In the past two days' studies, we have looked at five blessings of the person who fears and joyfully obeys God. Today we conclude this list with a sixth blessing.
As we noted in yesterday's study, the middle and chief section of this psalm (vv. 2-9) describes the specific blessings of the person who fears and joyfully obeys God. We have already looked at the blessing on the children of the upright, and riches with righteousness. Today we continue with three more of God's blessings on the godly.
The middle and chief section of the psalm (vv. 2–9) describes the specific blessings of the person who fears and joyfully obeys God. But it does this in a remarkable way, combining two ideas. What do you think of when you think of God’s blessings? Do you think of outward things such as wealth, health, security, or a good reputation? Or do you think of inward things such as traits of godly character? Either one is right, and in fact both are blessings. In this section the two ideas are developed side by side: on the one hand, the outward visible blessedness of the godly, and on the other hand, their inner godly character.
Who is the godly man who will be blessed? His godliness consists of three things.
1. He fears God. Most Christians know that when the Bible tells us to fear God it is not telling us to shake in terror before him. That is not what the biblical words mean. The fear the Bible is talking about is best described as a profound reverence; that is, we are to revere God or stand in awe of him. On the other hand, we should not dismiss the idea of fear too easily, for there is that which is terrifying about God. God is holy, majestic, forceful, and he is frighteningly opposed to everything that is unholy or that would seek to diminish his glory. This tells us that we cannot take God lightly. It says that God cannot be inconsequential to us or weightless in our thinking or acting.
The last verse of Psalm 111 is the theme for Psalm 112. Or to put it another way, Psalm 112 picks up where Psalm 111 left off. Psalm 111 ended with that classic description of true, godly wisdom found several places in the wisdom literature (see Job 28:28; Prov. 1:7, 9:10; Eccles. 12:13):
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise (v. 10).
That is what Psalm 112 unfolds. It describes the character of the person who fears the Lord and honestly obeys his precepts, and in doing this it makes the point that the person who truly loves and worships God will be like him. Anyone will be like the god he or she worships.
