Psalm 37:26

Verse 26. He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed. He, the good man, is merciful to himself, for mercy, like charity, begins at home; he is not afraid to eat a good meal because he hath children. And he is merciful to others too; for he will lend and do good to whom he can, and then his seed fares the better for it. Mark, that the more he gives and lends in doing works of mercy, the better it is for his children; for those children are ever best provided for whose parents bear this mind -- they had rather trust God with their children, than their children with riches; and have made this their hope, that though they die, yet God lives. Did but one of those rich and wretched parents (who pinched and pined himself to make his son a gentleman, forsooth), rise from the dead, and see that proverb of Solomon fulfilled in himself, "He begetteth a son, and in his hand is nothing;" I persuade myself, the rumination of this would afflict him in his soul as much as any one pain of sense, even in hell itself. O consider this, you that now live and see it in others; and remember withal, that if your goods be either ill gotten, or worse kept, it may be your children's case when you are departed, and feel it, though you see it not. Matthew Griffith.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 26. The righteous man's merciful disposition, generous action, and rich reward.

Verse 26. The benediction of the good man's family: what it is, and what it is not.