Psalm 112
This psalm is an acrostic poem, each line beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet
1 Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments!
2 His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.
Psalm 112 begins in the same way as its predecessor, with a “Hallelujah!” It’s not part of the acrostic, but it links the two psalms and is a phrase that occurs 22 times in the Psalter, the same as the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet. This psalm is meant to correspond with Psalm 111 which describes the works of the LORD. This psalm describes the works of a person who fears the LORD. Theology comes before character. Knowing the character of God in whose image we are made informs us of our place in the world and our purpose in living. Most of the problems that we have in life come from a deficient view of God. Too often we make God in our image, designing a God that will never disagree with us and only affirm our behavior. This is not a God who will ever transform us in any meaningful way. Having gotten our theology straight in Psalm 111, we can now reflect on what it means to be a worshiper of God in every aspect of life. This first line of the psalm echoes the first two lines of Psalm 1, “Blessed is the man who fears the LORD and delights in his commands”. Worshiping God and delighting in his revelation are foundational to the good life. This is what “blessed” means -- a life well-lived, a life shot through with purpose, integrity, and meaning. Such a person’s impact will be felt for generations that follow. They will influence others who will become leaders in the land and entire generations will be blessed by a life lived in such a way. The psalmist is speaking specifically about his children, (lit. “his seed” will be mighty in the earth/land). As parents we are entrusted with a seed, a tiny person that we must nurture, shelter, and provide for until it grows into a tree. Once the tree is fully grown it can reproduce, bear fruit to nourish others, provide shade and shelter, and even sacrifice itself for the needs of others. This is another connection to the Psalm 1:3 where the one who delights in the revelation of God is likened to a flourishing tree. Are my children serving as trees for others? A generation has been blessed by the faith of my parents, have I been a blessing to the generation that is following me through my life and teaching? The psalmist promises that a person who fears the LORD and delights in his commandments will have such an impact.
3 Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.
4 Light dawns in the darkness for the upright; he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.
Not only will the God-fearing person be a blessing to others generationally, but his wealth will accumulate and the good things that he does with his wealth will live beyond him. This verse can be taken out of context to support what is commonly called the “prosperity gospel”, as if godliness were a means to financial gain. This false gospel is clearly debunked in the New Testament by simply looking at the life of our leader and example Jesus, who didn’t have a place to lay his head. Consider also the warnings toward the rich in James 5:1-6 and Jesus’ teaching about the challenges that riches bring to faith -- “Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:24). Instead this text is stating the simple truth that living a godly life gives you many advantages when it comes to accumulating wealth. Virtues like self control, patience, delayed gratification, service and generosity when it comes to the use of property are foundational to building wealth. Notice that it is the person’s righteousness that endures forever, the right things that the godly person does, how they run their business and their lives. Doing the right thing is good for business - serving customers well, offering a good product at a fair price, obeying the laws. It is the cumulative effect of these things that builds wealth that can be passed on to the next generation who then does the same thing for the generation that follows. In this way, generational wealth is built. Divorce, foolish living, and the squandering of resources due to lack of self control can diminish one’s wealth so that less is passed on to the next generation. So while this text is not an iron-clad promise that godly people will be wealthy people, it is a pattern that we can follow that has proven to aid in the accumulation of wealth for the purpose of blessing others. Verse 4 speaks of a light dawning in the darkness for the upright. Light in the darkness was a difficult thing to come up with in the ancient world. One couldn’t just flip a switch as we can today. Acquiring a lamp, fuel, and a spark were all a bit of a chore in the middle of the night, so the light here is likely a metaphor for safety, vision, and hope that arises for the one who places their trust in the LORD. The remainder of verse 4 describes the godly person using the same words that described YHWH in Psalm 111 -- gracious, merciful, and righteous. The better we see the LORD and the more that we see things through His light, the more like him we become in character. C.S. Lewis said something like this, “I believe in God like I believe in the sun. Not just because I see it, but because by it I see everything else more clearly.” This is how light arises for the upright. By the light of God we see everything more clearly, and we do not have to fear the future, and we can be gracious, merciful and righteous.
