The steps of a man are established by Jehovah, and he delighteth in his way
Psalm 37 faces a hard question. If God governs the world, why do the wicked appear to run it? Verse 23 gives part of the answer. God's public rule is still future, but He is already ordering the steps of a man He calls good.
This psalm speaks into a time when evil still has its way.
Psalm 37 is closely connected with the display of God's direct government in this world. He will make that good when the meek inherit the land and the wicked are cut off... God has not yet displayed that government openly. No doubt evil will press harder just before He puts it down. Even now, though, it is the time of patience, and the evil is there.
Scripture elsewhere denies that anyone is good, so the phrase needs care.
Though Romans 3:12 tells us, "no one does good, not even one," here in Psalm 37:23 we read that the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. Romans states that no one can be called good in an absolute sense. This psalm looks at those who are comparatively good — those who seek to honour the Lord in their ways. When this is so, the Lord will order their steps and protect them from harm. Such a person will delight in the Lord's way.
Older versions read "ordered of the Lord" where the ESV says "established." The word behind "man" carries the idea of strength.
Next we have the steps of a man. The word used (gebher, as in Psalm 34:8) implies strength. His firm and prosperous steps are "established of Jehovah." They get their strength from Him. "And He delights in his way" — a way so blessed and strengthened. So if such a man falls, he will not be completely cast down. Jehovah holds up the hand that he lifts to Him.
Commentators differ over whose delight the second half of the verse means. Some read it as God delighting in the man's way. Others read it as the man delighting in the Lord's way.
The value of this promise grows as the road gets harder.
In this wilderness, in the middle of confusion and wickedness, there is no way. Yet our Father directs our steps. This is a vast and precious blessing. A young Christian, full of zeal, may not see the value of this. But how many experiences will he pass through? Once someone has seen the world and its traps — what a pathless wilderness of evil it is — the Lord's directing of our steps is beyond all price. The humble young Christian is also led by grace, if he waits on the Lord. He may not see the wisdom of it, or how great the privilege and mercy are, until later.
God does more than keep His people out of trouble. He sets them on a road someone has already walked.
Note that there is no way but Christ. Adam did not need a way; he had to remain, enjoying God's goodness, where he was. In a sinful world there is no way; all is confusion and sin. But Christ Himself was in the world in a way that answered to God. As He passed through it, He showed divine life and its path through the world, while not being of it... This is our path. We have to follow His steps, and He is the way to the Father, and it is to Him we are going. It is an immense privilege that the Lord orders our steps, guarding us from evil and guiding us. And He delights in our way.
Some object that no Bible text covers our everyday decisions.
Someone may reply that we cannot expect to find a text of Scripture to guide our movements, or the thousand little details of daily life. Perhaps not. But Scripture lays down certain great principles. Applied rightly, they give divine guidance even where we find no particular text... "The steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord." "He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way." "I will counsel you with my eye upon you." He can make His mind known to us about this or that particular act or movement... We should never move or act in uncertainty. If we are not sure, let us be quiet and wait... If we are humble and distrust ourselves, and if we wait on God with an honest heart, He will surely guide us. But it will never do to ask God for counsel in a matter where our mind is already made up, or our will is at work.
- Steps. God's public government of the world is still future; meanwhile He governs a life one step at a time.
- Strength. "Established" means God makes the steps firm. Their steadiness comes from Him, not from the walker.
- Standing. The "good man" is not sinless; he is the one who seeks to honour the Lord, and the Lord protects his way.
- Path. God orders the steps onto a real road — the path Christ Himself walked through this world, and His people walk it now.
- Support. Even a fall does not end the walk: God holds up the hand lifted to Him, and He delights in the way He orders.
though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for Jehovah upholdeth his hand.
The promise here is not that the godly man never stumbles, but that his fall is never final. Two questions follow: what the fall is, and what holds the man up.
One writer reads this psalm as a call to wait, aimed at the point where a believer is most likely to break down:
So in Psalm 37 we have a call to the godly to be patient and to wait for the Lord. This is a beautiful psalm. God knows where the saint is in danger of breaking down before the day of deliverance dawns. So He encourages him to be quiet and to wait.
The verse begins with "though," which points back to the man whose steps the Lord establishes. That guidance is easy to undervalue until life has tested you:
A young Christian, in trusting zeal, may not see the value of this so much. But how many experiences will he pass through? Once someone has seen the world and its traps, he knows what a pathless wilderness of evil it is. Then it is beyond all price that the Lord directs our steps. The humble young Christian is also directed through grace, if he waits on the Lord. He may not see the wisdom of it, or how great the privilege and mercy is, until later.
The wording is precise. It does not say he will not fall. It says he does not go down past recovery. Older wordings differ from the ESV here: verse 24 reads "not utterly cast down," and verse 23 has God delighting in the man's way. One commentary also asks whose hand the verse means:
Next we have the steps of a man (the Hebrew word implies strength). His firm and prosperous steps are "established by the LORD." Their strength comes from Him. "And He delights in his way" — a way so blessed and strengthened. So if such a man falls, he will not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholds the hand that he lifts to Him. He "affords it," as Delitzsch puts it, "a firm point of support or fulcrum, so that he can rise up again."
Commentators differ here. One reads the fall as collapse under trial, not moral failure:
There is another mercy — God watches over him. He may fall in trials, that is, not in sin, but he is not utterly cast down (compare 2 Corinthians 4:9 and following). The Lord upholds him by His hand. It may be part of the way God governs that he should be brought low and set aside. But the Lord's hand is in it, and he is not out of it, and that hand upholds him. The vessel may be broken or treated with dishonour by men, but the power is of God.
Another reads it as real spiritual failure, and points to a moment when a man sank and a hand caught him:
It may be that he will suffer falls, but he will not be totally cast down. The Lord knows how to restore any wandering believer (v. 24). He stretches out His hand in tender compassion. You see this in Matthew 14:29-31, when Peter, walking on the water, began to sink and called out to the Lord. The Lord at once stretched out His hand and rescued him.
The promise of recovery is not permission to be careless. One writer sets it beside the warning that goes with it:
The believer need not fall if he takes heed... And even if we fall, we still have the encouragement of the Scriptures: "though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand" (Psalm 37:24). All these promises are ours if we do not "think we stand." We must instead take refuge in the LORD, who alone is our strength and our keeper.
- Ordered. The steps come first. Guidance through a world full of traps is a mercy most people value only later.
- Upheld. The hand is the man's, lifted to the Lord — and God holds it, giving a fixed point of support so he can rise again.
- Fallen. He does fall — the promise assumes it. The verse rules out the finality, not the fall.
- Restored. Commentators differ on the fall: crushed by trial, or sinking through failure like Peter. Either way the outstretched hand meets him where he goes down.
- Kept. The promise is for those who take refuge in the Lord, not for those who assume they are already standing on their own.