Psalm 112:1-2
1 Praise the LORD! Blessed is
the man who fears the LORD, Who delights greatly in His commandments.
2 His descendants will be
mighty on earth; The generation of the upright will be blessed.
It goes without saying, that a
“blessed person” will be a blessing to others and especially to his or her
family. Psalm 112 is a great encouragement to seek to praise the LORD and put
Him first in our lives. The very first words of this chapter remind us that no
matter what our circumstances might be we should still rejoice in the LORD and
praise Him! In other words, we should take our eyes off the problems and
feelings we might have and look up and focus on the person of Jehovah and His
promises.
Remember Jehovah is the covenant
name of God to the people of Israel. It is also His personal name that only can
be experienced when you enter into a relationship with Him. The name Jehovah
says to His people, “I AM THAT I AM”! Jesus is the Great I AM! Basically, what
Jesus is saying, is that “I Am whatever you need”! You fill in the blank. Do
you need peace? I AM your peace. Do you need hope? I AM your hope! Whatever you
need, I am ready to meet that need in your life!
Jesus put it this way in
Matthew 6:33: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all
these things shall be added to you”. Another
way of saying this in the Old Testament was: “Fear the LORD”! In Psalm
112, the psalmist wrote about fear of bad news (v. 7) and fear of the enemy (v.
8), but the first and most important fear is the fear of the Lord. This verse
takes us back to 111:10, for if we fear God, we need fear nothing else. Solomon
came to the same conclusion: "Fear God and keep His commandments, for
this is the whole duty of man" (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
Of itself, fear is not an evil
thing. We teach children to fear danger when they cross the street, use sharp
objects, or are approached by strangers, but those are rational fears that
energize us and protect us. The psalmist is writing about fears that can
paralyze us and make life miserable. To overcome these fears, we cultivate a
right relationship with the Lord: we fear Him, learn His will from His Word,
and obey what He commands. Learning His will and doing it is not a burdensome
thing, because we delight in His Word (Psalms 1:2; 119:16, 35, 47-48, 70, 97,
143). Fear and delight can live together in the same heart because they are
tied together by love (1 John 4:16-19). Because we love the Lord, His commands
are not burdensome to us (1 John 5:3).
The person described in this
psalm praises the Lord in worship, stands in awe of the Lord, delights in
fellowship with the Lord, and seeks to obey the Lord. This kind of life brings blessings
to the entire family (Psalms 34:8-14; 37:25; 127:3-5; 128:3). If our life
doesn't make an impact at home, among people we know and love, it is not going
to make much of a difference out in the marketplace where people blaspheme the
name of the Lord. This person also is a blessing to "the generation of
the upright" (v. 2), the people of God who frequent the sanctuary. The
Scriptures know nothing of an isolated believer who ignores other believers. We
all need each other, and our united worship and witness can accomplish more
than anything we can do by ourselves.
The “fear of LORD” in reality
and practice means that we have a constant awareness of Jehovah’s Presence in
our life. Wherever we are and whatever we are doing, we know that He, Jehovah
is there with us!
God bless!
