Praise the LORD. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in His commands. His children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in His house, and His righteousness endures forever. Even in darkness, light dawns for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man. Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice. (Psalm 112:1-5)
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Have you ever heard this phrase: "Things are never as good as they seem..."
Even if your answer is "No," then odds are that you have thought and/or felt something very similar to this phrase in your lifetime.
For some reason, we all doubt seemingly good things. Whether its relationships, promises, friends, politicians, jobs, opportunities, or random prizes... When it comes to them, we seem to always have ill thoughts. Deep down, we wonder if things are really as good as they seem on the outside.
Today's passage talks a bit about this doubtful thinking. It talks about a "man" - a type of people - who are just as good as they seem.
People like this are mighty; blessed; provided for; and possess God's righteousness forever. In the dark world, they are light. Even through trials, temptations, and rough patches, these people will find relief because of their character.
"Even in darkness, light dawns for the upright..."
This is the life and promise given to the upright man. And this "man" is who we are all called to be; who you and I were remade to be.
If you think about it, Christian's have a negative stigma of being fake, double-minded, or two-faced; that we appear one way but are never truly what we seem. Today's Psalm gives a clear picture of how we can proclaim that we actually do have God's righteousness. It uncovers the way towards living a life that is really as good - as Godly - as it appears.
And it begins with a person who "delights" in God's commands; His wishes; His wants; His will. This is someone who genuinely finds pleasure in pleasing the Lord.
You see, we are not slaves, bending beneath the unstable hand of a hard master. Instead, we are children, living freely under the grace and mercy of a "light" and loving Father. To find delight in His commands is to find ourselves desiring to make our Father happy.
Under His command, we are blessed. And we should delight to "bless Him" in return with obedience.
But this is not all... the psalmist also writes that the upright are gracious, compassionate, and generous.
You can tell that someone is a believer by their genuine love for all people. And what breaks away the world's doubt is when a believer has intentions that match their profession.
You see, we are called to be honest and sincere in what we profess. To speak truthfully. To act sincerely. To deal faithfully with both God and others. But this level of grace, compassion, and generosity multiplies when our intentions match that honesty and sincerity; when our motives are pure.
We are to genuinely want good things for every man, not just good things for good men (see the difference?). And we are to desire - to have deep motivations - that all people would know God's love, not just our half-way, "I-feel-sorry-for-you" love.
Our intentions should mirror the intentions of our Father. That is how we live as good as we seem.
So today, I challenge you to delight in making God happy. To take part in living a life of grace, compassion, and generosity. And to insure that all of your inner intentions match the outward life that you profess.
Let us all live the upright life today. Thank you so much for joining us! Please help us out by sharing today's devotion and joining in the discussion on our Instagram page! (Instagram.com/DeclareGlory)
Blessings,
Greg, Declare Glory
