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The River ChurchSermons

The Gospel Shoes

Patrick Bicknell · Sunday, 28 June 2026 · 34:53 · 5,441 words

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Psalm 112 promises a blessing to one who fears the Lord and delights in his commands, but sermon shows this righteousness cannot be earned by moral effort. It comes through faith in Jesus Christ, who bore our sin so we might become God's righteousness. When that righteousness is ours, it produces a generous heart that shares what it has, and creates a trust in Lord that endures hardship. Message asks listeners to stop relying on performance, receive Christ's righteousness, and let it change how they give and trust God.

What this sermon is about

Ranked by keyness against every other sermon in the corpus. Each one is a word this sermon actually said — nothing here was written by a model.

secure 16 bless 31 generously 9 produce 17 righteous 34 trust 24 generous 8 psalm 26 give 34 compulsion 4 wealth 8 giver 5

Topics

Faith 9 Righteousness 6 Salvation 3 The Gospel 3 Sin 2 Atonement & Sacrifice 1 Grace 1 Condemnation 1 Prayer 1 The Holy Spirit 1

Scripture referenced 34

Verified against the transcript. A reference the recording does not support is never listed here.

Psalms 112 0:00 Psalms 112 0:00 Psalms 112:1 0:21 Psalms 112 0:45 Psalms 112 3:10 2 Corinthians 5 3:28 Isaiah 64:6 4:55 Romans 3:10-12 5:28 Psalms 112 6:45 Psalms 112 8:33 Psalms 112:3 8:33 Psalms 112:5 8:46 Psalms 112:9 8:54 Psalms 112:3 9:23 1 Thessalonians 3 14:04 Psalms 112 15:12 2 Corinthians 9 16:00 2 Corinthians 9:6-9 16:00 2 Corinthians 9:6 16:07 Psalms 112 17:10 Romans 5:8 17:51 2 Corinthians 9:6 19:41 Philippians 1:6 22:36 Romans 8:1 23:18 2 Corinthians 4 23:50 2 Corinthians 4:8 23:57 Psalms 112 24:27 Psalms 112:7 24:27 Psalms 112 24:51 2 Corinthians 4 25:48 2 Corinthians 4:14-2 25:48 Psalms 112:6 26:06 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 27:17 Psalms 112:7-9 29:25

Transcript

Every word, as spoken, with the second it was said. Each word links to its own entry in the index.

chapter 112. So if you have your Bibles, go ahead and open up to Psalm 112. We are continuing our

Psalms series. I hope that you have been enjoying it. It has been an encouragement for me to keep

studying through it. And we are nearing, kind of nearing the end of this, as we're in the last bit

of the book of Psalms. If you don't have your Bible, you can follow along on screen, or you can

download the River Church app. There's also a Bible there. But Psalm 112, verse 1, says this,

Praise the Lord. Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commands.

So as the Psalm begins, we are given this blessing to people who are like this person in verse 1 of

Psalm 112. Kind of a reoccurring theme that we read throughout the Psalms of, if you are living

like this, if you are righteous like this, these blessings will follow. Where the psalmist writes,

Blessings be to this person.

And the blessing we see here, the distinction is, blessed is the man or the person who fears

the Lord. This isn't a cowarding fear. It is not a frightful fear. It is a reverential fear.

Understanding who God is, and who we are before him. Coming to him knowing how great, how big,

how powerful he is, and how much we need him. And then it says, also those who greatly delight in

his commands. Those who have this fear of God, and who greatly delight in what the Lord has done for

us, and what the Lord tells us to do within his scriptures. Blessed is this person. So our question

right off the get-go is, how do we become this person? Whenever we read the scriptures, and we

read, hey, if God's saying there's blessings to you if you're like this, that should be your question.

How do I get those blessings, right? I mean, I'm standing here this morning like, Lord, please me,

I would like those blessings. How do we be this person, this blessed person described in verse 1?

Now, if you notice the tone I'm having as I say that, I'm kind of giving us the danger that can

follow us if we read verses like this, psalms like this, in the wrong way. Very quickly,

the sermon, the way we read, the way we interpret this verse, can just turn into a moralistic

sermon, right? You come in here this morning, and pastor's going to tell you, do this, do this,

live this way, change your behaviors, and if you do that, you're going to be blessed and

righteous. Just change how you live, do it all within your own power. This moralistic sermon

that makes us kind of feel good, you know, yeah, I can do some of those things, and if I do it,

God's going to bless me. Live this way, good things happen. That is not what this verse is saying.

