Live Righteously - Psalm 112:1-10

This is so easily defined but so difficult to do. To live righteously simply means ‘do right’ but to always be right means that you must live as Christ lives and affords us the example. My granny Pankey who died about fifty years ago at age ninety, was, I believe, the most righteous person I’ve known, and my dad, born in 1887 was a close rival. I consider myself fortunate to have inherited genes that have a human tendency to be like Christ and only wish I could tell you that I have kept the faith and walked the walk that they did. To do so would show wisdom.

I say these things because the 112th Psalm is considered a ‘wisdom’ message from an unknown writer that God used to make his word complete. The purpose this writer had in mind was to teach people of all ages how to be truly successful in life, especially when evaluated from Christ’s standpoint. If you will read and study this Psalm you will learn and understand the benefits and blessings of living righteously. In the conclusion of the chapter he makes sure that you fully understand how to rightly discern the difference in right and wrong, he uses a comparison of a Godly person’s life with the life of a wicked man.

The Psalm is anonymous and does not give any history or background situations about which it is written. To me this says that it applies to all regardless of whom they are or what their experience. There is no excuse for unrighteousness, we were born that way, for all have sinned and all require the cleansing blood of Christ in order to correct their position with Christ.

In the original language, the first word of the first verse of chapter 112 is Hallelujah! The King James Version and many others begin with “Praise the Lord.” However, this is not a change or different; because the meaning of the word “Hallelujah” is “Praise the Lord.” Hallelujah is a word of praise and a direct command. We walk up to a friend and usually say “Good morning how are you?” Most of the time I am somewhere on a scale that ranges from uncomfortable to outright pain, and just recently discussed in our men’s class that it is sometimes hard to know how to respond to the usual greeting. Now I have learned a new way to greet that will solve this problem. Do you see the main difference in the greeting? Our mind is on man; I am thinking about you, and there is nothing wrong with this…how are you? Our mind could better be on God and our greeting would let you know that we are thinking of Him and we would be asking you to join us as we ‘praise the Lord.’

We all have something or someone at the center of our lives; there are no exceptions we have a driving force even a consuming passion at the core of our being. This is neither good nor bad and always depends on the placement of our heart. Some of us are centered on good things like our parents, wife, husband, children, vocation, service or ministry. Some are centered on a lower level that may even be shallow like some specific sport, our avocation, beautiful home, luscious yard and or garden. And finally, and sadly more often, some of us center our thoughts on the shallowest of all things ourselves, our lusts, and sinful desires. For the righteous Christian our life and everything in it should revolve around one dominant force—our passion should be to Praise the Lord. God must be the center of our life and everything else [good or shallow] must be secondary. This is the central truth or theme of Psalm 112.

If you will study this Psalm line by line you can see what the writer thinks is the character of a God centered life [GCL] and he tells us what the consequences of living a GCE will be. The greeting is the first clue. The GCE will praise the Lord—Hallelujah. If you are living the GCE, you will be blessed—you will fear [be in awe] of the Lord and find great delight in the commands that God has placed on our lives. In addition to our personal blessings, our children will be blessed and will be mighty or important with honor and worth in the sight of other people [the land]. He does not stop here but claims that future generations [our children’s children] will reflect the upright living of their parents.

The televangelists of today have the tube burning with guarantees that if you will plant a seed [send them donations] you will defeat poverty and become rich. Some quote verse three as their source of God’s promise. The only problem with their interpretation is the false reason they give. TGC life will become wealthy and riches will be in their house. The blessing will come as a result of the Christians faith, commitment to God, keeping of his commandments, and love of God and what He has done for them through his Son Jesus Christ. And the wealth and riches may not necessarily be dollars but much more such as a godly family, honor, security, freedom from fear, and the promise of a home in heaven. Our wealth surely includes all the promises that God has made never to forsake and always sustain us meeting our needs and not necessarily our desires to be filthy rich.

Verse four tells us that there will be some dark days in our lives, but to the GCL light dawns ahead. He will never put more on us than we can bear. He will never ask us to do anything that he does not prepare us to do. He will never lead us to a task that he has not prepared us to accomplish. The writer says that the GCL is a gracious [free giver] compassionate and do right man.

Generosity will cure problems that money can cause or create. One who is rich and has no generosity may abuse others in order to create his gain and fulfill his desire to accumulate wealth. Generosity will eliminate that abuse.
With the rich there is a fear of loosing the wealth. One becomes fearful of giving to others because he does not trust God to replenish or repay him for his generosity. God wants us to trust him and not our money.

The man with a GCL has no fear because of his trust in God. If any man scatters some of his wealth around—to God’s church that it may prosper and grow—to the poor that they may eat and be clothed—and to widows and children that they know they are of concern, HIS RIGHTEOUSNES WILL ENDURE FOREVER and he will gain high honor.

And now in closing this chapter the writer makes the comparison so that we may not miss his point. He tells us that the wicked man will be vexed. He will grind his teeth in agony and become nothing in God’s sight as well as his fellow man. Then in the end the wicked will come to naught.

Note that he does not say the wicked will not be remembered. Because of their atrocities history may keep records on them but future generations of GCL will pass judgment upon them that will cause regrets forever and more important than that—in that last day—God will say “Depart from me I never knew you.”

Do you fear the Lord? Do you stand in awe in his presence? Charles H. Spurgeon once said, “The fear of God is the soul of godliness.” The GCL is one that fears the Lord.