Psalm 112
10 verses · David and others · 10th to 5th century BC · Wisdom and poetry
Surely he will never be shaken; the righteous man will be remembered forever.
Introduction
Author unstated, the Man Who Fears the LORD, Book 5: The return and the great Hallelujah, Poetry, Psalms Overview.
This psalm is the second half of a pair. It follows the same alphabetic plan as the psalm before it, and it takes words that psalm spoke about God and speaks them about a man who reveres Him. Its writer is not named, and he describes an ordinary household in the land: its money, its children, its neighbours and its bad days. Listen for the phrases you heard one psalm earlier, now said of a person. Listen too for the one figure at the close who watches all this and cannot bear it.
Context
- Who
- Israelites rebuilding ordinary life, for whom land, lending and descendants were the measures of a secure house
- What
- An alphabetic poem describing the man who fears the LORD, built line for line to match Psalm 111.
- Where
- Judah, in the households of a people rebuilt in their land.
- When
- The second temple period, about 538 to 400 BC, with the author unnamed.
- Why
- To show that the man who fears God comes to resemble Him in how he lends, gives and meets bad news.
Historical context
The psalm is the twin of the one before it. Both are ten verses, both run the Hebrew alphabet across twenty two lines, and both open with Hallelujah. Psalm 111 describes the LORD and this one describes the man who fears Him, using the same words. Wealth and riches in the house, descendants mighty in the land, and a name remembered were what security meant when there was no state pension, no bank and no insurance. Exodus 22:25 and Leviticus 25:35 to 37 forbid charging interest to a fellow Israelite in need, so the man who lends freely at verse 5 is carrying a neighbour through a bad year at his own cost.
Significance
The psalm told an Israelite household that the fear of God and a prosperous ordinary life were the same road, and it described that life in terms anyone could check: how a man lends, how he handles bad news, what he gives away. The clauses used of God one psalm earlier are used of this man here, which said that a person who fears God begins to resemble Him.
This chapter in Jewish lifeWhat this chapter is in Jewish life and reading.
How it is read
This psalm is the second half of an alphabetical pair. Rashi set out the arrangement on the psalm before it, where he wrote that both are built on the alphabet and that the first praises God while the second praises a righteous and God fearing person (Rashi on Psalms 111:1:1, Rashi on Psalms, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg, CC-BY). The classical reading of this chapter follows that division, so every line of it is read as a portrait of one such person.
The portrait is read in terms of money. On verse 5 Rashi describes a man who is gracious to the poor and lends to them without being strict, refusing to plead that he cannot afford it, while he holds his own food, drink and clothing to a measure and spares his property (Rashi on Psalms 112:5:1 and 112:5:2, same edition).
The steadfast heart of verses 7 and 8 he reads twice, as a heart faithful to its Maker and as a heart that leans on and trusts in God (Rashi on Psalms 112:7:1 and 112:8:1, same edition). On the light in the darkness of verse 4 he gives the plain sense and then the midrashic one, that God Himself becomes a light for the upright, reading it with Psalm 27:1 (Rashi on Psalms 112:4:1).
Ibn Ezra, Radak and Metzudat David carry seventeen comments on this chapter for which Sefaria holds no English version, and they are cited by reference (Ibn Ezra on Psalms 112:1:1, Radak on Psalms 112:1:1, Metzudat David on Psalms 112:1:1 and the fourteen references beside them).
What the rabbis say
The corpus records forty places where the Midrash and the Talmud cite this psalm, twenty nine under Midrash and eleven under Talmud, and it carries the locator for each one with no text. The verses about giving carry most of that weight, which fits a psalm the rabbis read as a portrait of the generous man.
The Babylonian Talmud cites verse 1 at Berakhot 8a:21 and Avodah Zarah 19a:3, verse 3 at Ketubot 50a:13, verse 5 at Chullin 84b:4, verse 7 at Berakhot 60a:16 and verse 9 at Bava Batra 10b:4, which is the passage on charity. The Jerusalem Talmud reads verse 2 at Kiddushin 1:7:3, verse 3 at Bikkurim 3:6:4, verse 4 at Berakhot 9:2:9 and verse 7 at Berakhot 9:3:9 and 9:4:2.
Midrash Tehillim treats verse 2 at 112:2 and 112:3, Shemot Rabbah reads verse 5 at 15:20 and 31:1, and Bereshit Rabbah reads the steadfast heart at 42:1 and 43:1. The site reports where the rabbis cite the verse and reports no saying, because the locator carries none.
