber, has managed to keep all the rules. The Bible is clear that there is none righteous, no, not one (Rom. 3:10). The righteous man is the one who has been declared righteous by God on the basis of faith. His righteousness is an alien righteousness, a gifted righteousness. It is the righteousness of Christ imputed to him. So when we read this, we are not reading about some moral superstar, but rather about an ordinary Christian who has been made extraordinary by the grace of God.
The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom... Now, because this man has been made right with God, something fundamental has changed within him. As Jesus said, out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matt. 12:34). The speech is simply the overflow of the heart. So if a man's heart has been filled with the grace and knowledge of Christ, what is going to come out? Wisdom. Not the world's wisdom, which is foolishness with God, but God's wisdom. This is a practical, godly wisdom that knows how to navigate the world in a way that pleases God. It is not just clever talk; it is speech that is rooted in the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom.
And his tongue speaks justice... Justice here is not the clamoring for rights that we see in our modern political discourse. Biblical justice, or mishpat, is about conforming to God's standard of right and wrong. To speak justice is to speak in alignment with God's revealed will. It is to call good what God calls good, and evil what God calls evil. It is to defend the cause of the widow and orphan, not because it is a popular cause, but because it is God's cause. This kind of speech is rare because the heart that produces it is rare. It is a heart that has been renovated by the Gospel.
Psalm 37:31
31 The law of his God is in his heart; His steps do not slip.
The law of his God is in his heart... Here we have the engine room for the whole operation. Why does his mouth utter wisdom? Why does his tongue speak justice? Because the law of his God is in his heart. This is a direct pointer to the promise of the New Covenant, which God said He would make with His people. "I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts" (Jer. 31:33). Under the Old Covenant, the law was written on tablets of stone, external to the people. But in Christ, the law is written on the heart by the Holy Spirit. This is not about memorizing rules. It is about a fundamental change of disposition. The righteous man now loves God's law. He delights in it. It is not a burden to him, but a joy. It is part of his very nature.
His steps do not slip... This is the practical result of having God's law inscribed on the heart. A man whose heart is governed by the Word of God has a built-in gyroscope. The world is a slippery place, full of temptations, false ideologies, and pressures to conform. It is very easy to lose your footing. But the man who has internalized God's truth has a stability that others lack. His steps are ordered by the Lord. This does not mean he never stumbles or sins. David himself, the author of this psalm, took a catastrophic fall. But it means that his trajectory is secure. He will be corrected, he will repent, and he will be restored. His ultimate destination is not in doubt, because the one who holds him is faithful. His feet are planted on the rock, and that rock is Christ.
Application
The central application for us is to recognize that the man described here is the man in Christ. This is not a standard we achieve in our own strength in order to become righteous. Rather, this is the fruit that grows in our lives because we have been made righteous in Christ. Our focus, therefore, should not be on trying harder to speak wisely or walk straightly in our own power. Our focus must be on Christ.
We must ask ourselves, is the law of God in our hearts? Do we delight in His Word? Do we meditate on it day and night? If the Word of Christ dwells in us richly, then wisdom will naturally flow from our mouths. If our hearts are captivated by the justice and righteousness of God revealed in the gospel, then our tongues will speak of it. And if our hearts are anchored in the truth of Scripture, our steps will be secure, even in these treacherous times.
So, do not look at this passage as a ladder to climb, but as a mirror to reflect the work that God has done, and is doing, in all who are His. And if you see a discrepancy between this portrait and your own life, the answer is not to try harder, but to run to Christ again, to confess your need for Him, and to ask the Spirit to write His law on your heart ever more deeply.