“They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.”
My Notes
What Does Psalms 37:19 Mean?
"They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied." David promises that the righteous won't be humiliated when disaster strikes and won't starve when famine comes. The "evil time" isn't an if — it's a when. Evil times are assumed. Famine days are assumed. The promise isn't that the righteous avoid them. It's that they survive them without shame or hunger.
The word "ashamed" (bosh — disappointed, put to shame, having one's hopes dashed) means that in the evil time, the righteous person's trust won't prove empty. They trusted God and God came through. Their faith wasn't naive. Their hope wasn't misplaced. The evil time tested it and it held.
Reflection Questions
- 1.When has your faith been tested by an 'evil time' — and did it hold?
- 2.What does 'satisfied in the days of famine' look like in your current circumstances?
- 3.How does the promise of 'not ashamed' (your trust won't be proven foolish) encourage you about your faith?
- 4.Where has God's provision been most visible to you — in abundance or in scarcity?
Devotional
In the evil time. In the days of famine. Not if. When. David assumes the disasters are coming — because they always do. The promise isn't immunity from evil times. It's dignity during them and provision through them.
They shall not be ashamed. This is about more than emotional comfort. "Ashamed" in Hebrew means your trust was exposed as foolish — you believed in something that didn't deliver. David is saying: when the evil time comes and tests your faith, your faith won't be embarrassed. It won't be proven wrong. You trusted God, and in the worst moment, that trust will hold. You won't be the fool who believed a lie. You'll be the person who believed the truth and watched it sustain them.
In the days of famine they shall be satisfied. Not rich. Satisfied. The famine is real — the shortage, the scarcity, the days when everyone around you is desperate. But the righteous person has enough. Not abundance. Enough. Satisfied. In a context where everyone else is starving, being satisfied is the miracle.
This isn't prosperity theology. It's survival theology. The promise isn't: you'll never face evil times. It's: when you do, you won't be destroyed. Your faith won't be humiliated. Your stomach won't be empty. God's provision for the righteous isn't visible in the good times — everyone eats when the harvest is full. It's visible in the famine — when your table has bread and the explanation is God, not your planning.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
But the wicked shall perish,.... In a time of famine, in an evil day, and particularly at the day of judgment: for this…
They shall not be ashamed in the evil thee - In times of calamity and trouble. The word “ashamed” here refers to…
In these verses we have,
I. The foregoing precepts inculcated; for we are so apt to disquiet ourselves with needless…
Cp. Job 5:19-20.
in the evil time R.V. in the time of evil, i.e. calamity.
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture