seed · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
mighty
גִּבּ֣וֹרgi.Bor
H1368
powerful · noun, common masculine singular absolute
earth
בָּ֭אָרֶץBa.'a.retz
H776
the earth (at large · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
generation
דּ֭וֹרDor
H1755
properly · noun, common masculine singular construct
upright
יְשָׁרִ֣יםye.sha.Rim
H3477
straight (literally or figuratively) · adjective, masculine plural absolute
blessed
יְבֹרָֽךְye.vo.Rakh
H1288
to kneel · verb, pual imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Genesis 17:7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God u…
Psalms 37:26 He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.
Proverbs 20:7 The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.
Acts 2:39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
Psalms 25:13 His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth.
Psalms 102:28 The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee.
Jeremiah 32:39 And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:
Genesis 22:17-18 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon th…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 112:1-5
The psalmist begins with a call to us to praise God, but immediately applies himself to praise the people of God; for whatever glory is acknowledged to be on them it comes from God, and must return to him; as he is their praise, so they are his. We have reason to praise the Lord that there are a people in the world who fear him and serve him, and that they are a happy people, both which are owing entirely to the grace of God. Now here we have,
I. A description of those who are here pronounced blessed, and to whom these promises are made.
1. They are well-principled with pious and devout affections. Those have the privileges of God's subjects, not who cry, Lord, Lord, but who are indeed well…
His seed shall be mighty upon earth,.... The Targum is,
"mighty in the law;''
as Apollos is said to be "mighty in the Scriptures", Acts 18:24. This must be understood of such of them as fear the Lord also, and love him, and delight in his commandments, according to Exodus 20:6 and not in a literal sense, for not many mighty are called; but in a spiritual sense, of their being strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might, and in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Some understand this of the spiritual seed of Christ; and make him to be the man that feared the Lord, and greatly delighted in his commandments, as it is certain he did; he was heard in that he feared; and it was his meat and…
Psalm 112:1-3
1. Praise ye Jehovah! Blessed is the man that feareth Jehovah; he will greatly delight in his commandments. 2. His seed shall be powerful in the earth: [342] the generation of the righteous shall be blessed. 3. Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever.
1 Blessed is the man that feareth Jehovah Although the prophet begins with an exhortation, he has, as I have already pointed out, something farther in view, than simply the calling upon the faithful to praise God. To practice wickedness, and perpetrate injustice, is, in all quarters, accounted a great happiness; and, although integrity may be occasionally praised, nevertheless, there is s…
The Church Fathers
The third verse is: His seed shall be mighty upon the earth. Because I have performed the commandments of God with my will, I am worthy to become a father of saints. Let us say it briefly, lest the discourse be drawn out too long. The generation of the upright shall be blessed. May the Lord grant that you also who hear me may be a generation of the upright.
Next follows, "His seed shall be mighty upon earth" (ver. 2). The Apostle witnesseth, that the works of mercy are the seed of the future harvest, when he saith, "Let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap;" and again, "But this I say, He which soweth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly." But what, brethren, is more mighty than that not only Zacchaeus should buy the kingdom of Heaven by the half of his goods, but even the widow for two mites, and that each should possess an equal share there? What is more mighty, than that the same kingdom should be worth treasures to the rich man, and a cup of cold water to the poor?
Your fourth question is, "Why David said, 'His seed shall be mighty on the earth, the generation of the righteous shall be blessed,' when we know that the children of the just were and are cursed and those of the unjust were and are blessed." I answer this question from an exposition of the same psalm that I gave to the people. For, "Blessed is the one who fears the Lord; he shall delight exceedingly in his commandments." God, who alone judges rightly and mercifully, shall see how much he excels in his commandments, since, as holy Job says, "The life of [a person] on earth is a warfare." And again it is written, "For the corruptible body is a load on the soul, and the earthly habitation presses down the mind that muses on many things." But he who judges us is the Lord, and we should not judge before the time until the Lord shall come and bring to light the hidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsels of the heart. Then shall each person have praise from God. Therefore, [God] shall see how much each person excels in his commandments, yet each person shall delight exceedingly who truly loves the peace of the cobuilding, nor should each person despair now, since "in his commandments he shall delight exceedingly," and there will be "peace in the land to men of good will."
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Blessed, The · The generation of the upright — The generation of the upright
Parents · When Faithful: Leave a blessing to their children — When Faithful: Leave a blessing to their children
Prayer · Experience of past mercies an incentive to — Experience of past mercies an incentive to
Uprightness · They who walk in, shall: Be blessed — They who walk in, shall: Be blessed
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
As in the preceding Psalm. Psa 112:1 here also sets forth the theme of that which follows. What is there said in Psa 112:3 concerning the righteousness of God, Psa 112:3 here says of the righteousness of him who fears God: this also standeth fast for ever, it is indeed the copy of the divine, it is the work and gift of God (Psa 24:5), inasmuch as God's salutary action and behaviour, laid hold of in faith, works a like form of action and behaviour to it in man, which, as Psa 112:9 says, is, according to its nature, love. The promise in Psa 112:4 sounds like Isa 60:2. Hengstenberg renders: "There ariseth in the darkness light to the upright who is gracious and compassionate and just." But this…
successful: All will know the children of godly people (see 127:4) because the godly leave a legacy for their children (see 1:3; cp. Matt 6:20).
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 112:2
His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.
His seed shall be mighty upon earth, that is to say, successive generations of God fearing men shall be strong and influential in society, and in the latter days they shall have dominion. The true seed of the righteous are those who follow them in their virtues, even as believers are the seed of Abraham, because they imitate his faith; and these are the real heroes of their era, the truly great men among the sons of Adam; their lives are sublime, and their power upon their age is far greater than at first sight appears. If the promise must be regarded as alluding to natural seed, it must be understood as a…
