Read Psalms 48:1&2  When David became the king, he chose Jerusalem as his capital.  The capital is the place where the government of the country is.  In the very center of Jerusalem is a small hill known as Mt. Zion.  Mt. Zion is where David's son, Solomon built the first Temple.  It was destroyed and rebuilt 2 times.  Herod's Temple was built of pure white marble stone and was the Temple that was in Jerusalem when Jesus lived here on earth.  Herod's Temple was destroyed just a few years after Jesus' death.  Later, an Arab mosque, one of their churches, was built on Mt. Zion where the Temple used to be.  One of the Temple walls is still there in Jerusalem, and the Jews still go there to pray.  Jesus will come back to earth one day and set foot on Mt. Zion!  Our verses say that God is great and that He should be praised!  God is great and the city of His Temple is a great city too!

Read Psalms 45:6  We don't have kings here in America.  We have presidents and we have governors of the states that we elect.  A king rules differently.  He is not elected; he is the king because his father was the king.  When a king grows older, his son is in line to become the next king.  If a king has several sons, they are all known as princes.  But the oldest is known as the crown prince because he will soon be the next king.  Sometimes kings reign for a long time, but they eventually die and the throne passes down to one of their sons.  But our verse today says that God's throne is forever.  He never grows old and He never dies.  He never has to prepare for the next king because He has always been the King, and He will always be the King!  God lives forever.  Isn't it good that we can trust in a God Who never grows old and Who will never die!  The scepter  is the thing that the king holds that is the symbol of his authority.  God is forever on His throne and his scepter is for ever and for ever!

Read psalms 42:1  It is rare to actually catch sight of a deer.  They hide in the thickets where they bed down in the daytime and they only come out in the early evening, at night, and in the early morning.  They always look around first to be sure that no danger is near before they step out of the shadows.  They will only drop their heads to eat grass if they feel secure.  But even in dangerous situations, after a while, the deer gets thirsty and will have to come out of the forest to get a drink.  Here in this verse the deer is called a hart.  David says just like the deer is thirsty for a cool drink of water from a forest brook, so is he longing to be near to God.  David couldn't wait to read about God in the Scriptures and to pray and talk to God, his heavenly Father.  I love God and want to be near to Him.  Do you love God?  Do you want to please Him and make Him happy?  I hope you do.

Read Psalms 40:1-3  King David was going through some trouble.  Have you had days when it seemed like you kept getting into trouble.  On days like that everything you do seems to be the wrong thing.  But sometimes we make our own trouble.  When we don't listen to our mother, we will soon get into trouble.  She may say, "Don't take out the trash just yet," because she is peeling potatoes for supper.  She is putting the peelings in the sink and will throw them all away soon.  She wants you to wait so that you can take those peelings out with the bag that is almost full.  But all that you hear is "take out the trash."  So you do.  But then your mother fusses at you for taking out the trash before she had a chance to put the peelings in the bag.  You caused your own trouble by not listening.  David did 3 things in these 3 verses: first, he waited for the Lord.  He knew God was in control.  He knew God would not forget about him.  Second, David let God solve his problem.  It was God who brought him up out of the horrible pit.  God will take care of our troubles if we let Him.  Then last, David sang praises to God for delivering him out of his troubles.  We should thank the Lord for helping us.  When we do, we will be joyful and have a song in our hearts and a song on our lips.  Pretty soon others will see that we are happy in the Lord.  I hope you are happy in the Lord today!

Read Psalms 37:25  In this verse David speaks as an old man.  You are young and have not been grown up yet.  When you grow up like your mother and father, you still have many more years to go before you are old like me.  :<)  But in this verse David says that he is old and has noticed something.  He has never seen God forget his followers.  God will never forget his children.  God will never desert us and make us so poor that we have to beg for food. No, God will always take care of us!  What a wonderful promise to remember.  Go may not always give us everything that we want, but He will always give us everything that we need.  We may want cake and ice cream to eat, but God may give us green beans and peas to eat.  God knows what we need.  We do not need cake and ice cream; we need vegetables to help us to grow big and strong.  God gives us what we need, not always what we want.  I pray that we will be satisfied with what God gives us and not grumble or complain that we do not have all that we want. 

Read Psalms 37:24  Our verse yesterday said that God leads us in the right way to go.  Sometimes when you go on a walk with your family - or may be with your Granddaddy - you follow a path.  Then may be you come to a place where the path is faint and hard to follow.  You may walk around in the woods looking for the pathway.  You may be going through some briers and stickers and stepping over some rocks.  Isn't it good to be able to hold onto someone's hand?  When you stumble, they will hold you up until you can get your footing back.  This verse tells us that God is holding our hand and will not let us fall.  It is true that we may stumble, but God will not let us to completely fall.  Our verse says that though the good man falls, he is never completely "cast down."  When you are holding onto someone's hand you may fall, but you won't completely fall down, because you are being held up!  You may for a moment be swinging by one arm, but you will quickly catch your balance and stand right back up.  Have you ever stumbled and fell when you were alone?  Did you get a cut or get your clothes dirty when you fell?  Isn't it much better when you are holding onto someone who can keep you steady?  Isn't it good to hold onto God's hand?

Read Psalms 37:23  Sometimes we do things just because we want to.  But sometimes there are things that we have to do.  When your father says it is time to go to church, you have to get ready and get into the car.  And then sometimes your mother says it is time to take a bath and to brush your teeth and you have to.  But sometimes you go outside and you can do absolutely anything that you want to.  You can play on the swing set or play in the sand box or throw rocks into the woods.  You don't have to do anything.  But this verse says that sometimes without knowing what you are doing, God will get you to do things that He wants you to do.  He will "order" our steps.  This verse does not say that God makes us do things against our will.  God does not force us to obey Him.  But this verse does say that if we decide to obey God and to do the things that He tells us in his Bible, then He will direct our path; God will "order our steps" as our verse says.  If we chose to go God's way, He has promised to lead us in the right way.  Just like you may lead your dog in the way that you are going to walk, God will lead us in His way.  Isn't it good to know that God knows what is going to happen tomorrow and next week, and that He is the one who is leading us?  That is, if we will follow Him.