Praise the Lord!
Happy are those who fear the Lord,
who greatly delight in his commandments.
Their descendants will be mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.
Wealth and riches are in their houses,
and their righteousness endures forever.
They rise in the darkness as a light for the upright;
they are gracious, merciful, and righteous.
It is well with those who deal generously and lend,
who conduct their affairs with justice.
For the righteous will never be moved;
they will be remembered forever.
They are not afraid of evil tidings;
their hearts are firm, secure in the Lord.
Their hearts are steady; they will not be afraid;
in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.
They have distributed freely; they have given to the poor;
their righteousness endures forever;
their horn is exalted in honor.
The wicked see it and are angry;
they gnash their teeth and melt away;
the desire of the wicked comes to nothing. ~ Psalm 112
I have a bone to pick with this Psalmist. There are parts of the Psalm that seem to say something different than what I expect I'd hear Jesus say.
Here, the Psalmist extols the gifts that he sees the righteous receive: strength and wealth. That just seems to be the opposite of what Jesus' message was. So what does he know?
And yet scroll down a bit and there's more to the story.
The righteous have distributed freely.
This distributing freely makes them happy.
What makes you happy?
Strength? Wealth?
Or the sharing of those things?
A study was done that showed that the happiest people were people who were grateful. Gratitude leads to happiness better than anything.
Gratitude also leads to sharing.
Maybe the Psalmist knew something after all.
Thank you, Lord, for all that I have. Open my hands and my heart to share that beyond myself. Amen