Wealth and riches are in his house. His righteousness endures forever.
Parallel Translations
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Wealth and riches are in his house. His righteousness endures forever.
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Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever.
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Wealth and riches are in his house; and his merit endureth for ever.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (13)
Passages linked to Psalms 112:3 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Proverbs 15:6 In the house of the righteous is much treasure, but the income of the wicked brings trouble.
- Proverbs 3:16 Length of days is in her right hand. In her left hand are riches and honor.
- Matthew 6:33 But seek first God’s Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.
- Isaiah 33:6 There will be stability in your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of Yahweh is your treasure.
- Philippians 4:18-19 But I have all things and abound. I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things that came from you, a sweet-smelling fragrance, an acceptable and well-pleasing sacrifice to God. My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
- Psalms 112:9 He has dispersed, he has given to the poor. His righteousness endures forever. His horn will be exalted with honor.
- Psalms 111:10 The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom. All those who do his work have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!
- 2 Corinthians 6:10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
- 1 Timothy 6:6-8 But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we certainly can’t carry anything out. But having food and clothing, we will be content with that.
- Psalms 111:3 His work is honor and majesty. His righteousness endures forever.
- Isaiah 32:17 The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever.
- Isaiah 51:8 For the moth will eat them up like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool; but my righteousness will be forever, and my salvation to all generations.”
- Matthew 24:22-24 Unless those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved. But for the sake of the chosen ones, those days will be shortened. “Then if any man tells you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or, ‘There,’ don’t believe it. For there will arise false christs, and false prophets, and they will show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the chosen ones.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain The godly shall have abundance, and contentment, because their…
The godly shall have abundance, and contentment, because their heart is satisfied in God only.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 112:3 Wealth and riches [shall be] in his…
Psa 112:3 Wealth and riches [shall be] in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever.
Ver. 3. Wealth and riches] Wealth enough, as the word Hon signifieth, a well contented sufficiency. His "chambers shall be filled with all precious and pleasant riches," Pro 24:4.
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His righteousness endureth for ever] He is not the worse for his wealth, nor drawn aside by the deceitfulness of riches, which yet is hard and happy.
Ardua res haec est opibus non tradere mores:
Et cum tot Croesos viceris, esse Numam
(Martial).
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Shall be in his house; possessed by him whilst…
Shall be in his house; possessed by him whilst he lives, and continued in his family after his death.
His righteousness, i.e. the fruit or reward of his righteousness, which is God’s blessing upon his estate; for the work is oft put for the reward of it, as in the Hebrew, Lev 19:13; Job 7:2; Psa 109:20. And
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righteousness may be here taken for his bounty or charity, as it is below, Psa 112:9, and as this Hebrew word is frequently taken.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Wealth and riches shall be in his house,.... In…
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. Some understand this of his liberality with his riches, as alms deeds are sometimes called righteousness; see Psa 112:9 though it rather intends either inherent righteousness, the new man which is created in righteousness, the inward principle of grace which always continues; or the righteousness of Christ imputed to him, which is an everlasting one.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Righteousness - The fruit or reward of his righteousness,…
Righteousness - The fruit or reward of his righteousness, which is God's blessing upon his estate.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 3. Wealth and riches shall be in his…
Verse 3. Wealth and riches shall be in his house] This is often the case: a godly man must save both time and money. Before he was converted he lost much time, and squandered his money. All this he now saves, and therefore wealth and riches must be in his house; and if he does not distribute to the necessities of the poor, they will continue to accumulate till they be his curse; or God will, by his providence, sweep them away. Both צדקה tsedakah and δικαιοσυνη are often used to signify, not only justice and righteousness, but also beneficence and almsgiving; and this is most probably the meaning here. See Ps 112:9.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Wealth and riches shall be in his house -…
Wealth and riches shall be in his house - The Septuagint and the Vulgate render this, “glory and riches shall be in his house.” The word, however, properly means riches or wealth, and the two terms are used apparently to convey the idea that wealth or property in “varied forms” would be in his house; that is, not merely gold and silver, but all that was understood to constitute wealth - variety of garments, articles of furniture, etc. This promise is of the same nature as that of the previous verse. It pertains to a general truth in regard to the influence of religion in promoting prosperity. Compare the notes at 1Ti 4:8.