5 It is well with the man who deals generously and lends; who conducts his affairs with justice.
6 For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever.
A person who fears the LORD is marked by generosity. Just as God is gracious and compassionate, those who worship the LORD and are becoming like him in character will naturally be gracious to others and this will be expressed in generosity and open-handedness. It will go well for the generous person (lit. “good the man deals graciously and lends”). This may seem counterintuitive in that one would think that the more one accumulates for himself, the more secure he will be, the more well-off he is. However, in God’s economy, it is the generous who are well-off. It is those who give to others and loan out their things that have the good life. In doing so, they build a reputation for kindness that reaps its own rewards in friendships, community and social capital. These relationships cannot be measured by an accountant, but they are the things that truly make one happy and not having a large bank account. This person also conducts their affairs with good judgment (mishphat). They are wise and discerning, fair and honest -- again, the kind of person that others want to deal with. The result is success and influence. Verse 6 declares that such a person will never ever be moved (using the Hebrew double negative for emphasis). They will not totter, stumble, or fall. They will be a pillar of the community and endure any trial that life throws at them. Their influence will continue after they are dead, remembered forever for their generosity, faithfulness, and integrity. May I be such a man, fixing my eyes on Jesus so that I might imitate his life, generously sharing that which comes into my possession for the benefit of others. May I conduct my affairs with integrity and wisdom so that I may be a person that others can count on to stand firm when others yield.
7 He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.
8 His heart is steady; [Or established (compare 111:8)] he will not be afraid, until he looks in triumph on his adversaries.
The word fear is common in this psalm, but in these verses the word is not applied to the fear of the LORD, but to fear in general. The one who fears the LORD has no reason to fear anything else. He is not afraid of bad news (lit. a bad report) and he is not afraid of his adversaries. His heart is firm and steady. From the depths of his being he knows that YHWH is sovereign and nothing will happen that can separate him from His faithful covenant love. Bad news may come on a personal level -- a diagnosis, a relational breakup, a financial loss, a sudden loss. Bad news may also come on a societal level -- war, riots, famine, natural disasters. All of these things can’t help but shake us in some way, but at the heart level, making God ultimate prevents us from being overwrought and devastated by these things. In the moment we may take the gut punch, but our hearts can be steady and firm, trusting in the LORD because He doesn’t change. This is why the God-fearing person can be generous (vss. 5-6) and confident in the face of bad news (vss. 7-8). Constancy, permanence, even-temperedness -- these are the characteristics of one who has truly put his trust in the LORD. “Unmoved” (vs. 6), “firm” (vs. 7) and “steady” (vs. 8) are also characteristics of God as Psalm 111 reminds us. The God-worshiper is transformed by his focus on the nature and character of God, becoming more and more like the object of his desire.
9 He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn is exalted in honor.
10 The wicked man sees it and is angry; he gnashes his teeth and melts away; the desire of the wicked will perish!
The final two verses present a contrast between the godly and the wicked man. The godly man is marked by generosity as noted in verses 4 and 5. Sharing this characteristic of graciousness with the God he worships, he scatters his wealth and gives to the poor. The metaphor is based on the actions of a farmer who scatters seed. Like the parable of the soils that Jesus told, some of that seed winds up being wasted, but some bears fruit. It is the same with generosity. If we are scattering our wealth some of our gifts will be wasted, less effective than others. But other things we share will hit the spot and bear fruit. This open handedness with the poor seems to be a hallmark of godliness. As a result, the God-fearing person’s reputation is enduring. His horn, that is, his strength, his reputation, will be exalted. He will be seen and known as a good man. This is one of the rewards of living a good life -- you are loved and admired by others for the right reasons. In contrast, the wicked man looks at this and instead of being informed and transformed by the example of the righteous person, he is jealous and becomes angry. All the things he is doing to keep his wealth have only resulted in frustration and dissatisfaction, not happiness, and the happiness of others is angering him. Rather than enduring forever and having his horn exalted, the wicked man melts away, softening until he is forgotten. His desires, the things he wants to accomplish remain forever out of reach and he dies in frustration, having rejected the sure means to achieve all that he wanted. The psalm ends with the same word that ends Psalm 1 -- “perish”, which starts with the final letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Thus, the psalm begins with a word that starts with the first letter of the alphabet (aleph) and ends with a word that starts with the last letter of the alphabet (tav), suggesting completeness, from A-Z, this is the complete truth about the matter.