The Blessed Man

“The Blessed Man”

Psalm 112:1-10

Our text highlights several pictures of a blessed man:

Textual Idea – The Psalmist presents several pictures of the blessed man.

Sermon Idea – Christians can be encouraged by God’s blessings as they seek to do what is right by fearing the Lord.

Interrogative – What does the blessed man (or woman) look like?

Transition w/ key word – Our text presents 3 pictures of the blessed man who fears God.

The secrets of the blessed man - vs. 1-2 The sense of the blessed man - vs. 3-5 The security of the blessed man - vs. 6-10

Introduction – Over the last several months, we’ve had some interesting things going on at our house. You see a pair of birds decided our front porch was a great place to build a nest. So up in the corner, attached to the wall of our home is a nest made of mud and twigs. This has been a mess on the porch but I’ve been watching how these birds operate. Depending on how the sun hits them, they have the most beautiful shades of red, blue and purple. At first I thought they might be scissor-tailed fly catchers because of their forked tails, but in fact, they are barn swallows, smaller forked tail and much smaller bird. I am pleased however they eat flying insects and with the mosquitoes from the rain, it’s been helpful. When they started making a nest we were tempted to knock it down and get rid of it because of the mess they were making. But upon learning they ate bugs, I understood immediately why they decided my front porch was the perfect location to raise their littles, my security light above my garage provides for them bugs & is like having a Chinese food buffet right next door! Well I have lost track how long they’ve been there, but the family is full! (Show slides) - For sure they have at least two or possibly 3 littles, along with mom and dad. Explain how it’s been interested to watch them learn to fly, they have a little loop they make, out across the street to the neighbors fence goes one parent so they can face the house, one parent perches on my gutter above the buffet light and garage, then they sing and chirp encouragement to the little ones who make the circuit out passed mom and dad and back to the ledge above our door or to the safety of the nest. It’s been neat to watch, even while I’m ducking them dive bombing me if the littles are near. One day they were reaming on a pesky squirrel who decided the oak tree in our front yard looked promising and I guess the littles were hiding out there in the shade. The reason I tell you this is because those littles barn swallow babies are mimicking what Mr. & Mrs. Barn Swallow do. They do barn swallow things like their parents do. My youngest grandson Callen, is 15 months old and he’s in the copycat stage where he mirrors what his folks are doing, including trying to mimic his daddy doing push ups! Transition - Well in our study today from Psalm 112 called “The Blessed Man”, we’re going to see several pictures of what a blessed man looks like who fears the Lord, the man who copies what his Heavenly Father does. [Read text] Ps. 112:1-10

Background & Review - Last week we studied Psalm 111 about the mighty works of God and how our Heavenly Father is worthy of worship, wonder and the wisdom He has to help us live life skillfully if we simply obey His commands. Psalm 111 celebrates the person of God, Psalm 112 celebrates the people of God. These two Psalms are in fact twins, identical in structure with 10 verses, made up of an acrostic of the Hebrew alphabet. It was designed to aid in the memorization and retention of the Scriptures. There are remarkable parallels in the word choices used in both 111 & 112. For example, vs. 1 in each begins with “Hallelujah” (Heb) - Praise the Lord! We’ll see others as we work through this passage today w/ pictures of the blessed man: Notice

1. The secrets of the blessed man - vs. 1-2

a. He loves the Lord - vs. 1a - “Fears the Lord” - doesn’t sound much like love but in fact when one fears God, when one learns God’s commands and way of living are designed to help us live life the way God intended and He blesses richly those who fear Him, take His word seriously by obeying His word; one finds great happiness and joy which makes us love God! This mirrors 111:1 where worship springs up out of us because we’re in love with our Creator and our Savior Jesus Christ. Since the beginning of time, humans have been looking for love in all the wrong places, looking for happiness by pursuing all of Satan’s counterfeits only to find its a big lie, and we end up discouraged and depressed. Advertisers have been selling us happiness in all kinds of possessions, and now pills. We’ve got more technology available than ever before and yet we are more depressed today than ever before. A 10 year old Harvard Medical school article called “Astounding increase of antidepressant use among Americans” - cited a 400% increase in the use of antidepressant meds from 1998-1994 & 2005-2008. Antidepressant sales globally in 2020 was $26.25 billion dollars! Surprisingly, 2021 global sales are expected to drop to $15.87 billion now that we’re moving past the pandemic. The world thinks the secret to happiness and wholeness is in everything from pills to possessions, when in fact the secret of the blessed man is a love and fear of God!

