Psalm 112 (1928 BCP)
Psalm 112 (1928 BCP) is the psalm Beatus vir in the Psalter of the Book of Common Prayer (1928). In the 1928 monthly cycle it follows Psalm 111 at Morning Prayer on the Twenty-third Day. The psalm describes the blessedness of those who fear the Lord, delight in his commandments, show mercy to the poor, and remain steadfast in trusting him.
Prayer Book Text and Daily Office Appointment
The 1928 Prayer Book places Psalms 110–112 under “The Twenty-third Day. Morning Prayer.” The opening joins reverent fear to a delighted, rather than merely reluctant, obedience:
BLESSED is the man that feareth the LORD; * he hath great delight in his commandments. 2 His seed shall be mighty upon earth; * the generation of the faithful shall be blessed. 3 Riches and plenteousness shall be in his house; * and his righteousness endureth for ever.
The “riches” of verse 3 must be read with the psalm's later account of generosity, not as an autonomous promise of comfort. The enduring thing is righteousness: the house is marked by a life ordered toward God and neighbour. This sequencing is especially important when the psalm is prayed immediately after Psalm 111, whose last verse calls the fear of the Lord “the beginning of wisdom.”
Unto the godly there ariseth up light in the darkness; * he is merciful, loving, and righteous. 5 A good man is merciful, and lendeth; * and will guide his words with discretion. 6 For he shall never be moved: * and the righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance.
Mercy in the Prayer Book wording is active: the good person lends, and discretion governs speech. The Psalm therefore refuses to separate piety from judgment, generosity, or the use of words. “Never be moved” is not immunity from suffering; within the Psalm it names a steadiness rooted in belief in the Lord.
He will not be afraid of any evil tidings; * for his heart standeth fast, and believeth in the LORD. 8 His heart is stablished, and will not shrink, * until he see his desire upon his enemies. 9 He hath dispersed abroad, and given to the poor. * and his righteousness remaineth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honour. 10 The ungodly shall see it, and it shall grieve him; * he shall gnash with his teeth, and consume away; the desire of the ungodly shall perish.
Verse 9 supplies a concrete test of the preceding claims: trust is visible in dispersed generosity to the poor. The closing contrast does not invite a worshipper to relish another's ruin. It warns that envy and the desire opposed to God's righteousness perish, whereas mercy and faith endure.
Scripture Received in Christian Teaching
Paul explicitly quotes Psalm 112:9 while encouraging the Corinthians' collection for those in need:
Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever.)
The quotation prevents verse 9 from becoming a general approval of indiscriminate display. Paul surrounds it with freedom of heart, God's sufficiency, and “every good work.” Christian use of the Psalm can therefore speak of almsgiving as a response to grace, not a purchase of status.
The Psalm's light-in-darkness language also belongs beside the Gospel's description of Christ:
Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
John 8:12 does not erase the Psalm's first sense, which praises the Lord's blessing upon the godly. It gives the Church a Christological horizon for praying it: the light for which the faithful wait is not self-generated confidence, but the light of the Lord whom they follow.
Received Christian Interpretation
Augustine reads the Psalm's works of mercy as a real, though unseen, investment in the promised life:
On this account he also “dispersed abroad, and gave to the poor” (ver. 9): he saw not, yet he kept buying; but He was storing up the treasure in heaven, who deigned to hunger and thirst in the poor on earth.
This is a theological interpretation rather than a replacement for the Psalm's literal witness. It makes plain why the psalm's generosity and its steadfast heart belong together: almsgiving is not a calculation based on visible security, but an act of trust in God's enduring care. Augustine's allusion to Christ among the poor also guards against treating the recipient as an occasion for the giver's self-display.
The Anglican scholars John Mason Neale and Richard Frederick Littledale connect the Psalm's “light in the darkness” with the Church's Christmas use:
The use of this verse as the Antiphon to the Psalm in the second Vespers of Christmas supplies us at once with the highest sense of the words, as denoting the revelation of Christ to the world, a light shining in the dark places of the earth.
