Psalm 112
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.
3 Wealth and riches will be in his house,
And his righteousness endures forever.
4 Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness;
He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.
5 A good man deals graciously and lends;
He will guide his affairs with discretion.
6 Surely he will never be shaken;
The righteous will be in everlasting remembrance.
7 He will not be afraid of evil tidings;
His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.
8 His heart is established;
He will not be afraid,
Until he sees his desire upon his enemies.
9 He has dispersed abroad,
He has given to the poor;
His righteousness endures forever;
His horn will be exalted with honor.
10 The wicked will see it and be grieved;
He will gnash his teeth and melt away;
The desire of the wicked shall perish.
This Psalm is another prophecy that has to do with the saved Remnant of Israel, who will have just come out of the Great Tribulation into the Kingdom of God at the return of the Messiah. … This Psalm gives us a preview of the praise and the worship of those who fear Jehovah, those who walk in submission to His will, and are obedient to Him. The Psalm shows us a few of the earthly blessings and prosperity which the godly, saved Remnant will enjoy in the earthly phase of the Kingdom of God. — Phillips, pages 283-284.
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This psalm is closely related, both in content and in structure, to the previous one. … This psalm picks up on the thought with which the previous one ended and works back through the same three central points, although focusing now on the giving rather than the receiving side of worship. The psalmist accordingly underscores—with clear allusion to the opening verse of the Book of Psalms—the ultimate purpose, or enduring result, of worship (“fear”), which is to lead man into blessedness for which he was originally intended (so too, the terms “fear” and “commandments” in this verse hearken respectively to the closely related terms “worship” and “obey” in Genesis 2:15, which epitomizes man’s prefall purpose.
Parallel to the manner in which he epitomizes the qualifications of God as the receiver of worship in Psalm 111:2-9, the psalmist here epitomizes the qualifications of the believer as the giver of worship by focusing on both who he is and what he does. Throughout this list, moreover, the psalmist employs the same or synonymous expressions as those used for god in the previous psalm, hence underscoring the idea that all of these qualifications of the believer/worshiper are in essence extensions and/or emulations of the qualifications of God. Thus, with respect to who the worshiper is, the psalmist describes him as being upright (vs.2, 4a; parallel to Psalm 111:8), possessed of righteousness (as reckoned to him by God) (v.3; parallel to Psalm 111:3), gracious and compassionate (v.4b; parallel to Psalm 111:4b), his being remembered forever (v.6; parallel to Psalm 111:5b), fearing no evil (v.7; the parallel counterpart to God alone being his object of “fear” in Psalm 111:5, 10), and having a heart that is upheld (v.8; based on the fact that god’s promises to the worshiper are upheld forever in Psalm 111:8). So too, with respect to what he does, the worshiper, like the LORD his God, is described as giving provision to others (vs.5a, 9a, parallel to Psalm 111:5a, 6b) and conducting his affairs with justice (v.5b; parallel to Psalm 111:7).
By the statement “when the wicked see it” the psalmist is referring not only—if at all—to the flourishing in this live of the godly (since they often do not), but rather to those qualities that are emphasized in the previous verses and reflect the success of living godly rather than material flourishing. It is against these manifestations of godliness, which stand in greatest contrast (and hence condemn) their own evil motives, that the wicked become angry and gnash their teeth. Hearkening again to Psalm 1, the psalmist closes with reference to the ultimate fate of the wicked (and by implication with reference to the contrasting fate of the godly)—to wit: that the desires of the wicked will perish, in which the “desire” is parallel to the “way” of the wicked in Psalm 1:6. — Wechsler, pages 270-272.
Williams’ take:
The Psalm … praises Messiah because of His ways upon earth, and because He moulds men into His own moral image. It celebrates and illustrates the fact that everyone who surrenders himself into the hands of this mighty God, and obeys Him, speedily becomes like Him. So the first three verses apply to Messiah. He is the Blessed Man of v.1 and the Upright Man of v.2, while the upright men of vs.4-8 are His servants. “Upright” (v.2) and “upright” (v.4) are respectively singular and plural in the Hebrew text. They apply to Messiah and to His servants….
“Wicked” in the first line of v.10 is singular in the Hebrew text. It means The Lawless One of Daniel 11:36 and 2 Thessalonians 2:8. “Wicked” in the last line of the verse is plural in the Hebrew text and means the lawless ones, that is, the followers of the Lawless One. — Williams, page 385.
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