Psalms 112:1

Psalms 112:1-3 says, “Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed. Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever.”

A person that fears the Lord is a person that delights in God’s commandments, God’s law. Even though we are not under the law, even though we live in the age of grace there is still something alluring about the law. Perhaps it is because the law is our school master. The law is pure and holy. The more we strive to keep the law the more we see how sinful we are and thus the more we come to appreciate the gospel of Jesus Christ and the forgiveness of our sins.

The gospel of Jesus Christ and the law go together. Jesus fulfilled the law through Jesus we fulfill the law. If you want to fear the Lord more then delight in his commandments. Remember Jesus said in Mark 12:29-30, “And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.” The greatest commandment is to love God. And we love God because he first loved us. Therefore the way to love God more is to learn more about His love. And you will best see His love by looking to the cross where Jesus hung and died for your sins.

Psalms 112:2-3 says, “His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed. Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever.”

Now we come to some verses which could easily be interpreted the wrong way. These verses are not saying that if you follow God you will be rich materially. This just is not true. T here are many people who have followed the footprints of Jesus, many people who have carried their cross daily and have died childless and poor.

However if you interpret these verses from a spiritual standpoint then they make sense. Spiritually speaking those who follow Jesus may very well have many children in the faith and great rewards waiting for them in heaven.

There is of course a practical application to these verses as well. Psalms 112:2-3 says, “His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed. Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever.”

Those who heed God’s commandments will find that things will work out better for them in this life than they would have other wise. Yes there are things to suffer when you serve God but there are a great many things to suffer for sin. If you live a righteous life, if you life a holy life, if you live an honest life, if you work hard and save and do the practical things of life including stay faithful to your spouse you will find that then you will have a situation where you can have children that can grow up in stable environment and you will have more than you need materially. That is what these verses are saying.

Those who live wicked and immoral life styles destroy any opportunity for family environment for the children. They throw away any good influence they might have on their children for them to grow up wise and strong and able to face the temptations of the world that will bombard them. Those who live wicked life styles waste their resources partying they create unnecessary enemies for themselves when they lie and cheat and steal and manipulate to take advantage of others. People such as these will never be happy or at peace.

Wise is the man that turns to the Lord Jesus, trusts in Him and delights in his commandments.

Psalms 112:4, “Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.”

This is a great statement, Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness. In other words the truth will always be given to those that desire it. Even in the most evil countries of the world where there is no freedom of religion God still provides his truth for His children. For those that are not upright there is darkness in the darkness but for the upright God will give them light.

Psalms 112:4, “Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.”

In the last half of this verse 3 important characteristics about God are mentioned. He is: gracious, full of compassion, and righteous.

Keep in mind the book of Psalms was written during the age of the law and it says of Jesus He is gracious. Grace refers to what God gives freely. Of course God is holy and so the things that God gives are always holy and beautiful things. What are some examples of things that God has freely given to man? Life, the earth, time to life, free will, opportunity, how about the forgiveness of sins and eternal life in Jesus.

This verse also says that God is full of compassion. Compassion has a lot to do with mercy. Compassion means having love and kindness and a tender heart towards the sufferings of another person, towards needs of another person especially in regards to their spiritual needs the need for forgiveness of sins.

God is full of compassion. This means that God understands human life and what humans go through in this life the struggles of the flesh that they must face, the sorrows of life and the joys of life.

One way we know that God understands how we feel and what we suffer is because Jesus himself walked this earth and faced the normal temptations and sufferings of life.

Hebrews 4:14-16 says, “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

When Jesus was on this earth, in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. The word used here for points means whole, every all. Jesus understands what we go through. Jesus is God. Even if Jesus had not walked the earth for 33 years He would still understand, be able to relate, be able to put himself in our shoes because He is God. But we can think of it this way, He walked in our shoes for 33 years yet without sin. He understands better than we do our own sufferings. He has greater compassion for us than we do for ourselves. He loves us more than we love ourselves. He is God after all. he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.”

Righteous means to be without sin to be holy to be perfect. It is no wonder God is so gracious and full of compassion because He is righteous. Righteousness means to be just and lawful. God has never sinned. God has never broken His own laws. 1 John 1:5, “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”

God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. Righteousness is associated with grace and mercy. The more righteous you are the more graceful and full of compassion you will be as a person. God has no limit to His righteousness God does not run out of righteousness. Of course God becomes angry at sin and must just sin because He is holy but Jesus will always have grace and compassion for those that turn to Him for forgiveness of their sins. No matter how foul the deed, no matter how file the action, no matter how cruel and unjust you have been towards other men God is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.”

Psalms 112:5, “A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion.”

This verse almost sounds like it belongs in the Book of Proverbs. It seems almost strange that the previous verse in this psalms would talk about the grace, compassion and righteousness of God then say, A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth. It seems like such a leap or huge transition of thought and idea but the two verses are actually connected very close together.

A gracious person, a compassionate person, a righteous person is a giver. God is a giver. Giving is the whole idea behind grace. Notice when this verse talks about lending or giving out to others it says nothing of Usury. God hates Usury. Usury means lending with interest. An example of usury would be a credit card or getting a loan from a bank to buy a house or a car. That is Usury and God hates it.

Listen to these verses in the Bible talking about Usury.

Exodus 22:25, “If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.”

Deutueronomy 23:19, “Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent upon usury.”

Psalms 15:1-5, “A Psalm of David. LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour. whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the LORD. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not. He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.”

We live in a world in which the whole financial system is based on Usury. Few people can buy a car or a house or a piece of land without having to take out a loan and pay interest on that money. The reason usury is wrong is because it takes advantage of people. It causes the poor to become poorer. It is a way of charging someone an excessive amount of money more than something is worth. The whole world we live in is based on usury on greed. How ungodly this world is.

Who shall dwell in the tabernacle of God. He that putteth not out his money to usury.

God is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.A good man sheweth favour. A gracious man, a man full of compassion, a righteous man is a giver not a taker. God is a giver. He gives and gives and gives. He gives us life and opportunity and forgiveness of sins through Jesus. God does not put usury on what he gives us and neither should we do so to others.

Psalms 112:6-10 says, “Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD. His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies. He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honour. The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; he shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away: the desire of the wicked shall perish.”

Once again in talking about the difference between the righteous and the wicked it is said of the righteous He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor. If everyone who had gave to those who have not then there would be no poor but that it not what happens. What happen is people live for themselves and they get and get and get whatever they can. They horde that which they cannot take with them into the next life. Their closest are full of shoes and clothes and their pantries are full of food. But the righteous hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor.

It is good to give to those in need because are in need. Sometimes people find themselves in circumstances where they are completely dependant on the mercy and compassion of others just to have food and clothing and basic shelter. The Bible says its good to give to help those in need. If you want to be more righteous in a practical sense then give, give, give to those in need instead of using usury on them.

There is one other great and important comparison between the righteous and the wicked given in these last verses of Psalms 112. It says of the righteous, he see his desire upon his enemies. And it says of the wicked, the desire of the wicked shall perish. What is the desire of the righteous but to see souls saved and to see justice done? What is the desire of the wicked but to do evil unto other men to take and to steal to destroy and to oppose the gospel of Jesus Christ. Guess which desire is going to be fulfilled? The desire of the righteous.

Speaking of the righteous, How does a person become righteous? By repenting of their sins and turning to Jesus. By trusting in the righteousness of Christ instead of their own righteousness. If you are not righteous but you want to be then come to Jesus. Open up your heart to Jesus when he knocks on the door. Trust in Him and you will find mercy and compassion, forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

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