WHAT A RIGHTEOUS DAD DOES - VOL III ISSUE 1

"Praise the LORD! How blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in His commandments. His descendants will be mighty on the 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; 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." Psalm 112 NASB

This chapter is famous for outlining the characteristics of a godly man. However, please take notice of the second line: “his descendants will be mighty on the earth.” Obviously to have descendants you have to be a father. Therefore, I believe that this passage is not just describing a believer but more specifically explaining the characteristics of a godly dad.

The description of a godly dad begins with the fear the Lord. Dad, do you know what the fear of the Lord is? Do you think you have it? How do you know? How about looking up Proverbs 8:13,  9:10, Matthew 10:28, Luke 18:2 and Hebrews 4:1. Many say we shouldn’t fear God because “He is love” and if we’re His sons, why should we fear Him? However, the Bible says differently. Who are you going to believe, Dad?

Dad, do you, “greatly delight in His commandments”?  What does this even mean? How much do you read your Bible, even the Old Testament? Do you resist or discount or think lightly of His commandments? In our day, many cling to the grace message but shun His commandments. We are to live by grace and not law, so why would the commandments be important to us today? Why should we delight in them? Psalm 119 probably has more to say about God’s commandments, statues and ordinances than any other part of scripture. Try reading Psalms 119 with your children and look for why and how we should delight in the Lord’s commandments.  

“Wealth and riches are in his house”. This phrase gets our attention. But it would be out of context to think He is suggesting worldly wealth. Remember Jesus saying that it would be “easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into heaven.” I’m not saying that God can’t or won’t give you worldly wealth on His terms. God does provide and often more than you need….”my cup runneth over”. However, I strongly believe that the wealth and riches the Lord is referring to in this passage is your physical and spiritual children. Do you think of them as valuable as gold and precious stones? Can you list ways they enrich your life? Do you treasure their hearts? Do you pay as much attention to them as you do getting and managing worldly wealth? Do they know how much you treasure them?

There is only one way that ”His righteousness can endure forever”. That is, he must have put faith in Christ alone. The Bible is clear that our “righteousness is as filthy rags”. You can’t do anything to save yourself. Some days when I’ve done everything as right as possible, I feel pretty smug about being righteous. But then I do something that demonstrates that I’m not. I must constantly relearn that I am righteous not because of my actions but because He has declared me righteous when I accepted His gift of righteousness by trusting in Christ. Four times in the passage the Lord describes the godly dad as righteous. Dad, are you fully depending on Christ for your righteousness? I was reading I John recently and chapter one is very clear. Take a look at it. If you have placed your faith in Christ Jesus, your righteousness will endure forever. If so, your “light will arise in the darkness.”

“He is gracious and compassionate. It is well with the man who is gracious and lends … He has given freely to the poor”. Dad, do your children see you being gracious and compassionate? In contemporary American culture we typically see these as more feminine traits but God want us to be gracious. My dad was gracious. He looked for ways to bless and encourage others. I’ve shared about his tendency to extend grace and lend previously in my August 2011 installment of WADD. He was loved and admired in our community. Dad, will others (and especially your kids) say that of you in the future?

He will never be shaken”. What shakes you? This is a pretty strong statement. This requires God’s intervention. No man on his own can say, “I will never be shaken.” When you were slandered, were you shaken? When you were demoted at work, were you shaken? When you were laid off, were you shaken? When your children said they didn’t want to be under your authority anymore, were you shaken? Here God says you will never be shaken. I don’t know about you, Dad, but I’ve got a lot of growing to do.

“He will not fear evil tidings….He will not fear, until he looks with satisfaction on his adversaries”. I believe it is summed up best in Job 2:9-10 MSG.  His wife said, “Still holding on to your precious integrity, are you? Curse God and be done with it!” But Job told her, “You’re talking like an empty-headed fool. We take the good days from God—why not also the bad days?” When someone would ask my dad how he was doing, even right up to the end, he would always say, “fantastic,” even when he was in terrible pain. We will also have days when we’re told some pretty bad news. The godly dad does not live in fear and dread of what may happen. So let’s live our lives for Christ and teach our children to do the same. Leave the potential “evil tidings” up to God. After all He is going to use them to grow us in Christ anyway (Rom 8:28-29).

His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. His heart is upheld”. God is the one who holds our heart dad. Not your wife, not your children, not your friends, no one else. At least that’s the way it’s supposed to be. As you read through the history of the kings of Judah you’ll find that there were only three kings over a several hundred year period who had a “whole heart toward God.” Do you know who they were? Have you studied why God pronounced them “whole-hearted?” Jeremiah captures the concept in Jer. 29:13, “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”  

His horn will be exalted in honor”. Throughout the Bible, God explains over and over again that humility brings honor. God promises exaltation to the dad who humbly seeks God and is willing to have his will come under the authority of His Word. Dad, do you want your kids to honor you? Then listen to the admonition of Psalm 112. I know I must!

The wicked will see it and be vexed”, You WILL receive ridicule and persecution because you are going in the opposite direction of society. Don’t let that get you down or dilute your resolve! After all, Jesus promised that the world would hate you for following Him and so does the rest of the New Testament. But at the end of the day “he will gnash his teeth and melt away; the desire of the wicked will perish”. You are on the right path and great will be your reward!

THIS IS WHAT A RIGHTEOUS DAD DOES!