Sources: Rashi, Rashi on Psalms 111 and 112, in The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg, CC-BY; Ibn Ezra, Radak and Metzudat David, their comments on Psalms 112, cited by reference; Sefaria holds no English version; The Midrash and the Talmud, the forty locators on Psalms 112 in scripts/data/sources/sefaria/psalms/112.json.
who greatly delights in His commandments: Blessed is the Psalter's own opening word at Psalm 1:1, and this psalm takes it up for the man who fears the LORD. His delight is in the commandments, and Psalm 1:2 put the blessed man's delight in the law of the LORD. Fear and delight sit in one line.
Psalms 112:1
“Praise ye the Lord,.... Or, "hallelujah". This is properly the title of the psalm: Aben Ezra says it is a word of the psalmist; it shows that all that a good man is, has, or does, is from the Lord; and therefore his name is to be praised: and he is not only to be praised for his perfections and works, but for this among others, that there are any good men on earth that fear and serve him, and are useful in their day and generation.”
3 more voices on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Psalms 112:1
“Praise ye the Lord. This exhortation is never given too often; the Lord always deserves praise, we ought always to render it, we are frequently forgetful of it, and it is always well to be stirred up to it. The exhortation is addressed to all thoughtful persons who observe the way and manner of life of men that fear the Lord. If there be any virtue, if there be any praise, the Lord should have all the glory of it, for we are his workmanship. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 5 (1878)Particular Baptist
Psalms 112:1
“True fear produces obedience and this happiness. Temporal blessings follow the service of God, exceptions occurring only as they are seen by God to be inconsistent with those spiritual blessings which are better.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Psalms 112:1
“He delights not only in God's promises, but in his precepts, and thinks himself happy under God's government as well as in his favour. It is a pleasure to him to be found in the way of his duty, and he is in his element when he is in the service of God.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Psalms 112:2-3
mighty in the land: The blessing runs past the man into his descendants and the generation after him. His righteousness endures forever is the same clause Psalm 111:3 uses of the LORD, set here over a man. Wealth and riches sit in his house.
Psalms 112:2
“His seed shall be mighty upon earth, that is to say, successive generations of God fearing men shall be strong and influential in society, and in the latter days they shall have dominion. The true seed of the righteous are those who follow them in their virtues, even as believers are the seed of Abraham, because they imitate his faith; and these are the real heroes of their era, the truly great men among the sons of Adam; their lives are sublime, and their power upon their age is far greater than at first sight appears.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 5 (1878)Particular Baptist
2 more voices on this verse
Psalms 112:2
“His seed shall be mighty upon earth,.... The Targum is, "mighty in the law;'' as Apollos is said to be "mighty in the Scriptures", Act 18:24. This must be understood of such of them as fear the Lord also, and love him, and delight in his commandments, according to Exo 20:6 and not in a literal sense, for not many mighty are called; but in a spiritual sense, of their being strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might, and in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”
Psalms 112:2
“Religion has been the raising of many a family, if not so as to advance it high, yet so as to fix it firmly. When good men themselves are happy in heaven their seed perhaps are considerable on earth, and will themselves own that it is by virtue of a blessing descending from them.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Wealth and riches are in his house: The verse sets wealth and riches beside lasting righteousness. Henry read the pair as a contrast in length: the house and its riches pass at his death, and the righteousness stays forever. Spurgeon took the wealth as an old covenant promise, true for the poor man in its spiritual sense.
Psalms 112:3
“Wealth and riches shall be in his house,.... In his family; if not possessed by him, yet by his posterity: though rather this signifies spiritual riches, the riches of grace, the unsearchable riches of Christ, durable riches and righteousness; seeing it is connected with an everlasting righteousness, as in the next clause. And his righteousness endureth for ever; he is not hurt by his temporal riches, as others are, the prodigal, the covetous, and formal professor; he continues the good and righteous man he was, notwithstanding his riches.”
2 more voices on this verse
Psalms 112:3
“Wealth and riches shall be in his house. Understood literally this is rather a promise of the old covenant than of the new, for many of the best of the people of God are very poor; yet it has been found true that uprightness is the road to success, and, all other things being equal, the honest man is the rising man. Many are kept poor through knavery and profligacy; but godliness hath the promise of the life that now is. If we understand the passage spiritually it is abundantly true.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 5 (1878)Particular Baptist
Psalms 112:3
“Glory and riches are in his house. Glory and riches. Do we suppose that the glory and riches of the world are meant? Is it for this that a man does the will of God and His commandments, in order to obtain the riches of this world? And surely he does not perform the commandments of God unless he has despised the riches of the world. Glory and riches are in his house. The glory of believers, as the apostle says: 'Are you not my glory?' And riches.”
