Psalm 112:10

Psalm 112 is a wisdom psalm, written to teach, and it is the partner of Psalm 111. Psalm 111 praises the works and the righteous character of the LORD, and Psalm 112 describes the person who fears that LORD, so that his character is reflected in a human life. Its lines run through the Hebrew alphabet in order, one letter after another, which made its teaching easy to remember and gives a picture of a complete life.

The first five verses describe this man. His seed “shall be mighty upon earth” (Psalm 112:2), he is “gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous” (Psalm 112:4), and “he will guide his affairs with discretion” (Psalm 112:5). Verses 6 to 9 gather all of that into a picture of his security and lasting honour, and verse 10 sets the wicked beside him. The whole of Psalm 112 teaches what the wisdom books teach throughout, that a righteous life leads to blessing and a wicked one to ruin.

“Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.” The “he” is the man who fears the LORD from verse 1. The verb for “moved”, môwṭ, means to totter, shake or slip. Joined to “for ever”, the promise is that he will keep his footing with God for good. His life rests on God’s faithfulness, and that is where its steadiness comes from. Proverbs pictures it the same way: “When the whirlwind passeth, the wicked is no more: but the righteous is an everlasting foundation” (Proverbs 10:25). Another psalm says that those who trust in the LORD are like mount Zion, which cannot be removed (Psalm 125:1).

In Israel the stability of a household and the survival of a family line meant a great deal, because war, disaster or personal misfortune could overturn a life at any time. This verse gives the righteous a foundation that outlasts all of those.

The second half of the verse speaks of memory. The word for “everlasting”, ʻôwlâm, properly means time out of mind, reaching out of sight into the past or the future, and so it comes to mean eternity. “Remembrance” is zêker, a memorial or record that keeps someone’s name alive. In Israel to be forgotten was a curse close to being wiped out, and to be remembered, above all by God, was the highest blessing. When God remembers someone in Scripture, he acts for them. His memory holds what human memory loses, so this promise looks first to him, and then to the good that a righteous life leaves behind in other people. Proverbs sets the two ends side by side: “The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot” (Proverbs 10:7). Of those who die in the Lord, Revelation says, “their works do follow them” (Revelation 14:13).

“He shall not be afraid of evil tidings.” The Hebrew shəmuʿah raʿah means a bad report: news of a lost battle or a national disaster, of a family’s ruin, or of the death of someone loved. In a world without quick communication, such news often came late and all at once. The righteous man hears it like anyone else, and the promise concerns what it does to him. The verb yârêʼ can mean reverence, as it does when a person fears God, but here it is the dread that overwhelms a person, and that dread will find no hold on him.

The reason follows at once: “his heart is fixed”. The heart, lev in Hebrew thought, is the centre of the whole person, mind, will, feeling and moral character together. “Fixed” is kûwn, to stand upright, to be set up firmly, made ready and sure. A fixed heart is settled. Its owner knows where he stands, and that knowledge holds when a disturbing report arrives.

“Trusting in the LORD” says where that steadiness comes from. The word bâṭach is to lean on someone and to be confident and secure in him, and Strong’s gives its first sense as hiding somewhere for refuge. The one trusted is the LORD, Yᵉhôvâh, the eternal God who keeps his covenant. The heart is fixed because it rests on him, and it stays fixed because he is dependable. Isaiah promises “perfect peace” to the one whose mind is “stayed on thee” (Isaiah 26:3). Proverbs says, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart” (Proverbs 3:5–6), and Paul tells believers to be careful for nothing and to bring everything to God in prayer, with the promise that the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, will keep their hearts and minds (Philippians 4:6–7).

“His heart is established” uses a different word. The heart here is lêb, the same word for the inner person, and “established” is çâmak, to prop up, or to lean upon something. Verse 7 shows the heart standing firm, and verse 8 shows it held up from outside, supported by the God it leans on.

“He shall not be afraid” repeats verse 7 with the same verb, yârêʼ, and it is the verb of verse 1, where this man “feareth the LORD”. The man who fears God is set free from every other fear. Proverbs calls that fear “the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7), and Paul puts the confidence it gives as a question: “If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). Peter writes to believers who suffer for righteousness’ sake and tells them to be unafraid (1 Peter 3:13–14).

“Until he see his desire upon his enemies” gives how long his courage lasts, which is right to the end, when he sees how things turn out for those who oppose him. The verb for “see” is râʼâh, the ordinary word for seeing. The words “his desire” are supplied by the KJV translators to complete the sense, which is that he will look upon his enemies and see God’s justice done. Those enemies are first the people who oppose him and oppose God’s people, and the word can reach to spiritual struggles within as well.

“He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor.” This is the action that marks the righteous man most clearly. The verb pâzar means to scatter, to spread widely, and set beside “given” it pictures generosity that is open-handed, habitual and far-reaching. The poor here are the ʼebyôwn, the needy. Care for them was written into the law itself (Deuteronomy 15:7–11), as part of Israel’s faithfulness to the covenant. Proverbs says, “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD” (Proverbs 19:17), and Jesus teaches us to give in secret (Matthew 6:3–4). Generosity of this kind is the fruit of the fear of the LORD, in a heart that has taken on God’s own compassion for the needy.

