Commentary - Psalm 112

Bird's-eye view

Psalm 112 is a companion piece to Psalm 111. Both are acrostic psalms, marching through the Hebrew alphabet, and they mirror each other thematically. Psalm 111 extols the glorious works and character of God, and this psalm, Psalm 112, describes the man who fears that God. It is a portrait of the righteous man, showing how the character of God is reflected and worked out in the life of the believer. This is not a man who is righteous in himself, but one who is blessed because his entire orientation is toward Yahweh.

The psalm lays out the nature and the fruit of a godly life. It begins with the root of all true righteousness which is the fear of the Lord and delight in His commands. From this root grows a mighty and blessed family, enduring wealth, and a stable, unshakable character. The righteous man is a source of light, grace, and justice in his community. He is generous, steadfast, and ultimately victorious over his adversaries. The psalm concludes with a stark contrast: the wicked see this blessing, are consumed with envy, and ultimately perish along with their desires. This is a picture of the gospel economy where the righteous man is the one found in Christ, and his life is a testament to the grace of God that establishes him forever.

Outline

The Man Who Fears Yahweh

The central figure of this psalm is "the man who fears Yahweh." This is not a craven, servile fear, but a joyful, reverential awe. It is the beginning of wisdom (Ps. 111:10). This fear is not the kind that drives you away from God, but the kind that drives out every other fear. It is a fear that understands who God is in His holiness and majesty, and then responds not with terror, but with delighted obedience. The man who fears God is the man who "greatly delights in His commandments." Notice the adjective. This is not grudging compliance; it is exuberant joy in the law of God. This is the pulse of the new covenant, where God writes His law on our hearts. The man described here is the man in Christ, for only in Christ can we find this kind of delight in God's commands.

Commentary

(1) Praise Yah! How blessed is the man who fears Yahweh, Who greatly delights in His commandments.

The psalm opens with a call to praise, a Hallelujah. This sets the tone. Everything that follows is a reason to praise God, because the man described here is a creature of God's grace. The foundation of this man's blessedness is twofold. First, he fears Yahweh. This is the foundational orientation of his soul. He takes God seriously. He knows God is not to be trifled with, but also that He is the source of all goodness and life. Second, flowing from this fear is a great delight in God's commandments. He does not see God's law as a burden, but as a gift. He loves the guardrails. He finds freedom within the structure God has provided. This is the opposite of the modern autonomous man who wants to be a law unto himself. The blessed man knows that true freedom is found in joyful submission to the King.

(2) His seed will be mighty on earth; The generation of the upright will be blessed.

Here we see the covenantal nature of God's blessings. A righteous life is not lived in a vacuum. It has consequences that ripple out through generations. The promise is that his children, his seed, will be "mighty on earth." This doesn't necessarily mean they will all be kings or presidents, but that they will have significant, potent, and godly influence. The "generation of the upright" will be blessed. This is the outworking of God's promise to be a God to us and to our children after us. A father who fears God and delights in His law is the greatest inheritance he can leave his children. He is setting a trajectory for his entire line.

(3) Wealth and riches are in his house, And his righteousness stands forever.

The Bible is not shy about connecting righteousness with prosperity. This is not the cheap grace of the health and wealth gospel, which treats God like a cosmic slot machine. Rather, it is the principle that God's way of ordering the world works. Diligence, honesty, generosity, and wisdom, which are all components of a righteous life, tend to produce wealth. But notice the crucial second line: "his righteousness stands forever." The wealth is temporary, but the righteousness is eternal. The material blessing is a sign and a byproduct of the greater, lasting spiritual reality. His righteousness endures because it is not his own; it is the imputed righteousness of Christ, which is then worked out in his life by the Spirit.

(4) Light arises in the darkness for the upright; He is gracious and compassionate and righteous.

The path of the righteous is not always sunny. There is darkness. But for the upright, light arises. God does not abandon His people to the dark. He either leads them through it or brings the dawn. And notice the character of this man, which mirrors the character of God described in Psalm 111:4. God is gracious and compassionate; so is the righteous man. He is a conduit of God's character to the world around him. He is gracious, giving to others what they do not deserve. He is compassionate, feeling for the needs of others. And he is righteous, committed to doing what is right in all his dealings.

(5) It is well with the man who is gracious and lends; Who sustains his works with justice.