It's not what the Bible teaches us, but rather what we read within the scriptures is that these

two conditions, fearing the Lord, greatly delighting in his commandments, can only be brought about by

knowing Jesus Christ.

Christ, our Lord and Savior. This sort of righteousness that Psalms 112 is going to tell

us to live in, that the Psalms all throughout tell us to live in, right, follow this way of

righteousness. The righteous will not be moved. To be this righteousness first comes by knowing

Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 5 21 says it this way,

For our sake he made him to be sin, who knew no sin, so that we might become the righteous,

of God. That's the truth for us that we all must start with this morning, that he is our

righteousness. And what an amazing verse, that he, Jesus, who we talked about last week, right,

the eternal, all-powerful, existing before time was even created God, stepped into creation and

became the very thing he hates, the very thing that separates us from God. He became sin, had the

power of sin, and rose again, so that what? We might become the righteousness of God. That's the

gospel. What an amazing truth, that it's not us, it's not about what we can do, but Christ did the

work. Christ is the one who fulfills this. Christ is the one who came to the world, died on the cross,

rose again, and that's how we become righteous. Because the truth is, we cannot live up to these

standards on our own. We can't be the blessed person. We can't be the blessed person. We can't

be the person this psalm is talking about on our own. We can't attain the righteousness of God,

no matter how hard we try. Isaiah 64, 6, we have all become like one who is unclean, and all our

righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the

wind, take us away. What's our righteous deeds without God? What are our righteous deeds apart

from Christ? They're filthy rags. They're those rags in your garage you use to clean up the oil

as you're doing an oil change. We all have those around our house, right? That's what our

righteousness before God without him is. Romans 3, 10 through 12, none is righteous. No, not one.

No one understands. No one seeks for God. All have turned inside. Together, they have become

worthless. No one does good, not even one. The truth is for us this morning, church, we cannot

produce this righteousness. So please do not read this psalm. Don't hear from me this morning that if

we just live this psalm, we cannot produce this righteousness. We cannot produce this righteousness.

We cannot live this way if we just do these things. The righteousness of God is ours, and these

blessings are ours. No will, no might, no strength can produce this on our own. But what we need is

our blind eyes to be open to the truth of Jesus Christ. We need our dead souls to be raised to

life again by the power of the Holy Spirit and the preaching of the gospel. When that happens,

when we are a new creation in Christ, then we can fear the Lord,

and greatly delight in his commandments. Then these blessings apply to us because they are

secured in Christ, given to us in Christ. So that question, do you want to have the blessings this

psalm talks about? Do you want to be righteous the way Psalms 112 tells us to live? Then you

need to fall on your knees and say, I need Jesus. That's it. That's the only way these blessings

are going to apply to us. And before we even talk about what the blessings are, what's the point in

talking about what the blessings are if we don't know how to obtain them? We start with Jesus. Is he

your righteousness? Or do you read this psalm and go, check that, check that. Yep, went to church

today. I read my Bible, got my chapter in, check that, check that. I'm good, I'm blessed, I'm

righteous. It is not about our performance that brings these blessings, but rather what Christ

has done. Because the truth is, you aren't righteous, but he is. He provides it for us. So we start

here. Then we can live in this way. So there's two things that I want to talk about this morning

of what the righteousness of Christ in our life produces for us. Once we have surrendered in

faith, and I would say sincerely from my heart, please hear me. If you have not done that, if you've

never put your faith in Jesus and said, I need him for my salvation, him only, grace only. If that's

not you and you want to do that today, right now, put your faith in Jesus. Everything could be changed

for you. But once that happens, what does this produce in our heart? So this first point I want

to look at in verses 3 through 5 and in verse 9 is that the righteousness of Christ produces

a generous heart. So picking up again in verse 3 of Psalm 112, he says,

wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever. Light dawns in the

darkness for the upright. He is gracious, merciful, and righteous. It is well with the man, verse 5, who deals generously

and lends, who conducts his affairs with justice. And then skipping down a bit to verse 9, he has

distributed freely. He has given to the poor. His righteousness endures forever. His horn is exalted

in honor. So these few verses, I believe, are talking about this generous heart that comes

from fearing the Lord, greatly delighting in his commandments, being changed by the gospel of Jesus

Christ. Now in verse 3, it says, wealth and riches are in his house. What is that talking

about? Because in our American mindset, our Western civilization, we can read that and go,

oh, awesome. I have my faith in Jesus. He's my righteousness. Bring on all the wealth and riches

that can come to me. What new house am I getting if I believe in Jesus? What vacations can I go on?

