Psalms 37:8 (DBY)

Passage

Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; fret not thyself: it [would be] only to do evil.

Nearby Context

Psalms 37:6 and he will bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.

Psalms 37:7 Rest in Jehovah, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him that prospereth in his way, because of the man that bringeth mischievous devices to pass.

Psalms 37:8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; fret not thyself: it [would be] only to do evil.

Psalms 37:9 For evil-doers shall be cut off; but those that wait on Jehovah, they shall possess the land.

Psalms 37:10 For yet a little while, and the wicked is not; and thou considerest his place, but he is not.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "cease", "anger", "forsake", "wrath", "fret", "thyself", "only", and "evil". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "cease" and "anger", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 7's "Rest in Jehovah and wait patiently for..." into verse 9's "For evil-doers shall be cut off but...", so "cease" and "anger" belong inside that flow. In Psalms context, the local focus is worship, trust, the LORD's kingship, and covenant mercy.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "cease" and "anger" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.