Psalms 37:40
in Psalms 37The LORD helps and delivers them; He rescues and saves them from the wicked, because they take refuge in Him.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Jehovah helpeth them, and rescueth them: He rescueth them from the wicked, and saveth them, Because they have taken refuge in him.
KJV
And the Lord shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.
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This verse in Psalms 37
Commentary
15 notes on this verseFree to Hope. Cassiodorus: He also adds the reason for the liberation: it is because "they have hoped in him"—not because they have not sinned, but because they have placed their hope in the Lord's compassion. This can also be applied to the judgment, when …
This site's exposition
Wait for the LORD
on Psalms 37:34-40
The waiting is joined to keeping His way, and the land comes to the man who does both. The ruthless man flourishing like a well-rooted tree is gone by the next verse, searched for and not found. Salvation comes from the LORD, a stronghold in time of trouble.
This site's exposition
because they take refuge in Him
Albert Barnes read this verse as the summing up of the psalm, the final answer to the fretting forbidden in verse 1. Cassiodorus fixed on the reason given. They are rescued because they placed their hope in the Lord's compassion, whatever their sins.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord, and He is their strength in the time of trouble" (ver. 39). "And the Lord shall help them, and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the sinners" (ver. 40). At present therefore let the righteous bear with the sinner; let the wheat bear with the tares; let the grain bear with the chaff: for the time of separation will come, and the good seed shall be set apart from that which is to be consumed with fire. The one will be consigned to the garner, the other to "everlasting burning;" for it was for this reason that the just and the unjust were at the first together; that the one should lay a stumbling-block, that the other should be proved; that afterwards the one should be condemned, the other receive a crown. ...
Those who practice righteousness … will enjoy divine aid and attain salvation, and by reason of placing complete hope in him, they will prevail over those endeavoring to wrong them.
The Medieval Church1 voice
"But the salvation of the just." He proves that the remnants of the just are saved. And first he shows in general what they are; second, he shows the order of obtaining them; third, the cause of this salvation. There are two things in the …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The salvation of the righteous (which may be applied to the great salvation of which the prophets enquired and searched diligently, 1 Pet. i. 10 ) is of the Lord; it will be the Lord's doing. The eternal salvation, that salvation of God which those shall see that order their conversation aright ( Ps. l.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The mouth - Having shewed, God's singular care over the righteous, he proceeds to give a character of them. Judgment - Of God's judgment, word or law. Heart - His thoughts, meditations and affections are fixed upon it.
7 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The mouth - Having shewed, God's singular care over the righteous, he proceeds to give a character of them. Judgment - Of God's judgment, word or law. Heart - His thoughts, meditations and affections are fixed upon it.
And the Lord shall help them,....
The Nineteenth Century5 voices
And the Lord shall help them. In all future time Jehovah will stand up for his chosen. Our Great Ally will bring up his forces in the heat of the battle. He shall deliver them from the wicked. As he rescued Daniel from the lions, so will he preserve his beloved from their enemies; they need not therefore fret, nor be discouraged. And save them, because they trust in him. Faith shall ensure they safety of the elect. It is the mark of the sheep by which they shall be separated from the goats.
And the Lord shall help them. In all future time Jehovah will stand up for his chosen. Our Great Ally will bring up his forces in the heat of the battle. He shall deliver them from the wicked. As he rescued Daniel from the lions, so will he preserve his beloved from their enemies; they need not therefore fret, nor be discouraged. And save them, because they trust in him. Faith shall ensure they safety of the elect. It is the mark of the sheep by which they shall be separated from the goats. Not their merit, but their believing, shall distinguish them. Who would not try the walk of faith? Whoever truly believes in God will be no longer fretful against the apparent irregularities of this present life, but will rest assured that what is mysterious is nevertheless just, and what seems hard, is, beyond a doubt, ordered in mercy. So the Psalm ends with a note which is the death knell of the unhallowed disquietude with which the Psalm commenced. Happy they who can thus sing themselves out of ill frames into gracious conditions.
And the Lord shall help them. In all future time Jehovah will stand up for his chosen. Our Great Ally will bring up his forces in the heat of the battle. He shall deliver them from the wicked. As he rescued Daniel from the lions, so will he preserve his beloved from their enemies; they need not therefore fret, nor be discouraged. And save them, because they trust in him. Faith shall ensure they safety of the elect. It is the mark of the sheep by which they shall be separated from the goats.
