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Read Psalm 34:1-3 "I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth" (v. 1). That verse is much easier to read than it is to practice. How can we praise the Lord at all times? Sometimes it's difficult to praise Him. Sometimes we are weak, and our bodies hurt or circumstances are difficult. Sometimes we must helplessly watch people we love go through hard times. If we are to praise the Lord at all times, then praise must be important. Notice the

Read Psalm 34:4-10 When I was a young Christian, the church I attended held testimony meetings. I would hear people say, "I thank the Lord that He saves, keeps and satisfies." So I asked myself, That sounds good, but is it in the Bible? Yes, it is. We find it in Psalm 34:6-8 . "This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles" (v. 6). The Lord saves. It's interesting to notice that we aren't saved from trouble. Sometimes when we trust the

Read Psalm 34:11-16 How often has someone said to you, "Have a good day"? That's a nice statement, but what does it mean? When you review the day's activities before you go to bed, how do you know whether the day was good or bad? When Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery, that was a bad day. But God turned it into good for him. When Potiphar's wife lied about Joseph and had him put into prison, it was a bad day. But God turned that into good for him also. You see, we don't

Read Psalm 34:17-18 A little girl and her mother were walking down a sidewalk after a rainstorm. Someone had spilled some automobile oil on the pavement. Seeing that, the little girl said, "Mommy, look at all of the smashed rainbows!" Maybe your rainbows have been smashed, and you have a broken heart. Perhaps you don't feel close to God because of your heartache. What can you do to be near to Him? First, keep in mind that nearness is likeness. "The Lord is near to those who h

Read Psalm 34:19-22 "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all" (v. 19). The psalmist does not say, "I thought the Lord kept us out of afflictions. I thought that if I read my Bible every day and prayed and tried to obey His will, I would never have any afflictions." Instead, he says that we will face many afflictions. Why do we have afflictions in our lives? We have some afflictions simply because we are human. They are just a part

Read Psalm 34:17-22 Christians must entrust five burdens to the Lord to receive blessings from Him. First, trust the Lord with your frustrations (v. 17). The word trouble means "to be in a bind" or "frustrated." Sometimes we bring trouble on ourselves, as did David. The only safe place is in the will of God. Sometimes other people cause our troubles, as Saul often did for David. And sometimes we have troubles because God knows we need them. When we have troubles, we need to p

Read Psalm 35:1-10 "And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord; it shall rejoice in His salvation" (v. 9). This is David's glad response to God's gracious deliverance from his enemies. David was in trouble; his enemies were accusing him and lying about him. What did he do? He prayed. Our first reaction to false accusations is to fight. We want to fight back and defend our name and protect our reputation. But David was far more concerned about his character than his reputation. H

Read Psalm 35:11-21 On which level of life are you living--on the human level, the demonic level or the divine level? On the human level we return good for good and evil for evil. That's the way most people live. But when we live on this level, we really don't grow. In fact, we become like other people. The human level turns life into a war, into a selfish competition. And that's not the Christian way to live. Only God knows when something is truly evil. What someone does to

Read Psalm 35:22-28 Each of us is a lens that magnifies what we live for. People can look at and through our lives and see what is really important to us. The athlete magnifies his sport, his team and his winning record. The musician magnifies the instrument he plays. The scholar magnifies his discipline. As God's people, we should magnify the Lord. The sinner, however, wants to magnify only himself. David said, "Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion who rejoice

Read Psalm 36:1-12 When we trust Jesus Christ and live in fellowship with Him, we have all we need for life and for service. When you were saved, you were born again, complete in Christ. When the Holy Spirit came into your life, He came to give you fullness of life in Jesus Christ. Psalm 36 indicates that when we walk in the Lord and seek to serve Him, we have His protection. "How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the

Read Psalm 36:7-12 In this psalm David ponders the fourfold blessedness of believers. First, we are under God's wings (v. 7). His mercy is possible because of the blood of Jesus Christ. David refers to the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle, where the Ark of the Covenant held the tables of the Law, with a golden mercy seat over the box. Because he has trusted God, David is in the Holy of Holies and protected by Him ( Ps. 61:4 ; 90:1 ). Christians today are living in the presenc

Read Psalm 37:1-4 Psalm 37 begins with a personal and practical admonition: Do not fret. How do we calm a fretful spirit and bring peace to a troubled heart? "Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the workers of iniquity" (v. 1). Why do we envy the wicked? They seem to be prospering; they seem to be so happy. But what do they have that we need? In God we have everything we need. Whenever we find ourselves fretting, it's probably because we are measuring ourselve