And his righteousness endureth for ever - That is, The effects of it shall be transmitted from age to age in the prosperity, the respectability, the wealth, the happiness of his descendants. It travels on from age to age, and blesses distant generations.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 3. His righteousness—This same is ascribed to Jehovah, Psa_111:3.…
3. His righteousness—This same is ascribed to Jehovah, Psa_111:3. It is here reproduced in the holy man.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 3. Wealth &c.] Cp. Pro_3:16; Pro_8:18.
3. Wealth &c.] Cp. Pro_3:16; Pro_8:18.
his righteousness standeth fast for ever] Here and in Psa_112:9 the words which are used in Psa_111:3 of God are applied to the godly man. They may be understood to mean that the character of the godly man is a reflection of the character of God: but the parallelism suggests that here, as in Psa_24:5 (where righteousness answers to blessing), righteousness is nearly equivalent to the reward of righteousness (cp. Eze_18:20; Isa_58:8). The unbroken prosperity of the godly is the verdict of approval which God pronounces upon his character and conduct. Cp. Isa_65:23.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (3) His righteousness endureth for ever.—The parallelism in Psa_112:9,…
(3) His righteousness endureth for ever.—The parallelism in Psa_112:9, where the same clause is repeated, seems to require for righteousness the limited sense which the Talmud gives the word—viz., liberality or beneficence. See also Dan_4:27, in the LXX. Still the saying is true in its widest sense. “There is nothing, no, nothing, innocent or good, that dies or is forgotten; let us hold to that faith, or none” (Dickens).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Wealth and riches shall be in his house. Bishop…
Wealth and riches shall be in his house. Bishop Butler has well shown how, in God"s moral government of the world, virtue tends to accumulate to itself the good things of this life, and vice to disperse and dissipate them. ("Analogy," pt. 1: Ps 3; comp. 1Ti_4:8) And his righteousness endureth forever. Human goodness here called "righteousness" is a thing which does not change, since character is formed by habits, and habits are "a second nature.
A man"s righteousness.
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"Righteousness" has come to be a sort of exclusively religious word; a theological word, with a connotation fitting to a particular creed, over which learned men long have wrangled. Why cannot we let common sense win it for common, everyday uses? "Righteousness" is rightness. It is being right right with God, and right with man, and doing right because we are right. How to become right, and how to be right, are the supreme questions for all moral beings. Every great teacher who has arisen in any age or any nation has set himself" to answer these two questions; and our Lord Jesus Christ, with Divine authority, answered them in his Sermon on the Mount. He did a prophet"s work in recalling men to the spiritual conception of righteousness as heart-rightness inspiring life-rightness, i.e. rightness of conduct and relations. Possibly, in our text, the main idea of the word is beneficence, kindness to others. But this only presents righteousness on its side of relation to man; it has also a side of relation to God. Both have to be included.
I A MAN"S RIGHTEOUSNESS AS MAN CAN ESTIMATE IT. We have a human standard of rightness. It varies in expression; it is really everywhere the same. It is the standard of the best man of our nation or race. The psalmist said his goodness could stand the test of the "saints that are in the earth," but not the test of God. Man"s idea of rightness includes purity, energy, and charity.
II A MAN"S RIGHTEOUSNESS AS THE MAN HIMSELF CAN ESTIMATE IT. There is a consciousness of rightness, a conscious will for the right and love of the right, which are a man"s dignity and strength; which a man has a perfect right to cling to as his chief treasure. Job firmly says, "Till I die I will not remove my integrity from me. My righteousness I hold last, and will not let it go." David said, "Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me." And our Divine Lord, as a man, said, "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me." A man"s rightness is no sufficient basis for his acceptance with God, but it is good so far as it goes.
