No Fear Of Bad News.
Psalm 112:1-10TPT
Psalm 112, begins with a hallelujah—Praise the Lord! Then Psalm 112, lists the blessings of those who fear the Lord and delight in His commands.
More than often, I think we approach God’s word, as words of comfort, but we quickly forget that these words are penned by the very finger of God.
Psalm 112:1AMP Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who fears the Lord [with awe-inspired reverence and worships Him with obedience], Who delights greatly in His commandments.
Psalms 111, and 112 are the same length, fall into identical stanzas, and even have identical or similar phrases occurring at the same places in each. Both are precise acrostics; that is, they have twenty-two lines each of which begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
Charles Spurgeon wrote this regarding the connection between Psalms 111, and 112, “It bears the same relation to the preceding which the moon does to the sun; for, while the first declares the glory of God, the second speaks of the reflection of the divine brightness in men born from above.”
Psalm 112, list 10 blessings for every believer:
Believers live above the bell curve, they walk to a different drum-beat and are immensely blessed.
Story of a man obsessed with himself, how sad. When we visited M.T. Liggett and his political art in Mullinville, Kansas, we thought that we'd met the most cantankerous man in the Sunflower State.
But as crotchety as M.T. was, he would probably place second to John Milburn Davis.
Davis was a wealthy farmer in the county seat of Hiawatha, Kansas. When his wife, Sarah, died in 1930, he was old and childless. People in town started asking him: What are you going to do with your money? People also had suggestions for Davis and his money: he should build a hospital for the town, a park for the town, a swimming pool for the town.
Instead, John Milburn Davis built a grave.
It started small, at least by later standards. Davis had 7.5-ton slabs of granite placed over his and Sarah's graves, and raised a 52-ton slab of granite over the Davis burial plot on six granite pillars. Beneath it, overlooking the graves, he placed life-size statues -- carved in marble in Italy at great expense -- of himself and Sarah as they'd looked on their 50th wedding anniversary. https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2505
Psalm 112:1NIV Praise the Lord. Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in his commands.
What are some indicators that someone delights greatly in the Lord, and is blessed beyond expectation?
Daily devotions in the word—You become a life-time learner of scriptures.
Meditation of the word, You confess the word over situation.
Someone who hears and does the word—In other words, they live the word; they long for others to experience salvation of the word.
Witnessing the scriptures with full understanding that God’s word saves, heals and delivers.
Psalm 112:1AMP Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who fears the Lord [with awe-inspired reverence and worships Him with obedience], Who delights greatly in His commandments.
2. God will watch over our families.
Psalm 112:2TPT Their descendants will be prosperous and influential. Every generation of the righteous will experience his favor.
There’s nothing greater than walking in divine favor!
Psalm 30:5AMP For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may endure for a night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning.
Say—“lifetime favor.”
3. As we delight greatly in God’s commands—God promises us to provide for our needs.
Psalm 112:3TPT Great blessing and wealth fills the house of the wise, for their integrity endures forever.
Are you living near the Ark?
2 Samuel 6:12NLT Then King David was told, “The Lord has blessed Obed-edom’s household and everything he has because of the Ark of God.” So David went there and brought the Ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the City of David with a great celebration.
David understood everything changes because of God’s presence!
Listen to the words of the Apostle Paul in Philippians 4:19TPT I am convinced that my God will fully satisfy every need you have, for I have seen the abundant riches of glory revealed to me through Jesus Christ!
The richness of Jesus is transferred to every believer.
Philippians 4:19AMP And my God will liberally supply (fill until full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
4. Wherever God is welcomed, great blessings are mixed with rock solid protection.
Psalm 112:4TPT Even if darkness overtakes them, sunrise-brilliance will come bursting through because they are gracious to others, so tender and true.
Remember this, “Just a little light overcomes darkness every- time.” P.H
Psalm 91:1AMP He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will remain secure and rest in the shadow of the Almighty [whose power no enemy can withstand].
A missionary in Peru went to visit a group of believers one evening. She knew that the house where they were meeting was located on a cliff and the path would be treacherous. She took a taxi as far as it could go, and then she begin the hazardous ascent to the house on foot. The night was dark and the way
very difficult. As she rounded a bend, she suddenly came upon several believers carrying bright lanterns. They had come out to light the way. Her fears were relieved, and she ascended the path easily. (Together With God, Psalms, Dave Branon, September 14, He Lights the Way).
In a similar way, God lights our path. When we trust Jesus as our savior, he who is the light of the world enters our lives and removes the darkness of our sin and despair. This light continues to comfort us through times of sorrow. In the midst of sadness, trouble, illness, or disappointment, the Lord brightens the way and encourages His children by giving hope.
Could it be, that sometimes we are strategically placed in darkness, so we can see the light of Jesus?
5. God blesses an individual that practices—does, or walks in integrity and truthfulness.
Psalm 112:5TPT Life is good for the one who is generous and charitable, conducting affairs with honesty and truth.
Psalm 37:23NKJV The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, And He delights in his way.
The righteous refuse to follow emotions—high or low, they also refuse to get a final word through a persons smooth, or many words.
Proverbs 3:5-6NKJV Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
Say this, “According to Psalm 112:5, life is good for those who learn and choose to give.”
6. The way you carry yourself in difficult times influences others.
Psalm 112:6TPT Their circumstances will never shake them and others will never forget their example.
Profound thought—“Godliness and integrity speak out from the righteous person’s grave.’
‘Family and friends alike speak of their longterm faithfulness.” P.H
7. The believer that lives out his or her faith will not walk with a spirit of fear.
Psalm 112:7TPT They will not live in fear or dread of what may come, for their hearts are firm, ever secure in their faith.
“A true believer does not speculate or go with the odds, he or she habitually walks in a God like faith.” P.H
They live out their faith, the just shall live by faith, Faith is their words, protection, provision, and every other source…
Romans 10:17NKJV So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
“As others are moved out-of-fear by what they see and hear, (Such as a gas shortage), faith in God, keeps a true believer on a steady course.” P.H
8. Faith will steadily defeat every foe.
Psalm 112:8TPT Steady and strong, they will not be afraid, but will calmly face their every foe until they all go down in defeat.
Jesus’ main words after His resurrection from the dead was—Shalom, peace it is I!
Isaiah 26:3NKJV You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.
9. Steadfast givers become their trademark.
Psalm 112:9TPT Never stingy and always generous to those in need, they lived lives of influence and honor that will never be forgotten, for they were full of good deeds.
Luke 21:1-4NKJV And He (Jesus) looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, 2 and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. 3 So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; 4 for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”
God's blessings aren't just here today and gone tomorrow. His eternal presence is the very essence of time. He also knows the events of coming days. He comprehends all contingencies, and nothing will touch us apart from his Fatherly will. Our worries disappear when we remember that God is in control of the future. (Turning Point, April 30, Dr. David Jeremiah)
So remember, “Fear God, study His commands, and claim His blessings.”
10. The wicked will live vexed, as they waste or pine away.
Psalm 112:10NIV The wicked will see and be vexed, they will gnash their teeth and waste away; the longings of the wicked will come to nothing.
Remember King Saul, he lived without God’s spirit, all along he hated King David, because of the anointing.
Psalm 112:10TPT But the wicked take one look at a life lived like this and they grit their teeth in anger, not understanding their bliss. The wicked slink away speechless in the darkness that falls, where hope dies and all their dreams fade away to nothing, nothing at all!
Benediction.
