Have you ever worried about money? Almost everyone has. It often seems to be the underlying reason that we feel that we must get ourselves out of bed and off to work in the morning. The loss of it seems to be the cause of sorrow when an appliance breaks in our home or the car won't start in the morning. The fear of not having enough of it keeps many awake at night. People who have enough money often worry about losing it.

God isn't worried, though. He has all the money he needs. He owns everything. We are just his guests in his world. He wants us to learn to trust him and relax about our financial needs. When we take time to dwell on his promises to provide for us, we receive his peace.

Psalms help us to do that. They give us promises set in beautiful words on which to rest our thoughts. In Psalm 37 we find words that comfort us when we are worried about our money or our earthy needs. They come from a seasoned veteran at trusting the Lord: David. Remember all of the times he learned to trust God to take care of him. Think of his fight with Goliath, his several years running from Saul, and his flight from Absalom. God inspired David to teach and comfort us from his own rich experience toward the end of his life.

FEATURED VERSES: Psalm 37:23-26

"If the Lord delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand. 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 blessed."

POINTS TO PONDER

• How can we be sure that the Lord delights in us?

• How can a Christian stumble financially?

• How does God hold us with his hand when we hit a financial difficulty?

• What made David so confident that God promises to take care of all of us (v. 25)?

• How does it help us to be generous when we trust God to provide for us?

TREASURES TO SHARE

How could you use this psalm to encourage someone who is considering bankruptcy?

• You could buy a card for that person and write this verse inside of it. Then you could tell the person that through this bankruptcy that God would be showing him or her special ways in which he provides for his own children.

• Next time you sit down to dinner with your family, share verse 25 with them and ask everyone at the table to tell of an experience when God provided for them or someone they knew in a special way. When we share special ways in which God has provided for us, it encourages others to trust him and it gives them reason to rejoice.

• When you pay your bills this month and start to worry about finances, write out a check to your favorite charity with faith that God will bless you. In Malachi 3 God tells us that we cannot outgive him. He wants us to test him in this. You will be very surprised at ways God provides for his generous people.

• Write these verses on a notecard and tape them to the front of your checkbook to remind you that God will always provide for you. When we write out verses for each other, we encourage our loved ones to be trusting daily in the promises of God. It's like planting seeds that grow later into big trees of faith.

Other Scripture verses to fight worry over finances

Hebrews 13:5; Matthew 6:19-34; 2 Corinthians 9:6-11

Contributing editor Donald Patterson is pastor at Holy Word, Austin, Texas.