The Land Promised Fulfilled

September 5th, 2025
by Lance Waldie

Psalm 37:34-40 Wait for the Lord and keep His way, and He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it… 39 But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their strength in time of trouble. 40 The Lord helps them and delivers them; He delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in Him.

We see injustices every day in our world. Innocent women and children are abused, and men are literally slaughtered for simply being Christian—sometimes for just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Is there any justice in this world? Yes there is, but there is no ultimate justice—not yet at least. That ultimate justice, however, is promised to us in Scripture.

When God called Abram (later Abraham) in Genesis 12:1-7, He promised him and his descendants the land of Canaan (modern Palestine/Israel) where He also promised to bless them for eternity (Gen. 13). There is no mistaking the parameters of the land God was talking about: “from the river of Egypt as far as the river Euphrates—the land of the Kenite, Kenizzite, the Rephaim, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Girgashite, and the Jebusite” (Gen. 15:18-21). This is the “land” of Israel—the Promised Land for God’s faithful, like Abraham (Gen. 15:5-6). Later, the Apostle Paul made it clear that even Gentiles—people not considered Abraham’s physical offspring—could be part of God’s promise (Gal. 3:16). By trusting in the Seed of Abraham’s promise, Jesus Christ, even Gentiles become part of God’s eternal promise. And what is that promise exactly? It is blessing in the land—the Promised Land.

Note throughout Psalm 37 the eventual and ultimate justice promised to God’s faithful. We see in v. 9 that “those who wait for the Lord” (i.e., those who trust in Him), “will inherit the land.” Again v. 11, “the humble will inherit the land.” Again in v. 22, “those blessed” by God “will inherit the land.” Again in v. 29, “the righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever.” And again in v. 34, those who “wait for the Lord and keep His way” will be exalted by God “to inherit the land.” Note also that in vv. 18, 28, and 29 the inheritance of the Lord is said to be “forever”—an eternal inheritance from God for His godly, faithful ones.

When will the land promise be fulfilled by God? When Jesus Christ—the “Seed” of Abraham, returns to the earth (Rev. 19). When He does, the earth (i.e., “land”) will be renewed (Isa. 65:17-25), and Christ will reign for one thousand years (Rev. 20). This is the land promise fulfilled—God’s righteous ones living under His righteous One in His promised land.

In Psalm 34-40, David closes his thoughts about the wicked and the righteous by suggesting a long-run approach to life. For although in the short-run of life, injustices abound for the righteous, in the long-run the righteous will be exalted, protected, and rewarded. What are the righteous to do in the interim: “Wait for the Lord and keep his way” (v. 34).

The wicked who today who flourish like a “luxuriant tree in native its soil” (v. 35) will one day fertilize the soil in death. They might exist today, but tomorrow they will be “no more” (v. 36; cf. Ps. 1). Though a great tree may endure for a 100 years or more, it will either rot or be cut down. But while such a tree, indicative of a thriving evil person, flourishes today, the righteous are to “trust in the Lord and do good” (v. 3; cf. Prov. 3:5-6). We are to delight ourselves in the Lord, commit our way to the Lord, be still before the Lord, and refrain from anger.

Food For Thought
Our salvation as Christians belongs to the Lord; we trust in Him for it. In so doing, we are spared the judgment that belongs to the wicked—the category from which we were saved in Christ. He is our strength in times of trouble, and He will deliver us. Let us thus always remember Jesus’ words: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the land” (Matt. 5:5).