Characteristics of a Good Man in Psalm 112

A good man deals graciously and lends;
He will guide his affairs with discretion.

Surely he will never be shaken;
The righteous will be in everlasting remembrance.

My Thoughts

Psalm 112:5-6 emphasizes the characteristics of a good man who lends graciously and manages his affairs with discretion. Such a man is driven by kindness and wisdom, because his heart overflows with love for others. He is led by the Lord and is secure in knowing that the word says that he will never be shaken…..Bill

_________________________

Commentaries:

Charles Spurgeon

“A good man sheweth favor, and lendeth.” Having passed beyond stern integrity into open-handed benevolence he looks kindly upon all around him, and 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.

“He will guide his affairs with discretion.” Those who neglect their worldly business must not plead religion as an excuse, for when a man is truly upright he exercises great care in managing his accounts, in order that he may remain so. It is sometimes hard to distinguish between indiscretion and dishonesty; carelessness in business may become almost as great an evil to others as actual knavery; a good man should not only be upright, but he should be so discreet that no one may have the slightest reason to suspect him of being otherwise. When the righteous man lends he exercises prudence, not risking his all, for fear he should not be able to lend again, and not lending so very little that the loan is of no service. He drives his affairs, and does not allow them to drive him; his accounts are straight and clear, his plans are wisely laid, and his modes of operation carefully selected. He is prudent, thrifty, economical, sensible, judicious, discreet. Men call him a fool for his religion, but they do not find him so when they come to deal with him. “The beginning of wisdom” has made him wise, the guidance of heaven has taught him to guide his affairs, and with half an eye one can see that he is a man of sound sense. Such persons greatly commend godliness. Alas, some professedly good men act as if they had taken leave of their senses; this is not religion, but stupidity. True religion is sanctified common sense. Attention to the things of heaven does not necessitate the neglect of the affairs of earth; on the contrary, he who has learned how to transact business with God ought to be best able to do business with men. The children of this world often are in their generation wiser than the children of light, but there is no reason why this proverb should continue to be true.

“Surely he shall not be moved forever.” God has rooted and established him so that neither men nor devils shall sweep him from his place. His prosperity shall be permanent, and not like that of the gambler and the cheat, whose gains are evanescent: his reputation shall be bright and lustrous from year to year, for it is not a mere pretense; his home shall be permanent, and he shall not need to wander from place to place as a bird that wanders from her nest; and even his memory shall be abiding, for a good man is not soon forgotten, and

“the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.” They are of a most ancient family, and not mushrooms of an hour, and their grand old stock shall be found flourishing when all the proud houses of ungodly men shall have faded into nothing. The righteous are worth remembering, their actions are of the kind which record themselves, and God himself takes charge of their memorials. None of us likes the idea of being forgotten, and yet the only way to avoid it is to be righteous before God.

_________________________

Enduring Word

He will guide his affairs with discretion: The one who fears the LORD is blessed with wisdom (Psalm 111:10) that flows from his godly character. (Guzik)

i. “With discretion, Heb. with judgment; so as is fit and meet, and as God requires, not getting his estate unjustly, nor casting it away prodigally or wickedly, nor yet withholding it uncharitably from such as need it.” (Poole)

He will never be shaken: Because of His character and wisdom, the one who fears the LORD will be firmly established. His remembrance will last, with nothing to fear from evil tidings. As he trusts in the LORD, his heart is established and in the end, he will see victory over his enemies. (Guzik)

i. “He who builds his transient life on and into the Rock of Ages wins rocklike steadfastness…. Lives rooted in God are never uprooted.” (Maclaren)

_________________________

Albert Barnes

A good man showeth favor – He has the means to show favor to others, or to promote their welfare, and he is disposed to do this. It is the characteristic of a good man – of a heart that is truly pious – to do good to others; to promote their welfare here, and to assist them in their endeavor to secure happiness in the world to come.

And lendeth – The original word here – לוה lâvâh – means to join oneself to anyone; to cleave to him; then, to form the union which is constituted between debtor and creditor, borrower and lender. Here it is used in the latter sense, and it means that a good man will accommodate another – a neighbor – with money, or with articles to be used temporarily and returned again. A man who always “borrows” is not a desirable neighbor; but a man who never lends – who is never willing to accommodate – is a neighbor that no one would wish to live near – a crooked, perverse, bad man. True religion will always dispose a man to do acts of kindness in any and every way possible.

He will guide his affairs – The word used here means literally to hold, contain; to hold up, or sustain; to nourish, to furnish the means of living. Genesis 45:11; Genesis 47:12; Genesis 50:21. Here it means that he would uphold or manage his business.

With discretion – Margin, “judgment;” so the Hebrew. He would do it prudently, sensibly, economically, wisely. This is, or should be, one of the characteristics of a good man. Religion prompts to this; religion will aid a man in doing this; religion will tend to check everything of a contrary nature. A man who neglects his “affairs,” who pays no attention to his business, who is indifferent whether he is successful or fails, is a man who gives “just so evidence” that he is a stranger to true religion.

