Psalm 112
1 Praise the Lord!
How joyful are those who fear the Lord
and delight in obeying his commands.
2 Their children will be successful everywhere;
an entire generation of godly people will be blessed.
3 They themselves will be wealthy,
and their good deeds will last forever.
This psalm is another acrostic poem, meaning that in Hebrew, each line begins with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. My own personal hypothesis is that this may have been a way of teaching psalms to children. That could mean that it was written specifically for children, and looking at it that way, I think it could well have been written with that in mind. Simple thoughts, simple truths.
Once again, the first line, “Praise the Lord!” is translated from “Hallelu Yah” in Hebrew. I don’t know why it strikes me so much that the word “hallelujah” literally means “Praise Yahweh”, but it does.
The first three verses of this psalm make me think of my grandparents, and my great-grandmother. Though they were not rich by the world’s standards, because of their faithfulness, children are still being raised in Christian homes 5 generations later. Now that’s an inheritance!
4 Light shines in the darkness for the godly.
They are generous, compassionate, and righteous.
That’s a packed verse. The two lines seem unrelated, but are they? If light shines in the darkness for the godly, that light enables us to see those around us who need generosity and compassion.
5 Good comes to those who lend money generously
and conduct their business fairly.
6 Such people will not be overcome by evil.
Those who are righteous will be long remembered.
7 They do not fear bad news;
they confidently trust the Lord to care for them.
8 They are confident and fearless
and can face their foes triumphantly.
What this says to me is that the righteous do not worry. Verse 7 says they do not fear bad news, but confidently trust the Lord. Is worrying confidently trusting the Lord, or is it fearing bad news?
9 They share freely and give generously to those in need.
Their good deeds will be remembered forever.
They will have influence and honor.
10 The wicked will see this and be infuriated.
They will grind their teeth in anger;
they will slink away, their hopes thwarted.
So don’t be wicked, kids, be righteous! It’s interesting to me that of all the qualities that are encouraged in this psalm, generosity is the one that’s mentioned most, in verses 4, 5, and 9. Where does that put generosity on God’s priority list?