III A MAN"S RIGHTEOUSNESS AS GOD ESTIMATES IT. He knows the distinction between its accidental and its essential features. He distinguishes the thing which appears from the foundation on which it rests. Rightness, judged by human standards, may rest on a basis of self self-pleasing and pride. Some men respect themselves too much to do a wrong thing. But the highest type of rightness is built upon the recognition of God as the standard righteousness, who requires those who would do right to be "all glorious within." He asks for "truth in the inward parts R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 3. Wealth and riches shall be in his…
Ver. 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. What wealth can equal that of the love of God? What riches can rival a contented heart? It matters nothing that the roof is thatched, and the floor is of cold stone: the heart which is cheered with the favour of heaven is "rich to all the intents of bliss."
And his righteousness endureth for ever. Often when gold comes in the gospel goes out; but it is not so with the blessed man. Prosperity does not destroy the holiness of his life, or the humility of his heart. His character stands the test of examination, overcomes the temptations of wealth, survives the assaults of slander, outlives the afflictions of time, and endures the trial of the last great day. The righteousness of a true saint endureth for ever, because it springs from the same root as the righteousness of God, and is, indeed, the reflection of it. So long as the Lord abideth righteous he will maintain by his grace the righteousness of his people. They shall hold on their way, and wax stronger and stronger. There is also another righteousness which belongs to the Lord's chosen, which is sure to endure for ever, namely, the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus, which is called "everlasting righteousness, "belonging as it does to the Son of God himself, who is "the Lord our righteousness."
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Ver. 3. Wealth and riches shall be in his house, and his righteousness endureth for ever. He is not the worse for his wealth, nor drawn aside by the deceitfulness of riches, which yet is hard and happy. John Trapp.
Ver. 3. In the lower sense, we may read these words literally of abundant wealth bestowed on the righteous by God, and used, not for pride and luxury, but for continual works of mercy, whence it is said of the person so enriched, that
his righteousness endureth for ever. But the higher meaning bids us see here those true spiritual riches which are stored up for the poor in spirit, often most needy in the prosperity of the world; and we may come at the truest sense by comparing the words wherein the great apostle describes his own condition, "As poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things." 2Co 6:10. For who can be richer than he who is heir of God and joint heir with Jesus Christ? Agellius, Chrysostom, and Didymus, in Neale and Littledale.
Ver. 3. His righteousness endureth for ever. It seems a bold thing to say this of anything human, and yet it is true; for all human righteousness has its root in the righteousness of God. It is not merely man striving to copy God. It is God's gift and God's work. There is a living connexion between the righteousness of God and the righteousness of man, and therefore the imperishableness of the one appertains to the other also. Hence the same thing is affirmed here of the human righteousness which in Ps 111:3 is affirmed of the Divine. J. J. S. Perowne.
Ver. 3. His righteousness endureth for ever. We are justified before God by faith only: Ro 3:4: but they are righteous before men, who live honestly, piously, humbly, as the law of God requires. Concerning this righteousness the Psalmist says that it endureth for ever, while the feigned and simulated uprightness of hypocrites is abominable before God, and with men speedily passes away. Solomon Gesner.
Ver. 3. The riches of a Christian: content, peace, security, power in prayer, promises, providence, yea, God himself.
Ver. 3. The enduring character of true righteousness.
1. Based on eternal principles.
2. Growing out of an incorruptible seed.
3. Sustained by a faithful God.
4. United to the ever living Christ.
Ver. 3. Connection of the two clausesHow to be wealthy and righteous. Note the following verses, and show how liberality is needful if rich men would be righteous men.
Psalms 112:4*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Wealth and riches shall be in his house.
Psa_112:3
Wealth and riches shall be in his house.
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Prosperity and its qualifications
I. What is prosperity? To be prosperous is to have that which will promote the well-being of mans whole nature and which has that end secured. Material, moral, and intellectual wealth and its results.
II. What is calculated to produce it? The psalmist, our Lord, and St. Paul are at one as to the qualification. Righteousness--the harmony of a mans whole nature with the will of God.
1. When that is the case, a man is moderate, temperate, observant of natural laws, and (supposing of course no constitutional ailment) therefore healthy.
