This is a companion Palm to 111. Both Psalms start with praise the Lord and are
acrostics. They have 22 lines that
correspond with the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Psalm 111 praised God for who He is and
speaks of his works. Psalm 112 speaks of
the man who fears God.
Psalm 111 speaks of God's amazing
works from the creation on. If we look
at these works and what they tell us about God, the fear of God ......both in
reverence and terror should well up in us.
That fear is the beginning of wisdom.
That brings us to this Psalm. The
assumption from the beginning of this Psalm is that the fear is already a
manifest part of the believers life.
All the attributes of God spoken of
in Psalm 111 are now character qualities in the Godly believer in 112. Is there any higher honor we can pay God than
to strive to be more Christ-like in our character?
The Blessed State of the Righteous
1 Praise the LORD!
Blessed is the man who fears the LORD,
Who delights greatly in His commandments.
How does
one delight in the commandments of God?
Because this fear of the Lord exists in our life it is established that we
believe God knows what is best for us.
Since we've seen the amazing works of God, since we've come the
knowledge of His holiness, since we've surrendered our relativism to a sure
truth, since we know we are low and He is higher than high, we can come to the
place where we rely solely on Him. He is
the potter and we are the clay. He has
gone to great lengths to redeem us and shown an amazing love toward us. On what basis could we doubt anything He's
put before us?
Therefore,
we can greatly delight in His commandments.
We can receive them with excitement knowing they will lead us closer to
Him. These commandments will bring a
blessing in our life.
The
one hindrance that many face today is their fear is not fully developed because
they have not studied the works of God. They've
embraced worldly ideas of who and what God is.
They don't delight in the commandments because they don't know the word
of the Lord. Subsequently, if they are
in the Lord at all, they remain baby Christians feeding on the milk and passing
on the heavier meals that bring one to spiritual maturity.
Psalm
111 and 112 shows us the works of God building the godly character of
believers. If people don't see the works
of God what does that say about their character? If a person's knowledge of God is formed from
anything other than the bible, what happens to their view of God and the
character it builds in them? Is there a
fear of God when the knowledge of Him comes from some other place?
Just
reading of delighting in His commandments brings to mind Psalm 119. We see David over and over delight in the
word, law and commandments of God. Yet
David didn't always keep the commandments.
2 His descendants will be mighty
on earth;
The generation of the upright will be blessed.
One
man, Abraham, was called by God to leave his home, to go to a new land and live
his life according to what God promised him.
From one man came a nation. From
that peoples came the messiah. From the
messiah came hope for all nations.
The
man who fears God will leave many descendants that will be mighty on the
earth. This may have been written
speaking of physical offspring which, at that time, was an indication of the
blessing of God. But we should also
consider the spiritual brothers and sisters as well as the sons and daughters
in the Lord. When we walk in the fear of
the Lord we can't help but have an affect on those around us. Many times we are completely unaware. But our walk speaks God's truth to other
people. They see past us and see the
Lord.
Whether
it be physical offspring or spiritual offspring, these descendants are mighty
on the earth because they have the blessing of the Lord. They possess a sure hope and legacy that
directs their life. This blessing can't
be stolen by the pains and sorrows of a sinful world. To fear God is to walk upright and receive
the blessing of God. To walk upright is
to be inclined to the Lord and His ways in all we do.
3 Wealth and riches will be in his house,
And his righteousness endures forever.
Does
this mean we are all made wealthy if we fear the Lord? If so, how wealthy? Should our fear of the Lord make us filthy
stinking rich? Many prosperity teachers
would teach it that way. In the days of
the Old Covenant riches were an indication of God's blessing on them.
Ephesians
1:3 says.....
Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual
blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
2 Peter 1
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of
Jesus our Lord, 3 as His
divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and
godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4
by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious
promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having
escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
In
the New Covenant all our riches are found in Christ. Spurgeon asks, What riches can rival a contented heart? Our riches are found in the Lord who meets our
needs both spiritually and physically.
Wealth and riches and relevant terms that leave the worldly wise chasing
after something that is not attainable and offers nothing.
It's interesting
that wealth and riches of the house
is only separated from the righteousness by
a comma that was added in translation.
The righteousness imputed to us through Jesus Christ is the greatest of
riches. It is also free, not cheap, and
it last forever. Name one other thing
that could compete with those basic and simple qualifications.
4 Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness;
He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.
Even
this Old Covenant believer that had wealth and riches still stood in
darkness. Wealth doesn't help overcome
darkness.
We've
all stood in darkness. This darkness may
be a place of confusion and dread or just a spiritual void in which we feel
lost. Our emotions and feelings mess
with us. Even though we emotionally down
or feel lost, God is there. He is right
in the middle of the valley of the shadow of death. Even in our darkest times He is gracious,
compassionate and righteous. What a
great promise. What a great hope.
5 A good man deals graciously and lends;
He will guide his affairs with discretion.
This
passage speaks of the man who fears God having balance in his life. He deals graciously, but not so gracious as
to be taken advantage of. He uses
discretion so as not to be abused or used by those who see grace as an
opportunity for a free ride.
6 Surely he will never be shaken;
The righteous will be in everlasting remembrance.
The
implication is that we will never be shaken lose. We cling to the Lord with all we have. Our foundation is built strong on the gospel
message. The world will shake but we
won't be shaken. The life of the
righteous is built on eternal truth.
Therefore, his life and path and beliefs will be of everlasting
things. This leaves a testimony and
remembrance of eternal things.
7 He will not be afraid of evil tidings;
His heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.
There
is no basis for fear of any evil when one fears the Lord. He is sovereign over all. Therefore He controls all things we are
exposed to. We can trust and remain
steadfast in that truth. Steadfast is
having your feet firmly under you, being ready for whatever may accost you and
trusting in the Lord in all things.
Trust
in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.....
...Proverbs 3:5
8 His heart is established;
He will not be afraid,
Until he sees his desire upon his enemies.
We don't
battle against flesh and blood, our battles are against principalities and
powers. Therefore, any man that seems to
be an enemy is merely engaged in their own battle in his spirit. The person who fears God does not desire any
personal retribution against an enemy.
The very best thing that could happen to an enemy is that they hear the
gospel and through repentance and faith begin to trust in the Lord. When our enemy has a new heart with new
desires that come from God, suddenly, we no longer have an enemy.
9 He has dispersed abroad,
He has given to the poor;
His righteousness endures forever;
His horn will be exalted with honor.
The
affects are far reaching. Not because a
man who fears God is special but because God is special. He is doing His work through men and women
who have dared to listen and dared to surrender their lives to Him.
The
horn of the righteous is likened to the horn of an animal. It is the symbol of strength and dignity.
10 The wicked will see it and be grieved;
He will gnash his teeth and melt away;
The desire of the wicked shall perish.
The
person that fears God is visible in this world to all men. The wicked will see this in a person and be
grieved. If we are hated by the world we
should remember that Jesus said the world first hated him. The wicked will have no influence on the one
who fears the Lord. They will gnash
their teeth and carry on but in time will disappear without eternal affect.
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