9 He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honour.
All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.
But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil.
And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.
Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.
Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.
For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor.
I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.
(As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever. Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;) Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God. For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God; Whiles by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection unto the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distribution unto them, and unto all men; And by their prayer for you, which long after you for the exceeding grace of God in you. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.
That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate;
Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.
But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you.
That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day:
But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.
In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.
He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.
There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.
Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.
And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the LORD, mine horn is exalted in the LORD: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 112
Commentary on Psalms 112 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Alphabetical Song in Praise of Those Who Fear God
The alphabetical Hallelujah Psalms 111:1-10, which celebrated the government of God, is now followed by another coinciding with it in structure ( CTYXOC KB , i.e., 22 στίχοι , as the Coptic version correctly counts), which celebrates the men whose conduct is ordered after the divine pattern.
As in the preceding Psalm. Psalms 112:1 here also sets forth the theme of that which follows. What is there said in Psalms 112:3 concerning the righteousness of God, Psalms 112:3 here says of the righteousness of him who fears God: this also standeth fast for ever, it is indeed the copy of the divine, it is the work and gift of God (Psalms 24:5), inasmuch as God's salutary action and behaviour, laid hold of in faith, works a like form of action and behaviour to it in man, which, as Psalms 112:9 says, is, according to its nature, love. The promise in Psalms 112:4 sounds like Isaiah 60:2. Hengstenberg renders: “There ariseth in the darkness light to the upright who is gracious and compassionate and just.” But this is impossible as a matter of style. The three adjectives (as in Psalms 111:4, pointing back to Exodus 34:6, cf. Psalms 145:8; Psalms 116:5) are a mention of God according to His attributes. חנּוּן and רחוּם never take the article in Biblical Hebrew, and צדּיק follows their examples here (cf. on the contrary, Exodus 9:27). God Himself is the light which arises in darkness for those who are sincere in their dealings with Him; He is the Sun of righteousness with wings of rays dispensing “grace” and “tender mercies,” Malachi 4:2. The fact that He arises for those who are compassionate as He is compassionate, is evident from Psalms 112:5. טוב being, as in Isaiah 3:10; Jeremiah 44:17, intended of well-being, prosperity, טּוב אישׁ is here equivalent to אשׁרי אישׁ , which is rendered טוּביהּ דּגברא in Targumic phrase. חונן signifies, as in Psalms 37:26, Psalms 37:21, one who charitably dispenses his gifts around. Psalms 112:5 is not an extension of the picture of virtue, but, as in Psalms 127:5 , a promissory prospect: he will uphold in integrity ( בּמשׁפּט , Psalms 72:2, Isaiah 9:7, and frequently), or rather (= בּמּשׁפּט ) in the cause (Psalms 143:2, Proverbs 24:23, and frequently), the things which depend upon him, or with which he has to do; for כּלכּל , sustinere , signifies to sustain, i.e., to nourish, to sustain, i.e., endure, and also to support, maintain, i.e., carry through. This is explanatorily confirmed in Psalms 112:6 : he stands, as a general thing, imperturbably fast. And when he dies he becomes the object of everlasting remembrance, his name is still blessed (Proverbs 10:7). Because he has a cheerful conscience, his heart too is not disconcerted by any evil tidings (Jeremiah 49:23): it remains נכון , erect, straight and firm, without suffering itself to bend or warp; בּטח בּה , full of confidence (passive, “in the sense of a passive state after a completed action of the person himself,” like זכוּר , Psalms 103:14); סמוּך , stayed in itself and established. The last two designations are taken from Isaiah 26:3, where it is the church of the last times that is spoken of. Psalms 91:8 gives us information with reference to the meaning of ראה בצריו ; עד , as in Psalms 94:13, of the inevitable goal, on this side of which he remains undismayed. 2 Corinthians 9:9, where Paul makes use of Psalms 112:9 of the Psalm before us as an encouragement to Christian beneficence, shows how little the assertion “his righteousness standeth for ever” is opposed to the New Testament consciousness. פּזּר of giving away liberally and in manifold ways, as in Proverbs 11:24. רוּם , Psalms 112:9 , stands in opposition to the egoistical הרים in Psalms 75:5 as a vegetative sprouting up (Psalms 132:17). The evil-doer must see this, and confounded, vex himself over it; he gnashes his teeth with the rage of envy and chagrin, and melts away, i.e., loses consistency, becomes unhinged, dies off ( נמס , 3d praet. Niph . as in Exodus 16:21, pausal form of נמס = נמס ). How often has he desired the ruin of him whom he must now see in honour! The tables are turned; this and his ungodly desire in general come to nought, inasmuch as the opposite is realized. On יראה , with its self-evident object, cf. Micah 7:10. Concerning the pausal form וכעס , vid., Psalms 93:1. Hupfeld wishes to read תּקות after Psalms 9:19, Proverbs 10:28. In defence of the traditional reading, Hitzig rightly points to Proverbs 10:24 together with Proverbs 10:28.