Depart From Evil; Do Good

September 4th, 2025
by Lance Waldie

Psalm 37:27-33 Depart from evil and do good, so you will abide forever. 28 For the Lord loves justice and does not forsake His godly ones; they are preserved forever, but the descendants of the wicked will be cut off. 29 The righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever. 30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice. 31 The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not slip. 32 The wicked spies upon the righteous and seeks to kill him. 33 The Lord will not leave him in his hand or let him be condemned when he is judged.

In these passages, the Psalmist, who was once young but is now old with wisdom (vv. 25-26), coaches his readers in how to obtain the goodness of the Lord. It all begins with repentance: Depart from evil and do good. That is, do an about-face from how you are currently living, and go in the opposite direction because the exact opposite direction of your evil life is a righteous existence spent giving honor to God. The reward for such? “You will abide forever,” abide meaning to live; to inhabit. The implication concerns inhabiting the promised “land” forever, “the land” being the reward for the righteous, seen throughout Psalm 37 (vv. 3, 9, 11, 22, 29, 34).

Verse 28 explains that the righteous will abide forever in the land of promise, “For the Lord loves justice and does not forsake His godly ones.” In fact, the verse reveals that God works to preserve His people, to keep them for Himself. As for the wicked, they are doomed to suffer the opposite fate, for they will be “cut off”—expunged from the land. Simply put, while “the righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever” (v. 29), the wicked will be killed. This in itself is an encouragement to the righteous in the here and now who are being exploited or persecuted by the wicked. Though the wicked may prosper now, their eternal fate is sealed. Suffering may be for a time in the life of the Christian, but eternal life awaits—guaranteed.

In v. 30, the evidence of faith is given, for “the mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice.” Moreover, “the law of God is in his heart,” and in his walk with God “his steps do not slip” (v. 31). Ross says, “Wisdom refers to their living a life that is honoring and valuable to God; and justice refers to their making right decisions. The way of wisdom and justice they promote is the way of the righteous in Proverbs (1:3). Second, their words are so characterized because the Law is in their hearts, preserving them from slipping. Since they know and believe the Law (see Ps. 40:6; 49:3; Jer. 31:33) they have good things to say that please God and help others. Righteous people are those who know the word of God, live by it, and readily communicate it. What they say will be wise and just, not malicious and selfish as the evil-doers.”

While the wicked wait for the righteous, seeking an opportunity to kill them (v. 32), the Lord God “will not leave him in his hand,” He will “not let the wicked succeed” (NLT). Problem is, many Christians have been sought and killed by the wicked throughout the centuries. So how can the Psalmist say this? The fact that the Lord does not abandon His own cannot mean that He will not allow them to be killed by the wicked on occasion. David knew this, for he observed his godly friend Jonathon die at the hands of the Philistines (1 Sam. 31). History teaches this very clearly! The ultimate protection of God for the righteous is not physical, it is eternal and other-worldly. The promised “land” of God is earthly, yes (cf. Rev. 20), and a physical people will abide there. But the eternal blessing of God actually follows the death of the godly ones—in God’s eternal land of promise, namely heaven itself. So, although God protects His godly ones physically, His promise of their protection has only to do with their eternal souls in the next world, not this one. Truly, “the Lord will not let [the righteous one] be condemned when he is judged” (v. 33). The righteous may be condemned by men, but they will be acquitted by God.

Food For Thought
It is our job as Christians to be humble, to be meek. It is therefore inappropriate for us to think highly of ourselves, to flaunt our talents and abilities. It is also our job as Christians to know our God so that we can trust our God. Then we can look to examples in Scripture of true meekness—of power under control. Men like Moses who was the humblest man on earth (Num. 12:3). But greater than Moses is the example of Jesus Christ: “He did not retaliate when He was insulted, nor threaten revenge when He suffered. He left His case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly” (1 Peter 2:23, NLT). Let us therefore depart from evil and do good! Let us strive to mimic Jesus in order that we might guarantee our future salvation and protection.