Please read Psalm 112 (10 verses)

There are great blessings to be found by those who live uprightly according to the commandments of the Lord and love them with all their heart. There is a correlation between obeying the Lord with a glad heart and all sorts of temporal and spiritual blessings. The list in this Psalm reflects every aspect of our lives and encourages us to seek the Lord first and foremost.

The psalmist tells us that our children will be blessed; there will be wealth for us in terms of this life and the next; we will not be worried about the future because our trust is in the provision of the Lord; we will not be fearful of bad news or of any foes that might militate against us, for our faith is in the Lord and will remain constant. He will not allow the godly to suffer loss.

There are identifying marks to these god-orientated people. They have heartfelt feeling towards their fellow humans and give freely and unconditionally out of their bounty that God has permitted them to have. They do not keep their riches to themselves and their own friends and family, but give generously to those who need it and can never pay it back. Their generous heart is known to the Lord and so they are secure in Him and know that all they have is from Him and does not really belong to them anyway. It is really important what we do with what we have and we must examine our lives to make sure we are not grasping and spending most of our riches on ourselves.

The righteous will flourish but the wicked will be filled with petty jealousies and covetousness. God will honour all those who give all to His glory and are not content with feathering their own nests at the expense of the needs of others. The Christian woman and man is always outward looking to think of ways to support and reach out to other people with the good news about Jesus and to demonstrate His love for each person, through the giving of themselves.