Introduction
We don’t know who the author of this psalm is and many commentators believe that this psalm and the previous, Psalm 111, actually belong together as one psalm.
This psalm focuses on the character of the righteous person, whilst Psalm 111, focuses on the nature and character of God.
We can’t tell from our English translations, but this psalm is actually written in Hebrew alphabetical order, except for the opening three words. The rest of the psalm begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
‘Praise the LORD. Blessed are those who fear the LORD, who find great delight in his commands. Their children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in their houses, and their righteousness endures forever. Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous. Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice. Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever. They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the LORD. Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes. They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor, their righteousness endures forever; their horn will be lifted high in honour. The wicked will see and be vexed, they will gnash their teeth and waste away; the longings of the wicked will come to nothing.’ Psalm 112:1-10
The psalmist begins by praising the LORD, Psalms 111:1, they declare that those who are blessed, are those who fear Him, Psalm 111:10, and those who find great delight in His commands, Psalm 111:2. These are the people who love what God says, that is, His Word, 2 Timothy 2:15.
Those who love what God says will have a blessing on their family, that is, they will have a spiritual heritage, Genesis 12:2 / Genesis 17:6 / Exodus 20:6 / Psalm 25:13 / Psalm 37:25-26. They will also be blessed with wealth and riches, that is, financially, 1 Timothy 4:8, and their righteousness will endure forever, that is, all their good works will be accepted as right in God’s eyes.
God will bless the upright with light among the darkness, in other words, the upright will show the right way of salvation amidst this dark world, Psalm 97:11 / Job 11:17. This light which the upright will display to others is God’s grace, compassion and righteousness.
They will have mercy on those who have fallen on hard economic times, that is they will lend to those who are struggling freely, Psalm 37:5-6. They will be a good steward of those things that God has entrusted them, Genesis 45:11 / Genesis 47:12 / Genesis 50:21.
The righteous will never be shaken, that is, they will have nothing to fear and God will remember them, Proverbs 10:7. The righteous will have nothing to fear when they hear bad news, that is, when hard times come, because they know they are still in God’s care, Psalm 27:3 / Psalm 46:2 / Psalm 56:3-4 / Proverbs 1:33 / Hebrews 13:6.
In other words, their hearts are steadfast because they trust in the Lord, to take care of their needs, Psalm 57:7. Since the righteous know that God is working in their lives, they know that they will be delivered from their foes.
Because God has blessed them with wealth and riches, they are generous in blessing others, especially the poor. The apostle Paul quotes these words in 2 Corinthians 9:9, to encourage all Christians to be generous.
Their righteousness endures forever, and their horn will be lifted high in honour, that is, their strength will be exalted, and they will have a positive influence on others, Psalm 75:10.
In contrast to the righteous, everything the wicked hoped will vanish away, Psalm 58:8. The wicked will be vexed and they will gnash their teeth, Psalm 37:12 / Luke 13:28, and they themselves will soon disappear, along with everything they longed for.
Conclusion
The psalmist spoke of God blessing the upright with light amidst the darkness.
In addition to being ‘salt,’ Jesus’ disciples are also ‘light’, namely, ‘the light of the world.’ Matthew 5:14-16. The purpose of light is to enable people to see. Light provides 1. Illumination, 2. guidance, and 3. warning.
Physical lights shine to dispel darkness, and in so doing serve as guides and warnings, e.g., headlights and lighthouses. Spiritual lights should function in the same manner, Psalm 119:105 / Proverbs 4:18-19.
God wants the world to see the truth, and our lights, our lives should reveal His truth, John 8:12 / Philippians 2:15. His truth should be clearly seen in our lives just as a city set on a hill is seen from all directions.
Think of the foolishness of lighting a lamp and then hiding its light. The purpose of lighting a lamp is to provide light for people to see. A major purpose in following Christ is to provide spiritual light for others to see. We mustn’t hide under a ‘basket’ for any reason, whether it is fear, indifference, love of the world, misplaced priorities, etc.
Truly, we cannot be a secret disciples of Christ, either the secrecy will destroy the discipleship or the discipleship will destroy the secrecy. If we light a lamp and put it under a basket, either the basket will smother the flame and the light will go out, Matthew 13:22, or the lamp will ignite the basket, burning it away for the light to be seen by all, Jeremiah 20:9. We must let out lights shine.
The primary idea of Matthew 5:13-16 is that Jesus’ disciples should have a great positive influence on those they come in contact with. This influence will never materialise if Christians are content to hide in saltshakers or under baskets. You cannot be a secret disciple!