"For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off."
Psalms 37:28
“For the LORD loveth judgment,”
Our God, Jehovah, loves all that is right. He loves to do righteousness, and He loves righteous people.
“For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright,” (Psalm 11:7).
“The way of the wicked is an abomination unto the LORD: but he loveth him that followeth after righteousness,” (Proverbs 15:9).
Here is but another way that we see our God loves us. That is, He loves His redeemed children who are bought by the blood of His Son, the Lamb of God. In us there is nothing righteous, but that of our Savior. We stand in Him righteous by His sacrifice for us.
“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him,” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
“And forsaketh not his saints;”
Because our God can only do right, and He will never do any wrong, He will not forsake His saints! Think how foolish it would be for God to work out His great plan of redemption through His Son, only to forget about His redeemed ones. This can never be! In fact, David tells of the further righteous work of the Father when he tells us that the saints…
“They are preserved for ever:”
Believers are “preserved,” by Jehovah. This means the saints are kept, guarded, observed, and paid attention to, by the LORD. Nothing outside of His will can ever happen to them. We are safe!
“But the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.”
But the opposite of how the LORD preserves His saints is what takes place with the wicked. He promises eternal destruction for the wicked.
“The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God,” (Psalm 9:17).
“The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth. Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup,” (Psalm 11:5-6).
Did you notice that our verse says, “the seed of the wicked shall be cut off?” There have been people who in this life were so wicked that God has permanently cut off their posterity, and that family ceases to exist. Ahab and Jezebel were such a couple. God promises Ahab He will cut off his posterity in his son’s generation (see 1 Kings 21, especially vv. 21 and 29; 2 Kings 9:8-9; 2 Kings 10:11). J ehu obeys the LORD and finishes off Ahab’s line. God is serious about sin and those who destroy others with it.
To the readers who do not know the Lord, I ask you to trust Him, turn from your sin to the Savior.
To the believer, rejoice in your salvation, stay faithful to the Lord your God. Finish life well living always for Him!
1. See Brown, Driver, Briggs. Brown-Driver-Briggs’ Hebrew Definitions, the electronic version in eSword.