Psalms 37:1

Fret net thyself Lit., incense not thyself:be not angry or indignant or discontented.

neither be thou envious&c. Neither be envious of them that do unrighteousness, and for the time prosper (Psalms 37:7). The severity of the temptation is attested by Psalms 73:3. The warning, repeated in Psalms 37:7, is found again in Proverbs 24:19. Cp. Proverbs 3:31; Proverbs 23:17; Proverbs 24:1. The phrase rendered in A.V. workers of iniquityis a different one from that in Psalms 36:12. It is the opposite of doing good(Psalms 37:3; Psalms 37:27). The LXX rendering is τοὺς ποιοῦντας τὴν ἀνομίαν, words which occur in Matthew 13:41 in a context which should be compared with this Psalm. Cp. 1 John 3:4.