A Closer Walk
"Praise the Lord! How blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in His commandments. His descendants will be mighty on earth; the generation of the upright will be blessed," Psalm 112:1-2 NASB. The man who fears the Lord, and delights in His commandments is blessed. Notice please, “is blessed” (present tense), rather than “will be blessed” (future tense). In fact the wording would seem to indicate greatly blessed. So any man that chooses to fear God and delight greatly in His commandments is blessed by our Lord.
“...His descendants will be mighty on earth...”. This man's family also will be greatly blessed. That is something to praise the Lord about! The generation of the upright will be blessed. What man would not desire his family to be blessed? “Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever,” Psalm 112:3 NASB. This man's family will be blessed in their financial life, as well as in their spiritual life and their family life.
"It is well with the man who is gracious and lends...For he will never be shaken; the righteous will be remembered forever,” Psalm 112:5-6 NASB. It will be well with this gracious man who lends. In the days before banks and our modern banking system, those whom God had blessed financially were the lenders. The Amish still use this system. Even today people who need money or have a business idea or plan, may turn to their families or friends first. And indeed, this gracious man will never be shaken.
Righteous men will be remembered long after they are gone. As examples we remember Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; all of whom wrote books that are included in our Bibles. We remember the Apostle Paul, who was given the high privilege of writing about two thirds of our New Testament. In more recent days we remember John Bunyan (the writer of Pilgrim's Progress, which some Pastors call the most important book, beside the Bible itself, that any Christian can read). We remember often quoted Charles Spurgeon (the great nineteenth century British preacher), Oswald Chambers (who wrote “My Utmost for His Highest”), and C.S. Lewis (the early twentieth century British Christian Apologist who wrote the Chronicles of Narnia). And we remember the recently deceased Reverend Billy Graham ( the modern day evangelist who preached the gospel to millions upon millions of people all over the world). In our current day we remember Ravi Zacharias (our living contemporary Christian Apologist, whose father told him repeatedly he would never amount to anything).
“He will not fear evil tidings; His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord," Psalm 112:7 NASB. This man will not fear evil tidings. In other words he will not be afraid of bad news. Nor will bad news shake this man of God. He will not fear receiving bad news. And he will not be shaken by bad news if it does come. Why? Because his heart is steadfast. Why? Because he is trusting in the Lord. Fearing God and greatly delighting in His commandments enables this man to trust in the Lord. This trusting enables him to have a steadfast heart. This steadfast heart enables him to not be shaken, regardless of what is happening around him. This steadfast heart enables him to not fear evil tidings, if they come. This steadfast heart enables him to be a steady rudder for his family, and he is able to guide them in the wise and prudent way they should go. This steadfast heart enables him to be a righteous anchor for his family, especially if they are being buffeted or assailed by the storms of life. His righteousness will be remembered long after he is gone. And blessings will be upon him, and his family.
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Father's Day is this Sunday, June 16. Wish your father, or husband, or son a happy Father's Day. And if you don't know what to give him, suggest he read Psalm 112. This particular Psalm is for men, husbands, and father's sort of what Proverbs 31 is for women, wives, and mothers. Psalm 112 is a model of what a God fearing and righteous man should strive for.
And to all the fathers out there: Happy Father's Day! And take heart. Remember that Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, who housed, fed, clothed, and helped raise our Savior as He grew up, never uttered a single word or phrase that anyone thought was important enough to write down and preserve.