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Psalm 37:36
But he passed away, and behold, he was not. Yes, I sought him, but he could not be found.
34Wait for the LORD, and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land. When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.
35I have seen the wicked in great power, spreading himself like a green tree in its native soil.
36But he passed away, and behold, he was not. Yes, I sought him, but he could not be found.
37Mark the perfect man, and see the upright, for there is a future for the man of peace.
38As for transgressors, they shall be destroyed together. The future of the wicked shall be cut off.
Notice
The search finds no trace of the once powerful wicked man, exposing how little permanence there was in what looked so rooted.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What changes between the green tree in verse 35 and the search in verse 36?
Write on thisWhere might you be mistaking someone's present power for something that will last?
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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
Psalm 37:10For yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more. Yes, though you look for his place, he isn’t there.Both verses describe searching for the wicked and finding that the place they occupied is empty.
Proverbs 29:16When the wicked increase, sin increases; but the righteous will see their downfall.Both passages describe the downfall of the wicked as something witnessed, despite their earlier strength or increase.
Daniel 11:19Then he will turn his face toward the fortresses of his own land; but he will stumble and fall, and won’t be found.Both passages end with a once prominent man who cannot be found after his fall.
Job 7:8The eye of him who sees me will see me no more. Your eyes will be on me, but I will not be.Both describe someone passing from sight, though Job speaks of his own disappearance and the psalm describes a wicked man's end.
Acts 12:22–23The people shouted, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!”The link is limited to human prominence: the psalm shows its end, while the supplied Acts verse records a crowd's praise.
Ezekiel 27:36The merchants among the peoples hiss at you. You have come to a terrible end, and you will be no more.”’”Both passages describe a devastating end after which the one formerly present will be no more.
Job 8:18If he is destroyed from his place, then it will deny him, saying, ‘I have not seen you.’Both describe someone removed so completely that his former place offers no trace of him.
Job 20:9The eye which saw him will see him no more, neither will his place see him any more.Both passages emphasize disappearance: someone once seen is no longer visible in the place he occupied.
Isaiah 10:33–34Behold, the Lord, GOD of Armies, will lop the boughs with terror. The tall will be cut down, and the lofty will be brought low.The psalm's flourishing tree vanishes, and Isaiah's tall boughs are cut down; both portray the end of imposing strength.
Exodus 15:19For the horses of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the LORD brought back the waters of the sea on them; but the …Both describe an end to threatening human power: the wicked man disappears, and Pharaoh's forces are covered by the returning sea.
Isaiah 10:16–19Therefore the Lord, GOD of Armies, will send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory a burning will be kindled like the burning of fire.Both passages show strength proving vulnerable: the psalm's powerful man disappears, while Isaiah describes God bringing leanness and fire.
Ezekiel 26:21I will make you a terror, and you will no more have any being. Though you are sought for, yet you will never be found again,’ says the Lord GOD.”Both passages describe a search that finds nothing where someone or something once stood.
Where this verse fits
Injustice and anger. envy and comparison. fear for the future.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The wicked man's power looked secure, and then he could not be found. This account sets no deadline for your trouble; human power remains subject to God's judgment.
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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).