2. He holds in check the feverish desire to succeed, and thus godliness with contentment becomes great gain.
3. He holds those passions in check which cloud the understanding and impair the vision.
4. He respects the rights of others. Hence, those whose rights you respect, will respect yours.
5. He will be frugal of his time, his money, etc., in recognition of Gods claims upon both, and, as Gods steward, will put them out to usury, and strive to be prosperous, that he may advance Gods interests in the world.
III. What objections can be urged against all this?
1. That the righteous are not better off than others. But
(1) Do those who are called righteous answer to the law of righteousness in its entirety?
(2) Without controversy it is all true respecting communities. All history proves that they prosper in proportion to their righteousness.
(3) It is so by the common consent of the world. How often do we hear the expression that such an one is worth his weight in gold.
2. That men prosper who violate the laws of righteousness. But
(1) Are these men prosperous?
(2) Supposing them to have all that heart could wish, what shall it profit a man? etc.
(3) Supposing it true of an individual, when was it ever true of a nation? (J. W. Burn.)
Treasure in the house
The treasures in the house of the righteous--i.e, in the Christian home--though very great, are not duly appreciated, even by those who possess them. I heard a good man say once, as we passed the home of a millionaire, It, doesnt seem right that such a man as he is should be rolling in wealth, while I have to work hard for my daily bread. I made no reply. But when we reached the home of the grumbler, and a troop of rosy children ran out to meet us, I caught one in my arms, and, holding him up, said, John, how much will you take for this boy? And he answered, while the moisture gathered in his eyes, That boy, my namesake! I wouldnt sell him for his weight in gold. Why, John, he weighs forty pounds at least, and forty pounds of gold would make you many times a millionaire. And you would probably ask as much for each of the others. So, according to your own admission, you are immensely rich. Yes, a great deal richer than that cold, selfish, childless millionaire whom you were envying as we came along. Nothing would tempt you to change places with him. Then you ought to be grateful instead of grumbling. You are the favourite of fortune, or, rather, of Providence, and not he. (H. W. Beecher.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain Psa 111:3; Psa 112:3.
Psalms
GOD AND THE GODLY
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Psa 111:3; Psa 112:3.
These two psalms are obviously intended as a pair. They are identical in number of verses and in structure, both being acrostic, that is to say, the first clause of each commences with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the second clause with the second, and so on. The general idea that runs through them is the likeness of the godly man to God. That resemblance comes very markedly to the surface at several points in the psalms, and pervades them traceably even where it is less conspicuous. The two corresponding clauses which I have read as my text are the first salient instances of it. But I propose to deal not only with them, but with a couple of others which occur in the course of the psalms, and will appear as I proceed.
The general underlying thought is a noteworthy one. The worshipper is to be like his God. So it is in idolatry; so it should be with us. Worship is, or should be, adoration of and yearning after the highest conceivable good. Such an attitude must necessarily lead to imitation, and be crowned by resemblance. Love makes like, and they who worship God are bound to, and certainly will, in proportion to the ardour and sincerity of their devotion, grow like Him whom they adore. So I desire to look with you at the instances of this resemblance or parallelism which the Psalmist emphasises.
I. The first of them is that in the clauses which I have read as our starting-point, viz. God and the godly are alike in enduring righteousness.
That seems a bold thing to say, especially when we remember how lofty and transcendent were the Old Testament conceptions of the righteousness of God. But, lofty as these were, this Psalmist lifts an unpresumptuous eye to the heavens, and having said of Him who dwells there, ‘His righteousness endureth for ever,’ is not afraid to turn to the humble worshipper on this low earth, and declare the same thing of him. Our finite, frail, feeble lives may be really conformed to the image of the heavenly. The dewdrop with its little rainbow has a miniature of the great arch that spans the earth and rises into the high heavens. And so, though there are differences, deep and impassable, between anything that can be called creatural righteousness, and that which bears the same name in the heavens, the fact that it does bear the same name is a guarantee to us that there is an essential resemblance between the righteousness of God in its lustrous perfectness, and the righteousness of His child in its imperfect effort.
