Main Point:
Only people who know Jesus could imagine this Psalm is talking about reality.
Please take time to carefully, thoughtfully and prayerfully read this radical Psalm and then compare it to John’s instructions about the children of God in 1 John 5 below.
“'Praise the Lord! How joyful are those who fear the Lord and delight in obeying his commands.
Their children will be successful everywhere; an entire generation of godly people will be blessed.
They themselves will be wealthy, and their good deeds will last forever.
Light shines in the darkness for the godly. They are generous, compassionate, and righteous.
Good comes to those who lend money generously and conduct their business fairly.
Such people will not be overcome by evil. Those who are righteous will be long remembered.
They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them.
They are confident and fearless and can face their foes triumphantly.
They share freely and give generously to those in need. Their good deeds will be remembered forever. They will have influence and honor.
The wicked will see this and be infuriated. They will grind their teeth in anger; they will slink away, their hopes thwarted.'”
1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too.
2 We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments.
3 Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.
4 For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.
5 And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
I want to help you see what I see in Psalm 112. Naturally I see Jesus, and you have hopefully come to expect that I am looking for and finding Jesus in every Psalm. My hope is that the New Testament parallel passages and these very words of Jesus will convince you, as they have me, that Jesus is here. And it is not just a meaningless similarity or mushy thinking but that in very specific ways Jesus is revealing Himself and His works through these words. Psalm 112 is one of those Psalms that could be easily dismissed as poetic and hyperbolic. But in a very real way, Jesus is the person who can make this Psalm a reality for you. Jesus is the “Light shines in the darkness for the godly.” v4
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.”
It is as if John in writing the gospel was taking the first phrase from Psalm 112:4 & 6 and applying it to Jesus and those who believe in Him.
I am reminded so many times in Psalm 112 of Jesus' message about the kingdom of God in Matthew commonly called the Sermon on the Mount. And in this message from Jesus we hear the same outrageous statements as the psalmist uses in Psalm 112. These are incongruent with what we see in the world if we don’t see the world as Jesus can enable us to see it. With statements like
“God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth.”
No way Jesus. You don’t understand. That’s not how it really works. The meek, they lose everything. They get trampled, they are taken advantage of. Maybe that’s the way it is in heaven but get serious Jesus. This is too far-fetched for anyone to believe the rest of what you are saying. If you talk like this you discredit everything. Look around. But is it true? Are these statements made by Jesus and made by the Psalmist true ultimately and also now? I believe they are true now and after the grave. But it is not some name-it-and-claim-it prosperity gospel. It is a realignment of what these words really mean. It is where true joy is found, now and later. Through all my years as a youth pastor I remember many times a celebrity being quoted saying they had it all and still weren’t satisfied. How many have had it all, only to end their own lives unsatisfied? Too many to recount here. Then there's the widow who puts in her last coins which were all she had, and Jesus says she gave the most. Why? Because she has no fear for tomorrow.
I have lived this way at times. My eyes have been really open and I have seen that real wealth is faith. No wonder James says count it all joy. Want to see the real world? Watch the true believer under pressure. No one can be like this and believe this and live like this without Jesus opening their eyes and radically changing them from the inside out. Last night Lyssa and I were discussing this chapter and it came into my mind the perspective of Stephen who was being stoned (Acts 7). I think he was living the reality of this Psalm. And to be honest I have seen the wicked “slink away,” and crawl back into their hole waiting to pounce and fight again like a toothless lion. They can’t win. And any momentary, supposed wins have no real joy for them. But we can have eternal joy in Jesus who comes good in all the ways that Psalm 112 boasts of.
v1 Joyfulness is the fruit of the Spirit Jesus gives us. We would not have the Spirit of God if it were not for Jesus. He says so Himself. Obedience to God’s commands seems ridiculous to this world, but there are people who joyfully submit their lives to these commands. They strive to be pure and they don’t feel like they are missing out. How? Why? Jesus!!!
v2 This verse may seem like the hardest pill to swallow, especially if you are a parent and even more so if those children don’t love God. But we are part of God’s family. That’s what John wrote about in his first letter, and Jesus Himself redefined family, brothers and sisters and mothers. If Jesus talks this way, then we can apply this with confidence to the miraculous overcoming we see again and again in the believers, in the church. Do I need to remind you of the saints of old, the reformers, the puritans, the apostles, the people who shattered the gospel with you. You and I are part of that godly, spiritual heritage that Jesus makes possible and links us with Elijah, Moses, David and Abraham throughout His life and ministry. That is your heritage and it isn’t going to stop with you. More are on their way. Hallelujah.
Conclusion:
It doesn’t seem fanciful for me to connect this Psalm to the only people in human history who can conceivably believe it is possible. Those people would be the people of Jesus who have hope in this world and in the world to come. Jesus is the king of both those worlds, He is the light in the darkness who guides the godly, and He is the one who places us in God's family and makes our hearts have joy even in suffering. I know God cares for me because Jesus told me so in His Word, the Bible.
25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?
31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
I am planning, Lord willing, to share this and much more of what I and 150 friends have found in the Psalms searching for Jesus in an upcoming book. In that book I hope to share one of the joys of my life, flowers. As I walk (and I love to walk), I see flowers everywhere. These flowers remind me every day that God will take care of me. Jesus said so. And I believe Jesus.
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| Handwritten Psalm 112 |
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