The Unshakeable Man: A Portrait of True Success Text: Psalm 112:1-10
Introduction: Two Kinds of Legacy
Our world is obsessed with legacy. Men pour their lives into building businesses, amassing fortunes, and chasing influence, all in the desperate hope that they will not be forgotten. They want to be remembered. They want their name to mean something after they are gone. They want to build something that lasts. But they are building on sand. Their corporations will be bought out, their statues will be torn down, and their names will be footnotes in dusty books, if that. They are striving to be unshakeable in a world that is defined by its very shakiness.
This is the great lie of secularism: that you can build a permanent structure on a temporary foundation. It is an attempt to build a skyscraper on a swamp. The world offers a portrait of the successful man, he is self-made, autonomous, powerful, and ultimately, terrified. He is terrified of losing what he has, and he is terrified of being forgotten. His heart is not fixed; it is tossed about by the stock market, by public opinion, and by the latest evil report on the evening news.
Into this anxious striving, Psalm 112 comes as a broadside. It gives us God's portrait of the truly successful man, the man whose legacy is guaranteed, whose heart is stable, and whose life is built on the bedrock of reality. This psalm is not a list of suggestions for self-improvement. It is a description of what is. It is a covenant promise from the God who cannot lie. There are two kinds of men in this world, and they are building two kinds of legacies. One is the man who fears Yahweh, and the other is the man who does not. One will be remembered forever, and the other will melt away like a snowman in July.
This psalm is an acrostic poem, with each line beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This is not just a clever literary device. It signifies completeness. This is the A to Z of the blessed man. This is the whole picture, the comprehensive reality of the one whose life is ordered by the grammar of Heaven.
The Text
Praise Yah! How blessed is the man who fears Yahweh, Who greatly delights in His commandments. His seed will be mighty on earth; The generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in his house, And his righteousness stands forever. Light arises in the darkness for the upright; He is gracious and compassionate and righteous. It is well with the man who is gracious and lends; Who sustains his works with justice. For he will never be shaken; The righteous will be remembered forever. He will not fear an evil report; His heart is set, trusting in Yahweh. His heart is upheld, he will not fear, Until he looks in triumph on his adversaries. He has given freely to the needy, His righteousness stands forever; His horn will be raised in glory. The wicked will see it and be vexed, He will gnash his teeth and melt away; The desire of the wicked will perish.
(Psalm 112:1-10 LSB)
The Foundation of Blessedness (v. 1)
The psalm begins by identifying the root of this unshakeable life.
"Praise Yah! How blessed is the man who fears Yahweh, Who greatly delights in His commandments." (Psalm 112:1)
Everything else in this psalm flows from this one point. The foundation of all true success, all lasting legacy, is the fear of Yahweh. This is not the cowering terror of a slave before a tyrant. This is the reverent, worshipful, loving awe of a son before a good and powerful Father. It is the beginning of all wisdom because it is the beginning of sanity. It is acknowledging that God is God, and you are not. It is to live in alignment with reality.
And the immediate fruit of this fear is delight. The man who fears God "greatly delights in His commandments." This is the great litmus test. The unbeliever sees God's law as a burden, a list of arbitrary rules designed to spoil his fun. The believer, however, sees the law as a gift. He loves it because he loves the Lawgiver. He delights in God's commandments because they are a reflection of God's perfect character. They are the instructions from the manufacturer on how the machine is supposed to run. To delight in God's law is to delight in how reality is structured.
The Covenantal Fruit (vv. 2-3)
The blessings that flow from this foundation are not ethereal or abstract. They are tangible and generational.
"His seed will be mighty on earth; The generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in his house, And his righteousness stands forever." (Psalm 112:2-3 LSB)
Notice the first place the blessing goes: to his children. "His seed will be mighty on earth." God thinks in terms of generations. Our modern, individualistic mindset struggles with this, but God is building a covenant people, a holy nation that stretches through time. The greatest legacy a man can leave is not a fortune, but faithful children. This is a direct promise that the household of the righteous will have influence and strength in the land. This is the engine of Christian civilization.
And then we have the promise that makes modern, pietistic Christians nervous: "Wealth and riches are in his house." This is not the cheap grace of the prosperity gospel, which treats God like a cosmic slot machine. This is the principle of covenantal consequence. The same laws of God that produce spiritual flourishing also produce material flourishing. A man who fears God will be diligent, honest, wise with his resources, and generous. Over time, that kind of living produces wealth. The Bible is not afraid of this. Wealth is a tool. In the hands of a righteous man, it is a tool for building the kingdom, for showing hospitality, and for providing for his own. The key is the second phrase: "and his righteousness stands forever." The wealth is temporary; the character, the righteousness, is permanent. He possesses the wealth; the wealth does not possess him.