But how can we venture to run any kind of parallelism between the eternity of the one and that of the other? God’s righteousness we can understand as enduring for ever, because it is inseparable from His very being; because it is manifested unbrokenly in all the works that for ever pour out from that central Source, and because it and its doings stand fast and unshaken amidst the passage of ages, and the ‘wreck of matter and the crash of worlds.’ But may there not be, if not an eternity, yet a perpetuity, in our reflection of the divine righteousness which shall serve to vindicate the application of the same mighty word to both? Is it not possible that, unbroken amidst the stress of temptation, and running on without interruptions, there may be in our hearts and in our lives conformity to the divine will? And is it not possible that the transiencies of our earthly doings may be sublimed into perpetuity if there is in them the preserving salt of righteousness?
‘The actions of the just
Smell sweet, and blossom in the dust.’
And may it not be, too, that though this Psalmist may have had no clear articulate doctrine of eternal life beyond, he may have felt, and rightly felt, that there were things that were too fair to die, and that it was inconceivable that a soul which had been, in some measure, tinged with the righteousness of God could ever be altogether a prey to the law of transiency and decay which seizes upon things material and corporeal? That which is righteous is eternal, be it manifested in the acts of the unchanging God or in the acts of a dying man, and when all else has passed away, and the elements have melted with fervent heat, ‘he that doeth the will of God,’ and the deeds which did it, ‘shall abide for ever.’ ‘His righteousness endureth for ever.’
Now, brethren! there are two ways in which we may look at this parallelism of our text: the one is as containing a stringent requirement; the other as holding forth a mighty hope. It contains a stringent requirement. Our religion does not consist in assenting to any creed. Our religion is not wholly to consist of devout emotions and loving and joyous acts of communion and friendship with God. There must be more than these; these things there must be. For if a man is to be guided mainly by reason, there must, first of all, be creed; then there must be corresponding emotions. But creed and emotions are both meant to be forces which shall drive the wheels of life, and conduct is, after all, the crown of religion and the test of godliness. They that hold communion with God are bound to mould their lives into the likeness of His. ‘Little children, let no man deceive you,’ and let not your own hearts deceive you. You are not a Christian because you believe the truths of the Gospel. You are not such a Christian as you ought to be, if your religion is more manifest in loving trust than in practical obedience which comes from trust. ‘He that doeth righteousness is righteous,’ and he is to be righteous ‘even as He is righteous.’ If you are God’s, you will be like God. Apply the touchstone to your lives, and test your Christianity by this simple and most stringent test.
But again, we may look at the thought as holding forth a great hope. I do not wish to force upon Old Testament writers New Testament truth. It would be an anachronism and an absurdity to make this Psalmist responsible for anything like a clear evangelistic statement of the way by which a man may be made righteous. That waited for coming days, and eminently for Jesus Christ. But it would be quite as great a mistake to eviscerate the words of their plain implications. And when they put side by side the light and the reflection, God and the godly, it seems to me to be doing violence to their meaning for the sake of trying to make them mean less than they do, if we refuse to recognise that they have at any rate an inkling of the thought that the Original and Pattern of human righteousness was likewise the Source of it. This at least is plain, that the Psalmist thought that ‘the fear of the Lord’ was not only, as he calls it at the close of the former of the two psalms, ‘the beginning of wisdom,’ but also the basis of goodness, for he begins his description of the godly with it.
I believe that he felt, what is assuredly true, that no man, by his own unaided effort, can ever work out for himself a righteousness which will satisfy his own conscience, and that he must, first of all, be in touch with God, in order to receive from Him that which he cannot create. Ah, brethren! the ‘fine linen, clean and white, which is the righteousness of saints,’ is woven in no earthly looms; and the lustrous light with which it glistens is such as ‘no fuller on earth can white’ men’s characters into. Another Psalmist has sung of the man who can stand in the holy place, ‘He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, even righteousness from the God of his salvation,’ and our psalms hint, if they do not articulately declare, how that reception is possible for us, when they set forth waiting upon God as the condition of being made like Him. We translate the Psalmist’s feeling after the higher truth which we know, when we desire ‘that we may be found in Him, not having our own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is of God by faith.’ So much, then, for the first point of correspondence in these two psalms.
