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Praise the Lord!
Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,
Who delights greatly in His commandments.
My Thoughts
Psalm 112:1 urges praise for the Lord and describes the blessedness of those who fear Him and delight in His commandments. The commentaries below highlight that true reverence for God leads to wisdom and happiness. The fear referred to is a loving, familial respect that inspires joyful obedience to God’s laws. Such obedience is characterized by love rather than mere obligation, emphasizing that sincere delight in God’s precepts is essential for true reverence and spiritual fulfillment…….Bill
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Commentaries:
Charles Spurgeon
“Praise ye the LORD.” This exhortation is never given too often; the Lord always deserves praise, we ought always to render it, we are frequently forgetful of it, and it is always well to be stirred up to it. The exhortation is addressed to all thoughtful persons who observe the way and manner of life of men that fear the Lord. If there be any virtue, if there be any praise, the Lord should have all the glory of it, for we are his workmanship.
“Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord.” According to the last verse of Psalm 111, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Psa 111:10); this man, therefore, has begun to be wise, and wisdom has brought him present happiness and secured him eternal felicity. Jehovah is so great that he is to be feared and had in reverence of all them that are round about him, and he is at the same time so infinitely good that the fear is sweetened into filial love and becomes a delightful emotion, by no means engendering bondage. There is a slavish fear which is accursed, but that godly fear which leads to delight in the service of God is infinitely blessed. Jehovah is to be praised both for inspiring men with godly fear and for the blessedness which they enjoy in consequence thereof. We ought to bless God for blessing any man, and especially for setting the seal of his approbation upon the godly. His favor towards the God fearing displays his character and encourages gracious feelings in others; therefore, let him be praised.
“That delighteth greatly in his commandments.” The man not only studies the divine precepts and endeavors to observe them, but rejoices to do so: holiness is his happiness, devotion is his delight, truth is his treasure. He rejoices in the precepts of godliness, yea, and delights greatly in them. We have known hypocrites rejoice in the doctrines but never in the commandments. Ungodly men may in some measure obey the commandments out of fear, but only a gracious man will observe them with delight. Cheerful obedience is the only acceptable obedience; he who obeys reluctantly is disobedient at heart, but he who takes pleasure in the command is truly loyal. If through divine grace we find ourselves described in these two sentences, let us give all the praise to God, for he hath wrought all our works in us and the dispositions out of which they spring. Let self-righteous men praise themselves, but he who has been made righteous by grace renders all the praise to the Lord.
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Enduring Word
Praise the LORD: Like several others in this section of the psalms, Psalm 112 begins with Hallelujah! This was both the personal praise of the psalmist and an exhortation to others to praise Him. (Guzik)
i. “The Psalm cannot be viewed as the extolling of man, for it commences with ‘Praise ye the Lord;’ and it is intended to give to God all the honour of his grace which is manifested in the sons of God.” (Spurgeon)
Blessed is the man who fears the LORD: Psalms 111-112 may have been composed together; they are certainly set together in the collection on purpose. Psalm 111 ended with the idea that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; now, the psalmist explains the blessedness of the one who does fear the LORD. (Guzik)
i. “The fear the Bible is talking about is best described as a profound reverence; that is, we are to revere God, or stand in awe of him.” (Boice)
Who delights greatly in His commandments: This blessed one does not fear God in a sense of misery and reluctant obligation. This psalm speaks of one who delights greatly in God’s commandments. (Guzik)
i. “There is a deliberate echo of the previous psalm here. Psalm 111:2 spoke of delight in God’s works. In Psalm 112:1 we are told that God’s people also delight in God’s words (commands).” (Boice)
ii. “To this man God’s word is as fascinating as are his works to the naturalist; and the term used for it, his commandments, implies that his interest is practical. What grips him is God’s will and call” (Kidner)
iii. “The man who duly ‘feareth God,’ is delivered from every other fear; the man who ‘delighteth in God’s commandments,’ is freed from every inordinate desire of earthly things” (Horne)
iv. Think of the great measure of blessedness upon Jesus. No one revered God the Father as Jesus did; no one delighted in the Father’s commandments as much as Jesus did. (Guzik)
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Albert Barnes
Praise ye the Lord – Margin, as in Hebrew, “Hallelujah.” See the notes at Psalms 106:1.
Blessed is the man – Hebrew, “The blessings of the man.” See the notes at Psalms 1:1. That is, Blessed, or happy, is such a one.
That feareth the Lord – In Psalms 111:10, the psalmist had referred to “the fear of the Lord” as “the beginning of wisdom” and had “alluded” to the success, prosperity, or happiness which attends the fear of the Lord, or true religion. This psalm is designed more fully “to illustrate” that thought.
That delighteth greatly in his commandments – See the notes at Psalms 1:2. It is a characteristic of true piety to find pleasure in the commands of God, in the commandments themselves, and in obedience to them.