The Unflappable Character (vv. 4-8)
The psalmist then describes the internal character and stability of this man.
"Light arises in the darkness for the upright; He is gracious and compassionate and righteous. It is well with the man who is gracious and lends; Who sustains his works with justice. For he will never be shaken; The righteous will be remembered forever. He will not fear an evil report; His heart is set, trusting in Yahweh. His heart is upheld, he will not fear, Until he looks in triumph on his adversaries." (Psalm 112:4-8 LSB)
In a dark world, the righteous man is a source of light. He reflects the character of his God, who is "gracious and compassionate and righteous." He is generous, lending to those in need, but he is not a fool. He conducts his affairs with justice. He is both soft-hearted and hard-headed.
Because of this, he is stable. "He will never be shaken." His life is anchored. And here is the world's desire, fulfilled God's way: "The righteous will be remembered forever." His legacy is secure in the covenant memory of God, which is the only place true permanence is found.
Verses 7 and 8 get to the heart of his stability. "He will not fear an evil report." This man is not a slave to the news cycle. He is not panicked by political turmoil or economic downturns. Why? Because "His heart is set, trusting in Yahweh." The word for "set" or "steadfast" is the Hebrew word kun, which means to be established, firm, prepared. His heart is not flapping in the breeze of circumstances; it is bolted down to the unchangeable character and promises of God. His heart is upheld, and he will not fear. This is not a denial of reality, but a deeper affirmation of it. He knows the troubles are real, but he knows God's sovereignty is more real.
And notice the confident, postmillennial outlook. He will not fear "Until he looks in triumph on his adversaries." He expects to win. He expects to see the enemies of God defeated in history, on earth, as the kingdom of Christ advances. This is not a grim, defensive crouch. This is a confident, joyful march. He knows how the story ends, and it gives him courage in the middle of the chapter.
The Glorious End (v. 9-10)
The psalm concludes with a summary of the righteous man's life and a stark contrast with the wicked.
"He has given freely to the needy, His righteousness stands forever; His horn will be raised in glory. The wicked will see it and be vexed, He will gnash his teeth and melt away; The desire of the wicked will perish." (Psalm 112:9-10 LSB)
His generosity is a hallmark of his character. He scatters his wealth abroad to the poor because he knows it is not his to hoard. And as a result, his "horn," a symbol of strength and honor, is exalted. God vindicates him and gives him a glorious reputation.
But the psalm does not end there. It shows us the reaction of the wicked man. The wicked man sees all this, the blessing, the stability, the wealth, the legacy, the honor of the righteous, and he is "vexed." He is enraged by it. He gnashes his teeth in impotent fury. The success of the godly is a torment to the ungodly. And then, he simply melts away. His plans, his hopes, his legacy, his very being, dissolves into nothing. "The desire of the wicked will perish." He wanted a name for himself, and he is forgotten. He wanted permanence, and he evaporates. He wanted glory, and he gets oblivion.
The True Man of Psalm 112
As we read this psalm, we must feel the weight of our own failures. Who among us has perfectly feared God? Who has always delighted in His law? Who has a heart that is never shaken? There is only one man who fits this portrait perfectly. There is only one man who is the complete A to Z of righteousness. His name is Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the true and better Man of Psalm 112. He is the one who perfectly feared His Father and whose delight was to do His will. His seed, the Church, is becoming mighty on earth. All the wealth and riches of the cosmos are in His house, and His righteousness truly endures forever. He is the light who arose in the darkness. He was never shaken, not even by the cross. His heart was set, trusting His Father, even in the garden of Gethsemane. And He did not fear until He looked in triumph on His adversaries, sin, death, and the devil, crushing the serpent's head.
He scattered Himself, giving His very life for the needy, and His horn has been exalted in glory to the highest place. The wicked saw Him, and they were vexed, and they gnashed their teeth, but in the resurrection, they began to melt away, and their desires will utterly perish.
The good news is not that you must become this man. The good news is that by faith, you are found in this Man. His perfect record is credited to your account. And because you are united to Him, these covenant promises are for you. You are the man who fears Yahweh, in Christ. You are the one whose seed will be blessed, in Christ. You are the one who will not be shaken, in Christ. Therefore, fix your heart. Trust in Yahweh. Do not be afraid of the evil report. Your King has already won, and He has promised that you will share in His unshakeable, eternal, and glorious victory.