Their observation is historical as well as devotional: it identifies an actual liturgical reception of the verse. Prayed in the 1928 daily cycle, the Psalm can retain its moral teaching about mercy and trust while also being heard in the Church's confession that Christ is light for a darkened world.
Neale and Littledale further explain the apostolic use of verse 9:
Then follows the quotation from the Psalm, and the connection makes it clear that the intention in this place is to represent the endurance of righteousness and the exaltation of the horn as God's reward for charitable dealing towards the poor.
The Prayer Book text and 2 Corinthians together support that judgment: “righteousness remaineth” is paired with concrete giving. At the same time, the Psalm begins with fear of the Lord and delight in his commandments, so generosity is not isolated from the worship and obedience that form it.
Use in Worship
At Morning Prayer on the Twenty-third Day, Psalm 112 follows Psalm 111's praise of God's covenant and wisdom. It turns that praise toward a life of mercy, guarded speech, courage amid “evil tidings,” and open-handed care for the poor. Its monthly repetition allows the Church to ask whether its confidence is in riches or in the Lord, and whether its worship bears the durable fruit that the Psalm calls righteousness.
See Also
- The Psalter (1928 BCP)
- Morning Prayer (1928 BCP)
- Psalm 111 (1928 BCP)
- Psalm 113 (1928 BCP)
- Book of Common Prayer (1928)
External Links
- The 1928 BCP Psalter: Psalms 101–150 (Justus Anglican)
- Augustine, Exposition on Psalm 112
- Neale and Littledale, A Commentary on the Psalms, vol. III
References
- ↑ The Protestant Episcopal Church, The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church (New York: Church Pension Fund, 1928), “The Psalter,” Psalm 112, Beatus vir, verses 1–3, Twenty-third Day, Morning Prayer, Justus Anglican, “The 1928 Book of Common Prayer: Psalter,” Psalm 112.
- ↑ The Protestant Episcopal Church, The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church (New York: Church Pension Fund, 1928), “The Psalter,” Psalm 112, Beatus vir, verses 4–6, Twenty-third Day, Morning Prayer, Justus Anglican, “The 1928 Book of Common Prayer: Psalter,” Psalm 112.
- ↑ The Protestant Episcopal Church, The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church (New York: Church Pension Fund, 1928), “The Psalter,” Psalm 112, Beatus vir, verses 7–10, Twenty-third Day, Morning Prayer, Justus Anglican, “The 1928 Book of Common Prayer: Psalter,” Psalm 112.
- ↑ The Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments: Translated out of the Original Tongues: and with the Former Translations Diligently Compared and Revised by His Majesty’s Special Command (Authorized Version, 1611), 2 Corinthians 9:7–9, Bible Gateway, “2 Corinthians 9:6–9 KJV”.
- ↑ The Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments: Translated out of the Original Tongues: and with the Former Translations Diligently Compared and Revised by His Majesty’s Special Command (Authorized Version, 1611), John 8:12, Bible Gateway, “John 8:12 KJV”.
- ↑ Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 112, §6, trans. J. E. Tweed, in Philip Schaff, ed., Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, vol. 8 (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1888), New Advent, “Exposition on Psalm 112”.
- ↑ John Mason Neale and Richard Frederick Littledale, A Commentary on the Psalms: From Primitive and Mediaeval Writers; and From the Various Office-Books and Hymns of the Roman, Mozarabic, Ambrosian, Gallican, Greek, Coptic, Armenian, and Syriac Rites, vol. III, Psalms LXXXI–CXVIII (London: Joseph Masters; New York: Pott and Amery, 1871), p. 461, commentary on Psalm CXII, verse 4, Internet Archive, “A Commentary on the Psalms, vol. III”.
- ↑ John Mason Neale and Richard Frederick Littledale, A Commentary on the Psalms: From Primitive and Mediaeval Writers; and From the Various Office-Books and Hymns of the Roman, Mozarabic, Ambrosian, Gallican, Greek, Coptic, Armenian, and Syriac Rites, vol. III, Psalms LXXXI–CXVIII (London: Joseph Masters; New York: Pott and Amery, 1871), p. 465, commentary on Psalm CXII, verse 9, Internet Archive, “A Commentary on the Psalms, vol. III”.