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John Gill
Praise ye the Lord,…. Or, “hallelujah.” This is properly the title of the psalm: Aben Ezra says it is a word of the psalmist; it shows that all that a good man is, has, or does, is from the Lord; and therefore his name is to be praised: and he is not only to be praised for his perfections and works, but for this among others, that there are any good men on earth that fear and serve him, and are useful in their day and generation.
Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord; not men, but the Lord; not his wrath, nor his judgments here or hereafter, but his goodness; not with a servile, but with a godly fear. This every man does not; there are but few that truly fear the Lord, only such who have the grace of God; and these are happy men: they have an interest in the heart of God, in his pity, love, and delight; great discoveries are made unto them; the secret of the Lord is with them; he shows them his covenant; and the sun of righteousness arises upon them: they are guarded and protected by the Lord; his eye of providence, as well as love, is upon them, and his angels encamp about them: they are supplied with all needful good things, temporal and spiritual; and have much goodness laid up for them hereafter. This psalm begins with what the preceding ends, the fear of the Lord, and is a further illustration and enlargement of it; See Gill on “Ps 111:10.”
That delighteth greatly in his commandments: in the righteousness, purity, and holiness of them: in keeping and doing them: they are not grievous, but pleasant; a good man delights in them, after the inward man; he observes them from a principle of love, and finds peace and pleasure in them; he loves them above gold, yea, above fine gold; and esteems them concerning all things to be right, Psalm 119:97.
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Matthew Henry
They are well-principled with pious and devout affections. Those have the privileges of God’s subjects, not who cry, Lord, Lord, but who are indeed well affected to his government.
(1.) They are such as stand in awe of God and have a constant reverence for his majesty and deference to his will. The happy man is he that fears the Lord, v. 1.
(2.) They are such as take a pleasure in their duty. He that fears the Lord, as a Father, with the disposition of a child, not of a slave, delights greatly in his commandments, is well pleased with them and with the equity and goodness of them; they are written in his heart; it is his choice to be under them, and he calls them an easy, a pleasant, yoke; it is his delight to be searching into and conversing with God’s commandments, by reading, hearing, and meditation, Ps. 1:2. He delights not only in God’s promises, but in his precepts, and thinks himself happy under God’s government as well as in his favor. It is a pleasure to him to be found in the way of his duty, and he is in his element when he is in the service of God. Herein he delights greatly, more than in any of the employments and enjoyments of this world. And what he does in religion is done from principle, because he sees amiableness in religion and advantage by it.
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Clarke
That delighteth greatly — It is not enough to fear God, we must also love him: fear will deter us from evil; love will lead us to obedience. And the more a man fears and loves God, the more obedient will he be; till at last he will delight greatly in the commandments of his Maker.
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The Pulpit Commentaries
Praise ye the Lord. Again a “heading,” or “introduction” (see the comment on Psalms 111:1). Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord. Connect this with Psalms 111:10. The closing thought of Psalms 111:1-10. is taken up and expanded in Psalms 112:1-10. That delighteth greatly in his commandments (comp. Psalms 1:2; Psalms 119:16, Psalms 119:17, Psalms 119:24, Psalms 119:70, Psalms 119:77, etc.). “True obedience can only come from pleasure in the commandments of God” (Hengstenberg).
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Cross References
1 Blessed is the man
That walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor standeth in the way of sinners,
Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord;
And in his law doth he meditate day and night.
The Holy Bible: King James Version, Psalm 1:1–2.
16 I will delight myself in thy statutes:
I will not forget thy word.
The Holy Bible: King James Version, Psalm 119:16.
143 Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me:
Yet thy commandments are my delights.
The Holy Bible: King James Version, Psalm 119:143.
92 Unless thy law had been my delights,
I should then have perished in mine affliction.
The Holy Bible: King James Version, Psalm 119:92.
47 And I will delight myself in thy commandments,
Which I have loved.
The Holy Bible: King James Version, Psalm 119:47.
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KJV W/Strongs Bible
112:1 Praise 1984 8761 ye the LORD 3050. Blessed 835 [is] the man 376 [that] feareth 3372 8804 the LORD 3068, [that] delighteth 2654 8804 greatly 3966 in his commandments 4687.(Praise…: Heb. Hallelujah)
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Geneva Bible 1560
Psalm 112:1
1 Praise ye the Lord Blessed is the man, that (a) feareth the Lord, and deliteth greatly in his commandments.
(a) He means that reverent fear, which is in the children of God, which causes them to delight only in the word of God.
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Closing Thoughts
6
Seek the Lord while He may be found;
Call upon Him while He is near.
7
Let the wicked forsake his way
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
And let him return to the Lord,
And He will have compassion on him,
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.
8
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
9
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
10
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
And do not return there without watering the earth
And making it bear and sprout,
And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
11
So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;
It will not return to Me empty,
Without accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55: 6-11
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