The Lord - shall deliver them - For they are always exposed to trials, and liable to fall. Because they trust in him - They keep faith, prayer, love, and obedience in continual exercise. They continue to believe in, love, and obey God; and he continues to save them.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And the Lord shall help them - He will interpose to defend them when they are in danger and in trouble. And deliver them - Rescue them from their dangers, and from the power of the wicked. He shall deliver them from the wicked - From all the attempts of the wicked to destroy them. And save them - Or, preserve them. He will keep them to everlasting life. Because they trust in him - They rely on him, and not on themselves. This verse is a summing up of the sentiments of the psalm, and is designed to confirm the main thought which runs through it, to wit, that we should not fret, or complain, or repine at the prosperity of wicked men, Psa 37:1. The reason ultimately assigned for this is, that whatever may be the danger of the righteous from the designs of wicked men, they will in the end be safe. It will go well with them, for the Lord will keep them. The general course of thought in the psalm is, that, whatever prosperity the wicked now have, it is temporary, for they will soon be cut off; and that whatever troubles now come upon the righteous, they too are temporary, and that their “hereafter” - “their futurity” - will be blessedness and peace. There is a moral government: God is the friend of the righteous; along the path of the present life there are proofs that he is so, and beyond the present life he will show himself to be so in their eternal peace. He is the enemy of the wicked; there are evidences in the present life that he is so, and this will be fully and finally manifested in their destruction in the future world. […]
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַֽיַּעְזְרֵ֥ם | vaiya'zerem | and he helped them | H5826 → | 81 times |
| יְהוָ֗ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וַֽיְפַ֫לְּטֵ֥ם | vayfaletem | and he delivered them | H6403 → | 26 times |
| יְפַלְּטֵ֣ם | yefaletem | he delivers them | H6403 → | 26 times |
| מֵ֭רְשָׁעִים | mereshaim | from wicked [people] | H7563 → | 263 times |
| וְיוֹשִׁיעֵ֑ם | veyoshiem | and he saves them | H3467 → | 206 times |
| כִּי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| חָ֥סוּ | chasu | they have taken refuge | H2620 → | 37 times |
| בֽוֹ׃ | vo | in him |
וַֽיַּעְזְרֵ֥םand he helped them
vaiya'zeremH5826 →81 times
יְהוָ֗הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וַֽיְפַ֫לְּטֵ֥םand he delivered them
vayfaletemH6403 →26 times
יְפַלְּטֵ֣םhe delivers them
yefaletemH6403 →26 times
מֵ֭רְשָׁעִיםfrom wicked [people]
mereshaimH7563 →263 times
וְיוֹשִׁיעֵ֑םand he saves them
veyoshiemH3467 →206 times
כִּי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
חָ֥סוּthey have taken refuge
chasuH2620 →37 times
בֽוֹ׃in him
vo
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 46:4Even to your old age, I will be the same, and I will bear you up when you turn gray. I have made you, and I will carry you; I will sustain you and…
it leads to
- Psalms 71:18
Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, until I proclaim Your power to the next generation, Your might to all who are to come.
- Psalms 48:14
For this God is our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even till death.
- Psalms 92:14
In old age they will still bear fruit; healthy and green they will remain,
- Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
- James 1:17
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.
- Psalms 71:18
Through
Daniel 3:17If the God whom we serve exists, then He is able to deliver us from the blazing fiery furnace and from your hand, O king.
it leads to
- Romans 8:31
What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
- Luke 1:37
For no word from God will ever fail.”
- Romans 8:31
Through
1 Chronicles 5:20And because they cried out to God in battle, they were helped against their enemies, and the Hagrites and all their allies were delivered into their hands. Because they put their trust in God,…
it leads to
- Psalms 22:4–5
In You our fathers trusted; they trusted and You delivered them.
- Psalms 22:4–5
Where this verse is studied
About Psalms
This page draws on 14 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Alexander Maclaren, The Psalms, Expositor's Bible; Augustine of Hippo, ON THE PSALMS - Psalm 37; Cassiodorus, EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 37:40; Cassiodorus, Explanation of the Psalms; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 2; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 37:14 and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.