Psalm 112

¹ Praise the LORD. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands.
² His children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.
³ Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.
⁴ Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man.
⁵ Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice.
⁶ Surely he will never be shaken; a righteous man will be remembered forever.
⁷ He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.
⁸ His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes.
⁹ He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor, his righteousness endures forever; his horn will be lifted high in honor.
¹⁰ The wicked man will see and be vexed, he will gnash his teeth and waste away; the longings of the wicked will come to nothing.

When I consider the phrase “blessed is the one who fears the Lord” I reflect to Psalm one. The key in understanding this phrase is found in the word blessed. In Psalm 1, we are told, “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law, he meditates day and night.” The fear of the Lord is an understanding of God and his way. To grasp an understanding of this verse we must understand the definition of fear. Fear can be defined as a feeling of anxiety (restlessness caused by uncertainties) that marks a state of guard apprehension and uneasiness that forces one to make decisions. This blessing comes from a trust and obeys relationship with the Lord.

As I study this Psalm, I cannot help to be drawn back to the teaching of Psalm one. God has given us the way to walk in; however, humankind seems to want more. The truth of this Psalm is we are to trust and obey the God.

The difference in the life of the man who fears the LORD and the life of the man who does not is the caretaker. As I work in my backyard or on my land, I realize how much the design reflects the desire and purpose of me the caretaker. The same is with the one that looks to the Lord as the one that directs his life. This is the type of relationship that Christ spoke of in John chapter fifteen:

¹ I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

² Every branch in me that bears not fruit, he takes it away: and every branch that bears fruit, he cleanses it, that it may bear more fruit.

³ Already ye are clean because of the word, which I have spoken unto you.

⁴ Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; so, neither can ye, except ye abide in me.

⁵ I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit: for apart from me ye can do nothing.

⁶ If a man abides not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

The wicked, the one that does not have the fear of God in their life does not have the caretaker in their life. May my life (the work of God’s hand in the life of an old saint) reflect the same joy in God that I have when I set in the designer’s chair, look out, and delight in the beauty that my secret garden gives me?