Read Psalm 37:5-7 "Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass" (v. 5). Bring what to pass? God will bring to pass the thing that does you the most good and that brings Him the most glory. This is a good verse to memorize. No doubt there is something in your life you would like God to do. You've been thinking about it, dreaming about it and praying about it. If God is going to accomplish things for us and in us and through us, we must follow

Read Psalm 37:8-15 "But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace" (v. 11). Our Lord echoed this same idea when He said, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth" ( Matt. 5:5 ). Meekness is not weakness. Moses was called the meekest man on the face of the earth, yet he boldly stood before Pharaoh and led the children of Israel. At times he had to execute judgment. In the same way, our Lord Jesus said, "I am gentle

Read Psalm 37:16-20 When you look at the wicked and see their prosperity, don't fret or do anything foolish. The Lord is on your side, and "if God is for us, who can be against us?" ( Rom. 8:31 ). In this passage God gives us all the assurance we need to have peace in our hearts. "A little that a righteous man has is better than the riches of many wicked" (v. 16). Here is your first assurance: God knows how much we need, and all of His wealth is available to us. What good is

Read Psalm 37:21-22 Someone has said that when your outgo exceeds your income, then your upkeep is your downfall. David may have had that idea in mind when he wrote this passage. He is talking about two different attitudes toward life: How much can I give? and How much can I get? Nothing is wrong with an honest debt or a loan. In fact, the Lord Jesus, in the parable of the pounds and the parable of the talents, talks about putting money in the bank and investing money and rec

Read Psalm 37:23, 24 I like these verses because they give us three exciting assurances as we go through each day with the Lord. First, God directs us in the best way. The steps of a good man or a good woman are ordered by the Lord. David isn't talking about fate or chance. He isn't saying that life is a rigid machine. But he does say, "Your Father in heaven is watching you. He has planned a wonderful day for you. You may not understand all that He has planned, but everything

Read Psalm 37:25-29 We see and hear all kinds of testimonials from famous people in advertising today. Quite frankly, I don't put much faith in what these celebrities say. What do football players really know about automobile tires? What do actors or actresses know about computers? We know they are used in ads to lend the authority of their name to the product. When we hear a testimonial, we'd better find out who said it, what was said and if we can really believe it. We find

Read Psalm 37:30-34 Visiting the doctor for an annual checkup is necessary. God, too, is concerned about us and wants to give us a spiritual checkup once in a while. My doctor says, "Open your mouth. Stick out your tongue." Then he wants to listen to my heart. He even looks at my feet. David refers to a similar examination in these verses. God is concerned about your mouth. "The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, and his tongue talks of justice" (v. 30). What do you talk a

Read Psalm 37:35-40 As David finished Psalm 37, he described two different kinds of people and what would happen to them. First, he described the powerful. "I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a native green tree. Yet he passed away, and behold, he was no more; indeed I sought him, but he could not be found" (vv. 35, 36). The powerful are rooted in this world. They are like a tree that looks strong and stable. One day a storm comes and blows the

Read Psalm 38:1-8 Nobody can deny there is pleasure in sin. If there were no pleasure in sin, nobody would fall into temptation. The Bible speaks about the pleasures of sin for a season. What season? The season of sowing. The pleasure of sin comes when we sow, but the pain comes when we reap. This is why David gave such a vivid description in Psalm 38 of what we suffer when we sin. "O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your wrath, nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure!" (v. 1). He we

Read Psalm 38:9-16 Christians are not supposed to sin. But if we do sin, we are not to give up. David had sinned, and now he was paying for his sin! He had sown the seeds of sin, and now he was reaping the terrible harvest. But he didn't give up. Let's remember that though our friends may forsake us, and though the Enemy may attack us, God never gives up on His children. David said, "My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague, and my relatives stand afar off' (v.

Real Psalm 38:17-22 "For I am ready to fall, and my sorrow is continually before me" (v. 17). David was ready to quit. David, the great conqueror and disciplined soldier, the one who killed Goliath, was ready to quit. He had sinned against the Lord, and he was suffering for it. Even his friends were against him. Let's learn some lessons from David to avoid his experience. Don't give up. Satan is so subtle and mean. When he's tempting you, he whispers in your ear, "You can get

Read Psalm 39:1-6 "I was mute with silence, I held my peace" (v. 2). Usually David was singing a song or giving an order or rejoicing in the Lord, but now he is silent. Why? Because God had rebuked him for a sin he had committed, and he knew better than to argue with God. Sometimes when we sin, we want to argue. We make excuses instead of confessions. We give reasons for not escaping the temptation. But David didn't do that. He was silent. But as he meditated, something stirr