Do I get a private jet? Is this what we're talking about? This is the wealth and riches we're

accumulating, right? Now, it's not a bad thing to have money. Please don't ever hear that from me.

But rather, what the psalm is talking about here, as I was studying it this week, the wealth and

psalmist is talking about is a person who has enough to supply for his family. And so it would

be referring to someone who had the land to be able to plant crops, to raise cattle, so that him

and his family could be provided for, so they can have food, so they can have the sustenance, so they

can maybe even help another person. It wasn't this like over-accumulating of wealth and riches, but

rather a life that everything's provided for. That's what it's talking about here. But then it

deals generously and lends. So the imagery that the psalmist would have been putting forward here

is of two farmers in Israel, just generally. And you have one farm, right? The wealth and riches,

the land to be able to work, to make the food, the cattle. And so it's this person had a good year.

The Lord provided the crops, the Lord blessed his land, and it was amazing. And he was able to have

what he needed and then some. And then over here, you have a second farmer, a second family,

not as good of a year, struggling, maybe barely provided for his family, barely,

had enough food. And so what the first farmer does, who had the good year, is he gives to his

neighbor who is in need and helps him out. He deals generously with him and lends it. And he's

not expecting to get more out of this. He's not dealing to the person who doesn't have enough

and saying, here's your interest, and this is an opportunity for me to increase what I already

have. What he's talking about is a person here who loves God, who has been changed in his heart by the

God has shown him. And this is not an attempt to get more, but it's an opportunity to help God's

people. This is what the psalm is talking about here as a person who deals generously, who gives

and lends. And I believe this is what happens when we are truly changed by the gospel. This is what

happens when our hearts have truly been changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because I believe

this is what happens when we are truly changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I believe this is

what happens when we are truly changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because when we think about

the grace of God, literally the word grace means getting something, receiving something we don't

deserve. And the grace of God in salvation is that we were destined for an eternity in hell,

could never pay the price, could never do enough good things, yet God loved you so much to do the

work for you, pay the price for you, give you salvation, and doesn't expect a single thing in

return. That's what we're talking about. And so what we're talking about here is that we're

that's grace. And that is better than anything this world can offer to us. And so when we know

that, when we know we've received the most beautiful, the most precious, the best thing in

our life, in turn, that's what makes our hearts generous to people who need it, to help people in

need. Because there's no more about accumulating and taking and keeping what is ours. But when we've

received everything, then we go and we love people and give the way God calls us to live. And I

these verses, it teaches us that giving, how generous we are in it, how we lend when people

are in need, it's a mirror and a great indicator of our spiritual health. If we are reserved in

keeping our riches, my treasures, I've worked for this. If we're reserved in this, I think it's a

great indicator of how we view grace. Where is our treasures located? Jesus talks about this in

1 Thessalonians 3. It says,

So Jesus says, don't put your treasures and your life on these things that will not last. Where

moth and rust are going to destroy it. Your houses, your money, your gold, whatever it is,

that's not what it's about. He says,

So we start with faith in Jesus Christ. We start by coming to him and saying, I am a wretched sinner

who needs the salvation that Christ provides. And when we put our faith in him and have truly

been changed, then the desires of our heart are completely changed. What we used to value in life

is no longer that. What we value now is God. Our treasures aren't these things of the world. Our

treasure is him. And I believe this is what we need to do. And I believe this is what we need to do.

This is the flow of Psalm 112, that he who fears and delights in the commands of the Lord,

who put their faith in God, trust in God, giving generously is no longer a burden because it's not

our treasures anymore. Our money and our wealth and what we've been blessed with is an opportunity

to care for God's people, to care for the people of the world, to generously give so that if we

have an abundance, man, I can help someone out who didn't have a good year. Someone who's struggling

right now. