Devotional Short Note to Psalm 112: It
is better to read Psalm 111 with Psalm 112 and the analysis shows why.
The person who fears the Lord is the one
who finds great delight in His commands (112:1b-c). That is the definition of
fearing the Lord. “In His commandments he delights greatly”. What if you are
like Paul who complains that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak in
keeping the law in Romans 7? The answer is that it is Saul the sinner talking
and not Paul the Saint. To put it differently, the state of the sinner or the
Latin word for Paul life is the phrase “status regenerationis”. I. Blazen, H.
La Rondelle, Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Gerhard, Wolfinus, Owen, Delitzsch,
Hodge, W. Kümmel all accepted it to be the life of a saint that struggles with
sins. A whole set of scholars said, no, it refers to Saul before he became
converted: Chrystostom, Bengel, De Wette, Armenius, Meijer, Hengstenberg,
Neander, Müller, Stuart, R. Gundry. The covers of the Bible is more in favor of
perfection striving, overcoming of sins than in moaning and groaning about the
difficulty to overcome habits. So I would cast my vote in the Saul = sinner
application. You can only delight if it works. “True faith is faith that works,”
Charles Bradford said in the sermon “Go and purchase the land”, a 3ABN sermon
on Youtube. If you have a pastor that preached very entertaining today and you
could laugh about other people, places and events but there was no finger of
warning laid upon your soul, you and your pastor have a serious problem. Pastoral
preaching is a serious business because it is the salvation engine of God
involving the Trinity always not just sometimes. There is no room for a yo-yo
lifestyle. After this wisdom saying from Proverbs
in the first verse, he spelled out the benefits of this kind of faith. 1. Wealth and riches are in his house
(112:3a). 2. His righteousness endures forever
(112:3b). Why forever? We are building lifestyle for heaven right now so it
makes a difference how I act and think. 3. In the darkest hour of our souls, “light
is sown to the upright” (112:4a). So far this is for those who fear the Lord
and fear is to keep His commandments, including the Sabbath every Friday
evening to Saturday evening. That is biblical and right. Right is what the
upright wants to do. The upright is defined as the gracious, compassionate and
righteous man (112:4b). 4. Donating to others with a spirit of
generosity and lending with freedom “good is the man who is gracious and lends”
(112:5a-c). Proverbs says we should not easy lend money to someone and not
charge any interest. Here it says that the one lending is “he causes to order his
words in judgment”. Careful consideration is made about the money and the
circumstances but with a willing spirit. 5. He shall never be moved (112:6a).
Ellen White said in the book of Education that the world is looking for men and
women who can stand for principles like a needle of a compass to the pole
though the heaven falls. Does that include also the rebellious Divisions in our
church? 6. “So that the Lord remembers forever
the righteous” (112:6b), What does this mean? Because the faithful fear and
keep His commandments and Sabbath, therefore the Lord will remember them
forever for they will be saved into the kingdom when He comes. 7. Fake news and bad news cannot create
instability in the faithful, why? “His heart is supported, he shall not be
afraid” (112:8a). This will be the situation “until he gaze upon his enemies”
(112:8b). This is the Second Coming of Christ for as they head to heaven
carried by angels they can look back and see the enemies in confusion back on
earth. The staying behind ones. 8. If we are migrating for whatever
reason, and we are fearing the Lord and keeping His commandments, then we may
have been sent by God. “He scatters [the righteous] He gives to the needy ones
[the righteous]”. During the Time of Trouble (small one before the Close of
Probation as well as during the Time of Jacob’s Trouble after that time), He
will sustain the faithful ones. Micah 4:9-10 says that people will leave cities
to fields. Isaiah says that cities will be devastated with no inhabitants
(Isaiah 6:11b-c). “The Lord has removed men far away” (Isaiah 6:12). During the
Time of Trouble in future, God will be “a defense for the needy in distress”
(Isaiah 25:4a). He will be a “refuge from the storm” and a “shade from the heat”
(Isaiah 25:4c). People may say, what if I am sick during that time? Answer: “He
gives strength to the weary and to [who] lacks might He increases power”
(Isaiah 40:29a-b). All on the topic Time of Jacob’s Trouble. Because of this actions of the Lord at
the end time, scattering and migration, “His righteousness endures forever and
His horn will be lifted in honor” (112:9b-c). After this long description of the ones
who keep the commandments or the ones fearing the Lord, the psalmist describes
those who did not: “The wicked man will see and be vexed”
(112:10a) which his at the Second Coming when “enter the rock and hide in the
dust from the terror of the Lord and from the splendor of His majesty” (Isaiah
2:10). The evil will gnash the teeth and waste away and their desire of the
evil will perish (112:10c).