Psalm 112
Scripture:
1 Praise the Lord!
Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,
who greatly delights in his commandments!
2 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;
he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.
5 It is well with the man who deals generously and lends;
who conducts his affairs with justice.
6 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.
9 He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever;
his horn is exalted in honor.
10 The wicked man sees it and is angry;
he gnashes his teeth and melts away;
the desire of the wicked will perish!
Devotion:
PPsalm 112 is an acrostic psalm, meaning each verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. That kind of careful, ordered structure was not accidental. It was a way of saying that this vision of human flourishing is as complete and comprehensive as the alphabet itself, that nothing important about a God-fearing life has been left out.
The psalm's central claim is that the fear of the Lord produces a particular kind of person, and by Tuesday it is worth slowing down to study that person more carefully. He is described as gracious, merciful, and righteous in verse 4, which is striking because those are the same words used throughout Scripture to describe God Himself. The implication is that people come to resemble what they spend time beholding. A life oriented around God eventually begins to take on something of His character, not by straining toward it but by proximity to it.
Verses 7 and 8 may be the most striking in the psalm. The man who fears the Lord is not afraid of bad news. His heart is firm and established, a word that carries the sense of something anchored deep enough that the surface cannot be disturbed by whatever is coming. That kind of steadiness is not a personality trait or the result of favorable circumstances. It is the fruit of a sustained trust in a God who does not change, worked into a person slowly, over a long obedience in the same direction.
HEAR about it:
Explain:
In your own words, summarize what Psalm 112 meant to its original audience. What is the central truth? What does it reveal about the character of God?
Prayer and Reflection:
Take a few minutes to sit quietly and reflect on the passage you read today. Let the Holy Spirit bring to mind what stood out to you and why. Then spend some time in prayer. Pray for the people around you, for your outlook on this day, and for the needs you are carrying in your own life.
Father, give me the mind of a student as I sit under Your Word today. The portrait in this psalm is both an encouragement and a confrontation, and I want to receive it honestly. Show me where the fear of You is producing fruit in my life, and show me where it is not yet. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Click HERE to continue your time with the Lord today by singing along to today's worship devotional through The Worship Initiative.