4
Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness;
He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.
My Thoughts
The psalmist assures us that the upright will find light in darkness, symbolizing comfort amid afflictions. Despite experiencing struggles like others, their faith in God provides hope. This light represents divine support when external circumstances seem bleak. The ones who are saved reflect God’s qualities of grace, compassion, and righteousness, displaying kindness and justice towards others. Their character enhances their blessings, emphasizing that true righteousness involves both spiritual integrity and tangible benevolence. Ultimately, those who trust in God will receive encouragement and deliverance in their darkest times………Bill
_________________________
Matthew Henry
They shall have comfort in affliction (v. 4): Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness. It is here implied that good men may be in affliction; the promise does not exempt them from that. They shall have their share in the common calamities of human life; but, when they sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light to them, Mic. 7:8. They shall be supported and comforted under their troubles; their spirits shall be lightsome when their outward condition is clouded. Sat lucis intus – There is light enough within. During the Egyptian darkness, the Israelites had light in their dwellings. They shall be in due time, and perhaps when they least expect it, delivered out of their troubles; when the night is darkest, the day dawns; nay, at evening-time, when night was looked for, it shall be light.
_________________________
Charles Spurgeon
“Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness.” He does not lean to injustice in order to ease himself, but like a pillar stands erect, and he shall be found so standing when the ungodly, who are as a bowing wall and a tottering fence, shall lie in ruins. He will have his days of darkness, he may be sick and sorry, poor and pining, as well as others; his former riches may take to themselves wings and fly away, while even his righteousness may be cruelly suspected; thus the clouds may lower around him, but his gloom shall not last for ever, the Lord will bring him light in due season, for as surely as a good man’s sun goes down it shall rise again. If the darkness be caused by depression of spirit, the Holy Ghost will comfort him; if by pecuniary loss or personal bereavement, the presence of Christ shall be his solace; and if by the cruelty and malignity of men, the sympathy of his Lord shall be his support. It is as ordinary for the righteous to be comforted as for the day to dawn. Wait for the light and it will surely come; for even if our heavenly Father should in our last hours put us to bed in the dark, we shall find it morning when we awake.
“He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.” This is spoken of God in the fourth verse of the hundred and eleventh Psalm, and now the same words are used of his servant: thus we are taught that when God makes a man upright, he makes him like himself. We are at best but humble copies of the great original; still we are copies, and because we are so we praise the Lord, who hath created us anew in Christ Jesus. The upright man is “gracious,” that is, full of kindness to all around him; he is not sour and churlish, but he is courteous to friends, kind to the needy, forgiving to the erring, and earnest for the good of all. He is also “full of compassion“; that is to say, he tenderly feels for others, pities them, and as far as he can, assists them in their time of trouble. He does not need to be driven to benevolence; he is brimful of humanity; it is his joy to sympathize with the sorrowing. He is also said to be “righteous:” in all his transactions with his fellow men he obeys the dictates of right, and none can say that he goes beyond or defrauds his neighbor. His justice is, however, tempered with compassion and seasoned with graciousness. Such men are to be found in our churches, and they are by no means so rare as the censorious imagine, but at the same time, they are far scarcer than the breadth of profession might lead us to hope. Lord, make us all to possess these admirable qualities.
