Delightful Fear of the Righteous

Psalms 112:1-10 

1 Praise the LORD!
Blessed is the man who fears the LORD,
Who delights greatly in His commandments.

2 His descendants will be mighty on earth;
The generation of the upright will be blessed.

3 Wealth and riches will be in his house,
And his righteousness endures forever.
4 Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness;
He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.

5 A good man deals graciously and lends;
He will guide his affairs with discretion.
6 Surely he will never be shaken;
The righteous will be in everlasting remembrance.

7 He will not be afraid of evil tidings;
His heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.
8 His heart is established;
He will not be afraid,
Until he sees his desire upon his enemies.

9 He has dispersed abroad,
He has given to the poor;
His righteousness endures forever;
His horn will be exalted with honor.

10 The wicked will see it and be grieved;
He will gnash his teeth and melt away;
The desire of the wicked shall perish.

The song of the righteous flows from a life of delightful fear of the LORD.  The delight is in God Himself along with His blessings, and the fear of Him is the foundation of wisdom to live accordingly.  We who are righteous in Christ now have even more to stand in awe of and praise Him for all He has done.  We should always delight wholeheartedly and joyfully in His word to guide our steps as He leads us.  Our spiritual descendants, disciples, are of far greater blessings and might than those of this flesh could ever be.  The true wealth and riches are in the righteousness of God Himself in whom we live and He in us!  That righteousness endures forever.  He is our light in the darkness who shines on the upright in Him, and it is His compassionate grace and righteous character which we imitate (1 Corinthians 11:1).  These things being so, we follow the example of the psalmist who provides for the needs of others with discretion of good judgment to see real needs and not mere wants (2 Corinthians 9:8-9).  He can do this, as we can also, because the steadfast heart rests securely on the foundation of the Rock in faith to trust His goodness and enabling supply to meet those needs.  These acts of kindness are eternally remembered in Heaven.  The wicked, unfortunately, will only be saddened when observing this behavior of a changed life following after the Lord God, and will end up gnashing their teeth in torment (Matthew 22:13).  Their misplaced desire will perish along with all hope and blessings which they might have had forever in the Savior had they trusted and followed after Him in His righteousness and not their own contrived version of empty works.  May we have delight and fear of our Lord as we walk about in His righteousness because of the hope set before us, and do the works prepared for us in His strength alone (Ephesians 2:10, Philippians 1:6, 2:12-13).