“I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread. He is ever lending generously, and his children become a blessing” (Psalm 37:25-26, ESV).

Psalm 37 is one of my favorite Psalms because it has so many memorable sayings:

• “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart” (vs. 4).
• “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act” (vs. 5).
• “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him” (vs. 7).
• “The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way” (vs 23).
• “I have been young and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsake or his children begging for bread” (vs 25).

But one of the most interesting sayings in this Psalm is the declaration in vs. 26 that a righteous person is always “lending generously.”

We all know you should be generous in your giving, but being generous in your lending takes being generous to a whole different level!

Generous giving helps people out. Generous lending helps people up.

Generous lending is a higher form of charity than generous giving because you anticipate people’s needs and teach them to be responsible, self-sustaining, and autonomous.

When you give to people, they are still dependent on your charity. When you lend to people, they learn to be independent of your charity.

It’s like the old saying, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.”

The results of generous lending has a twofold impact–on the beneficiary of the loan and on the children of the generous lender.

The beneficiary becomes an responsible person and the children become a blessing to others.

Because generous lending requires the personal involvement of the lender with the beneficiary, it’s understandable that his children become a blessing.

The children have undoubtedly observed the example of their parent who is always lending generously and have learned the same sort of behavior for themselves!

Give generously! Lend generously! Live generously! And, be a blessing!

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16, ESV)