As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of this verse:
Praise
the LORD.
1Blessings
of a man – he fears the LORD.
In
His commands he delights greatly.
Along with a lot of other writers, it seems patently obvious
to me that Psalm 112 and 111 were written together. Psalm 111 was all about the
Lord while 112 already is zooming in on the person who walks with God, the god-ly, if you will. Someone suggested 111
is like the sun and 112 the moon, the latter simply a reflection of the former.
So it is, of course, in life – in a way the whole point of our faith in God is
to make us like Him.
Psalm 111 just ended with the statement, “Holy and fearsome
is His name” and then “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord.” Now Psalm 112
picks up at the same point – “Blessings of a man – he fears the Lord.” As I
wade into the Hebrew of Psalm 112, one of the things I want to see is whether
there appears to be a very deliberate effort on the psalmist’s part to make 112
reflect 111. That won’t surprise me at all. The two are identical in style,
acrostic psalms with 10 verses of 2 lines each, except the last two verses
which are three lines each – in both psalms. While I’m looking ahead, I also
notice that Psalm 113 begins with the same “Praise the LORD.” I’m curious
whether it is also intended to be read with 111 and 112. Why wouldn’t a unit of
“three” surprise me??
Wading into this first verse – To begin with, I have to
refer back to my posts on 111 as regards “fearing” the Lord. As I said there, I
don’t think we Americans have the slightest idea what that means, which is
exactly why the subject is endlessly debated between those who are anxious to
scare everyone into holiness and those who can’t bear the thought. We don’t
understand “the fear of the Lord” because we’ve never lived under a government
we feared. We have no regard for majesty, because we’ve never had one. As I
pondered in 111, in the ancient world (and probably much of the present world)
rulers held absolute authority. They could grant you a rich endowment or have
your head cut off. And that was true even if that person was a very good king
or queen. Even if they were the best of kings, they still held your life in
their hand. My point is that, in the ancient world, you could both love and
fear a king at the same time. You always feared them. You might also be able to
love them. And that is precisely what we almost cannot comprehend.
For them to talk about “the fear of the Lord” did not immediately
digress into some heated debate over what it even means. I would like to
suggest that, for them, and for our psalmist here, the “fear of the Lord”
simply refers to an acknowledgment of His rule over us. He is the King. He
holds our very breath in His hand. He holds the keys of life and death, Heaven
and hell. He can bless and you’ll be blessed or He can curse and leave you
wishing you weren’t so stupid! He is the King. In His case, He is a VERY GOOD
king. His rule is the very wisest, the most beneficent, the best of all, so we
can deeply love Him. But He’s still the King. His majesty is still awe-inspiring.
In His presence, in Heaven itself, the doorposts and thresholds shake and
temple fills with smoke!
That is our God.
And so, the first line of our psalm would have us to know “Blessings
of a man – he fears the Lord.” Blessings to the man who is smart enough to
willingly embrace the Lord’s rule over him, to willingly count himself one of
the Lord’s subjects, to enlist himself a citizen of His kingdom.
The second line of this verse, in my mind, not only confirms
what I’ve been thinking but amplifies it as well: “In His commands, he delights
greatly.”
What I’m saying is that I think, in a sense, this second
line helps us understand the first. The “fear of the Lord” here considered is
not the servile fear of a cringing slave but rather the willing and happy subjection
of oneself to God. We’re talking about people who “delight greatly” in His
commands. In the Parable of the talents, we find three possible responses to
God’s rule – the servant who “feared” the king and hid his talent in the ground,
the two who invested their talents and gained only more, and then that other
group who said, “We will not have this man to rule over us.” Interestingly the
choice before us is not simply whether we’ll serve the Lord or not. That last
group said, “We will not (and got their heads cut off), but notice there were
two options for those who were his “servants” – the one who chafed under that
rule and the others who prospered under it.
Hopefully, anyone who has even stumbled across these feeble
scratchings of mine has figured out we do need to get under God’s rule. We’re
not part of the bunch who simply says, “We will not have this man to rule over
us.” But the second half of the verse before us should cause us all to stop and
ponder, “What kind of servant am I?” The blessings of the first line are not
simply to those who “fear” but to those who “delight greatly” in His commands.
What the Lord desires (and the only “fear” He intends to
bless) is not our grudging acquiescence but rather a relationship of delight.
He wants to know us, for us to know Him, for us to share a love relationship
with our beneficent King who is greatly to be feared.
And notice the intensity. The word “delight” is inherently
intense. It is not just “prefer” or “like.” It is delight. I basically “like” all little children – but my children and my grandchildren – they are a delight
to me. I’ll never forget once being with a whole group of cute little children
and enjoying them all, when suddenly my little daughter Esther looked up in my
face and my heart was filled with the thought, “You are altogether lovely!” (Cant. 4:7). But notice in this verse,
the psalmist adds “greatly.” He’s talking about a man who not only delights in God’s commands but in them he
delights greatly. Greatly. “Delight”
is already an intense word, then it turns out he delights greatly!
What occurs to me is how this is all relationship stuff. What I mean is that the grudging submission
specifically is lacking relationship.
What utterly redefines the playing field with God is that, when it comes to Him,
He is my King, my Father, my Savior, my Shield and Defender, my Friend. Like elderly old Jacob, I can
call Him, “the God before whom my fathers walked, the God who has been my shepherd
all my life to this day, the Angel who has delivered me from all harm” (Gen
48:15,16).
As Psalm 111 so eloquently presented, He is a wonderful King. To know Him is to love
Him. The more I consciously acknowledge His rule over me, the more I want to.
The older I get, the more my greatest regret is that I don’t trust Him more. “Commands?” The very word is
almost unnecessary. “Bidding” would perhaps be more appropriate. He needn’t command me … just help me understand His
bidding and my heart wants to cry out, “Here am I, Lord. Send me!” My deepest
regret is that I don’t do it more, that I still so foolishly give way to my
lusts and fears.
I guess all I can say is,
Praise the LORD.
1Blessings of a man – he fears the
LORD.
In His commands he delights greatly.
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