The blessing of those who keep God’s commandments
[Psalms 112]
Today, I came to church with my two daughters, Yeri and Yeun, by car to attend the Wednesday prayer meeting. In the car, Yeri read a book to Yeun about a dull rabbit mom, a duller rabbit dad, and a dullest child. After I heard this, I told as a joke that the children that the story was somewhat similar to our home. Yeri continued reading to Yeun maybe because she couldn't hear what I said or maybe she heard it as a joke. Haha. But after few seconds, Yeun said, ‘Then I am dullest since I am the youngest child in our home.’ When I heard this, I thought that Yeun was disappointed. So I said to fix it: ‘It isn’t important to be smart, but effort is important.’ I learned a spiritual lesson from this conversation. The lesson is that in order not to be spiritually dull, we must devote ourselves to meditate on the Word of God diligently. And through that meditative word, I think that I should become a person who listens to and follows the voice of the Lord, the Shepherd.
Focusing on the words of Psalms 111 that we meditated before, we thought about “a good understanding” (v. 10). We have been taught that in order to gain good understanding, we must obey God's commandments (v. 10). We also learned that the commandments of God is to fear God (v. 10), and to fear God is to praise and worship the greatness of the Lord. And we are taught that in order to praise and worship the Lord's greatness, we must study, remember, and rejoice in His works. We have learned to live wisely in this world through the good understanding by keeping the commandments of God. In Psalms 112:1, the psalmist encourages us to greatly delight in His commandments: “Praise the LORD! How blessed is the man who fears the LORD, Who greatly delights in His commandments.” The Bible says that when we greatly delight in God’s commandments, we will be blessed. I hope and pray that we will be able to enjoy the same blessing as we keep God's commandments while meditating on what are the blessing of those who keep the commandments of God based on Psalms 112.
First, the blessing of those who keep God's commandments is that their descendants will be blessed as well.
Look at Psalms 112:2 – “His descendants will be mighty on earth; The generation of the upright will be blessed.” One of the things our parents of faith want the most is the desire to pass on their faith to their descendants. But does it go the way we want now? I am sure you know better that it doesn’t go the way we want to nurture our children. Indeed, what can we as parents do to pass on a legacy of faith to our children and descendants? As taught in Psalms 112, we must first fear God, and that fear must be demonstrated by keeping God's commandments. We must not hand over incredible wealth to our descendants, but hand over the teaching of revering the living God (Park). We parents must obey God's commandments with fear of God, even in order for our children and descendants to be blessed. In a word, we must be “upright” (v. 2). Then, even after we die, God will bless our children and our descendants so that they will become powerful on this earth. Let us keep in mind that even after we die, in order for our children and descendants to remain powerful in this harsh world, we must keep the commandments of God diligently with fear of God.
Second, the blessing of those who keep God's commandments is the abundance of wealth.
Look at Psalms 112:3 – “Wealth and riches are in his house, And his righteousness endures forever.” Those who fear God and keep His commandments receive material blessings. In other words, those who keep God's commandments are truly rich. So what kind of person is truly rich? A true rich man may not have a lot of wealth, but he always feels satisfied and gives relief because he has God as an inheritance. If he isn’t satisfied with a lot of wealth, such person is a slave of greed and vainness and life, but never rich (Park). But the true rich man is “gracious and compassionate and righteous” (v. 4). He lives his life by helping others (Park). How can we become truly rich? In other words, how can riches be enriched? The reason is because those who fear God and those who keep His commandments also possessed “righteousness” (v. 3, Park). In other words, it means that God sees our righteousness and gives us material blessings. Those who fear God and keep His commandments have eternal righteousness (vv. 3, 9). Therefore, God blesses their houses with rich wealth. Therefore, there is contentment in their hearts.
Third, the blessing of those who keep God's commandments is that they receive God’s grace.
Look at Psalms 112:4 – “Light arises in the darkness for the upright; He is gracious and compassionate and righteous.” God already rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son (Col. 1:13). We no longer belong to this dark world (Jn. 17:14). But living in this dark world, there are times when we are dark in the fear of God and striving to keep His commandments. But even in such darkness, God allows the light to rise. In other words, we receive God's grace even in a difficult life, such as sickness and tribulation (Park). But when the upright person dwells in darkness, God shines the light on him and delivers him. Therefore, those who fear God and keep His commandments enjoy the greater grace of God in darkness.
Fourth, the blessing of those who keep God's commandments is that they are well.
Look at Psalms 112:5 – “It is well with the man who is gracious and lends; He will maintain his cause in judgment.” Those who fear God and those who keep His commandments show the grace of God they have received to others. They are gracious and lends (v. 5). Look at verse 9: “He has given freely to the poor, His righteousness endures forever; His horn will be exalted in honor.” He who fears God and keep His commandments lends to others. In other words, he lives a life of service. Therefore, he is well. Look at Proverbs 11:24-25: “There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, And there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want. The generous man will be prosperous, And he who waters will himself be watered.” The reason why he becomes even more rich even though he scatters relief is because while God's righteousness to save others continues, his wealth does not fluctuate (Park). The secret to doing this well is to far God and keep His commandments. One of the commandments to keep is to do everything in justice. Look at Micah 6:8 – “He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?” It is good to do everything in justice. This is the secret to be well. The wicked, who are envious of the prosperity of the righteous, who are doing well will see it and be vexed, will gnash his teeth and melt away. “The desire of the wicked will perish” (v. 10).
Fifth and last, the blessing of those who keep God's commandments is that their hearts are upheld.
Look at Psalms 112:8 – “His heart is upheld, he will not fear, Until he looks with satisfaction on his adversaries.” Why are those who fear God and those who keep His commandments strong in heart and not afraid of the “bad news”? (v. 7) The reason is because they hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord (v. 7). In the midst of that, those who fear God and keep His commandments are not afraid because they provide relief to the poor (Park). There is no fear in love for the poor because it is to love their neighbor (1 Jn. 4:18). The reason is because perfect love drives out fear. We too must be steadfast in our hearts because we keep His commandments in the fear of God. We should not be afraid to hear any “bad news” from the wicked. As we completely trust in God, our hearts must be steadfast.
Those who fear God and keep His commandments are blessed. Even their descendants are blessed. They are blessed with material things. They receive the grace of God. And those who keep God's commandments do well. They aren’t afraid. The reason is because their hearts are strong. May we have these blessings.
Wanting to be blessed by keeping the commandments of God,
James Kim
(Longing for the joy of obeying His word)