_________________________
Enduring Word
Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness: The psalmist recognized the darkness that often fills the world, but the upright one who fears the LORD will be blessed with light in the midst of the darkness. (Guzik)
i. “God himself is the light which arises in darkness for those who are sincere in their dealings with him.” (Delitzsch, cited in Boice)
ii. “The relationship of God to the godly person is like the relationship of the sun to the moon. The sun shines by its own glorious light. The moon does not, but still it shines, and the way it shines is by reflecting the light coming to it from the sun.” (Boice)
iii. “While we are on earth, we are subject to a threefold ‘darkness;’ the darkness of error, the darkness of sorrow, and the darkness of death.” (Horne)
iv. “The psalm gives a realistic portrayal of wisdom as it brings out, not only the blessings of honor, children, and riches, but also the reality of adversities” (VanGemeren)
He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous: The light received from God shines through the righteous one, and he displays to others the grace, compassion, righteousness, and generosity God has granted to him. (Guzik)
i. Psalm 112:3 referred to the wealth and riches that often come to those who fear the Lord. Kidner observed, “The psalm deals realistically with the temptations that go with the possession of money.” These include abuse to power, refusing to lend, fear, rivalry, and lack of generosity. (Guzik)
ii.And lends: “Finding himself in circumstances which enable him to spare a little of his wealth he lends judiciously where a loan will be of permanent service. Providence has made him able to lend, and grace makes him willing to lend. He is not a borrower, for God has lifted him above that necessity; neither is he a hoarder, for his new nature saves him from that temptation; but he wisely uses the talents committed to him.” (Spurgeon)
_________________________
Albert Barnes
Unto the upright – The just; the pious; the man who fears God.
There ariseth light in the darkness – This is a new form of the blessing which follows the fear of the Lord, or another of the benefits which spring from true religion, and by which the pious man is distinguished from other people. The distinction is not that days of darkness will not come upon him as well as upon others, for he may be sick as others are, he may be bereaved as others are, he may lose his property as others do – since there are general laws that affect mankind in these respects. God has not promised that he will interpose to save his people from these things, but that he will save them in them. The peculiarity in regard to those who fear God is that these things will not always continue, that they shall not be overwhelmed by them, that it will not be uninterrupted and unmitigated gloom, that the sky shall not be always overcast. Compare Psalms 97:11, note; Job 11:17, note.
He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous – These words are designed to be applied to the “upright” man, and are intended more fully to designate his character, and to show “why” light shall spring up to him when he is in darkness. It is because his character is “really” pure and holy, so that whatever cloud may come over it for a time, however it may be temporarily obscured, however he may be calumniated by men, or however God may for a time seem to forsake him and to treat him as if he were a bad man, yet ultimately his character will appear as it really is. Light will come in upon the darkness. The clouds will break away. The prejudices against him will be dispersed. Full justice will be done to his character both by man and by God, and the world will see that he is a just and pious man. See the notes at Psalms 37:5-6. Every man will ultimately be seen as he is; every man will attain the position, and have the reputation which he “ought” to have.
_________________________
John Gill
Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness,…. Upright ones are sometimes in the darkness of affliction, under divine desertions, without spiritual joy, and in an uncomfortable condition; when on a sudden light arises to them, like break of day, or the morning light: they have deliverance from affliction, and enjoy prosperity; the light of God’s countenance is lifted up on them; the sun of righteousness arises upon them with healing in his wings; and spiritual joy and comfort are communicated unto them. It may denote the comforts the people of God have amidst their afflictions and troubles, even while they are in them; and the light they enjoy, while darkness is round about others, like the children of Israel in Egypt: or the suddenness of deliverance from adversity, temporal or spiritual; weeping endures for a night, joy comes in the morning, and at evening time it is light, Psalm 30:5.
He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous; that is, the Lord is so. Thus the Arabic version, “the Lord God is merciful and bountiful;” and the Ethiopic version, “merciful and compassionate is the Lord, and righteous is our King.” And because God is the God of all grace, and is able to make it abound to his people, and is compassionate to them in distress, and is just and faithful to his promises; therefore he causes light to arise to them in darkness; and which, on such account, they may believe and expect; see Micah 7:8. Some understand this of the upright man and of his character; that he is “gracious,” kind, and bountiful; that he is “full of compassion,” tenderhearted, and shows mercy to distressed objects; and is righteous, through Christ, and lives soberly and righteously. This sense agrees both with what goes before, and follows after.
_________________________
Adam Clarke
There ariseth light in the darkness — The upright are always happy; and when tribulations come, God lifts up the light of his countenance upon him, and causes all occurrences to work together for his good.