Surely he shall not be moved forever – Luther, “For he shall remain always.” He shall be fixed, stable, firm, prosperous. He shall not be driven from place to place. He shall have a permanent home. He shall have a steady reputation. He shall have a constant influence. He shall be a firm, established, prosperous man. Of course, this is to be taken in the general, and should not be pressed to mean that it will be, in the most literal sense, and always, true, for a good man “may” be “unfortunate in business,” and suffer with others; he may be sick; he may see reason to change his residence; he will certainly die. But still, it is true that religion “tends” to produce this permanency, and that in this respect there is a marked difference between people who are truly pious, and those who are not.

The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance – In Proverbs 10:7, it is said that “the name of the wicked shall rot;” and the meaning here is, that the way to secure a grateful remembrance among people after we are dead is to be righteous – to do something that shall deserve to be remembered. It cannot mean that a man who is righteous will “never” be forgotten, or that his name and deeds will never pass from the recollection of mankind – for that would not be true; but that people will delight to cherish the memory of the righteous; that they will be disposed to do justice to their character after they are dead; that the benevolent and the upright will be remembered when the names of the wicked shall be forgotten. The world has no interest in keeping up the memory of bad people, and as soon as it can be done hastens to forget them. Wicked people are remembered only when their deeds are enormous, and then their memory is cherished only to admonish and to warn.

_________________________

John Gill

A good man showeth favor, and lendeth,…. Without usury, hoping for nothing again: he pities those that labor under difficulties, for want of a little money; and he generously lends it till they are able to pay him again; which oftentimes is of as much service as if it was given; see Psalm 37:21. A good man is not only a man that has the good work of grace in him, and is ready to every good work; but one that is munificent, bountiful, and liberal; in which sense the word is used in Romans 5:7.

He will guide his affairs with discretion; his civil and domestic affairs: he will act the part of a good economist; so that he may be able to support his family with credit and reputation, and have something to give to the relief of those in want. Some restrain this to his acts of charity. He lends to some, and gives to others: he takes care that they to whom he gives are proper objects of charity; he gives to persons seasonably and in proportion to his own ability and their wants. It may be rendered, “he shall guide his words with judgment”; take care of what he says, and before whom; and that it be at a proper time and place; and especially when speaking of spiritual and religious things.

_________________________

Matthew Henry

They shall have wisdom for the management of all their concerns, v. 5. He that does good with his estate shall, through the providence of God, increase it, not by miracle, but by his prudence: He shall guide his affairs with discretion, and his God instructs him to discretion and teaches him, Isa. 28:26. It is part of the character of a good man that he will use his discretion in managing his affairs, in getting and saving, that he may have to give. It may be understood of the affairs of his charity: He shows favor and lends; but then it is with discretion, that his charity may not be misplaced, that he may give to proper objects what is proper to be given and in due time and proportion. And it is part of the promise to him who thus uses discretion that God will give him more. Those who most use their wisdom see most of their need of it, and ask it of God, who has promised to give it liberally, Jam. 1:5. He will guide his words with judgment (so it is in the original), and there is nothing in which we have more occasion for wisdom than in the government of the tongue; blessed is he to whom God gives that wisdom.

The satisfaction of saints, and their stability. It is the happiness of a good man that he shall not be moved forever, v. 6. Satan and his instruments endeavor to move him, but his foundation is firm and he shall never be moved, at least not moved forever; if he be shaken for a time, yet he settles again quickly.

_________________________

The Pulpit Commentaries

A good man showeth favor, and lendeth; rather, well is it with the man that showeth, etc. The verse is exegetical of the latter clause of Psalms 112:4, and shows how the righteous man’s compassion works. It makes him “show favor,” or “kindness,” to men generally, and “lend” to those who are in necessity (comp. Psalms 37:26; and for the duty of lending to the needy, see Deuteronomy 15:8, Deuteronomy 15:11). He will guide his affairs with discretion; rather, perhaps, with equity. Scarcely, as Professor Cheyne suggests, “in courts of justice.”

_________________________

Cross References

Proverbs 10:7 (KJV )

⁷ The memory of the just is blessed:

But the name of the wicked shall rot.

Psalm 37:26 (KJV )

²⁶ He is ever merciful, and lendeth;

And his seed is blessed.

Psalm 37:21 (KJV )

²¹ The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again:

But the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth.

Luke 6:35 (KJV )

³⁵But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.

Proverbs 19:17 (KJV )

¹⁷ He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord;

And that which he hath given will he pay him again.

_________________________

KJV W/Strongs Bible

112:5 A good 2896 man 376 sheweth favour 2603 8802, and lendeth 3867 8688: he will guide 3557 8770 his affairs 1697 with discretion 4941.(discretion: Heb. judgment)

112:6 Surely he shall not be moved 4131 8735 for ever 5769: the righteous 6662 shall be in everlasting 5769 remembrance 2143.

_________________________

Geneva Bible 1560

Psalm 112:5-6

5 A good man is merciful and (d) lendeth, and wil measure his affairs by judgement.

6 Surely he shal never be moved: but the righteous shalbe had in everlasting remembrance.

(d) He shows what is the fruit of mercy: to lend freely and not for gain, and so to measure his doings, that he may be able to help where need requires, and not to bestow all on himself.

Final Thoughts

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