Sunday, December 10
“Blessed is the Man”
Psalm 112:1-10
1 Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, Who delights greatly in His commandments.
2 His descendants will be mighty on earth; The generation of the upright will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches will be in his house, And his righteousness endures forever.
4 Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness; He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.
5 A good man deals graciously and lends; He will guide his affairs with discretion.
6 Surely he will never be shaken; The righteous will be in everlasting remembrance.
7 He will not be afraid of evil tidings; His heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.
8 His heart is established; He will not be afraid, Until he sees his desire upon his enemies.
9 He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever; His horn will be exalted with honor.
10 The wicked will see it and be grieved; He will gnash his teeth and melt away; The desire of the wicked shall perish.
When we were studying Psalm 111, we said that it and Psalm 112 are connected and very similar. It appears that both of them were written by an anonymous person, possibly a Levite, after the Babylonian captivity to encourage the Jewish remnant who had returned to rebuild the temple and the city of Jerusalem. You can see the connection between the two psalms when you put the last verse of Psalm 111 with the first verse of Psalm 112.
Psalm 111 ends with; “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.” Psalm 112 begins with; “Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, Who delights greatly in His commandments.” In Psalm 111 the writer extolled the Lord for His great and marvelous works, and he ended by admonishing us to fear the Lord and obey His precepts (111:10). Now in Psalm 112, the blessings of obeying that admonition are described. Both psalms must be read in light of God's covenant with Israel in which He promises to bless them if they fear Him and obey His Word (Lev. 26:1-13; Deut. 28:1-14).
During much of their history, the Jews memorized their Scriptures and other sacred literature. That is why poetry is so popular in the Bible. Jewish poetry often had an acrostic form, with meter and a specialized structure, both a distinct aid to memory. Like Psalm 111, Psalm 112 is an acrostic psalm, a reminder that it was to be memorized as well as read. Psalm 111 puts the emphasis on the Savior, this psalm puts the emphasis on the saint. In Psalm 111 we were occupied with the power of God. In Psalm 112 we are occupied with the people of God. In Psalm 111 it was the Lord's person, here it is the Lord's people. In Psalm 111 His works were underlined; here our works are underlined.
We must not conclude that, on the basis of this psalm, all believers today can claim health, wealth, success, and happiness if they faithfully obey the Lord, for this promise is not found in the new covenant. For that matter, the believer described in this psalm had times of darkness (v. 4), occasionally received bad news (v. 7), had his enemies (vv. 8, 10), and had to consider the justice of his decisions (v. 5). We who live under the new covenant have in Jesus Christ every spiritual blessing that we will ever need (Eph. 1:3; 2 Peter 1:3-4), and we have the promise that our God will meet our needs (Phil. 4:19).
The attributes of God given in 111 become the character qualities of the godly believer in 112, for becoming more and more like Jesus Christ is the greatest reward of a faithful life of obedience (Rom. 8:29; 2 Cor. 3:18). We want more than the blessing; we want to be like the One who gives the blessing.
God bless!