Salmos 112
Bob Utley · You Can Understand the Bible
Salmos 112
CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS See Contextual Insights of Psalm 111 for the obvious connections between Psalms 111 and 112. Psalm 111 praises YHWH but Psalm 112 praises the faithful follower (cf. Psalm 128). he fears the Lord, Ps. 112:1b he delights in His revelations, Ps. 112:1c (cf. Ps. 1:2) his descendants will be mighty on earth, Ps. 112:2a they will be blessed, Ps. 112:2b they are prosperous, Ps. 112:3a his righteousness endures forever, Ps. 112:3b he and his family have light in darkness, Ps. 112:4a he is gracious, Ps. 112:4b,5a,9a he is compassionate, Ps. 112:4b he is upright, Ps. 112:4b he conducts his officers with justice, Ps. 112:5b he will never be shaken, Ps. 112:6a he and his family as righteous people will be remembered forever, Ps. 112:6b he will not fear evil tidings, Ps. 112:7a his heart is steadfast (cf. Ps. 57:7; 108:1), trusting in the Lord, Ps. 112:7b (cf. Isa. 26:3) his heart is steady, BDB 701, KB 759, Qal PASSIVE PARTICIPLE (i.e., by God), Ps. 112:8a he will not fear, Ps. 112:8a his enemies will be defeated before him, Ps. 112:8b, 10a his righteousness endures forever, Ps. 112:9b his horn will be exalted in honor, Ps. 112:9c (cf. Ps. 75:10) By contrast the wicked will experience the exact opposite. Their fate is specifically mentioned in Ps. 112:10. the wicked will see the blessing of the righteous and be vexed they will gnash their teeth they will melt away their desire will perish
Salmos 112:1-6
112:1 "Praise the Lord" See note at Ps. 111:1. ▣ "How blessed is the man. . ." This is Wisdom vocabulary. blessed (TEV, "happy"), Ps. 112:1 ‒ BDB 80 (cf. Ps. 1:1; 119:1-2) blessed, Ps. 112:2 - BDB 138 well (TEV, "happy"), Ps. 112:5 ‒ BDB 373 II ▣ "fears the Lord" See note at Ps. 111:10. SPECIAL TOPIC: FEAR (OT) ▣ "Who greatly delights in His commandments" The VERB (BDB 342, KB 339, Qal PERFECT) denotes a person's attitude toward YHWH's revelation (cf. Ps. 19:10; 111:2; 119:35). The faithful follower obeys them (cf. Deut. 4:1-2,14,40; 16:12; 30:8,16,19-20; see SPECIAL TOPIC: KEEP). For "commandments" see the SPECIAL TOPIC: TERMS FOR GOD'S REVELATION 112:2 From the Ten Commandments we learn that evil moves through generations (cf. Exod. 20:5; Deut. 5:9,10) but, praise God, so does faith (cf. Exod. 20:6; Deut. 5:10; 7:9; Exod. 34:7). 112:3a Remember, this is an OT text, the "two ways" of the Mosaic covenant (cf. Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 27-28; 30:15-20; Psalm 1; Prov. 4:10-19; Jer. 21:8; Matt. 7:13-14). This did not work because of mankind's fallen nature (cf. Genesis 3; Romans 1-3; Galatians 3; Hebrews). Be careful of proof-texting these verses on prosperity as if they were NT promises! SPECIAL TOPIC: COVENANT ▣ "wealth and riches" See SPECIAL TOPIC: WEALTH 112:4a This phrase implies that the faithful follower will have understanding amidst the problems of this fallen age because he fears YHWH, Ps. 112:1b,7b he delights in His revelation, Ps. 112:1c he lives out his faith, Ps. 112:4b-5 he will not be shaken, Ps. 112:6a he does not fear, Ps. 112:8a ▣ The SUBJECT of the VERB "rises" (BDB 280, KB 281, Qal PERFECT) is unspecified. It could refer to the faithful follower. The UBS Handbook (p. 960) suggests "He is like a light in darkness, that shines for the honorable (i.e., upright, MASCULINE PLURAL) men." 112:4b These same attributes are said of YHWH in Ps. 111:3b,4b (cf. Exod. 34:6-7). This line of poetry has no SSUBJECT or VERB but three MASCULINE ADJECTIVES. gracious ‒ BDB 337 merciful ‒ BDB 933 righteous ‒ BDB 843 It could refer to YHWH (AB, p. 128). NIDOTTE, vol. 2, p. 204, says that "gracious" is used thirteen times and always refers to YHWH, except in Ps. 112:4. This implies that Ps. 112:4 might not refer to YHWH. SPECIAL TOPIC: CHARACTERISTICS OF ISRAEL'S GOD (OT) 112:5 In the OT, covenant brothers were to lend to the poor without interest (cf. Exod. 22:25; Lev. 25:35-38; Deut. 15:7-8). To help the poor was a way to show one's devotion to YHWH, who cared for the poor (cf. Ps. 37:26; Prov. 19:17; Matt. 5:42; Luke 6:35). The way one treats others clearly reveals his relationship with God (cf. Ps. 112:4). 112:6b Because of this line and Ps. 112:3b and 9b, an afterlife of some kind, not just the memory of God, is implied! Heaven is not just God's memory but His people in fellowship with Him (cf. Matt. 22:31-32). SPECIAL TOPIC: RESURRECTION
Salmos 112:7-9
112:9a This is quoted (cf. 2 Cor. 9:9) in Paul's discussion of the Gentile churches' one-time gift to the Mother Church in Jerusalem (i.e., 2 Corinthians 8-9). 112:9c "horn will be exalted in honor" This is an OT idiom for a person's place in society. It denotes a work of God in lifting a person's status, wealth, and power. YHWH does this to the king in 1 Sam. 2:10 (also note Ps. 89:17,24) and to Hannah in 1 Sam. 2:1.
Salmos 112:10
112:10 "gnash his teeth" This was a sign of anger (cf. Ps. 35:16; 37:12; 112:10; Luke 13:28). It also refers to the experience of judgment (cf. Matt. 8:12; 13:42,50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30). ▣ "melt away" The wicked will perish (cf. Ps. 68:2). They will melt away in the fire of YHWH's judgment (cf. Isa. 34:2-4). Their psychological pain is caused by the reversal of their prosperous state their exclusion from God's kingdom the blessing and prosperity of the faithful followers before their eyes