A Closer Walk
“It is well with the man who is gracious and lends; He will maintain his cause in judgment. For he will never be shaken; The righteous will be remembered forever. He will not fear evil tidings; His heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD. His heart is upheld, he will not fear, Until he looks with satisfaction on his adversaries. He has given freely to the poor; His righteousness endures forever; His horn will be exalted in honor,” Psalm 112:5-9 NASB.
It is well with a gracious person who lends. Therefore, that person will maintain their cause in judgment. This judgment is not referring to THE JUDGEMENT such as at THE GREAT WHITE THRONE judgement. The next line is very intriguing. Because it is well with the gracious person they will never be shaken. I am a Biblical literalist and I believe that the Bible says what it means and means what it says. After all, our God is not a poor communicator. In fact, the Lord Jesus is referred to in John chapter 1 as, “the Word.” “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the father, full of grace and truth,” John 1:1 and 14 NASB. The underlying Greek word for, “...the Word...” is logos. And as applied to the Lord Jesus Christ it means, “The DIVINE EXPRESSION.” “... and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Our God is able to communicate with us clearly and succinctly so that when He says something in His Word, the Bible, we can be assured that He says what He means and means what He says.
Because it is well with the gracious person he will maintain his cause. Plus, he will never be shaken. From a recent experience I learned clearly that if I am anxious or fearful it is because I turned loose of God and not because He turned loose of me. He will never be shaken. God has a plan. A plan for each of you and a plan for me. “ 'For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you,'” Jeremiah 29:11 NASB. This passage is directed specifically to the nation of Israel. But there are lessons here for us as well. God has a plan for each of us, both you and me. And this passage says that those plans are for our welfare, or our benefit, and further, those plans are not for calamity, not for disaster or trouble. Therefore we should not be shaken.
The righteous will be remembered forever. Can you or I remember forever? No, because we are on this earth for only a short time. Who can remember forever? Our Lord and our God. So is this line telling us we will never be forgotten by God? Very likely.
The righteous person will not fear evil tidings. Their heart is steadfast. Merriam-Webster defines steadfast as, “firmly fixed in place; immobile; not subject to change; firm in belief, determination, adherence.” That is what having a steadfast heart is. Because our hearts are steadfast we should not fear evil tidings. Or in other words, bad news. Any shortage of bad news recently? Any shortage of bad news in the near past? But with a steadfast heart we will not be shaken. At least as long as we don't turn loose of God. If we are fixed on the bad news we likely will be shaken. If we are fixed on our Lord with a steadfast heart we can remind ourselves that He has a plan. And His plan is falling into place just as it is supposed to. Can anyone or anything change God's plan? Can anyone or anything remove us from God's love?
“and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose...Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword...But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord,” Romans 8:27-28, 35, and 37-39 NASB.
1 “Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father, there is no shadow of turning with thee. Thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not; as thou hast been, thou forever wilt be. Refrain: Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see all I have needed Thy hand hath provided. Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me! 2 Summer and winter and springtime and harvest, sun, moon, and stars in their courses above join with all nature in manifold witness to Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love. 3 Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide, strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!” Words by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1866-1960, music by William Marion Runyan, 1870-1857. Mr. Runyan composed the tune, “Faithfulness” for Mr. Chisholm's poem, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” in Baldwin, Kansas, in 1923. Mr. Runyan was living in Pittsburg, Kansas, when our Lord called him to his Heavenly Home.