II. God and the godly are alike in gracious compassion.
If you will turn to the two psalms for a moment, and look at the last clauses of the two fourth verses, you will see how that thought is brought out. In the former psalm we read, ‘The Lord is gracious and full of compassion’: in the latter we find, ‘he’ {the upright man} ‘is gracious and full of compassion, and righteous.’
I need not trouble you with any remarks about certain difficulties that lie in the rendering of that latter verse. Suffice it to say that they are such as to make more emphatic the intentional resemblance between the godly as there described, and God as described in the previous one. Of both it is said ‘gracious and full of compassion.’
Now that great truth of which I have been speaking, the divine righteousness, is like white Alpine snow, sublime, but cold, awful and repellent, when taken by itself. Our hearts need something more than a righteous God if we are ever to worship and draw near. Just as the white snow on the high peak needs to be flushed with the roseate hue of the morning before it can become tender, and create longings, so the righteousness of the great white Throne has to be tinged with the ruddy heart-hue of gracious compassion if men are to be moved to adore and to love. Each enhances the other. ‘What God hath joined together,’ in Himself, ‘let not man put asunder’; nor talk about the stern Deity of the Old Testament, and pit Him against the compassionate Father of the New. He is righteous, but the proclaimers of His righteousness in old days never forgot to blend with the righteousness the mercy; and the combination heightens the lustre of both attributes.
The same combination is absolutely needful in the copy, as is emphatically set forth in our text by the addition of ‘and righteous,’ in the case of the man. For whilst with God the tyro attributes do lie, side by side, in perfect harmony, in us men there is always danger that the one shall trench upon the territory of the other, and that he who has cultivated the habit of looking upon sorrows and sins with compassion and tenderness shall somewhat lose the power of looking at them with righteousness. So our text, in regard to man, proclaims more emphatically than it needs to do in regard to the perfect God, that ever his highest beauty of compassion must be wedded to righteousness, and ever his truest strength of righteousness must be softened with compassion.
But beyond that, note how, wherever there is the loving and childlike contemplation of God, there will be an analogy in our compassion, to His perfectness. We are transformed by beholding. The sun strikes a poor little pane of glass in a cottage miles away, and it flashes with some likeness of the sun and casts a light across the plain. The man whose face is turned Godwards will have beauty pass into his face, and all that look upon him will see ‘as it had been the countenance of an angel.’
If we have, in any real and deep measure, received mercy we shall reflect mercy. Remember the parable of the unmerciful debtor. The servant that cast himself at his lord’s feet, and got the acquittal of his debt, and went out and gripped his fellow-servant by the throat, leaving the marks of his fingernails on his windpipe, with his ‘Pay me that thou owest!’ had all the pardon cancelled, and all the debt laid upon his shoulders again. If we owe all our hope and peace to a forgiving God, how can we make anything else the law of our lives than that, having received mercy, we should show mercy? The test of your being a forgiven man is your forgivingness. There is no getting away from that plain principle, which modifies the declaration of the freedom of God’s full pardon.
But I would have you notice, further, as a very remarkable illustration of this correspondence between the gracious and compassionate Lord and His servant, that in the verses which follow respectively the two about which I am now speaking, the same idea is wrought out in another shape. In the psalm dealing with the divine character and works we read, immediately after the declaration that He is ‘gracious and full of compassion,’ this-’He hath given meat to them that fear Him’; and the corresponding clause in the second of our psalms is followed by this-to translate accurately-’It is well with the man who showeth favour and lendeth.’ So man’s open-handedness in regard to money is put down side by side with God’s open-handedness in regard to giving meat unto them that fear Him. And again, in the ninth verse of each psalm, we have the same thought set forth in another fashion. ‘He sent redemption unto His people,’ says the one; ‘He hath dispersed, He hath given to the poor,’ says the other. That is to say, our paltry giving may be paralleled with the unspeakable gifts which God has bestowed, if they come from a love which is like His. It does not matter though they are so small and His are so great; there is a resemblance. The tiniest crystal may be like the hugest. God gives to us the possession of things in order that we may enjoy the luxury, which is one of the elements in the blessedness of the blessed God, who is blessed because He is the giving God, the luxury of giving. Poor though our bestowments must be, they are not unlike His. The little burn amongst the heather carves its tiny bed, and impels its baby ripples by the same laws which roll the waters of the Amazon, and every fall that it makes over a shelf of rock a foot high is a miniature Niagara.