Jerome · written before 420 · Homily 38, on Psalm 111patristic
Psalms 112:4-6
Light dawns in the darkness: Light comes up in the dark for the upright, and the same verse calls him gracious, compassionate and righteous. The man it describes gives freely, lends, and runs his affairs by justice. He will never be shaken, and he is remembered forever.
Psalms 112:4
“Unto the upright of heart a light has risen in the darkness. We were once in darkness, we were sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death: but a light has arisen for us, according to Isaiah. Merciful and compassionate and righteous. See the two things he says, Merciful and righteous. If you are a sinner, do not despair of pardon: He is merciful. But if you are proud, and put your confidence in the clemency of God, do not be negligent: He is also righteous. Merciful and compassionate and righteous.”
Jerome · written before 420 · Homily 38, on Psalm 111patristic
2 more voices on this verse
Psalms 112:4
“Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness,.... Upright ones are sometimes in the darkness of affliction, under divine desertions, without spiritual joy, and in an uncomfortable condition; when on a sudden light arises to them, like break of day, or the morning light: they have deliverance from affliction, and enjoy prosperity; the light of God's countenance is lifted up on them; the sun of righteousness arises upon them with healing in his wings; and spiritual joy and comfort are communicated unto them.”
Psalms 112:4
“It is here implied that good men may be in affliction; the promise does not exempt them from that. They shall have their share in the common calamities of human life; but, when they sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light to them, Mic. vii. They shall be supported and comforted under their troubles; their spirits shall be lightsome when their outward condition is clouded.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
who is generous and lends freely: Generous comes from the same root as gracious in verse 4, so the man who lends freely shows the grace the LORD has shown him. Henry noted affairs can be read as words, the man guiding his speech with justice. Spurgeon said providence gives the means and grace the will.
Psalms 112:5
“Delightful is the man who shows mercy and lends. Because the Lord is merciful and compassionate, let the righteous man too imitate his Lord: let him also be merciful. Delightful is the man who shows mercy and lends. Does someone suppose that he is speaking about gold and about silver and about money? The righteous have so far been without anything to lend to others that they themselves received their food from others. So then, if I have nothing to give, am I no longer righteous?”
Jerome · written before 420 · Homily 38, on Psalm 111patristic
2 more voices on this verse
Psalms 112:5
“A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth. Having passed beyond stern integrity into open handed benevolence he looks kindly upon all around him, and finding himself in circumstances which enable him to spare a little of his wealth he lends judiciously where a loan will be of permanent service. Providence has made him able to lend, and grace makes him willing to lend. He is not a borrower, for God has lifted him above that necessity; neither is he a hoarder, for his new nature saves him from that temptation; but he wisely uses the talents committed to him.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 5 (1878)Particular Baptist
Psalms 112:5
“Generosity, sound judgment in business, and confidence in God, form a character which preserves from fear of evil and ensures success against enemies. While a man thus truly pious is liberal, he increases in substance.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
will be remembered forever: Psalm 111:4 says the LORD caused His wonders to be remembered, and here the same word for remembrance is given to the righteous man. Proverbs 10:7 calls the memory of the righteous a blessing. Spurgeon read never shaken as a man the LORD has rooted in his place.
Psalms 112:6
“Surely he shall not be moved for ever. God has rooted and established him so that neither men nor devils shall sweep him from his place.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 5 (1878)Particular Baptist
Psalms 112:7-9
his heart is steadfast: , and bad news does not shake it. Verse 9 is quoted at 2 Corinthians 9:9, where Paul holds up this man's open hand to the churches he is collecting from. The horn lifted high in honor comes to him from God.
Psalms 112:7
“He shall not be afraid of evil tidings. He shall have no dread that evil tidings will come, and he shall not be alarmed when they do come. Rumours and reports he despises; prophecies of evil, vented by fanatical mouths, he ridicules; actual and verified information of loss and distress he bears with equanimity, resigning everything into the hands of God. His heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 5 (1878)Particular Baptist
1 more voice on this verse
Psalms 112:7
“This is a part both of the character and of the comfort of good people. It is their endeavour to keep their minds stayed upon God, and so to keep them calm, and easy, and undisturbed; and God has promised them both cause to do so and grace to do so.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
His heart is assured: Steadfast in verse 7 becomes assured in verse 8. Until marks how long the courage lasts, and Spurgeon read it as a heart without fear, until the man looks in triumph on his foes.
