Psalm 111, 112 – “Mary Has Chosen the Better Part”

These two psalms begin and end with:

 “I will extol the Lord with all  my heart … To Him belongs eternal praise”

      and

 “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord … the desires of the wicked will perish.”

 As I have studied these two psalms, there is no question in my mind they were intended to be read together. As I (and a host of others) have noted, 111 is all about the Lord and who He is, while 112 is about the people who know Him (and, in v10, those who don’t). As the two stand together, I am reminded of JI Packer’s book Knowing God and particularly one of the chapter titles, “The People Who Know Their God.”

I think one of the profound blessings of my life was that, not long after the Lord saved me, He put that book in my hands. I devoured it. But not quickly. I remember literally reading it a paragraph at a time. Knowing God – and “The People Who Know Their God.” Jesus said, “For this is eternal life, that they might know Thee …” (John 17:3). It struck me back then, that, in fact, as Jesus is clearly saying, eternal life itself is all about knowing God. It’s not just about Heaven forever and salvation and deliverance and love and all those things. They are all important, but … and this is my point (then and now) … all those blessings issue from a relationship with God.

And that is precisely why “Mary has chosen the better part.” Martha was filling her day with good things – serving the Lord – but Mary chose the better part. Mary sat at Jesus’ feet and drank of who He was and what He said. Martha would serve the Lord, Mary would know Him. And what did Jesus think of it all? “Mary has chosen the better part … and it will not be taken from her.”

Once again, my point is to observe that these two psalms belong together. You can read again the blessings of the second, Psalm 112, and there are many people today who, like Martha, would work very hard to see those blessings come about in their own lives and the lives of those around them; but it simply will not happen without Psalm 111, without “sitting at His feet.” To “sit at His feet,” treasuring Him and knowing Him and loving Him (111) is what will produce the blessings of 112.

In Hebrew, there is a great deal of repetition between the two psalms. Both are acrostics and the number and organization of the lines of each are identical. Also, there is much repetition of words and phrases. One example is obvious even in English, the statement, “His righteousness stands forever.” It is stated of God in 111:3, then of the godly man twice in 112, in verses 3 and 9. In addition, there are many words and phrases repeated between the two. As I noted earlier, there is a definite chiasm in 112:7,8 and I suspect there is a great deal of order between the two psalms. I have looked at various people’s efforts to find chiastic structure in the entire psalms, but so far I haven’t found anything I thought convincing. I guess it is enough for me now to see that, grammatically, there is no question the two psalms are related, and then to note that connection is also theologically profound.

I guess I think our generation is seriously missing this point. I fear almost the entire focus of “church” today is simply to make people busy, to “do” things, to “serve the Lord,” without realizing the point of it all, the dynamo that fuels it all, is simply to know Him. That is true for us and it is also true for the very people we want to “reach.” We have reason to fear lest Jesus’ words be true of us, “They travel over land and sea to make one disciple, and when they do, they make him two times more the son of hell than they are.” Is the goal to make more Marys or more Marthas? I fear it is a cosmic “bait and switch.” The devil would have us ignore God entirely; but, if he can’t accomplish that and someone is bound determined to be a Christian, then he gets them busy being a Martha and robs them of the very thing that drives the Psalm 112 life -- the God of Psalm 111.

Mary has chosen the better part. “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (II Cor 3:18). We see from this verse, it is in “beholding the Lord” that we “are being transformed.” “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (II Cor 4:6).

My heart is literally dumbfounded to sit here and ponder all of this. I spent way too many years “trying to grow,” trying to “serve the Lord,” only to discover what I knew from the beginning, the title of Packer’s book, it’s all about knowing Him. The more I know the God of Psalm 111, the more I become the man of Psalm 112. And not so much because I’m “trying;” as He said in II Cor 3:18, it is in beholding the Lord that I am changed into His image. Knowing His love for me, I am changed forever. I want to love others. Knowing His kindness, I want to be kind. Seeing His faithfulness, I want to be dependable. Hmmmmm, maybe that’s why it’s all called, the Fruit of the Spirit?

Well, I am still a mess. He’s been working all these years to “fix” me and make me who He intends me to be, but I’m keenly aware He is far from done. But I am very thankful for this simple truth of Psalms 111 and 112. Mary has chosen the better part. God help me to choose Mary’s part. You deserve it.

I am going to go on ahead and study Psalm 113 as well. It begins with the same “Praise the Lord,” and looks like it too was intended to be read together with Psalms 111 and 112. Whether it is or isn’t, I’m sure it will be instructive.

All praise to Him who reigns above.

Psalm 112:10 – “Hope”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of this verse:

¹⁰A wicked one will see and be agitated.

   He will grind his teeth and melt.

   [The] desires of wicked ones will perish.

