Well, if you haven't taken your Bible and done so, please take your Bible. Go to Psalm 112. And as we do on Wednesday night, we are studying through the book of Psalms. We are working our way week by week, progressively, through this wonderful hymn book that God has given, the book of Psalms, the book of praises. And we come to Psalm 112. Now last week, we looked at Psalm 111, which is the works of God. Tonight, we come to Psalm 112, which are the works of the godly man. The works of the godly man. Follow with me as I read it. I want to set it before you, and then I will preach it briefly, and then we'll pray together. Praise the Lord. How blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments. His descendants will be mighty on earth. The generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever. Light arises in the darkness for the upright. He is gracious and compassionate and righteous. It is well with the man who is gracious and lends. He will maintain his cause in judgment. For he will never be shaken. The righteous will be remembered forever. He will not fear evil tidings, for his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. His heart is upheld. He will not fear until he looks with satisfaction on his adversaries. He has given freely to the poor. His righteousness endures forever. His horn will be exalted in honor. the wicked will see it and be vexed. He will gnash his teeth and melt away. The desire of the wicked will perish." Perhaps there is no phrase in all of the Old Testament that describes one who follows and loves the Lord more than this phrase. A God-fearing man. It is used over a hundred times in the Old Testament. A man who fears God. A God-fearing man is a follower of God. A God-fearing man is a lover of the Lord. Tonight, we come to a psalm that is going to teach us that a godly man is a God-fearing man. Now, there is a book written by Thomas Watson called The Godly Man's Picture. If you've not read it, I highly recommend it. I'll loan it to you. The very beginning of that book opened with these words. Godliness puts a man in heaven long before his time. Christian, aspire after piety. It is a good ambition. Look at the saints' characteristics here and never depart from it until you have got them stamped upon your own soul. This is the grand business which should swallow up your time and your thoughts. Being a godly man, being a God-fearing man, being someone who pursues piety, you pursue godliness. After all, you remember the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 4, verse 7, and Paul said, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness. Your life and my life should be disciplined for the purpose of godliness. Or later on in 1 Timothy 6 verse 11, we are told that we must pursue godliness. This is the God-fearing man. True godliness, I want to tell you, still by way of introduction, is not an outward thing. I suppose it might be easy to kind of Look religious on the outside. You could go to church. You could shape up your life. You could carry a Bible. You could say the right things. That's not true godliness. True godliness is an internal matter in the heart. It is a supernatural gift from God. And true godliness is an extensive thing that will permeate all of life. Not that you're going to be perfect, but it will affect every sphere of your life. True godliness is a very intense thing. It is consuming. It is a focused ambition. It is a pursuit. That's why Paul uses the Greek word agonize for discipline yourself for godliness. Oh, this is the glorious way to live life. Boys and girls, I want to tell you throughout the sermon today, this is the best way and the happiest way for you to live your life. to be a God-fearer. Psalm 111 and 112 are like twin psalms. Last week, we saw Psalm 111, which extol the works of God, and we saw that, what God does, and his majesty, and his power, and how we study the works of God. Well, today, in Psalm 112, we learn the works of the godly. The works of the godly. I want to sort of think of it in this way, of painting a profile of a godly man. What is the profile of a godly man? What is the profile of a godly woman? What is the profile of a godly child? What does it look like for someone who is a God-fearer and someone who loves the Lord? You see in your outline there, verses one to nine, I wanna show you the godly man. And then in verse 10, as we come to the end of the Psalm, I need to show you the ungodly man. So let's begin, number one, with the godly man, and we'll look at these marks as we work through it together. It all begins in Psalm 112 with the simple command, praise the Lord. Or you know the Hebrew, hallelujah, hallelujah. Interestingly, it's an imperative command. It is a plural, meaning it should be done corporately. When we praise God, it is commanded, it is corporate. We are to praise Yahweh, Jehovah. We are to worship only one, and he is the exclusive God. We ought to do it early and often and with all of our hearts. But notice in verse 1, do you see how the man of God is described? Verse 1, how blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments. That word blessed is the best way to live your life. Boys and girls, if you want to live with the smile of God upon your life, If you want to have the favor of God, if you want to have the smile of God, as it were, the countenance of God for you, toward you, in joy, this is the way to live life. This is the best way, the happiest way, the most fulfilling way to live your life. Boys and girls, listen very carefully. Don't believe what the world says. believe what God says in the Word. How blessed is the man who fears the Lord. Now, the fear of God refers to the holy reverence for God, a holy reverence. It is a humble love