b. He loves the Word - vs. 1b - Fear of God is inseparable from a love for the Word of God. It is in the Word of God we find God’s revelation of Himself to us. It is where God tells us about His Holiness, His character, His integrity, His might, His power and the fact He loves us so much He gave His Son to appease His wrath against sin and actually do something about our sin problem! It is in God’s Word we find God’s capacity for forgiveness, His mercy & grace. God’s Word is God’s love letter to us! The psalmist says the blessed man delights greatly in the Word of God - He loves it, He wants more of it and in it he finds what so many are searching for.

c. He loves his family - vs. 2 Now we’re talking about blessed men and no offense to you ladies by any means! But God is a God of order, not chaos, and He has designed the family that Husband is the spiritual leader of the household. In a day where men are being kicked to the curb and have abdicated their God-given responsibility of teaching their families to love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength. God has designed men to lead their families in the study of the Word of God, bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. To teach awe and reverence of God by teaching awe and reverence of God-given parental authority. It should be no surprise to anyone we have rebellion in the streets because father’s haven’t dealt with rebellion in the home! Rebellion may be cute in a 2 year old but when they are 25 it’s downright ugly! It should be no surprise we have an explosion of homosexuality because we have an absence of fatherly affection and love by fathers in the home toward their boys and girls! Psalm 112:2 basically of summary of the book of Deuteronomy where God laid out the blessings and cursings upon the COI if they obeyed. CF Deut. 5:9-10, 6:1-9! These are the secrets of the blessed man! Dad, Grandpa, it’s your job! Notice secondly:

2. The sense of the blessed man - vs. 3-5

a. Righteous in his priorities - vs. 3 Some might look at this and go, righteous in his priorities: wealth and riches…How often have we seen men pursue wealth and riches in the name of being a good provider, making our kids lives easier than we had it, giving them everything money can by and lose their family. No, it’s not wealth and riches that are the blessed man’s priority, it is righteousness - doing things God’s way according to God’s Word are the priority! In the OT, a sign of God’s blessing was material wealth and resources. That’s why Job’s calamity puzzled Job’s friends, surely he must have committed some horrible sin and they spend the whole book trying to get him to confess it! Even though Job’s wealth and riches disappeared, Job was still wealthy beyond measure because he was rich in his relationship with Almighty God. 111:3 says God’s righteousness endures forever, Job’s character mirrored God’s character so his righteousness endures forever, as God saw fit to record it for us! The NT principle of this is found in Matt. 6:33 “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” The direct context of that is in Jesus teaching not to worry about our needs of food, clothing and shelter. The blessed man is righteous in his priorities...

b. Righteous in his circumstances - vs. 4a - Suffering and the road of difficulty is no respecter of persons. Good & Godly people find themselves in darkness, but God is shining brightly even in the darkest of circumstances and night of hardship. We live in a dark world, with dark days and everyone doing what is right their own eyes. Yet it is no excuse for us to live like the world. The blessed man will look for the light of God to show him the way. Ps. 119 we recently read in our SOAP Journaling study and I plan to explore here on Sunday mornings soon says in 105 “Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” Even though we are living in a dark world, we know who we are and where we’re going. Jesus said in John 8:12 “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” The blessed man follows the light of God in dark seasons as well as seasons of prosperity. We see the sense of the blessed man:

c. Righteous in his generosity - vs. 4b-5a, 9a - The parallelism of vs. 4 must not be missed. The blessed man is pictured as a generous man because God is a generous God! Look at 111:4 where we see God’s character on display, the man who fears God and obeys His commandments is also gracious and full of compassion! It’s further described in vs. 5 deals graciously and lends, mirroring 111:5 - where God gives us food, and vs. 9 where the blessed man has given to the poor and 111:9 where God has sent redemption to His people! In other words, God gave us the best He had by giving Himself to us in Jesus Christ! I’m not sure there is a greater chapter in the OT describing God’s generosity to sinful man than CF Ps. 103 we studied on Wednesday night a few weeks ago. (Highlight). Romans 8:32 tells us God who didn’t spare His own Son but delivered Him up for us all, will freely give us all things. The blessed man who has experienced the generosity of God will also find great blessing in being generous to others!

d. Righteous in his relationships - vs. 5b - The blessed man has the sense to guide his affairs with discretion, prudence, diligence. It also mirrors 111:5 where God is mindful of His covenant. So by extension, the man who fears God is mindful of his covenants as well. Covenants by definition are “other’s centered”; in other words they look out for the welfare and blessing of the other party involved. Life is about relationships! A healthy relationship is the foundation for healthy relationships with others! Loving God & loving others are two greatest commandments. Jesus said on those 2 commandments hang all the law and the prophets! So the blessed man is wise in choosing his business relationships, choosing who his friends are, choosing who he hangs out with. Somebody wisely said show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future!”