This verse expands on the character of the righteous man. He is not a miser. He is open handed. He is "gracious and lends." This is practical compassion. He sees a need and he meets it. But his generosity is not foolish or sentimental. He "sustains his works with justice." The old translations say he will "guide his affairs with discretion." He is shrewd, but his shrewdness is governed by justice, not by a desire to get ahead at the expense of others. He is both generous and wise, a combination that is only possible for one whose heart is governed by the fear of the Lord.

(6) For he will never be shaken; The righteous will be remembered forever.

Here is the promise of stability. The world is a shaky place. Empires rise and fall, fortunes are made and lost, and cultural trends shift like sand. But the righteous man has an anchor. He will not be ultimately "shaken." His foundation is not in the circumstances of this world, but in the unchanging character of God. And his legacy will endure. The wicked build pyramids to be forgotten, but the righteous, like Abraham who lived in tents, are "remembered forever." Their names are written in the Lamb's book of life, and their influence for good continues long after they are gone.

(7) He will not fear an evil report; His heart is set, trusting in Yahweh.

Bad news is a constant in a fallen world. The mail comes, the phone rings, and our hearts can easily be seized with fear. But the righteous man is not governed by the headlines. He "will not fear an evil report." Why? Because his heart is "set," or fixed. It is not tossed about by every rumor or threat. His stability comes from his trust in Yahweh. He knows that God is sovereign over all things, including the evil reports. His peace is not dependent on the absence of trouble, but on the presence of God in the midst of trouble.

(8) His heart is upheld, he will not fear, Until he looks in triumph on his adversaries.

This builds on the previous verse. His heart is not just fixed, it is "upheld" or established. God Himself is sustaining him. Therefore, he will not fear. This fearlessness is not a temporary bravado. It lasts until the end, until he sees the final victory. He will "look in triumph on his adversaries." This is not a petty desire for revenge. It is the confidence that God's justice will prevail. He knows that in the end, God will vindicate His people and all wrongs will be made right. He can afford to be gracious to his enemies now, because he knows their ultimate fate is in God's hands.

(9) He has given freely to the needy, His righteousness stands forever; His horn will be raised in glory.

The psalm circles back to the man's generosity. He "has given freely to the needy." This is a characteristic mark of his righteous character. His faith is not just a private opinion; it works itself out in tangible acts of love and mercy. And again, the refrain: "His righteousness stands forever." This is the second time this is mentioned (see v. 3), emphasizing its importance. This is the bedrock of his existence. And the result? "His horn will be raised in glory." The horn is a symbol of strength and honor. The righteous man, who humbles himself to serve the needy, will be exalted by God. He will be given honor and glory, not because he sought it, but as a byproduct of his faithfulness.

(10) The wicked will see it and be vexed, He will gnash his teeth and melt away; The desire of the wicked will perish.

The psalm concludes with a final, stark contrast. The blessing of the righteous is a torment to the wicked. They "will see it and be vexed." The sight of God's favor on another fills them with impotent rage. They "gnash their teeth," an image of utter frustration and anguish. And their end is pathetic. They "melt away." Like a snail on a hot sidewalk, they simply disappear. And all their ambitions, all their cravings, all their desires come to nothing. "The desire of the wicked will perish." They spend their lives chasing shadows, and in the end, both they and their desires are gone. This is the final verdict on a life lived in opposition to God. It is a wasted life that ends in ruin.

Application

So who is this man? Ultimately, this psalm is a portrait of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only one who has perfectly feared God, perfectly delighted in His commandments, and whose righteousness truly stands forever. He is the light that has dawned in our darkness. He is the one who, though He was rich, for our sakes became poor. His heart was fixed, trusting His Father, even to the point of death. And His horn has been exalted in glory at the right hand of the Father.

And because we are in Him, this psalm is also a portrait of us. Not a portrait of what we are by nature, but what we are becoming by grace. We are called to imitate this life. We are to be people who fear God, who delight in His Word, who are generous to the needy, and whose hearts are steadfast in trouble. We will fail, of course. But our confidence is not in our own performance. Our confidence is in Christ, the truly righteous man. His righteousness is ours by faith. And as we walk in faith, the Holy Spirit works this very character into our lives, for the good of our families, for the blessing of our communities, and for the glory of God.