Psalm 112

 ¹Praise the Lord!

Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,

Who delights greatly in His commandments.

²His descendants will be mighty on earth;

The generation of the upright will be blessed.

³Wealth and riches will be in his house,

And his righteousness endures forever.

⁴Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness;

He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.

⁵A good man deals graciously and lends;

He will guide his affairs with discretion.

⁶Surely he will never be shaken;

The righteous will be in everlasting remembrance.

⁷He will not be afraid of evil tidings;

His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.

⁸His heart is established;

He will not be afraid,

Until he sees his desire upon his enemies.

⁹He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor;

His righteousness endures forever;

His horn will be exalted with honor.

¹⁰The wicked will see it and be grieved;

He will gnash his teeth and melt away;

The desire of the wicked shall perish.

Preamble: Psalm 112 picks sup where Psalm 111 left off, expounding the fear of the Lord. And so here we see the benefits of doing so. For the fear of the Lord is not some “religious” zealot’s cry; it is God given practical wisdom that when applied in one’s life will lead to one seeing and receiving the Lord’s blessings in one’s life. Keeping God’s commandments, specifically the Lord Jesus Christ’s commandments then will lead to one living a fruitful and abundant life. Try it and see!

Commentary

¹Praise the Lord!

Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,

Who delights greatly in His commandments.

²His descendants will be mighty on earth;

The generation of the upright will be blessed.

³Wealth and riches will be in his house,

And his righteousness endures forever.

Once again, our praise and adoration must be directed to the Lord alone, whom all blessings, honor, and wisdom flow from. Truly blessed then is the man or woman who fears the Lord; who keeps His Word, who greatly delights in His commandments. For God loves everyone who makes His Word their treasure. For it is by His Word that we are saved and made wise and given understanding, and thus kept back from doing great harm to ourselves or others (vs. 1). Verses two and three then declare the blessings from God that come to all who do so. First is their descendants will be mighty on the earth, they will be exalted by the hand of God into positions of great prestige and power. “Wealth and riches will be in houses of those who fear the Lord. For as the Scripture says, the generation of the upright will be blessed, (by both God and man), they will be kept in everlasting remembrance, for their righteousness will endure forever (vs. 2-3), which stands juxtaposed to the wicked whose name will only rot (Prov. 10:7); whose wealth, “prestige” and whatever treasures they acquire are always temporary, for their gain is being stored up for the righteous (Prov. 13:22; also, Job 27:13-23, vs. 16-17; Ecc. 2:26 etc.). For God Himself will secure their wealth and riches for the generation of the upright, for they will be blessed by God, both in this life and in His Kingdom. which is available to all who repent and believe in the Gospel, who can thus start a new and everlasting life with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Vs. 4 “Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness;

He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.”

God not only secures and blesses the upright and their offspring, but He is there for them in their time of need. For no one gets through this life free of troubles and times of need. And so, in their darkness He will be their illuminating light. For God is gracious and full of compassion, He is righteous, He will not turn His back on them.

Vs. 5-6 ⁵A good man deals graciously and lends;

He will guide his affairs with discretion.

⁶Surely he will never be shaken;

The righteous will be in everlasting remembrance.

The virtues of a good man is now declared, for his heart is not greedy, nor is he corrupt, instead he deals graciously with all and lends, yes, he lends to those in need; and not for reward or profit (consider Deut. 15:7-11; 24:10-13; 28:1-14; Psalm 37:26; Luke 6:34-35; 14:12-14 etc.). Because he guides his affairs with discretion, i.e., tact and wisdom, surely he will never be shaken, (i.e. removed from his place), for the righteous will be in everlasting remembrance; for their virtuous lives that they lived, and the good that they have done. This then is how to build a legacy that will last well beyond your life down here.

Vs. 7-8 ⁷He will not be afraid of evil tidings;

His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.

⁸His heart is established;

He will not be afraid,

Until he sees his desire upon his enemies.

Because his faith is in and his fear is directed to the Lord, (not man), he will not be afraid of evil tidings. For He knows that God works all things together for God to those who love Him, who are called according to His purposes (Rom. 8:28). Therefore his heart steadfastly trusts in the Lord, his heart is established in the Lord, he will not be swayed to worship or serve another "god". Therefore he will not be afraid of those who rise against him, or of bad news when it comes to him. For his heart is established, firm in the faith, firm in the Lord! For he knows that it will be the Lord who will cause him to see his desires on his enemies, for our God will repay them in His own way and of His own timing.

Vs. 9-10 “He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor;

His righteousness endures forever;

His horn will be exalted with honor.”

¹⁰The wicked will see it and be grieved;

He will gnash his teeth and melt away;

The desire of the wicked shall perish.

Verse nine is a most beautiful verse and promise, a promise which the Apostle Paul quotes in 2 Cor. 9:9 as motivation for us to follow, to know that our generous giving has everlasting rewards and honor. Verse ten then declares the response of the wicked in seeing the righteous honored by God, and though they hate it, gnash at it with their teeth, like the wild beast before it devours its prey, they can do nothing to stop it, for the desire of the wicked shall perish, it shall perish with them, amen (consider Psalm 37:12).

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.