Today’s Passage: Psalm 112
Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, and this whole song is a portrait of him. He is the one who delights in the commandments of the LORD, so that even in the dark, light dawns for him. He does not fear bad news, and he has scattered his gifts freely to the poor. Be careful, as you read, not to turn this psalm into a chart that promises a full house to anyone who keeps the rules. The line that lasts, running all the way through the song, is righteousness.
As you read, hold this: Blessed is the man who fears the LORD.
Context The life that fears Him
Psalm 111 spent all its lines naming the works of the LORD. This next song turns instead to describe the one who fears Him. It does not speak to God the way a prayer would; it speaks about the life of the man who reveres Him. The two psalms are built on the same Hebrew alphabet, each line beginning with the next letter in order, and they are bound together by the same fear of the LORD.
Psalm 112:1-3 (BSB)
Hallelujah! ¹ Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in His commandments. ² His descendants will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. ³ Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.
It begins where the blessing always begins, in the fear of the LORD and a delight in His commandments. Wealth and riches do stand here in the man’s house, but standing beside them is a righteousness that endures forever. Do not make the full house into the gospel. The treasure that outlasts everything is the righteousness, not the riches.
Psalm 112:4-6 (BSB)
⁴ Light dawns in the darkness for the upright—for the gracious, compassionate, and righteous. ⁵ It is well with the man who is generous and lends freely, whose affairs are guided by justice. ⁶ Surely he will never be shaken; the righteous man will be remembered forever.
Gracious, compassionate, righteous: these are the very words Psalm 111 used to describe God Himself. That resemblance is the point. The man who fears the LORD slowly comes to look like the LORD he fears.
Psalm 112:7-9 (BSB)
⁷ He does not fear bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD. ⁸ His heart is assured; he does not fear, until he looks in triumph on his foes. ⁹ He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn will be lifted high in honor.
He does not fear bad news, for his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD. And out of that settled heart he pazar, pronounced pee-ZAR. Strong's H6340, to scatter. This is not a careful drip, measured out drop by drop. It is scattering, the way a farmer throws seed by the handful across a field, open-handed and unhurried. It is not a system for getting rich. his gifts to the poor. There is that word again, righteousness, and once more it is said to endure forever.
Study notes Paul quotes the scattering
Paul reaches for this verse when he urges a church to give.
"As it is written: “He has scattered abroad His gifts to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.”" 2 Corinthians 9:9 (BSB)
So this ancient line, in Paul’s hands, becomes a model for open-handed giving in the church. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD.
Psalm 112:10 (BSB)
¹⁰ The wicked man will see and be grieved; he will gnash his teeth and waste away; the desires of the wicked will perish.
The wicked man watches all of this and gnashes his teeth, and in the end his desires come to nothing and perish. But the man who fears the LORD remains, standing when everything else has fallen away. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD.