Summer Reading, part seven

I know a lot of people go on vacation or to camp during the summer. That change in schedule might break up your reading habit. So to help us continue our summer reading, I’ve scheduled a little bit of reading at a time. Today, I’ll summarize three excerpts from Psalm 34 through Psalm 41.

In Psalm 34, we find so many quotable lines. It’s easy to pick out some verses to memorize in this one. In fact, I’ve printed it out to post it where I’ll see it every day. I’ll have the whole psalm memorized before long.

One of the verses people repeat when they are feeling lack in their finances is Psalm 34:9. “Fear the Lord, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing.” The trouble is with the word Fear. Most people don’t understand what that means. Verses 11-14 helps us out with that word. In summary, it means to lovingly speak the truth, avoid temptation, do good deeds for others, and seek peace.

Psalm 36 is a solemn message from God about the evildoers. The message is that they don’t fear God.

Those who continue down the wrong paths know what they’re doing, and still they don’t reject what is wrong. People who are committed to sin baffle me. I can’t figure out why they would rather walk in their own foolishness and failures than walk in God’s wisdom and victories. God offers to all of us many opportunities to cry out to him. If we turn to him instead of staying on the dark path, he will not only deliver us, but he’ll also reveal things to us so we can understand how to stay on the path of his light.

Psalm 36:5-6 show us a picture of how big God’s love is. And yet many sinners aren’t seeing it. Verse 12 ends the psalm with the same solemnity it had in the beginning.

Psalm 37:25-26 is a litmus test for the righteous.

I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be a blessing.

You can tell if someone is living by God’s light because they see someone’s need and give to them generously. They don’t try to hide their generosity from their children because they know their example will teach the children more than a textbook could. The children will grow up enjoying that inner excitement too because they’ll follow their parents’ example.