Praise the Lord!

Psalms 112:1 NASB

“Praise the Lord!

How blessed is the man who fears the Lord,

Who greatly delights in His commandments.”

This is a psalm of praise and rejoicing. And what is the occasion of the praise? It is how blessed are those who fear the Lord, who greatly delight in his commandments (now under the New Covenant). And what does it mean to fear the Lord? It has to do with believing him and his words to the point of taking God seriously and putting his words into action. It has to do with us giving our Lord true honor, respect, reverence, and obedience.

So, this is not about just giving lip service to the Lord. This is about total surrender to our Lord, giving him our lives, submitting to him as Lord, and obeying what he says. It doesn’t mean we are perfect people, but it does mean we are walking in obedience to the Lord, living holy lives pleasing to him, and that we are no longer living in sin, making sin our practice. We are the blessed of God who meet God’s divine approval.

Psalms 112:4 NASB

“Light arises in the darkness for the upright;

He is gracious and compassionate and righteous.”

So, when I read, “Light arises in the darkness for the upright,” I think of Jesus Christ, who is the Light of the world, and I think of the light of his word, the truth of his word, and I think of righteousness and holiness and godliness and all that is opposite of the darkness (sin, evil, wickedness). But the darkness can also mean times of trouble and difficulty, trials and tribulations, and persecutions (the valley of the shadow of death).

We are all going to go through times of difficulty, and times of trouble and hardships. And if we are following Jesus Christ with our lives, we are going to be hated and persecuted for righteousness’ sake. But our Lord will carry us through those times when we put our faith and trust in him. He will give us his peace and joy even in times of calamity. Even if all kinds of bad things are happening to us, we can depend on the Lord to see us through it all.

Psalms 112:7-8 NASB

“He will not fear evil tidings;

His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.

His heart is upheld, he will not fear,

Until he looks with satisfaction on his adversaries.”

Now, this does not mean we will never feel fear. For fear is a natural human emotion, which can be a good thing. We should have a respectful fear of fire and danger of any kind so that we are not foolish, so we don’t do what is harmful. And sometimes the emotion of fear is a caution to us to watch out for danger, or it is to let us know that something is wrong in a particular situation, and it is to drive us to do something towards some type of action.

But we should not let fear overtake us. We should not surrender to fear. We should not let fear get the best of us to where we lack faith in the Lord and to where we doubt what he says. For fear is the opposite of faith. So even in fearful situations we must trust the Lord. Even in the emotion of fear we can choose to believe God and to reject the fear and to go against the fear and to do what is right – all in the power of God living within us.

Psalms 112:10 NASB

“The wicked will see it and be vexed,

He will gnash his teeth and melt away;

The desire of the wicked will perish.”

When we respond to our circumstances with faith and not fear, the enemy of our souls is not happy. When we respond to difficult circumstances and persecutions with love and kindness, and not with hate, the enemy is enraged. For the enemy of our souls wants us to fail. And so he puts all kinds of traps out there for us to fall into. And when we trust the Lord and we do not fall, the enemy is defeated, and we praise the Lord!

Many wicked people in this world serve the enemy of our souls, and they, too, will lay traps for us to fall into. And when we do not fall, but we do the opposite, and we follow the Lord in obedience, they may, as well, be disturbed in their spirits because their evil plots did not work against us, but they backfired, instead. And there we can still praise the Lord that by his grace we did not fail but we remained steadfast in our walks of faith.

A Believer’s Prayer 

An Original Work / July 31, 2012

With my whole heart, Lord, I pray 

To be Yours, and Yours always.

Lead me in Your truth today.

May I love You, and obey.

Lead me in Your righteousness.

When I sin, may I confess;

Bow before You when I pray;

Live for You and You always.

Love You, Jesus, You’re my friend.

Life with You will never end.

You are with me through each day,

Giving love and peace always.

You will ne’er abandon me.

From my sin You set me free.

You died on that cruel tree,

So I’d live eternally.

Soon You’re coming back for me;

From this world to set me free;

Live with You eternally.

Oh, what joy that brings to me.

I will walk with You in white;

A pure bride, I’ve been made right

By the blood of Jesus Christ;

Pardoned by His sacrifice.

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