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Psalms

About this book
Psalm 112

1 Praise the Lord! How blessed is the one who obeys the Lord, who takes great delight in keeping his commands. 2 His descendants will be powerful on the earth; the godly will be blessed. 3 His house contains wealth and riches; his integrity endures. 4 In the darkness a light shines for the godly, for each one who is merciful, compassionate, and just.⁠ 5 It goes well for the one who generously lends money and conducts his business honestly. 6 For he will never be shaken; others will always remember one who is just. 7 He does not fear bad news. He is confident; he trusts in the Lord. 8 His resolve is firm; he will not succumb to fear before he looks in triumph on his enemies. 9 He generously gives to the needy; his integrity endures. He will be vindicated and honored. 10 When the wicked see this, they will worry; they will grind their teeth in frustration and melt away.⁠ The desire of the wicked will perish.

Texts in conversation

Compare Psalms 111:4 and Psalms 112:4

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Psalm 111 praises God as merciful and compassionate. Psalm 112 uses the same words to describe the godly person, mirroring God’s character in those who follow him.

Passages

Psalms 111:4

Hebrew Bible
3 His work is majestic and glorious, and his faithfulness endures forever. 4 He does amazing things that will be remembered; the Lord is merciful and compassionate. 5 He gives food to his faithful followers; he always remembers his covenant.
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

Psalms 112:4

Hebrew Bible
3 His house contains wealth and riches; his integrity endures. 4 In the darkness a light shines for the godly, for each one who is merciful, compassionate, and just. 5 It goes well for the one who generously lends money and conducts his business honestly.
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

References

... In 1999 Eryl Davies published an article on the imitation of God. He too begins from Leviticus 19:2, but augments this with other verses in Leviticus and Deuteronomy, rather as I have already indicated, arguing that the activity of God manifested, for example, in the exodus, provides a ‘blueprint or paradigm’ for human response. A new feature in Davies’s treatment is an interesting reference to Psalms 111 and 112 which commentators have long suspected are a more than random pairing: in Zimmerli’s words, quoted by Davies, ‘the characteristics of the pious [in Psalm 112] mirror those of God himself [in Psalm 111]’. Davies, like others who have written on this subject, is unable to point to very many explicit commands to imitate God, but contends that a certain parallelism between God and human beings is somehow the underlying presupposition of much in Old Testament ethics. The sense of affinity between God and humanity upon which it depends is seen as a central assertion of the Old Testament, and perhaps as a distinctive feature in ancient Israel as against the environing cultures ...
John Barton, Ethics in Ancient Israel (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), 267.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Psalms 111:4 and Psalms 112:4

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