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.”
There is an old rabbinic story of a son who 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, his pride.
The word that is rendered in the English as wicked is a bit misleading. It is the word rasa’. Perhaps at one time in the history of the English language wicked would have been an adequate rendering but that word has evolved over the years to take on a much harsher meaning. In English today the word wicked expresses something much harsher than the word rasa’ really intends. Rasa’ has the idea of being impious, or having an unjust cause. The application is quite broad and is broad enough to include you and me in that category of wicked or rasa’. I am sure you would rather be called impious rather than wicked. However, if you examine the consequences of being impious in Psalms 112:9-10 you might not want to be called that either. Actually, rasa’ is even more mild that impious it could also be rendered as self-centered or self-seeking.
The word translated as 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. In its Semitic root is shows 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 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: Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven – Matthew 5:3. To the Jews listening to Jesus, the kingdom of heaven represented God and a deep knowledge of God. Jesus spoke these words in Aramaic and the Aramaic word that was used for poor is meskina which is the Aramaic equivalent for avah or poor. In other words, those with a willing and desirous spirit will be filled with God and the knowledge of Him.
His horn will be exalted in honor. The word horn is qaran which literally means beams or rays of light. Perhaps you’ve seen the famous statute of Moses by Michelangelo which pictures Moses having two horns. That was based on the Latin Vulgate’s rendering of qaran in Exodus 34:29,25 as horns rather than beams of light. Christian’s by the time of the translation of the Latin Vulgate had so persecuted the Jews that they went with their limited knowledge of Hebrew and rather than consult with the Jews on the Hebrew they ended up giving Moses horns which ended up on Michelangelo’s statute. The word qaran can also mean strength and power. Horn was a much later rendering for qaran as horns became a symbol of 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 cause others to have honor or respect for such a person. But the Davidson Lexicon says that that Taw really indicates an imperfect form and keeps in a Qal. 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? The answer lies in the next verse.
The wicked rasa’or the impious, self-seeking or self-centered will see it and be angry…the desire of the wicked – rasa’ the self-seeking or self-centered will perish. By bringing someone else into the honor that the rasa’ – wicked or self-centered person desires, it is God’s way of punishing this person.
So next time you look at someone and say: “Why does he get a book published, or gets to be on TV or gets the big church, or gets to sing on the worship team, or even give announcements.” 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. You may not be as gifted or talented as you think. God may be giving you that position because of your lack of talent or skill for that position to show that talented or gifted person who is so filled with himself that God is not seeking the gifted or talented but only those who have a heart for Him.
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