III. So, lastly, we have still another point, not so much of resemblance as of correspondence, in the firmness of God’s utterances and of the godly heart.
In the first of our two psalms we read, in the seventh verse, ‘All His commandments are sure.’ In the second we read, in the corresponding verse, ‘his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.’ The former psalm goes on, ‘His commandments stand fast for ever and ever; and the next psalm, in the corresponding verse, says ‘his heart is established,’ the original employing the same word in both cases, which in our version is rendered, in the one place, ‘stand fast,’ and in the other ‘established.’ So that the Psalmist is thinking of a correspondence between the stability of God’s utterances and the stability of the heart that clasps them in faith.
His commandments are not only precepts which enjoin duty. All which God says is law, whether it be directly in the nature of guiding precept, or whether it be in the nature of revealing truth, or whether it be in the nature of promise. It is sure, reliable, utterly trustworthy. We may be certain that it will direct us aright, that it will reveal to us absolute truth, that it will hold forth no flattering and false promises. And it is ‘established.’ The one fixed point amidst the whirl of things is the uttered will of God.
Therefore, the heart that builds there builds safely. And there should be a correspondence, whether there is or no, between the faithfulness of the Speaker and the faith of the hearer. A man who is doubtful about the solidity of the parapet which keeps him from toppling over into the abyss will lean gingerly upon it, until he has found out that it is firm. The man that knows how strong is the stay on which he rests ought to lean hard upon it. Lean hard upon God, put all your weight upon Him. You cannot put too much, you cannot lean too hard. The harder the better; the better He is pleased, and the more He breathes support and strength into us. And, brethren! if thus we build an established faith on that sure foundation, and match the unchangeableness of God in Christ with the constancy of our faith in Him, then, ‘He that believeth shall never make haste,’ and as my psalm says, ‘He shall not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.’
The upshot of the whole matter is-we cannot work out for ourselves a righteousness that will satisfy our own consciences, nor secure for ourselves a strength that will give peace to our hearts, and stability to our lives, by any other means than by cleaving fast to God revealed in Jesus Christ.
We have borne the image of the earthly long enough; let us open our hearts to God in Christ. Let us yield ourselves to Him; let us gaze upon Him with fixed eyes of love, and labour to make our own what He bestows upon us. Thus living near Him, we shall be bathed in His light, and show forth something of His beauty. Godliness is God-likeness. It is of no use to say that we are God’s children if we have none of the family likeness. ‘If ye were Abraham’s sons ye would do the works of Abraham,’ said Christ to the Jews. If we are God’s sons we shall do the works of God. ‘Be ye therefore perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect;’ be ye merciful as your Father is merciful. And if thus we here, dwelling with Christ, are being conformed to the image of His Son, we shall one day ‘be satisfied’ when we ‘awake in His likeness.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
The person who sings this song continues to describe a person who reveres Yahweh.
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Wealth and riches are in his house
Here the word "house" represents the family. The words "Wealth" and "riches" mean basically the same thing and indicate an abundance of wealth. AT: "His family is very wealthy" (See: Metonymy and Doublet)
Light shines in the darkness for the godly person
The writer speaks of God blessing the godly person in difficult times as if it were a light shining in darkness. AT: "The blessings that a godly person receives from God are like a light that shines in the darkness" (See: Metaphor)
lends money
The understood information can be made clear. AT: "lends his money to other people" (See: Ellipsis)
translationWords
house
righteous
endure
eternity
light
darkness
godly
grace
mercy
just
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.