Sunday, January 4, 2015 pm
STUDIES IN PSALMS
Blessed is the Man Who Fears the LORD
Psalm 112
a.
Psalm 112 is another (2
of 3 in a row, and 6 of the next 7) of the “Hallelujah” psalms.
Used only in psalms some 23 times.
First introduced in Psa. 104:35.
IT is always found either at the beginning or end of a psalm, and
usually grouped with other similar psalms.
The last 5 psalms both begin and end with the phrase.
b.
Praise the LORD – is the
actual meaning of the word.
We are reminded that it is addressed to YHWH, and therefore we ought to
be very careful to not use the word in an irreverent way.
Remember Psa. 111:9, “Holy
and awesome (reverend – KJV) is His name.”
a.
He fears the LORD – Let us continually remind ourselves that this is where true service to
God begins.
Prov. 1:7, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But
fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
Proverbs 9:10, “The fear of
the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One
is understanding.” (, NKJV)
Proverbs 19:23, “The
fear of the Lord leads to life, And he who has it will abide in
satisfaction; He will not be visited with evil.” (, NKJV)
Fearing God is
associated with truly reverencing Him – Heb. 12:28.
We ought to serve Him without being afraid of Him, but with
healthy awe. Later in our
psalm, we will find the godly is not afraid.
BE reminded of 1 John 4:18-19 – it casts out fear.
b.
He delights greatly in
His commandments
– true reverence (respect) for God CANNOT be separated from obedience!
The psalms begin with this declaration – Psa. 1:1-2, he delights in the
law of the LORD.
Matt. 7:21-23, Luke 6:46, “Why do you call Me Lord and do not the things
that I say?”
1 John 5:2-3, this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.
c.
His descendants will be mighty on the earth,…
Wealth and riches will be in his
house (2-3)-
i.
This is a description of
the blessedness of serving God.
He will be victorious.
Throughout the prophets we find pictures of how blessed the godly
(often the remnant) will be.
It is usually a description that is ultimately fulfilled spiritually –
and in eternity with the blessed.
ii.
The challenge here is
knowing that quite often, the ungodly seem to be prevailing in this
world. They seem to be the
mighty ones (they are certainly the majority).
They possess the wealth and riches of this world.
Often the godly have asked in frustration why this is so?
Psalm 2:1-3 asks, “Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a
vain thing.”
The truth is, in this life, they seem to have all that they need.
BUT, do they really?
What good will their prosperity
do them for eternity? Will
the ways of wickedness REALLY prevail, even in this world?
iii.
There is a very real
sense in which the righteous are the ones who will win.
I think of the beatitude, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit
the earth.” (Matt. 5:3)
The ways of godliness are always needed - integrity, honesty, virtue,
morality, etc. Man
tries to develop these WITHOUT God to no avail!
The righteous will preserve his generations on the earth – with a long
and pleasant life that is not based upon worldly purists.
- Godly attitudes cannot be stopped.
Man may kill the body, but he cannot kill the soul (cf. Matt.
10:28). He cannot take away
our hope, our love and our devotion to God.
- The godly live, overcoming unhealthy and ungodly habits.
Such may prolong days.
- Wise management of our resources (with contentment, etc.) often leads
to prosperity as well.
Discretion in our decisions prevents problems.
- The children of the godly
are given a heritage that is good and blessed.
Prov. 22:6. Consider
Timothy in 2 Tim. 1:3-5 and the genuine faith he gleaned from his mother
and grandmother.
IN wisdom we find length of days (cf. Prov. 3:13-16).
iv.
Conversely, a wicked
nation will NOT prevail. The
more greedy, selfish and immoral a nation becomes; the more atheistic
they become, the quicker they will fall.
Because there is NO moral foundation to sustain them.
When did Israel and Judah fall? When they became wicked.
d.
His righteousness
endures forever
(3) – with examples as stated above, we find how such qualities will
sustain a nation. But even
more than this, the godly look to “new heavens and a new earth in which
righteousness dwells.” (2 Pet. 3:13)
1 Tim. 4:8 tells us, “For bodily exercise profits a little, but
godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that
now is and of that which is to come.”
e.
The righteous
described(4-8)
i.
Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness
– light is associated with God and goodness (1 John 1:5-7)
He also acts with wisdom in his decisions – Prov. 2:10-11, “When
wisdom enters your heart, And knowledge is pleasant to your soul,
Discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you,”
Furthermore, he finds HOPE in the despair of sorrows found in this
world.
ii.
He is gracious, and full of compassion and righteous
– his character is pleasant in dealing with others.
NOTE that these are qualities often associated with God (cf. Psa.
111:3-4). When we strive to
imitate Him (cf. Eph. 5:1 – be imitators of God, 1 Cor. 11:1), these
will emanate from our lives.
These are qualities the world so desperately needs!
They are also qualities that WILL be lacking in any society that
seeks to drive out accountability to God.
iii.
A good man deals graciously and lends
(5) – he is unselfish and worldly possessions are not his ultimate goal.
This will emanate from the previous verse!
Proverbs 19:17, “He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, And
He will pay back what he has given.” OH how often the Bible
emphasizes our need to care about the needy around us.
Luke 6:35, “But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for
nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons
of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.”
iv.
He will guide his affairs with discretion –
again, God’s word
emphasizes using wisdom in our conduct.
We don’t just think about the immediate gratification, but the
long term effects. That will
prevent many problems and make our environment more godly.
Both Eph. 5:15 and Col. 4:5 call for us to use our time wisely.
We are to be circumspect and walk in wisdom.
v.
Surely he will never be shaken (6) – the godly are grounded so that they will not move
away from God.
Matt. 7:24-27 contrasts the wise and foolish man in the foundations they
build. The wise are
preserved!
vi.
Everlasting remembrance (6) - he will be established by God Himself.
Hebrews 6:10, “For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of
love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered
to the saints, and do minister.”
Matthew 10:42 tells us that He even takes note of a little cup of water
given in His name.
vii.
He will not be afraid of evil tidings
(7) – we know good and well that the righteous do not always have lives
of comfort and ease. In
fact, at times, our godliness brings on tribulations and sorrows.
But, those truly established in Him are not moved by such.
Man can only hurt the body, but he cannot touch your soul (again
Matt. 10:28).
Heb. 13:5-6, “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content
with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never
leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my
helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?””
viii.
His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord; His heart is established, he
will not be afraid (7-8)
- with direction and resolve (conviction) he keeps moving
forward.
1 Cor. 15:58 calls for us to be steadfast and immovable, always
abounding in the work of the LORD.
AND as this text says, it is from the heart – from within and
genuine!
Gal. 6:9, let us not grow weary in doing good…
ix.
Until he sees his desire upon his enemies
– this does not necessarily mean that he wishes evil upon his enemies.
He is not cursing them.
We leave the judging to God (Rom. 12:14, 17-21, Matt. 5:43-44,
etc.)
1) We DESIRE that our enemies turn to God.
So we persist until they do
2) We DESIRE that justice prevail.
Often, the wicked will face retribution for their conduct.
3) OR we continue to live godly as long as we live, and let God take
care of them (2 Thess. 1:6-10)
x.
NOTE:
IN all these things, from time to time we find the worldly possessing
some of these qualities. But
in so doing they demonstrate their necessity for an orderly society.
WITH GOD as our guide, we have REAL and LASTING purpose in doing
what we do. They don’t!
a.
The godly – described
above are recognized. This
verse can be a continuation of describing the character of the godly.
To me, it fits better with the next verse in describing his
eternal reward.
BECAUSE
he has dispersed abroad (been generous)
and given to the poor -
His righteousness endures forever,
his horn will be exalted with honor. God will reward the godly
(Rev. 14:13, cf. Matt. 25:21 – well done, good and faithful servant –
enter into the joy of your Lord.”
b.
The wicked - will see it
and be grieved. He will have
all of eternity to consider his actions.
I think of the rich man in torments (Luke 16:23-31) regretting
his conduct. What a sad day
that will be.
He will gnash his teeth
and melt away – descriptions of hell in NT – Matt. 8:12, 25:30, Luke
13:28, “There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see
Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God,
and yourselves thrust out.”
TRULY,
the desire of the wicked shall
perish. There is
NOTHING in this life that the wicked can take with them for comfort when
they die!
In
this psalm, we find one of many passages that describes the godly man.
It is yet another reminder of what we ought to strive to be and
how to conduct ourselves to secure a home in heaven.
What about you? Where
do you stand before God?