As I have studied this verse and read what others had to say about it, it strikes me that I don’t often enough pause to remember how blessed I am. Interestingly, the body of this psalm opens with the word “blessed” and ends with the word “perish.” Those two simple words sum up all there is to know about those who love God and those who don’t. The one will only know blessing for all eternity. The other will perish. The one is told even his children will be mighty ones, his righteousness will stand forever, and he will look in triumph on his enemies and be held high in honor. The other will simply grind his teeth in angry disappointment and all he hoped for will come to nothing.

Wow. And I’m in the “blessed” group only because Jesus died in my place and the Father chose one day to open my eyes to see the truth.

For all eternity. Wow.

We see this same truth all through the Bible, but I think of several passages:

“The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing” (Prov 10:28).

“Peace, peace to him that is near and him that is far ... But the wicked are not so; they are like the troubled sea which cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked” (Isa 57:19-21).

“The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them; but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for He knows their day is coming” (Psalm 37:12,13).

Expressing these same thoughts, Psalm 107:41-43 concludes with “Whoever is wise, let him heed these things and consider the great love of the Lord.”

It is simply an inestimable blessing to live every day with hope. We believers go about our lives with the promise that our Lord will every day “work all things together for good,” that our destiny is in an eternal bliss with Him. I feel I am only beginning (after 36 years) to learn to trust Him in this and actually live in that hope. As I’ve often lamented, I am an incorrigible worrier and forget quickly that my hope (every day) is secure, that I can actually live in confidence in the Lord. But even in all my ridiculous fretting and drama, I always have this simple truth to come back to. Him. My Rock.

There are many who don’t. They don’t know Him. They don’t have a Rock. They don’t have this hope. No wonder they scheme and maneuver and manipulate, lie, murder, and steal.

God in Heaven, thank You for grace. Thank You for making me one of Yours, for letting this ridiculous twisted self-destructing idiot live his life with hope.

Help me today to live in that hope, to appreciate the gift it is, and not forget it the second anything seems to threaten me. And somehow, let Your presence go with me as I interact all day with people who may not have this hope. May somehow Your hope in me become hope in them.

It’s Your world. Help me be a part of it.

Psalm 112:9 – “Generosity”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of this verse:

⁹He has scattered. He has given to the needy ones.

   His righteousness stands forever.

   His horn will be high in honor.

I really like these lines. It was already said in verse 5 that a good man is a generous man. Here we see it again. I like it.

Once again, a person can be “religious” and still be a tight-fisted, heartless grouch. But real grace will have none of that. Our God “so loved the world He gave” and “gives to all men liberally.” He “makes His sun to shine on the evil and the good.” He “opens His hand and satisfies the desires of every living thing.” We may live our lives “in malice and envy, hating and being hated,” but “when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us … by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior.”

Anyone who has genuinely received such grace; anyone who has genuinely experienced and realized that overwhelming kindness of such a God and Savior, cannot for long be anything less. We’re all still quite capable of fits of selfishness, but still, as this Psalm has now asserted twice, the people who know their God can’t help but be like Him. His is a big, generous heart and His dearly loved children cannot help but be the same.

It has generally been true throughout human history that there always are the very rich and the very poor, with precious few anywhere in between. For a short time, America was a nation where that wasn’t true. We had a robust middle-class and that level of prosperity was available to anyone willing to work for it. I would maintain that happened because of the truth of Psalm 112:9. For the first two hundred years of our history, there was a genuine vein of godliness that pervaded the rich and poor of our country. I would suggest that very godliness meant that the “rich,” though they did accumulate their wealth, also never lost sight of some sense of benevolence, and so that very wealth was “scattered.” Today we have people like Bill Gates or Sam Walton’s family, who accumulate billions and billions of dollars for themselves while wages stagnate, while that middle class steadily shrinks, while young people are plunged head over heel into debt just to get an education, and those “rich” will only get richer and richer.

This is a living illustration of the truth, “Blessed is the nation that fears the Lord.” And unfortunately we have become a living illustration of what happens when that same nation casts Him aside. The very graciousness that emanates from His heart is no longer present to pervade our society and so, instead, we more and more reflect the face of him who is a murderer and who has been a liar from the beginning.

All that, to me, is enormously sad. I knew this nation when it was great. It is so sad to see what it has become. But I am very thankful for the grace I’ve been shown and, as I said in the beginning, I like this verse. It is, in fact, who I want to be. “True religion and undefiled is this: to visit widows and the fatherless in their affliction.” True religion makes us want to care about people less fortunate than ourselves.

And that is how it should be.