The blessed man who fears God and keeps His commandments treats all fairly without favoritism. James 2 warns of the dangers of personal favoritism. James 2:1 “My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory with partiality.” It goes on to describe a rich man and poor man entering church and how one might get special treatment. The man or woman who fears God will be righteous in his relationships and how he treats others. We’ve seen 2 pictures of the blessed man, his secrets and his sense, now notice:

3. The security of the blessed man - vs. 6-10

a. The foundation of security: trust in the Lord - 6-7 Surely he will never be shaken…the contrast presented between the righteous man and the wicked man in Ps. 1 is quite a word picture. The Righteous is like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth it’s fruit in season, whose leaf will not wither and whatever he does will prosper (1:3); compared to the wicked 1:4 - “Like the chaff which the wind drives away.” The blessed man’s name will be remembered because it’s written in the Lambs Book of Life! After Paul’s great treatise on our victory over death because Jesus was raised from the dead in 1st Cor. 15; Paul concludes in 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, know that your labor is not in vain” Vs. 7 tells us bad news doesn’t faze him b/c of his trust in Almighty God. We see this explicitly pictured when Job got all this horrible news, he fell on his face and worshiped; “The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” Job 1:20-21. The security of the blessed man is founded on a firm foundation but:

b. The future of security: his righteousness endures forever - vs. 8-10 - The blessed man is content in vs. 8 to let the Lord sort out his enemies. God has promised to repay the wicked. This man who fears God, loves God and loves the word knows God is faithful to keep His Word. We might be inclined to think of his desire for his enemies is God’s judgment and wrath upon them, but this man who’s been forgiven of so much understands the greatest needs of his enemies is forgiveness of sin and a saving relationship with Almighty God. Jesus commanded in Matt.5:44 to “love our enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” The best way to loose an enemy is have them become a brother and sister in Christ! The blessed man’s future is secure b/c his righteousness endures forever. He will see his desires come to pass but desire of the wicked in vs. 10 will perish.

Applications - As we mentioned, Psalm 111 & 112 are twins, 111 celebrates the person of God, 112 celebrates the people of God. Psalm 112 leaves us with these applications:

1. The person who fears God is expected to become more and more like God in their actions & attitudes! We call this progressive sanctification.

CF Rom.8:28-30, Phil. 1:6 - He’s still working on me! What does this look like? It’s in the text!

a. 111:4 - God is gracious & full of compassion, so the man who fears & obeys God is gracious and full of compassion. 112:4

b. 111:5 - God is generous, so the man who fears & obeys God is generous - 112:5

c. 111:6-8 - God is sure & confident in His work & His promises, so the man who fears & obeys God can live with confidence, security and steadfastness! 112:6-8

111:1 & 112:1 both begin: “Praise the Lord!” - Hallelujah! So:

2: The greatest way to praise God is to fear, love & obey God!

Do this all of your life and you will find yourself in the category of being a blessed man or woman.

111:9 - “He has sent redemption to His people.” - Have you received His offer of forgiveness of sin through faith in Jesus Christ? Share the ABC’s.

Close – Tell the story of Jacob Koshy (Rob Morgan, Preacher’s Sourcebook, pg. 148). Jacob grew up in Singapore with one ambition: to be a success in life and gain all the money & possessions he could. He entered the world of drugs and gambling and soon became head of an international drug smuggling ring. In 1980, he was arrested and sent to a drug rehab prison in Singapore. All of his hopes and dreams crashed and there he was alone and miserable in that tiny jail cell. He was a smoker and cigarettes weren’t allowed; but he managed to smuggle tobacco inside the prison and he used the pages of a Gideon Bible to roll his cigarettes. One night he fell asleep smoking and woke up to see the cigarette had burned itself out. He unrolled the paper and found this phrase on the charred remains: “Saul, Saul, Why do you persecute me?” That statement gripped him so he asked for another Bible and read the whole story of Sauls conversion. He came to understand if God could save someone like Saul, He could save a guy like Jacob Koshy too. So he got on his knees, by himself in his jail cell and gave his life to Christ. He began crying & couldn’t stop as the forgiveness of sin washed over him. He got out of prison, married, got into church and now is missionary in Asia. He shares his testimony saying: “Who would have believed I could find the truth by smoking the Word of God?”

“The Blessed Man”

Psalm 112:1-10