for God. When we talk about fearing God, it means that there is a reverence, there is a humble love for God, there is a devotion to God. And we might even say that fearing God even includes a humble submission, an obeying of what he wants us to do in the Word. And this is the best way to live life. It is the happiest way to live life, a holy reverence, a humble love, a true devotion, fearing the Lord. And if you fear the Lord, verse one says, you will greatly delight in the commandments of the Lord. Now, you have your Bible open. You brought your Bible with you today. Boys and girls, many of you have your Bible there in front of you as well. If you and I greatly delight in the word of God, look at the bottom of your page, you'll see what will happen. Number one, you will read. this book. You will study this book. You will love, oh, you will love the Word of God, the commands of God. Indeed, if we delight in God's commands, we will talk about these things. What is there in the Word that we can talk about and encourage and edify one another? If you greatly delight in God's commands, next you, you memorize, you will memorize the word, and then you will follow the word. And, and certainly that means you'll contemplate, you'll think about the word and value, treasure, and prize the word. Do you remember how David began the Psalter in Psalm 1? The man of God's delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night. This is what Jesus did. I think Psalm 112, verse 1, pictured the life of Christ. A God-fearing man, a man who delighted in the Word of God. His whole life was consumed with studying and memorizing and living and obeying and talking about the Word of God and the truth of God. May that be descriptive of you and me as the man of God as well, marked by the fear of God. But in your outline, you see there, I want to give you some marks. The portrait of this godly, God-fearing man, because the rest of the psalm is really going to sort of flesh out what does the godly man do? What is this God-fearing man like? What happens? What portrays him? In your outline, number one, there are upright children. There are upright children, and I think the emphasis here is on the legacy and on the descendants of this man. Look at verse 2. His descendants will be mighty on the earth, and the generation of the upright will be blessed. It actually sounds like Proverbs chapter 14. Verse 26, in the fear of the Lord, there is strong confidence and his children will have a refuge. In the fear of the Lord, there is strong confidence and your children will have a refuge. Now, listen carefully. I don't think this verse is a guarantee that a man of God is gonna have the mightiest, godliest children in the world. The book of Proverbs makes that very clear. These are not hard and fast promises and guarantees. But I do think that there is the blessing that comes to the godly man in that as he teaches his children, as he teaches the grandchildren who God is and what God has done and the gospel of grace, he says, come, my children. Listen to me, and I will teach you the fear of the Lord. He knows, Proverbs 3, 33, the blessing of God is on the house of the righteous. He knows that. He knows that as I live a godly life, my children will see the reality of God. And they will see my joy in the gospel. And they will see how grace has transformed my heart. And they will see love for Christ. And guess what every parent can say? I have led my children to Christ. Because I've brought them to the cross. And God will save whomever he wants. That's what the godly parent does. You can't save your children. You can't make them saved. You can't, you can't make them pray a prayer that will automatically save them. But what we can do, according to the psalm, is be a God-fearer and delight in the commands of God so that the generations to come, the generations to come will see this and be influenced and be affected by it. That should drive us to prayer, much prayer. As we teach, as we love, as we shepherd, as we discipline, we pray that there are upright children and a godly legacy that comes as we fear the Lord. So not only is that, number one, we pray for upright children. Number two, we have an unblemished character. Look at verses three and four and five. Verse three, wealth and riches are in his house and his righteousness endures forever. Light arises in the darkness for the upright because he is gracious and compassionate and righteous. And it is well with the man who is gracious and lends. He will maintain his cause. in judgment. Now, verse three is interesting. The health, wealth, prosperity preachers, as you could imagine, love this verse. They love this. Look, if you're going to be godly, if you're going to obey God, verse three, wealth and riches, there it is. They're going to be in your house right there. The point of the psalm is not about your luxury. The point of the psalm is your integrity. That's the point. The point is this. The man of God is a hard worker. The man of God is a man who is going to work hard for the glory of God, and God will provide for his needs. There will be wealth in his home because he'll work hard. In fact, didn't we read that at the beginning in Philippians 4? My God will supply all of your needs. according to his glorious riches in Christ. So, this is a wisdom statement that, yes, God will provide. He will bless those who fear and honor him and work hard and live lives of integrity. Verse 4 even supports that. Light arises in the darkness for the upright. Even as this world is plunging into darkness and disaster, the upright have light. We have discernment. We have a biblical worldview. We have the lamp of Christ and the lamp of the Word of God. But do you see, verse 4, the three triad