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King David’s Psalm 37 in the Bible is full of wisdom. He has set before us a plate of good spiritual food. Let’s enjoy this and share it with our children and young people. It will help them avoid making mistakes like we may have made. Here is a snack from the Bible, the King James Version.

King David tells us not to fret, and not to be envious. He says trust in the Lord and do good, delight yourself in the Lord, commit your way unto the Lord, rest in the Lord, cease from anger, forsake wrath, don’t do evil.

A little that a righteous man has is better than the riches of many wicked. The Lord knows the days of the upright, the righteous shows mercy and is blessed, such as are blessed of Him shall inherit the earth. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delights in his way; though he falls, he shall not be utterly cast down for the Lord upholds him…”  And then, that wonderful insight for me, “I have been young and now I am old, yet never have I seen the righteous forsaken or his seed begging bread.” At age 95, I can add my hearty, “Amen.”

The phrase, “Families are falling apart” should make us aware of what is happening around us. It’s a sad commentary when we hear how many children do not have a father in their homes and lives today. Children need a father’s direction. Right words and actions have value. We will have more peace and be more at ease when we can agree to disagree and still love each other.

The psalmist now has our attention and reminds us what the wicked are like. He says they watch the righteous and seek to kill people. He says he has seen the wicked in great power and “spreading himself like a green bay tree” (but) “the wicked shall be cut off.”  Those words should make us a prayerful people.

The psalmist says the merciful man lends and his seed (children) are blessed. Then, “depart from evil and do good and dwell forevermore…His saints are preserved forever… The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom… the law of his God is in his heart, none of his steps shall slide. The wicked watches the righteous and seeks to slay him.”

What are we supposed to do?  “Wait on the Lord and keep his (God’s) way…” The Psalmist says “I have seen the wicked in great power and spreading himself like a green bay tree, yet he passed away and lo, he was not.”

“Mark the perfect man for the end of that man is peace, but the transgressors (those who violate God’s law) shall be destroyed together, the end of the wicked shall be cut off…but the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord.” He is their strength in times of trouble. 

We don’t know what another person may be experiencing or doing that will affect our lives. We do know we can come to God with our needs, our sins and our heartaches and find strength and help when we confess our desire to follow His plan for our lives. Living by what the psalmist says and teaching our children to do so would make a world of difference.

 

Myrtle V. Thompson, 95, writer, author (books on Amazon) and still active in Christian ministry at her church.