Psalms 112:8
“His heart is established. His love to God is deep and true, his confidence in God is firm and unmoved; his courage has a firm foundation, and is supported by Omnipotence. He has become settled by experience, and confirmed by years. He is not a rolling stone, but a pillar in the house of the Lord. He shall not be afraid. He is ready to face any adversary—a holy heart gives a brave face. Until he see his desire upon his enemies. All through the conflict, even till he seizes the victory, he is devoid of fear.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 5 (1878)Particular Baptist
1 more voice on this verse
Psalms 112:8
“His heart is established,.... With the doctrine of grace; which is food unto it, and by which it is strengthened and nourished; it is established in the faith of Christ, both in the grace of faith, and in the doctrine of faith, even in all the doctrines of the Gospel; so that he is not as a child, tossed to and fro with every wind; his heart is established in the exercise of grace, and he is steadfast and immovable in the discharge of duty.”
He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor: Scattered abroad pictures a sower's hand, and Gill read it that way, gifts to the poor spread here and there with a free hand. Henry explained why these gifts carry the name righteousness: they are a debt of justice owed to the poor. What he scatters endures forever.
Psalms 112:9
“He hath dispersed, he hath given, to the poor. What he received, he distributed; and distributed to those who most needed it. He was God's reservoir, and forth from his abundance flowed streams of liberality to supply the needy. If this be one of the marks of a man who feareth the Lord, there are some who are strangely destitute of it. They are great at gathering, but very slow at dispersing; they enjoy the blessedness of receiving, but seldom taste the greater joy of giving.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 5 (1878)Particular Baptist
3 more voices on this verse
Psalms 112:9
“Dispersed - His goods, freely and liberally. Righteousness - His liberality, or the reward of it. Ever - What he gives is not lost, but indeed is the only part of his estate, which will abide with him to all eternity.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Psalms 112:9
Who, more than she [Gregory's sister], threw open her house, with a courteous and generous welcome to those who live according to God? And, better still, who received them with such modesty or advanced to meet them in a manner so pleasing to God? Further, who displayed a mind more tranquil in misfortune or a heart more sympathetic to those in distress? Who was more liberal to those in want? I would not hesitate to praise her in the words of Job: "Her door was open to every traveler, the stranger did not stay without."
Gregory of Nazianzus · written before 390 · On His Sister St. Gorgiana, Oration 8:12patristic
Psalms 112:9
“Alms are called righteousness, not because they will justify us by making atonement for our evil deeds, but because they are good deeds, which we are bound to perform; so that if we are not charitable we are not just; we withhold good from those to whom it is due.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Cross references
Psalms 112:9
- Quoted in2 Corinthians 9:9As it is written: “He has scattered abroad His gifts to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.”
'He hath dispersed abroad... his righteousness remaineth' ('as it is written')
gnash his teeth: The wicked man watches what the psalm has just described and is grieved by it. He gnashes his teeth and wastes away while the righteous man's righteousness endures forever. The desires of the wicked perish.
Psalms 112:10
“The wicked shall see it,.... The glory and happiness of the upright man: so when the witnesses shall ascend to heaven, a phrase expressive of a more glorious state of the church, their enemies shall behold them, Rev 11:12. And be grieved; at their happiness, and grudge it: the Targum is, "and shall be angry at him;'' the upright man.”
2 more voices on this verse
Psalms 112:10
“The tenth and last verse sets forth very forcibly the contrast between the righteous and the ungodly, thus making the blessedness of the godly appear all the more remarkable. Usually we see Ebal and Gerizim, the blessing and the curse, set the one over against the other, to invest both with the greater solemnity. The wicked shall see it, and be grieved. The ungodly shall first see the example of the saints to their own condemnation, and shall at last behold the happiness of the godly and to the increase of their eternal misery.”