of character traits that mark the man of God? Church family, examine yourself. This week, this is tough. This is hard. Is this who I am? Does this mark who I am? Verse four. Number one, you're gracious. Number two, you're compassionate. And number three, you're righteous. Well, that's fascinating because if you remember last week, Psalm 111, verses 3 and 4, that's what God does. God is gracious. God is compassionate. God is righteous. So, if God has saved us, then we ought to imitate our God. Does your character as a God-fearing man or woman, does your character emulate that of your God? Does it imitate that of your Savior? Like, be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love as Christ also loved you. Ephesians 5, verse 1. May it be that God would help us to have that unblemished character. There's no magic pill. I don't have a magic pill up here that I can give you to give you that unblemished character. but that's the sanctifying work that the Spirit of God does in our lives progressively as we grow in Christ. Third, a portrait of the man of God in your outline, he will have unconquerable courage. I don't know about you, but we need that in our day. And as times get tougher, and our culture gets darker, and persecution gets nearer, you and I are gonna need unconquerable courage. Look at verse six. He will never be shaken. The righteous will be remembered forever. You know, verse six is so helpful. He will never be shaken. What a great phrase. That the godly man will never be moved. He will never be shaken. He will never be distorted. Why? Well, here's the problem. We often fear men so much because we fear God so little. And one fear will cure the other. If we fear God more, we will fear man less. How do we live with courage? How do we live in this world to never be shaken, where the righteous man will have a legacy? He'll be remembered forever. How do we do that? How do we live in anxiety-free life? How do we live a worry-free life? How do we live a fearless life? I have the sure cure for anxiety from God. It's Psalm 55 verse 22. Cast your burdens upon the Lord and he will sustain you. And that's quoted in 1 Peter chapter 5. Be anxious for nothing but in everything. Well, that's Philippians 4, but 1 Peter 5 also talks about casting your burdens, your cares upon the Lord because he cares for you. So we want to have that courage. We want to know that as a man of God, I will not be shaken. The righteous will be remembered forever. Fourth, what is another mark of the man of God? This portrait of the man of God. This unshakable trust, you see it in your notes there. Number four, an unshakable trust in God, verses seven and eight. Real quick, many of you know the name David Paulus, and he died a few years ago to be with the Lord. He was a biblical counselor with CCEF. He wrote a book before he died, a small little paperback book on suffering. And much of what he wrote, and much of what he said, as his days on earth drew to a close, a suffering man with his cancer, he died, and he would often say, I go to Psalm 112, verse 7, a lot. If I'm trusting in God, if I'm a man who fears God, I don't need to fear a bad report. When the doctor calls me, when those medical tests come back, When they tell me I have only a few months left to live, I don't need to fear. I don't need to fear a bad report. And you think, how do you get there? How do you do that? How do you have an unshakable trust? Verses seven and eight. Here it is. Look, verse seven. He will not fear evil tidings or bad news. Literally in the Hebrew, bad news. Why? Because his heart is steadfast. His heart is steadfast. This is a word that means you are cemented deep in the promises of God. You are cemented deep. You're not just, you're not just a rolling stone. You're a pillar, deeply cemented, as it were, in the house of God. He has a steadfast heart, trusting in the Lord. His heart is upheld. He will not fear. Now, as a biblical counselor, let me be quick to tell you something here. There are bad reports. There is bad news out there. There is. The psalm does not ignore difficulties. This is not minimizing problems of life. The Bible doesn't do that. This isn't trivializing the real difficulties of life. What it is doing is anchoring your heart in the character of God and in the promises of God. And when you're there, you don't need to fear. You don't need to fear. when you put your heart on Christ. A little book that I had from David Powelson on God's purpose in your suffering, he wrote this, you put your heart on Christ and you put your heart on His character and you put your heart on His promises. That's how you get to this place in the Psalm where you don't fear a bad report. It is because the Word of God is unshakable that your heart can be unshakable as well. And then just one more, one more portrait here in number five. We're just looking at the man of God, the portrait of the man of God. What is the kind of life, the kind of works of the man of God? Number five in your outline. He is a man of unrestrained generosity. A man of unrestrained generosity. Verse 9, what does the psalm say? He gives freely to the poor. His righteousness endures forever. His horn will be exalted in honor. That means a godly man is a giver. The context, financial giver. He loves to give. He gives and gives and gives. Look at what the psalm says in verse 5. He is gracious and he lends. Why? Because in verse 3, he's a hard worker and God will provide him with wealth and riches. Not for him to increase his standard of living, but for him to increase giving. Giving. The man of God says, God has given so much to me. Where can I give? Where can I give to others in need? Now, much could be said on this. Oh, if we had more time, we would turn to 