Bible verse wall art
Psalm 37: rest in the LORD and wait patiently
Psalm 37 is written for anyone who has watched dishonest people get ahead and wondered why they bother doing right. Its answer is not a quick fix but an invitation to wait.
Psalm 37 print
Psalm 37 · King James Version
7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him
An alphabet of wisdom
The heading names David as the author, and the psalm reads like the counsel of an older man. In Hebrew it is an acrostic: its stanzas begin with the successive letters of the alphabet, a form that made it easy to memorize and gives it the feel of a teaching poem rather than a prayer. Near the end the speaker says he has been young and now is old, and has not seen the righteous forsaken.
The opening line sets the theme: Fret not thyself because of evildoers. The psalm returns to that word fret three times. The wicked may flourish for a while, but like grass they will soon be cut down.
What does “Rest in the LORD” mean?
Instead of fretting, the psalm offers a sequence of verbs. Trust in the LORD, and do good. Delight thyself also in the LORD, and he will give the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto him. And in verse 7, the line on our poster: Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him.
The Hebrew verb behind rest carries the sense of being silent or still, and the King James translators noted that in their margin. It is not idleness but a quieting of the inner argument, the refusal to keep rehearsing the unfairness of it all. The second half of the verse names exactly that temptation: do not fret over the one who prospers in his way and carries out wicked schemes.
Waiting patiently is presented as an act of faith. The one who waits is betting that God has not lost track of justice, even when the results are slow to show.
Under the olive tree
Our Under the Olive Tree print gives the verse a place to breathe, a figure resting in the shade above a valley. The olive is a fitting choice: in Psalm 52 the psalmist compares himself to a green olive tree in the house of God. As Christian wall art it suits a reading corner, a bedroom, or the home of someone worn out by waiting for a job, a diagnosis or a reconciliation.
The meek shall inherit the earth
Verse 11 of this psalm says the meek shall inherit the earth. Jesus takes up those words in the Beatitudes in Matthew 5, which means one of the best known sayings of the Sermon on the Mount comes straight from Psalm 37.