Psalm 112:6-8 – “Because He Is”

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.

As is often the case, close exegesis of this passage provides some interesting observations.

As I’ve noted before (and many before me), this psalm is, in a sense, a reflection of the one before it. Psalm 111 is specifically about God Himself and what He’s like. Psalm 112 then reveals that the godly man is in fact a God-like man. This reflectiveness is true in the verses before us and I think the parallelism in itself is instructive. In 111:7 & 8, we’re told that all the Lord’s commandments are “established, sure, steadfast” for ever and ever. In 112:8, we’re discussing the godly man’s stability and the same Hebrew word is used, saying that his heart is “established, sure, steadfast.” In 112:7, it was just said that the godly man’s heart is “steadfast, trusting in the Lord.” In that case it is another word for steadfast, but notice how beautifully it all fits together. God’s commandments are steadfast forever and ever and those who believe His promises will have a heart that is steadfast too – trusting in the Lord. His Word is sure so we can have hearts that are sure. He is stability and so we can be stable! We can be stable because He is.

I’ve lived long enough to know that I am anything but stable! Like the Biblical metaphor, without Him I am like a reed blowing in the wind, swayed by everything that blows for and against me. My heart in itself is anything but “established.” Whether it’s worry or lust or anger or laziness, it doesn’t take much to push me in any direction. This reminds me of how all my life I have enjoyed setting fence posts. It is cool to me to use the post-hole diggers, make a nice vertical hole, then drop in a post and either pack in dirt around it or even pour in concrete. The end result is a post you can grab and it notably does not move. You could run headlong into it and you will only get badly hurt. It does not move. God’s Word is that way. And there’s something in my heart that loves God’s Word in the same way I love those fence posts – because it’s so stable. Unlike me, it doesn’t move. It doesn’t shift around. It is what it is.

The wonderful news is that God’s Word actually allows me to be stable. Because His Word is established and sure and reliable, I don’t have to be blown hither and yon. He actually makes me stable even though I’m not. A hurricane force wind could blow against me, but I know that as long as I hold tightly to my fence post, I won’t get blown away. It’s not that I’m stable but my fence post is. It’s not that I’m stable but that He is.

I related in my last post how I’ve just recently gone through a terror at work. As I’ve bemoaned, my heart has been anything but stable. Traumatized would have been a better word. But through it all, I have been able to just keep working, keep trying to be kind to other people, keep doing whatever I knew I could to somehow survive this thing. In a sense I have been stable – it’s just that I’m not stable – it’s Him that allows my poor panicked heart to hold together.

It is interesting too in these three verses to note which words are active and which are passive. On the passive side, he “will not be shaken,” his heart “will be established,” he “will be confident in the Lord,” his heart “will be supported.” On the active side, “he will not fear bad news,” he “will not fear,” and he “will look [in triumph] on his enemies.” Notice that the passives – what is done to or for him – is all from the Lord; then because of what the Lord does, he is able to do what he does – not to fear bad news, not to fear (at all!), and ultimately to conquer his enemies. Once again, it is all the Lord.

Even as I type, it’s still all a terror to me. Hmmmm. I don’t want to “fear bad news.” I want to be “confident in the Lord.” It’s just that I have what feels like a LOT to do, a lot that is expected of me, but not the energy or the time or in some ways the know-how to make it all happen. I want to do it all. I want to do as much good as I can in this world in the short time I have left. I want to believe each opportunity is from the Lord Himself, it’s really Him that’s doing the good, and I’m just being His hands and feet. In that case, I know I can only do what I can do and He’ll make the impossible happen.

I guess it just comes down to learning how to trust Him (be confident in Him) while I face what looks to me like an impossible work load. With Him, nothing shall be impossible. In Psalm 111:6, I was reminded that is what He specializes in – the impossible.

Somehow I have to learn to stay stable (stay loving to others) while facing the impossible, somehow contenting myself to be doing what I honestly can, and being confident somehow the Lord will take my few fishes and loaves and bless them and break them and multiply them. “Go in this thy strength,” He told a terrified Gideon. “Be still, and know that I am God.”

Heart, be stable because God is.

I still have a lot to learn.