Psalm 112

Praise the Lord.
Blessed are those who fear the Lord,
    who find great delight in his commands.
Their children will be mighty in the land;
    the generation of the upright will be blessed.
Wealth and riches are in their houses,
    and their righteousness endures forever.
Even in darkness light dawns for the upright,
    for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous.
Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely,
    who conduct their affairs with justice.
Surely the righteous will never be shaken;
    they will be remembered forever.
They will have no fear of bad news;
    their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.
Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear;
    in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.
They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor,
    their righteousness endures forever;
    their horn will be lifted high in honor.
The wicked will see and be vexed,
    they will gnash their teeth and waste away;
    the longings of the wicked will come to nothing.

• Psalm 112:1-10

Type of Psalm

Didactic psalms: These psalms are psalms that are intended to teach.  In most cases the psalm instructs us in moral principles.

Matthew Henry’s Summary

“This psalm is composed alphabetically, as the former is, and is (like the former) entitled “Hallelujah,” though it treats of the happiness of the saints, because it redounds to the glory of God, and whatever we have the pleasure of he must have the praise of. It is a comment upon the Ps. 111:10 of the foregoing psalm, and fully shows how much it is our wisdom to fear God and do his commandments. We have here, I. The character of the righteous, ver. 1. II. The blessedness of the righteous. 1. There is a blessing entailed upon their posterity, ver. 2. 2. There is a blessing conferred upon themselves. (1.) Prosperity outward and inward, ver. 3. (2.) Comfort, ver. 4. (3.) Wisdom, ver. 5. (4.) Stability, ver. 6-8. (5.) Honour, ver. 6, 9. III. The misery of the wicked, ver. 10. So that good and evil are set before us, the blessing and the curse. In singing this psalm we must not only teach and admonish ourselves and one another to answer to the characters here given of the happy, but comfort and encourage ourselves and one another with the privileges and comforts here secured to the holy.”

• Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Psalm 112:9 “Horns on an animal were an indication of strength and prosperity. This is applied figuratively to the righteous.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

My Thoughts

This psalm is not attributed to any author.

Rev. MacArthur notes in his commentary that Psalm 112 picks up where Psalm 111 left off in praising God.  But also, the focus on the worshippers is that we fear God.  Those who fear God and love God’s commandments will be blessed.

Too often today, we love eight of the ten commandments, but we don’t like the other two.  When I wrote that sentence, I had no thought as to which two, but some people find adultery to be socially acceptable these days.  Using God’s name in vain is so common, you hear it within the walls of the church, sadly.  Abortion is accepted in some denominations.  Many people find no reason to oppose some forms of euthanasia.  And for those who play solitaire on their computer while collecting a paycheck, is that not a form of theft?

We want to create gray areas.  We want to shrink the boundaries of each commandment, while Jesus expanded those boundaries to include the mere thought as a sin against God.  And might we add the thoughts of good deeds that never become good deeds.  God put that thought in your mind for a reason – action.

This entire psalm is about those who love the Lord and His commandments.  It is like the proverbs of the same theme.  God looks after those who are righteous.  In a perfect world, those righteous people should have strength in their communities, wealth to pass on to children who also worship and praise God.  God will always look after His own, but the earthly blessings may not follow.

But the righteous will be remembered.  They will not be shaken.  They find their strength and hope in God and no bad news can shake them from that firm foundation.

But in the last verse, the focus shifts to the wicked.  They will be vexed.  There will be gnashing of teeth.  So, whether the wicked see this on earth, the New Testament reflects that theme of the wicked gnashing their teeth as being those who are not saved because they rejected God.

Psalm 113

Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord, you his servants;
    praise the name of the Lord.
Let the name of the Lord be praised,
    both now and forevermore.
From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets,
    the name of the Lord is to be praised.
The Lord is exalted over all the nations,
    his glory above the heavens.
Who is like the Lord our God,
    the One who sits enthroned on high,
who stoops down to look
    on the heavens and the earth?
He raises the poor from the dust
    and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
he seats them with princes,
    with the princes of his people.
He settles the childless woman in her home
    as a happy mother of children.
Praise the Lord.

• Psalm 113:1-9

Type of Psalm

Psalms of praise: Exactly as stated.  God is being praised.

Matthew Henry’s Summary

“This psalm begins and ends with “Hallelujah;” for, as many others, it is designed to promote the great and good work of praising God. I. We are here called upon and urged to praise God, ver. 1-3. II. We are here furnished with matter for praise, and words are put into our mouths, in singing which we must with holy fear and love give to God the glory of, 1. The elevations of his glory and greatness, ver. 4, 5. 2. The condescensions of his grace and goodness (ver. 6-9), which very much illustrate one another, that we may be duly affected with both.”

• Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Psalm 113:2 ” ‘Blessed be the name of the LORD.’ Every time we think of the God of Scripture we should bless Him, and His august name should never be pronounced without joyful reverence. “From this time forth!” If we have never praised Him before, let us begin now. As the Passover stood at the beginning of the year, it was well to commence the new year with blessing Him who wrought deliverance for His people. Every solemn feast had its own happy associations and might be regarded as a fresh starting place for adoration. Are there not reasons why the reader should make the present day the opening of a year of praise? When the Lord says, From this time will I bless you, we ought to reply, ‘Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth!’ ‘And forevermore!’: eternally. The psalmist could not have intended that the divine praise should cease at a future date, however remote. Can our hearts ever cease to praise the name of the Lord? Can we imagine a period in which the praises of Israel shall no more surround the throne of the divine Majesty? Impossible. Forever, and more than forever if more can be, let Him be magnified.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, Spurgeon and the Psalms

My Thoughts

This psalm is not attributed to any author.