Charles Spurgeon · The Treasury of David, Vol. 5 (1878)Particular Baptist
Psalms 112:10
“This is often fulfilled in this world. The happiness of the saints is the envy of the wicked, and that envy is the rottenness of their bones. But it will most fully be accomplished in the other world, when it shall make damned sinners gnash with their teeth, to see Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in him bosom, to see all the prophets in the kingdom of God and themselves thrust out.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
How this psalm is built
The form: An alphabetic wisdom psalm, the mirror of Psalm 111, in which the man who fears the LORD wears the character of the God he fears, as Delitzsch classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| The alphabet across twenty-two half-lines | The psalm runs the Hebrew alphabet in order, one letter to each poetic line rather than one to each verse, matching Psalm 111 letter for letter in length.Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms, 1871, on Psalm 112:1. | Psalm 112:1, Psalm 112:10 |
| The words of Psalm 111 set over a man | His righteousness endures forever is said of the LORD at Psalm 111:3 and of this man at verses 3 and 9. Gracious and compassionate is said of the LORD at Psalm 111:4 and of this man at verse 4. The mirror is the psalm's whole method.Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710, on Psalm 112:3. | Psalm 112:3, Psalm 112:4, Psalm 112:9 |
| Light dawns in the darkness | Verse 4 gives the upright man light coming up in the dark, and the same verse calls him gracious, compassionate and righteous. The light and the character stand in one line, so the rising light is read off the man as much as over him.John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament, 1748 to 1763, on Psalm 112:4. | Psalm 112:4 |
| A heart that is steadfast | Verses 7 and 8 say it twice, that his heart is steadfast and that his heart is secure. Bad news does not shake him, and the repetition is what the psalm offers in place of an argument.Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, 1832 to 1869, on Psalm 112:7. | Psalm 112:7, Psalm 112:8 |
| The wicked man watching | The last verse changes subject. The wicked man sees everything the psalm has just described, gnashes his teeth and wastes away, and his desires perish while the righteous man's righteousness endures forever. The portrait is finished by putting an onlooker beside it.Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 5, 1878, on Psalm 112:10. | Psalm 112:10 |
The mirror
7 more paragraphs on the patterns
The psalm should be read as the answer to a question the psalm before it raises. If the LORD is gracious, compassionate and everlastingly righteous, what does a person who fears Him look like. Psalm 112 answers by repeating the terms: His righteousness endures forever at verses 3 and 9, gracious and compassionate at verse 4.
The New Testament's use
Verse 9 is quoted word for word at 2 Corinthians 9:9, in the middle of Paul's instructions to the Corinthians about the collection for the saints in Jerusalem, where he holds up this man's scattered giving as the pattern. The psalm's open hand becomes the church's practice, which makes this psalm part of the scriptural ground for Christian giving.
The debated question
The psalm's promises are plain and material: wealth in the house, descendants mighty in the land, remembrance that outlasts the man. Whether those are to be read as guarantees or as the ordinary shape of a life lived this way is the question the psalm raises and does not answer. Read as guarantees, the psalm stands in tension with Psalm 37 and Psalm 73, which take up at length what happens when the pattern seems to fail, and with Job. Read as the ordinary shape, the psalm is describing what usually follows without promising that it always will, which is how the wisdom writers generally speak. The second reading is the one that lets the Psalter be read whole, and a student should notice that the psalm itself states the promises without qualification.
The steadfast heart
Verses 7 and 8 say it twice, that his heart is steadfast and that his heart is secure, and bad news is what it meets. The same word is used of the singer's fixed heart at Psalm 108:1. In both places the heart is settled before the trouble arrives rather than after it.
Key words
The words this chapter repeats, each one a lemma of the store’s tagged Hebrew however the chapter inflects it, with the verses it stands in. The grammar words are struck out, and the eight terms the psalm says the word of God by stand in the figure above the patterns rather than here. Every row opens that word’s own page.
| Word | Said | No.Strong’s | Meaning | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עַד | ʻad | H5703 | perpetuity | 3, 9 |
| יָשָׁר | yâshâr | H3477 | upright | 2, 4 |
| צְדָקָה | tsᵉdâqâh | H6666 | righteousness | 3, 9 |
| צַדִּיק | tsaddîyq | H6662 | righteous | 4, 6 |
| רָשָׁע | râshâʻ | H7563 | wicked | 10 |
| יָרֵא | yârêʼ | H3372 | to fear | 7, 8 |
Keep studying
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, 1832 to 1869, on Psalm 112:9; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 5, 1878, on Psalm 112:1 and Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms, 1871, on Psalm 112:1.
The exposition
Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
The painting
The Hunters in the Snow. Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1565. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.