He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous. — He enjoys the favor of God; that grace makes him compassionate, and in the general tenor of his conduct, he is righteous. From these principles, he shows favor (Psalms 112:5) to him that needs it; that is, to the real poor he gives of his substance; and others he obliges by lending, they not being utterly in want, but standing in need only of a little present help. But he takes heed to whom he gives and to whom he lends; that in the first case his bounty may be well applied, and in the second he may not oblige the person who only seeks, under the notion of a loan, to appropriate the money borrowed. To prevent evils of this kind, he acts prudently and guides his affairs with discretion (Psalms 112:5.
_________________________
The Pulpit Commentaries
Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness. God’s Word is “a lantern unto their feet, and a light unto their paths” (Psalms 119:105)—sufficient under most circumstances to guide their steps aright. When this is not enough, he vouchsafes an inward light to them (Psalms 27:1; Psalms 36:9; Isaiah 58:10; Isaiah 49:6, etc.).
He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous. It is a very forced interpretation to understand this as said of Jehovah. The entire subject of the psalm is the righteous, God-like man. In him are reflected shadows of all the Divine qualities.
_________________________
Matthew Poole
4 Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.
Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness; and although he is subject to the troubles and calamities of this life, as others are, yet God will give him support and comfort in them, and a happy issue out of them, whereas the wicked sink under their burdens, and their present miseries usher in their eternal destruction. He; either, 1. God. And so this is added as a reason why God causeth light to shine to the upright out of darkness, because the Lord is gracious, &c. Or rather, 2. The good or upright man, of whom he speaks both in the foregoing and following words. So this is either 1. A reason why God dealeth thus with good men; it is not from a partial and fond affection to them, but because they are such persons to whom God hath engaged himself by promise and covenant to bless them, they are gracious, &c. Or, 2. As an effect of their affliction and deliverance out of it, they learn to be more merciful, and compassionate, and just, or bountiful to others in want and misery.
Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible, vol. 2 (New York: Robert Carter and Brothers, 1853), 176.
_________________________
A. R. Fausset
Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness—(Ps. 97:11.) Here, the Psalmist holds out hope to the downcast people in their distress after their return from Babylon. Cf. Esth. 8:16; Ps. 107:10–14: contrast Job 30:26; Lam. 3:2.
(he is) gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous—attributes usually applied to God, but here said of “the upright.” The children of God, knowing in their own experience that God our Father is ‘gracious, full of compassion, and righteous,’ seek themselves to be the same towards their fellowmen from instinctive imitation of Him (Matt. 5:45, 48; Eph. 5:1, 2; Luke 6:36).
A. R. Fausset, A Commentary, Critical, Experimental, and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments: Job–Isaiah, vol. III (London; Glasgow: William Collins, Sons, & Company, Limited, n.d.), 350.
_________________________
Cross References
Psalm 97:11 (KJV 1900)
11 Light is sown for the righteous,
And gladness for the upright in heart.
Isaiah 58:10 (KJV 1900)
10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry,
And satisfy the afflicted soul;
Then shall thy light rise in obscurity,
And thy darkness be as the noonday:
Job 29:3 (KJV 1900)
3 When his candle shined upon my head,
And when by his light I walked through darkness;
Titus 2:12 (KJV 1900)
12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
_________________________
KJV W/Strongs Bible
112:4 Unto the upright 3477 there ariseth 2224 8804 light 216 in the darkness 2822: [he is] gracious 2587, and full of compassion 7349, and righteous 6662.
_________________________
Geneva Bible 1560
Psalm 112:4
4 Unto the (c) righteous ariseth light in darkness: he is merciful and ful of compassion and righteous.
(c) The faithful in all their adversities know that all shall go well with them: for God will be merciful and just.
- Exploring the Beauty of Psalms: Insights and Commentaries
- Monthly Breakdown of Our Blog Content
- Psalms Commentary: Faith and Inspiration
Closing Thoughts:
You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, For in Yah, the Lord, is everlasting strength. Isaiah 26:3-4 NKJV
My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life. Proverbs 4:20-23 NKJV
Leave a Reply