The psalmist tells us to praise God from sunup to sundown.

God is exalted over all the nations.  He reigns on high, but the exaltation is that of His sovereignty rather than His location or positioning.  God is just, pure, holy.  Things in which we are found lacking at times.

And the psalm ends with God placing the poor at the table of the prince and the barren woman with children.

Psalm 114

When Israel came out of Egypt,
    Jacob from a people of foreign tongue,
² Judah became God’s sanctuary,
    Israel his dominion.

³ The sea looked and fled,
    the Jordan turned back;
⁴ the mountains leaped like rams,
    the hills like lambs.

⁵ Why was it, sea, that you fled?
    Why, Jordan, did you turn back?
⁶ Why, mountains, did you leap like rams,
    you hills, like lambs?

⁷ Tremble, earth, at the presence of the Lord,
    at the presence of the God of Jacob,
⁸ who turned the rock into a pool,
    the hard rock into springs of water.

• Psalm 114:1-8

Type of Psalm

Psalms of praise: Exactly as stated.  God is being praised.

Matthew Henry’s Summary

“The deliverance of Israel out of Egypt gave birth to their church and nation, which were then founded, then formed; that work of wonder ought therefore to be had in everlasting remembrance. God gloried in it, in the preface to the ten commandments, and Hos. 11:1; ‘Out of Egypt have I called my son.’ In this psalm it is celebrated in lively strains of praise; it was fitly therefore made a part of the great Hallelujah, or song of praise, which the Jews were wont to sing at the close of the passover-supper. It must never be forgotten, I. That they were brought out of slavery, ver. 1. II. That God set up his tabernacle among them, ver. 2. III. That the sea and Jordan were divided before them, ver. 3, 5. IV. That the earth shook at the giving of the law, when God came down on Mount Sinai, ver. 4, 6, 7. V. That God gave them water out of the rock, ver. 8. In singing this psalm we must acknowledge God’s power and goodness in what he did for Israel, applying it to the much greater work of wonder, our redemption by Christ, and encouraging ourselves and others to trust in God in the greatest straits.”

• Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Psalm 114:4 “’The mountains skipped like rams, the little hills like lambs.’ At the coming of the Lord to Mount Sinai, the hills moved, either leaping for joy in the presence of their Creator like young lambs or, if you will, springing from their places in affright at the terrible majesty of Jehovah and flying like a flock of sheep when alarmed. Men fear the mountains, but the mountains tremble before the Lord. Sheep and lambs move lightly in the meadows, but the hills, which we are wont to call eternal, were as readily made to move as the most active creatures. Rams in their strength and lambs in their play are not more stirred than were the solid hills when Jehovah marched by. Nothing is immovable but God Himself: the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, but the covenant of His grace abides fast forever and ever. Even thus do mountains of sin and hills of trouble move when the Lord comes forth to lead His people to their eternal Canaan. Let us never fear, but rather let our faith say unto this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and it shall be done (Matt. 21:21).”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, Spurgeon and the Psalms

My Thoughts

This psalm is not attributed to any author.

This psalmist does as historical psalms and the prophets do.  The story is about the exodus, but it animates the sea, river, and mountains.

The sea fled, meaning the Red Sea withdrew and the ground dried up for the Israelites to cross.  I have written about how it is one miracle that the waters receded, but think of the second miracle of the ground being dry enough to walk on.  Lakes that are drained for repair take a long time to truly dry.  The surface might be okay, but after hundreds of thousands of people with their animals walked across, there should be, under non-miracle standards ground water seeping up due to the compression of that soil.

The same thing with the Jordan River pulling back.

The mountains dancing and leaping like lambs and rams is a very poetic way of talking about what Moses and God were doing at the top of the mountain while the people down below only heard the thunder.

And the psalm ends with water bursting from solid rock.

In all things we give praise to God.

Some Serendipitous Reflections

Psalm 112

“1. Do any of the lines in this psalm fit someone you admire? Do any fit yourself? Which one do you wish fit you?
“2. Is life really this smooth for the ‘nice guy’? Do you know any good people who aren’t rich and carefree? Do you know any bad people who are? Why bother with this simplistic poem?
“3. Would you say you are generous? Give a recent example. How could your generosity grow?”

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

Psalm 113

“1. What name of God means the most to you? Why? Based on your life, what name could be added to the biblical ones?
“2. If God always exalts the poor and needy, why are they so dishonored in your society? How should the Christian act towards them? How can you develop this trait?”

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

Psalm 114

“1. Where does your ‘salvation history’ begin? What main events would you retell in a personal psalm?
“2. What in your life was: (a) Egypt? {b) The Sea of Reeds? (c) The Jordan? (d) Sinai? (e) Water from the rock?”

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

There is one set of questions for each of these psalms.

Substitute whatever group for any reference to a small group or ask who could come to your aid.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.