2 Corinthians 9. Remember that? God loves a cheerful giver. It's that whole chapter on financial giving in the New Testament church, right? This giving, God loves a generous giver, a gracious giver, a cheerful giver. The Old Testament support for that is Psalm 112. That's right where Paul goes in 2 Corinthians 9 verse 9. God, God will supply what you need. So give and give generously. This is the portrait. This is the portrait of a man of God. Now, brethren, this is good for us to look at the psalm and examine our own life and say, here's the portrait of the man of God. He fears God. He delights in the command. Does my life look like that? And are there holes here? Are there areas of my life where I can grow? Are there areas of my life where I can confess, where I can come to God and receive his power and his grace and his forgiveness and the enablement that I need so I can live this out? Boys and girls, let me say one more time, this is the best way to live life. Mom and dad could support that. The older men and women here would happily affirm that. This is the best way for you to live your life. This is the happiest, the most cheerful, the most glorious way to live your life. But I have to, because I'm an expository Bible preacher, I can't end there. I have to go to verse 10. Let's end there with the ungodly really quickly. This is one of the, well, the toughest verses. And I think there's a lot of what's often called personal eschatology here on the wicked. Verse 10 describes the wicked. It describes the ungodly, verse 10. The wicked will see it and be vexed. What does that mean? That means they will be hotly angry. The wicked see what? They see the favor of God upon the righteous. They see what God has done and is doing to the godly. And the wicked respond with anger. And the next phrase says, and the wicked will gnash their teeth and melt away, and the desire of the wicked will perish. We could talk about this more later. I'm convinced this is speaking of hell. And I don't know how, I don't know how to explain it fully, but I think this verse teaches that those in hell will be able to see the blessing of God upon the righteous in glory. And they will not repent in hell. It will only increase their agony and their anger in hell. And they will gnash their teeth and they will melt away in their desire will perish. Jesus actually picks up on this phrase when talking about hell in Matthew 25 verse 30 when he describes the ungodly, the ungodly as those who are thrown into the outer darkness and in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. It's like a wisdom psalm. There's the godly and the ungodly. There's the godly and the wicked. There are those who are the God fearers and those who are the God haters, but you can't ride the fence. You can't be both. And so the call today is, like Moses said, consider your end. Consider eternity. Look at your life. Consider your heart. Seek the Lord. Seek Christ. Fear God. Turn to Him by faith alone. I can't end just there, because I've not preached Christ yet. This psalm is a perfect portrait of Christ. This is your Savior. This is who He is. He is the godly man. This is your savior. He's been parading in front of you the whole night through this psalm. He's been pulling back the curtain, showing you his glory. He is a God-fearing man. He delights in the commands. He has mighty descendants. He is gracious and compassionate. He is one who is never shaken. He does not fear bad news. His heart is upheld, and he does not fear. He is one who will be exalted in honor." This is your Savior. This is who He is. Christian, look to Christ. How do you live the Christian life? How do you live this out in your life? Answer? Fix your eyes upon your Savior. Look to Him every day, every morning. As the Puritans would often say, even in their families, begin your day with God, continue your day with God, and end your day with God. Look to Christ. He is our great example. Great psalm. Great psalm for us to look at tonight. I do want to end with where I began. Thomas Watson, the great book, The Godly Man's Picture. I told you how the book began. I want to tell you how that book ends. It's the very last couple of lines in this few hundred page book by Thomas Watson. And as you seek to live out this godly life, Christian, hear this encouragement from Thomas Watson. How fervent is the love of Christ towards you. He loves you in your worst condition. He loves you in all of your afflictions. Christ loves you even in the midst of all of your fears and in the midst of all of your blemishes. And all of your shortcomings cannot wholly remove Christ's love from you. Oh, then how the bride of Christ should increase in her love for Christ. Perfect love for Christ will be the excellence of heaven. Our love will then be like the sun in full strength. But we're not there yet. So let the motive of Christ's love for you ignite your passion. to live a godly life for him. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for the portrait of the godly man, the godly woman. We pray, oh God, that you would work this in all of us. And Father, every one of us in this room has fallen short, every one of us. There's not one of us here who can say, we've done this. We've got it. We've nailed this. We've got all this down. For we have sinned and we have failed. But we run yet again to Christ, our champion, our savior, our Lord. We come to him who died for our sins. We come to him who stretched out his hands in love and took all of our sins and all of the punishment upon himself. that we deserved. We pray that we would look to Him, and the great love of Christ would then motivate us to greater godly living in our lives here. We thank you and praise you for this psalm. In Jesus' name.