Psalm 112

In the previous psalm, the writer extolled the Lord for His great and marvelous works, and he ended by admonishing us to fear the Lord and obey His precepts (111:10). The blessings of obeying that admonition are described in 112 (note v. 1). Like 111, this psalm is an acrostic, and you will find the vocabulary of 112 similar to that of 111. Both psalms use delight (111:2; 112:1), righteousness (111:3; 112:3-4, 6, 9), established (111:8; 112:8), grace and compassion (111:4; 112:4), and just (111:7; 112:5). Both psalms must be read in light of God’s covenant with Israel in which He promises to bless them if they fear Him and obey His Word (Lev. 26:1-13; Deut. 28:1-14). Nothing is said about the wife and mother in this home, but surely a man of such godly character would have a wife like the one described in Proverbs 31. We must not conclude that, on the basis of this psalm, all believers today can claim health, wealth, success, and happiness if they faithfully obey the Lord, for this promise is not found in the new covenant. For that matter, the believer described in this psalm had times of darkness (v. 4), occasionally received bad news (v. 7), had his enemies (vv. 8, 10), and had to consider the justice of his decisions (v. 5). We who live under the new covenant have in Jesus Christ every spiritual blessing that we will ever need (Eph. 1:3; 2 Peter 1:3-4), and we have the promise that our God will meet our needs (Phil. 4:19). The attributes of God given in 111 become the character qualities of the godly believer in 112, for becoming more and more like Jesus Christ is the greatest reward of a faithful life of obedience (Rom. 8:29; 2 Cor. 3:18). We want more than the blessing; we want to be like the One who gives the blessing. The psalmist describes the faithful believer in various relationships of life.