Psalm 37:25-26 — I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.

I know I passed 60 last year. It was a bit startling today though to receive no fewer than four of those invitations to lunch/dinner with a retirement seminar. That was really rubbing salt into the wound!
I love Psalm 37. These two verses have always seemed odd though. I have seen the children of decent people having to beg for their daily bread. But the older I get — like the Psalmist — the more I see the points being made.
Let’s start with the most straightforward point. “I have not seen the righteous forsaken”. It’s not about physical security of course — if it was there would have been no martyrs. It’s about spiritual security, knowing that Jesus has promised “I am with you until the end of the age” and knowing that He never breaks His promises.
On the face of it, the next point, “I have never seen his seed begging bread” is harder to understand. While it may be true that the children of the righteous generally do well, there are examples to the contrary — and many of those children pass through times, at least, of hardship. We should not misinterpret those times however … there is a difference between times of testing and God’s long term plan. But maybe this isn’t about physical security either. Remember what Jesus said? “But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4) Perhaps that’s the “bread” that the seed of the righteous will never beg for — the spiritual bread on which we all depend.
Next comes “The righteous is ever merciful and lendeth”. Merciful, in the Hebrew, speaks of more than simple mercy — it speaks to empathy, compassion — the righteous man has compassionate understanding of those around him, and “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” (Matthew 5:7)
The next point is that the righteous man lends. There’s more to that than meets the eye, too. The righteous man, lending to a fellow Jew was, in effect, making a gift: “Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent upon usury: unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou goest to possess it.” (Deuteronomy 23:19-20). That is, lending is without interest being charged.
The last point, “The seed of the righteous is blessed” is straightforward. The child of a righteous parent is blessed indeed …
This exploration of these two verses is becoming typical for me. Scriptures don’t seem clear. But if I take time, if I wait, the explanation surfaces …