“Psalms 112:9-10: “He hath given freely to the poor; His mercies 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.”

Today I was bemoaning the fact that I lacked in speaking engagements and teaching opportunities. I’ve been told over and over that I am an excellent speaking and teacher and above everything else I love to speak to an audience. According to my website stats I apparently speak to an audience of a couple thousand people every day, but that is just not as gratifying as actually speaking to people you can see who physically shake your hand and tell you how wonderful you are. Then I look around and see the people who seem to have no gift for teaching or speaking yet they have more speaking gigs than they can handled.  I asked God why?  I believe he led me to a book of Rabbinic literature where I read this story:

There was a king who had a son that caused his father to lose a significant amount of money. The father was seeking some way to punish his son. He did not want to beat him nor did he want to scold him. What he did was to go out and purchased a suit of clothes that the son was so desirous to own. But instead of giving it to his son he ordered the son to give the suit of clothes to the lowest servant. The father punished his son by not striking at him physically but by hitting him where it hurt the most, not only depriving him of what he wanted the most but to actually give it to someone who is totally undeserving.  As I have been in some deep personal reflection lately I am finding God has good reason to give the suit of clothes I desire most to the least deserving.

To translate the word rasa’ as wicked in Psalms 112:9-10 is correct but misleading. In English the word wicked tends to seem so much harsher than what the word rasa’ really intends. Rasa’ has the idea of being impious, or having an unjust cause. The application is broad, broad enough to include you and me in that category of wicked or rasa’. Yes, wicked or rasa’ enough for God to take my deepest heart’s desire and give it to someone seemingly less deserving. I remember speaking with one person who had numerous opportunities to speak and teach and he told me: “Oh, I wish I didn’t have to speak so much.” Hey, guy throw me a bone will ya. But maybe he saw my lack of speaking gigs as the suit of clothes he desired. I would tend to translate the word rasa’ not as wicked but as self-centered or self-seeking.

The word translated as poor in He has given to the poor is also misleading. We tend to think of poor as like – no money.  The word poor here is avah which means desirous or willingness. Yet, if we trace this word to its Semitic origins we find it is used to express the idea of a desire or willingness to be filled with the presence and power of God. This is followed by those sacred words “tsedekath ‘omedeth la’ad” (his mercies endure forever). These are words which touch the very heart of God.  David, Jehoshaphat, and others often invoked these words. It is the equivalent of a child saying: “Daddy, help me.” Just as such words will drive a father to express all the power he can muster, so too such words will bring the Heavenly Father to release His power. He is always ready and willing to release his mercy to those who desire it or are willing to receive it.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:3: “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” To the Jews listening to Jesus, the kingdom of heaven represented God and a deep knowledge of God that brought the power of God with signs and wonders. Jesus spoke these words in Aramaic. The Aramaic Bible uses the word meskina for poor which is one who is desirous of the just the basics necessities of life to exist.  Thus blessed are those who desire only the basics needs of the spirit.  The basic needs of the spirit is just God Himself. Beyond that are spiritual power and might, things that would really feed the ego. I have a friend who told me of a missionary she heard when she was in Florida, her name is Heidi Baker.  She told how this missionary performed tremendous signs and wonders, great miracles flowed from her. Her spirit is filled, yet she is poor or meskina in spirit. In other words all she desires is just the spirit of God in her. The miracles, well, they just happened.  In other words blessed is Heidi Baker who only wants to love God with all her heart for she will be full of miracles and signs and wonders.

His horn will be exalted in honor. The word horn is karan which literally means beams or rays of light. It also means strength and power. God will exalt this vessel that he fills with His power and light with honor (kavad) respectability and/or recognition. The word in the Hebrew for exalt, meaning to be high, is very easy to remember, it is pronounced rum. I noticed, however, that it has a Taw in front of it. I automatically figured that put it in a Hiphil form. This would make sense as God would have honor or respect for such a person. But the Davidson Lexicon says it is a simple Qal imperfect.  This is rather shocking.  It means that God will give that person honor or recognition in the eyes of others. If pride is such a sinful thing, why would God put a person in a position to be proud? Why put a humble woman missionary in a position to become proud?  The answer lies in the next verse.

The wicked will see it and be angry…the desire of the wicked will perish. By bringing someone else into the honor that the wicked or self-centered person desires like I do with speaking gigs or you with a ministry of miracles like Heidi Baker, it is God’s way of punishing us for our prideful pursuits.

So next time you find someone like Heidi Baker performing signs and wonders that you long to do or I see some buffoon who can’t find a descent adjective or adverb with a speaking gig that I envy stop and think: “Maybe God is bringing that person the honor you so covet to destroy the selfish desires in you.”  Or if you happen to be that person who gets those honors, don’t let it go to your head. God may be using your position to help straighten out another fellow traveler.