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Psalm 37:8
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath. Don’t fret; it leads only to evildoing.
6he will make your righteousness shine out like light, and your justice as the noon day sun.
7Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him. Don’t fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who makes wicked plots happen.
8Cease from anger, and forsake wrath. Don’t fret; it leads only to evildoing.
9For evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land.
10For yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more. Yes, though you look for his place, he isn’t there.
Notice
Anger over someone else’s wrongdoing receives a searching warning here: fretting can lead the person who resents evil into doing evil.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
When someone seems to prosper through wrongdoing, what response do you find yourself rehearsing?
Write on thisWhat might forsaking wrath change in one response you are considering?
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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
Ephesians 4:26“Be angry, and don’t sin.” Don’t let the sun go down on your wrath,Both passages address anger and sin, urging an end to wrath rather than allowing it to continue.
Proverbs 14:29He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a quick temper displays folly.The psalm warns that fretting leads to evildoing; Proverbs contrasts the understanding of slow anger with the folly of a quick temper.
Proverbs 16:32One who is slow to anger is better than the mighty; one who rules his spirit, than he who takes a city.Both passages commend restraint over anger: the psalm commands forsaking wrath, and Proverbs values ruling one’s spirit above military strength.
James 1:19–20So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger;Anger is the shared concern: the psalm commands turning from it, while James urges being slow to anger.
Ephesians 4:31Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, outcry, and slander be put away from you, with all malice.Both passages name anger and wrath as things to put away, with Ephesians also naming bitterness and harmful speech.
Job 5:2For resentment kills the foolish man, and jealousy kills the simple.The psalm warns that fretting leads to evildoing; Eliphaz describes resentment as destructive to the person who harbors it.
James 3:14–18But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, don’t boast and don’t lie against the truth.Both passages confront inward dispositions with commands: forsake wrath in the psalm; refuse boasting and falsehood over bitter jealousy in James.
Colossians 3:8but now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and shameful speaking out of your mouth.Both passages command putting away anger and wrath; Colossians includes malice and harmful speech among the things to abandon.
Matthew 5:22But I tell you that everyone who is angry with his brother without a cause will be in danger of the judgment. Whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ will be in …Both passages treat anger as morally serious: the psalm warns of evildoing, and Jesus warns of judgment for anger without cause.
Job 18:4You who tear yourself in your anger, will the earth be forsaken for you? Or will the rock be removed out of its place?Both texts portray anger as dangerous: the psalm warns of evildoing, while Bildad accuses Job of tearing himself in anger.
Jonah 4:1But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.Anger is the shared word: the psalm commands its abandonment, while Jonah’s verse reports his displeasure and anger.
1 Samuel 25:21–23Now David had said, “Surely in vain I have kept all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained to him. He has …The shared thread is a response to wrongdoing: David protests evil returned for good, while the psalm warns against wrath.
Where this verse fits
Injustice and anger. work conflict.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The wrong you see may be real. Forsaking wrath does not excuse it. The surrounding verses entrust judgment to YHWH, who will bring evildoers to an end.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 37:8. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.
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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).