It is interesting too to see the other two lines of the verse. The second line repeats the words of verse 3 and 111:3, “His righteousness stands forever.” I already commented on this under verse 3, but I would suggest in this case it is speaking of the memory of his righteousness. In other words, his righteousness stands forever in the sense that people will not soon forget a man’s kindnesses. There are a few people in history remembered for the excess of their cruelties but, for the most part evil men are soon forgotten. Andrew Carnegie is one of those very wealthy men of an earlier age whose name is still remembered because he built libraries in practically every small town in America.

And then the last line says, “His horn will be high in honor.” This is a simple old testament statement of Jesus’ words, “He who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Why are the rich miserly? They imagine that their wealth (and more of it) will somehow exalt them. So they hoard it to themselves, cheat everyone they can, maneuver themselves to get even more, and, instead of being “exalted” they end up living in a world of endless family animosity, constant intrigues and legal battles over who gets what, and, while they may in fact get to live “the good life” of extravagant vacations and palatial mansions, yet they lack the one thing that makes life worth living – love.

The godly man, while he may in fact prosper in his business, never loses some sense of generosity. He can “let loose” of some of that wealth to benefit others, trusting God that what he gives he actually receives. As it says in Proverbs, “One man gives and receives only more.” And because he has been kind, because he has given of himself to those less fortunate, Jesus would have him to know he will somehow be exalted.

Once again, I like this verse. Even though I live in this world where it really does seem like the best plan is to “look out for #1,” yet I can live knowing that I don’t need to. I do need to “guide my affairs with discretion” (v5), but I can do so with open hands and live my life caring about the people the Lord places around me.

Lord, may Your grace genuinely shine from the hearts of us who’ve enjoyed its blessing. May we “passing through the Valley of Bacah, make it a spring.”

Psalm 112:6-8 – “To Be Continued”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁶Because to ages he will not be shaken,

     a memory of ages a righteous one will be.

⁷He will not fear bad news,

    His heart being established, being confident in the LORD.

⁸His heart being supported, he will not fear,

    Until which he will look on his enemies.

My last three blogs have recorded a rather interesting little episode in my own life. As I’ve related, I studied out these three verses, thought I basically understood them, then walked into work and got clobbered by two terrifying situations, only to have that followed by the addition of what I perceived to be an impossible workload. Shaken? Fear? I had plenty of both; but it was also obvious to me this was the Lord’s hand and the point of it all was to help me grow in being the very person portrayed in this Psalm.

I think for the most part I’m “on the other side” now, perhaps even “looking in triumph on my foes.” The two terrifying situations were pretty well remedied and in fact I would say things are considerably improved in both of those projects. As far as the work load, the Lord really helped me by reminding me I need a “well-ordered mind” (II Tim 1:7), and when I sat down and wrote it all out, it just didn’t look as bad.

Maybe it’s not over. Maybe something else is on its way. It’s all up to Him, of course. Of course it’s not over if I’m still alive. I still have much to learn and I’m still not the man of Psalm 112. I hope I’m a little more that man. I hope I’ve grown even just a little in being “confident in the Lord.” He certainly deserves it. Through all the terrors and hardships of my entire life, He has always been there; He has always worked out all things for good; and I should be confident in Him. This whole thing has just been one more example of His kindness.

I don’t know. Right now, honestly, I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck. This one really beat me up. But then it was my own fear that did the beating. Had I really been “confident in the Lord” the whole time, there would have been no need for any of this trauma or terror. There wasn’t any need for it anyway. I just haven’t learned yet how to rise above it. It is completely my own mind, my own heart that creates the trauma and all the emotional fracas.

Well, I hope I have learned even a little, that perhaps in some small way I am stronger. If I am it is all the Lord’s doing. I want to be the man of Psalm 112. The Lord deserves that I should be that man, a man who doesn’t fear bad news, who is in fact confident in Him. I want to be stable like Him.

This may sound crazy but this has all been wonderful. It’s just like sports. I appreciated my awesome track and cross-country coach Louis Baker. I appreciated how he pushed me and nearly killed me (just kidding) and made me into a runner who actually ran miles down in the 4-minute range. The Lord is doing the same thing on a much bigger scale. He’s making me, slowly but surely into the man I want to be. And I’m glad He loves me enough not only to put me through it all but to endure all my childish whining, that He stays with me through it all, gives me lots of little expressions of love and kindness along the way, and just gives my life and my troubles meaning and purpose.

It’s not “over” of course and won’t be until He calls me home; but this is all exactly what I want Him to be doing in my life.

I don’t want to face any more pain, but I have to pray with Jesus, “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not my will, but Thine be done.” On the other hand, I’ll pray with Jabez, “Keep me from pain, that it might not pain me!”

He is a wonderful Lord. I don’t know how anyone lives without Him!

And so we study on. In this life, everything ends with “to be continued …”

Just 'cause I want to include the words of the old Hymn,  "How Firm a Foundation."

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
Unto you, who to Jesus for refuge have fled?

Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.


The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.