Psalms · psalm 112 of 150
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Psalm 112 is an acrostic hallelujah that describes the man who fears the Lord and delights in his commandments: his offspring will be mighty, there is light for him in the darkness, he is gracious, merciful and righteous, lends generously, is not shaken and does not fear bad news because his heart is steady in the Lord. He gives to the poor, his righteousness endures and the wicked see and are angry.
Psalm 112 begins with hallelujah and has no title. Like Psalm 111, it is an acrostic poem of twenty-two lines following the Hebrew alphabet. Psalm 111 speaks of what God is and does, and Psalm 112 of how the one who fears him lives, and several phrases of one reappear in the other, such as his righteousness endures forever. It is in Book V of the Psalms.
The psalm opens with a blessing: blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments. His offspring will be mighty in the land, the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.
Verses 4-6 describe his character. Light dawns in the darkness for the upright; he is gracious, merciful and righteous. It is well with the man who deals generously and lends, who conducts his affairs with justice. For this reason he will never be moved, and the righteous will be remembered forever.
Verses 7 and 8 speak of his inner strength. He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. His heart is steady and he will not be afraid until he looks in triumph on his adversaries. Verse 9 returns to generosity: he has distributed freely, he has given to the poor, and his righteousness endures forever; his horn is exalted in honor. At the end, the wicked man sees it and is angry, gnashes his teeth and melts away, and the desire of the wicked will perish.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Blessed is the man who fears the Lord and delights in his commandments. The blessing springs from a relationship with God that joins reverence and joy, not from cold obedience.
Light dawns in the darkness for the upright; the righteous is gracious, merciful and righteous. Even in dark times God gives hope to those who follow him.
The righteous is not afraid of bad news and his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. Confidence is not the absence of problems but the assurance that God sustains the one who believes.
The righteous gives freely to the poor, and his righteousness endures forever. Paul quotes this verse in 2 Corinthians 9:9 to encourage the Corinthians to give generously.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: The man who fears the Lord and delights in his commandments. — Psalm 112:1
Answer: They will be mighty in the land and blessed. — Psalm 112:2
Answer: Light dawns. — Psalm 112:4
Answer: With justice; he deals generously and lends. — Psalm 112:5
Answer: Bad news, because his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. — Psalm 112:7
Answer: He is angry, gnashes his teeth and melts away. — Psalm 112:10
Psalm 112 joins faith and generosity. The one who fears the Lord does not hoard for himself but gives to the poor. In a small group we can ask how to practice that generosity today: giving time, concrete help, support for a family in need, and doing it with justice, without seeking applause.
It also encourages us in times of hard news. Steadiness of heart does not come from everything going well but from trusting the Lord. When an unexpected call or a diagnosis arrives, we can remember that whoever trusts God does not live in constant alarm. Paul uses verse 9 to tie generosity to the righteousness of God that endures.
Psalm 112 ends with the contrast between the righteous, who endures, and the wicked, whose desire perishes. Psalm 113 opens a new series of hallelujahs, which were sung at the feast of Passover, and praises the Lord who stoops down to lift up the poor.
It speaks of wealth and riches in the house of the righteous, but together with generosity and justice. Other passages, such as Job and Ecclesiastes, show that the righteous also suffer loss. The psalm describes a general tendency of wisdom, not a guarantee for every person.
In 2 Corinthians 9:9 he quotes verse 9, he has distributed freely, he has given to the poor, his righteousness endures forever, to encourage the church at Corinth to give generously for the offering to the saints in Jerusalem.