“His righteousness endureth for ever.” The word tsᵉdâqâh covers right living in every direction: justice, integrity, and right dealing with God and with people. Here it includes active care for the poor. “For ever” is ʻad, perpetuity, unending time. Psalm 111:3 says these same words of the LORD’s own righteousness, so the righteous man’s life bears a likeness to the God he fears. His giving is the visible side of that righteousness, and God keeps it in remembrance.

“His horn shall be exalted with honour.” The horn, qeren, is the picture of an animal’s strength, and in Israel it stood for strength, dignity and authority, often as a sign of God’s favour. Hannah uses the same picture in her prayer (1 Samuel 2:1). To have the horn rûwm, exalted, is to be lifted up and made strong, and kâbôwd is honour or glory. The lifting is God’s own work, and Hannah’s prayer goes on to say that the LORD brings low and lifts up (1 Samuel 2:7–8). Jesus promises that those who humble themselves will be exalted (Matthew 23:12). The honour may show in respect among God’s people, in strength and protection, or in the quiet dignity of God’s approval, and in every form it comes from him, because he has seen the kindness and integrity of the man he honours.

“The wicked shall see it, and be grieved.” The “it” is everything the psalm has said of the righteous man in Psalm 112:2–9: his household, his resources, his steady confidence and his lasting righteousness. Verse 8 ended with the righteous man seeing, and verse 10 begins with the wicked seeing. “Grieved” is kaʻaç, to be vexed or angry. His grief is bitter vexation and envy at the success of those he opposed, and frustration that he could stop none of what God was doing.

“He shall gnash with his teeth” joins châraq, to grate or grind, with shên, tooth. Grinding the teeth is the body’s sign of anger, frustration and helpless rage, often bound up with envy. Jesus uses the gnashing of teeth for those who are cast out from God’s presence (Matthew 8:12, 13:42, 13:50). “And melt away” is mâçaç, to melt, or to faint with fear or grief. His strength, his influence and his resolve drain away.

“The desire of the wicked shall perish.” taʼăvâh is a longing or craving, and for the wicked it covers his ambitions and his plans against the righteous. “Perish” is ʼâbad, which properly means to wander away and be lost, and so to perish. Everything he set his heart on comes to nothing. After nine verses of blessing (Psalm 112:1–9), the psalm closes by setting this end beside the lasting honour of the righteous. The wicked may prosper for a time, and the end still belongs to God. Psalm 1:6 closes the same way, “the way of the ungodly shall perish”, and Proverbs sets the hope of the righteous against the hope of the wicked (Proverbs 10:28). Psalm 37 calls us to wait on the LORD and keep his way (Psalm 37:34), and these verses show what that waiting comes to.

The New Testament shows us the one man who fits this psalm without flaw: “Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1). He feared the LORD and kept his Father’s commandment perfectly, even to the cross (John 14:31). He stands unmoved for ever. He is the chief cornerstone on which the church is built (Ephesians 2:20), the same yesterday, today and for ever (Hebrews 13:8), and when he went down into death, God raised him up (Acts 2:24).

His heart was fixed when the hardest news of all lay ahead of him. He set his face to go to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51), and in Gethsemane, in deep anguish, he prayed, “nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). On the cross he said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Through his death he destroyed the power of death (Hebrews 2:14–15), and on the cross he triumphed over principalities and powers (Colossians 2:15). The desire of the wicked one ends in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10).

He dispersed and gave in the fullest way of all, becoming poor for our sakes so that we might be rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). His righteousness endures for ever, and God sets it forth for all who believe (Romans 3:21–26). His horn was exalted with honour when God gave him the name above every name, at which every knee shall bow (Philippians 2:9–11). His remembrance is everlasting: his one sacrifice has perfected for ever those who are sanctified (Hebrews 10:12–14), and he shall reign for ever and ever (Revelation 11:15).

Those who belong to him by faith share his righteousness, and so they share his security as well. Of his sheep he says, “neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:28). He gives them his peace (John 14:27), that peace is to rule in their hearts (Colossians 3:15), and in all things they are “more than conquerors through him that loved us” (Romans 8:37).

These verses show us a God who holds his people steady. The firmness of the righteous man comes from the LORD he trusts, and the honour he receives is God’s gift. God remembers what the world forgets: a gift to a poor neighbour, a faithfulness no one saw, a life lived quietly in his fear. Bad news still comes, and verse 7 meets it with a heart fixed on the LORD. Wrongs go unanswered for a while, and verses 8 and 10 show the righteous waiting in peace while God settles the account.

The passage also speaks plainly about desire. Everything the wicked longed for perishes, while the righteousness of the generous man endures for ever. What a heart is set on decides which of those two ends it comes to, and in Christ God has given us a righteousness that lasts and a name he keeps in everlasting remembrance.