Psalm 112 is one of a series of Psalms that begin with the phrase Praise the Lord. In Hebrew it is hallu – ya (הללו יה). Does this sound familiar? It should, we translate it Halleluiah. I have finally come across a word I have wanted to study for a long time. A word, as a vocalist I had sung for many years and never really knew what I was saying: Halleluiah! Quite often we pair it, especially in songs with Praise the Lord, Halleluiah. Kind of redundant isn't it? Maybe, unless you think more on it; we can't praise His name enough can we? So let's let the songwriters keep on praising His name more and more. I'll sure sing it!
This is a great psalm/poem about the blessings of knowing and keeping the Law of the Lord; but right now I want to focus on just the first verse of this great psalm because the psalmist really put the heart of the message in these three short lines:
Praise the Lord.
Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,
who finds great delight in his commands. (Psalm 112:1 NIV)
Again the first line of the Psalm is hallu – ya. Hallu (הללו) is interpreted as praise, but can also be interpreted as glory, boast, or celebrate. Ya (יה) is one of the 72 names of God, the Lord of Israel.
The next line, of this verse, uses the word eshrei-ish (אַשְׁרֵי־אִ֭ישׁ), rather than the usual barukh (ברכה) to denote blessed. Eshrie can be also interpreted as happy, or be happy, especially when paired with ish, which is the male imperative –'the man'; essentially saying 'the man is happy',
The idea of a man being happy in fearing something is kind of counterintuitive to most of us. Fear in the English language has a greatly negative connotation; it is something we try to get away from. Some of us fear spiders or snakes and will do anything to get away from them, or kill them. Others of us are fine around spiders or snakes, yet if you put us on a ledge high above the ground our heart rate will skyrocket and we will do anything to get away to a more solid footing. So there must be some other explanation for this concept
The Hebrew word for fear is yare (ירא), which can also be interpreted as dread, or even reverence. The Jews have a three level concept for this concept of 'fear of the Lord' which goes back to the first time the congregation of Israel really met the Lord Elohim in Exodus 20:18-20. The first level is what they felt here in vs. 18
When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance (Exodus 20:18 NIV)
The word used here is viayau'nu (וינעו) which is translated as trembling, but could also mean tottering, or quivering. I figure we all have been there in fear. These people had just experienced something that shook them to their core. They were afraid of physical death or injury (Exodus 20:19), and for a good point, Elohim had already warned Moses that anybody who touched the mountain would die (Exodus 19:24-25).
The second level of yare can be seen in vs. 20:
Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning." (Exodus 20:20 NIV)
Here Moses in telling them about a fear of Adonai to keep them from sinning, he uses the verb form yirah'tov (יראתו) which denotes a moral fear. This is the fear of moral consequences, for a breaking of a commandment of Elohim (אלוהים) the Judge of all people. This is the law of sin and death Paul wrote about (Romans 8:2) and is so evident here.
The third level of 'fear of the Lord' (yare et-Adonai -
ירא את־יהוה) can be seen in Paul's writings to Titus (Titus 3:4-8) where Paul exhorts his young talmidim (תלמידיו-student-disciple) to lead a godly life, conscious of Yeshua's sacrifice, and the prompting of the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh-רוח הקודש). The consciousness of Elohim in everything brings the 'awe' of yare into our lives, and we can truly 'know God'. Here, we can be Happy in the fear of the Lord.
The third line reads in Hebrew be-mitzvotav chafetz me'od (במצותיו חפץ מאד׃) which if strictly translated reads 'His commandments abundantly delights'. It's not as literarily smooth, but has the same feel of loving and being delighted in the commands (מצוות - mitzvot) of the Lord. The Hebrew word me'od (מאד) can also be translated as diligently, abundantly, we see a word meaning of great amount. Now some, I know, will wonder at the idea of being 'delighted' to follow laws or commands. We here in the U.S.A. greatly treasure our freedom. We chafe at the idea of 'being under law', to have our freedom restricted. Too often we forget that it is because of the laws we have, that we have our freedom. We don't have to worry about the guy down the block, or across the way who might just like my car, and decide to take it. Because he knows that action is called stealing, and if he takes my car without my permission, the enforcers of the law, the police, will restrict his freedom. So the balance here is to have laws that define correct action, without restricting us too much. The Jews knew from where these laws came, and were encouraged to remember them all the time.
Putting this together we have:
Praise the Lord
Happy (Blessed) is the man who fears (has reverence for) the Lord,
In His commandments he abundantly (diligently) delights.
Chaverim (חברים -friends), are you happy in your fear of the Lord, and do you delight (regularly) in his commandments?
Baruch HaShem (ברוך השם)
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