"Light Dawns on the Upright"
Seung-Chan Park
Lead Pastor, ICMC
(Psalm 112:4-5, 7-8) “Even in darkness light dawns for the upright,
for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous. Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely,
who conduct their affairs with justice… They will have no fear of bad news;
their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord. Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear;
in the end they will look in triumph on their foes”.
The verses shed light on the security and assurance of believers who are following the examples of God in compassion and righteousness. Knowing God and His graciousness, compassion and righteousness do not occur in the believers’ life in an automatic way, but through deeply considering God and His own deeds of compassion and graciousness for them. Knowing God’s own benevolence and graciousness is a significant part of the believers’ knowledge of God. It goes beyond mere half-hearted intellectual assent, but becomes a living reality for them. This knowledge leads to a transformed way of living that exhibits great compassion and generosity. Also, as being founded on the knowledge of God, this life in generosity does not lead to a mere “show” of generosity, which basically amounts to hypocrisy. The central motif of hypocritical show of generosity is interlinked with self-centeredness, as the importance of the self comes before God and others. It seeks public recognition, applause, or at least positive review – that this person is kind, generous, rationally sound and loving. This desire for the self devours the essential need for considering the will of God and the real meaning of the deed of generosity itself. The self is not denied, but well alive and positioned at the center. A person in this state might receive great recognition in a certain period of time, but cannot shake off the constant sense of anxiety for recognition by others. This is an opposite picture to the portrayal of the person whose righteousness is recognised by God in verse 6:
“Surely he will never be shaken; a righteous man will be remembered forever.”
When each action is considerately put in the light of God’s grace and His presence, other ulterior motives for generous action gradually disappear from the sight. Then, the sight is cleared to the real needs that call for ministry or aid, and also cleared to the fact that every act in the name of Christ is done in the presence of God.
Pslam 111:10 says:
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" We see how it is manifested in the life of believers. As they are striving to exhibit His goodness and righteousness, they are secure in His hands. Even in darkness, as God promises, light dawns on them. In this light, they have strength to continue every day in justice and righteousness, showing the compassion of God to others, and the Lord blesses their hands. As they are blessing others, they are also blessed by righteous people of God, too, especially when they groan in darkness. Hardship and adversity in this world happen to the righteous ones, but the community of the righteous is like this: in the time of darkness, they become light for each other in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is how the believers fulfil a calling to be the body of Christ in the midst of the world.
The verses also say that the righteous have no fear of bad news and foes. The distinct characteristic of their hearts is their steadfastness and security, and this security comes from their trust in the Lord and their outlook on their future triumph in the Lord. We might take this “trust” in the Lord a bit lightly since we hear about this concept quite often, but if we contemplate on this word more carefully, we would understand that the “trust” in the Lord is not such an easy thing to practice in our actual life. Why? Because the context of this “trust” in the Lord is the presence and persistence of “bad news” and “foes” around us and before us. If we think of ourselves in the presence of bad news and foes, this seemingly simple word “trust” might no longer feel that simple anymore. Trust comes from the deep understanding of God’s grace and promises in Christ, the remembrance of God’s wonderful deeds in the past, and the acceptance of the guidance of the Word in sincere prayer. Contemplating on the wonderful deeds of God leads to a whole-hearted trust in Him.
In this way, believers gain understanding and grow in Christ. Then, they are more enabled to respond to bad news and foes with confession of trust and assurance in the Lord. The fear of the Lord prevents us from becoming spiritually prideful or hypocritical before others, and keeps us humble before His countenance. And the church is called to be the community where a godly kind of mutual accountability should take place. As the fear of the Lord in full trust (not a sense of mere terror of the unknown) governs their meetings and fellowship, believers are called to practice mutual accountability by being faithful companions to each other. This mutual accountability involves encouraging each other in faith, prayer together, sharing resources, providing godly advice, spending time together, and so forth. In this way, the church of Christ overcomes darkness together.
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