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Psalm 37:14
The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, to kill those who are upright on the path.
12The wicked plots against the just, and gnashes at him with his teeth.
13The Lord will laugh at him, for he sees that his day is coming.
14The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, to kill those who are upright on the path.
15Their sword shall enter into their own heart. Their bows shall be broken.
16Better is a little that the righteous has, than the abundance of many wicked.
Notice
The drawn sword and bent bow confront the hope that upright conduct will keep a person safe from those intent on killing.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What do the drawn sword and bent bow show about the threat described here?
Write on thisWho comes to mind when you read of the poor and needy facing armed violence?
Write on thisConnect
Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
1 Peter 2:12having good behavior among the nations, so in that of which they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good works and glorify God in the day of …Both passages describe hostility toward people whose conduct is good, though Peter speaks of accusations and the psalm of lethal violence.
Proverbs 29:27A dishonest man detests the righteous, and the upright in their ways detest the wicked.Both texts describe hostility between the wicked and the upright; the psalm shows that hostility taking the form of armed attack.
Esther 5:14Then Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, “Let a gallows be made fifty cubits high, and in the morning speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on …The drawn weapons and Haman’s prepared gallows show preparations to kill before the intended attack takes place.
Psalm 11:2For, behold, the wicked bend their bows. They set their arrows on the strings, that they may shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.Both psalms describe the wicked bending their bows to attack the upright.
Psalm 17:11They have now surrounded us in our steps. They set their eyes to cast us down to the earth.Both passages describe attackers intent on casting people down, with Psalm 17 adding the threat of being surrounded.
1 John 3:12unlike Cain, who was of the evil one and killed his brother. Why did he kill him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s righteous.Both passages connect wickedness with lethal violence against the righteous; John names Cain’s killing of his brother.
Proverbs 29:10The bloodthirsty hate a man of integrity; and they seek the life of the upright.Both texts describe people seeking to kill the upright, making integrity a target of violent hostility.
Psalm 109:16because he didn’t remember to show kindness, but persecuted the poor and needy man, the broken in heart, to kill them.Both passages name the poor and needy as targets of persecution intended to end in death.
Luke 4:29They rose up, threw him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill that their city was built on, that they might throw him off the cliff.Both passages describe an intent to kill, expressed through drawn weapons in the psalm and a threatened fall from a cliff in Luke.
Genesis 39:17She spoke to him according to these words, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought to us, came in to me to mock me,The shared thread is limited: the psalm describes armed violence, while Genesis records an accusation against a servant.
Psalm 35:10All my bones shall say, “LORD, who is like you, who delivers the poor from him who is too strong for him; yes, the poor and the needy from him who robs him?”Both passages name the poor and needy under threat; Psalm 35 praises the Lord who delivers them from someone too strong for them.
1 Samuel 24:11Moreover, my father, behold, yes, see the skirt of your robe in my hand; for in that I cut off the skirt of your robe and didn’t kill you, know and see that …Both passages describe a life threatened despite upright conduct; Samuel’s passage includes the hunted speaker’s refusal to kill his pursuer.
Where this verse fits
Injustice and anger. fear for the future.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The poor and upright face real danger here. In the surrounding lines, God sees the aggressor’s coming judgment; drawn weapons do not place their wielders beyond his rule.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).