Biblion Bible Commentary
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His Heart Is Steadfast
Psalms 112:1-10
1 Praise Yah! Blessed is the man who fears Yahweh, who delights greatly in his commandments. · WEB
The twin of the previous psalm, with the same alphabet and the same phrases applied to a man instead of to God.
Praise Yah! Blessed is the man who fears Yahweh, who delights greatly in his commandments Psalms 112:1.
This psalm is the deliberate companion of the one before it. Same acrostic, same length, same structure — and where that one described God, this describes the person who fears him. Several phrases are transferred without alteration.
His righteousness endures forever Psalms 112:3 is said of God at Psalms 111:3 and of the man here. Gracious, merciful, and righteous Psalms 112:4 is God's description in the earlier psalm Psalms 111:4, applied to a human being in this one.
The pairing is the argument. What God is, the person who fears him becomes, and the psalms are built so that the resemblance can be checked line against line.
Light dawns in the darkness for the upright Psalms 112:4.
Not that the darkness is avoided. Light arrives in it, which is the ninety-seventh psalm's sown light coming up.
It is well with the man who deals graciously and lends Psalms 112:5.
Lending, in the law of Israel, meant lending to the poor without interest — a transaction that costs the lender and returns nothing.
He will not be afraid of evil news. His heart is steadfast, trusting in Yahweh Psalms 112:7.
The most useful verse in the psalm. Not that no bad news comes, but that its arrival does not overturn him — and the steadiness is located in trust rather than in temperament.
He has dispersed, he has given to the poor. His righteousness endures forever Psalms 112:9.
Paul quotes this verse when urging a collection for famine relief 2 Corinthians 9:9, and the verb is worth noticing: he scattered, which is the word for sowing seed rather than for careful allocation.
The wicked will see it, and be grieved Psalms 112:10. The psalm's one line about the other kind of person, and what grieves him is watching this.
settled What this mark means