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Verses 21-31 (of 40)

continued from verse 20: Lamdedh (ל )

21 The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously;

22 those the Lord blesses will inherit the land, but those he curses will be cut off.

Mem (מ)

23 If the Lord delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm;

24 though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.

Nun (נ)

25 I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.

26 They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be blessed.

Samekh (ס)

27 Turn from evil and do good; then you will dwell in the land forever.

28 For the Lord loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones. They will be protected forever, but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off;

Ayin (צ)

29 the righteous will inherit the land

and dwell in it forever.

Pe (פ)

30 The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks what is just.

31 The law of his God is in his heart; his feet do not slip.

Verses 21-22

The Lord Blesses His people with provision.

· Not just “enough” but enough to give it away. This isn’t a promise to all believers of all time (there are believers in Christ who die in poverty) but like the Proverbs, this Psalm is making a generalization—this is generally true of believers.

· Remember, however, the words of Malachi 3:10-12, NLT

o Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! 11 Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 12 “Then all nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

Verses 23-24

The Lord Blesses His people with protection.

· Even if we stumble, He will pick us up, dust us off, and send us on our way.

· He is even able to keep us from stumbling:

· Jude 24-25

o To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—To the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

Verses 25-26

The Lord Blesses His people with His presence.

· His presence not only is a blessing but His presence is representative of His provision. David, as an older saint, knew God blesses people materially so they can give it away!

· Luke 6:38, NIV

o Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Verses 27-29

The Lord Blesses His people with the ability to be obedient.

· May we never forget the words of 1 Samuel 15:22, NIV

o But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

· What does this mean? Most of the time we’d rather “sacrifice” than “obey”. In other words: we’d rather go through the motions of our faith than actually do what our Lord has told us to do. We wallow in “religiousity” without desiring to obey what the Lord has told us to do and then wonder why our lives are falling apart!

Verses 30-31

The Lord blesses us with His Word.

· Deuteronomy 6:6-8 tells us:

o These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.

· Having the Word of God is a gift. We have what most of the people whose lives we read about in Scripture did NOT have: a written, single volume of God’s Word. We have such a treasure. Let’s always remember our blessing!

Indeed, the Lord blesses us!