Psalm 111 is an acrostic on the work of God. Psalm 112 follows with a similar acrostic concerning the right response to God’s goodness.This psalm gives a brief answer to the question, “How should we live, and why should we live that way?”But before proceeding to his subject the psalmist says “hallelujah!” For even in discussing the deeds of humans, we must give praise to the Lord who enables us.
In his relationship with God, the faithful believer is characterized by fear of God and delight in God’s word. “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments!”This may seem paradoxical, but it is true.
There is great delight in fearing the Lord. Those who never learn that must stimulate themselves with all kinds of artificial fears (scary movies, amusement parks, worries of the world economy….). Jerry Bridges has authored a book called, The Joy of Fearing God. The fear of God means keeping proper respect; realizing the relationship in which we stand; giving up the struggle to invert that relationship.
As Tozer put it,
“The Christian believes that in Christ he has died, yet he is more alive than before and he fully expects to live forever. He walks on earth while seated in heaven and though born on earth he finds that after his conversion he is not at home here.
“That he may be safe he puts himself in jeopardy; he loses his life to save it and is in danger of losing it if he attempts to preserve it. He goes down to get up. If he refuses to go down he is already down, but when he starts down he is on his way up.
“He is strongest when he is weakest and weakest when he is strong. Though poor he has the power to make others rich, but when he becomes rich his ability to enrich others vanishes. He has most after he has given most away and has least when he possesses most.
“He may be and often is highest when he feels lowest and most sinless when he is most conscious of sin. He is wisest when he knows that he knows not and knows least when he has acquired the greatest amount of knowledge. He sometimes does most by doing nothing and goes furthest when standing still.
“He fears God but is not afraid of Him. In God’s presence he feels overwhelmed and undone, yet there is nowhere he would rather be than in that presence.”
Verses 2-4a enumerate some of the blessings that come to the faithful.
His offspring 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. 4 Light dawns in the darkness for the upright;
In his relationship with other humans, the faithful believer is mercifully just. “…he is gracious, merciful, and righteous. 5 It is well with the man who deals generously and lends; who conducts his affairs with justice. Again, paradoxical, but true. Lending is merciful, clearly, but how is it ‘just’? Mercy itself is justly expected of those whose only hope is that they will be shown mercy (Mt 18:32-35).
So, how should we live? We should live generously.
Within himself, the faithful believer is at peace. His life is characterized by confidence, firmness, steadiness, trust.
For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever. 7 He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. 8 His heart is steady; he will not be afraid, until he looks in triumph on his adversaries.
Contrary to the popular doctrines of the prosperity gospel crowd, there will be bad news, but the one who fears the Lord has no need to fear bad news. What separates believers from others is not that non-Christians have trouble and Christians do not, but that Christians have no need to panic in the midst of trouble.
Contrary to the erratic character of many Christians, the faithful believer is steady. There may be many causes of erratic Christianity, but one contributing factor is a lack of trust in God’s grace. People’s legalism drives them to sizable effort from time to time, but they cannot keep up a steady pace of doing good. The one motivated not by self-interest but by sustained thankfulness is steady.
Verse 9 restates the theme — He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn is exalted in honour. Those who live this way will be blessed in the long run and their work will be, like the works of God himself, of lasting effect.
Verse 10 contrasts the wicked to this. The wicked man sees it and is angry; he gnashes his teeth and melts away; the desire of the wicked will perish!
Does this passage describe us? Is our relationship with God characterized by delightful fear? Is our relationship with others merciful and generous? Is it even just? Are we at peace, knowing not what the future holds, but knowing who holds the future?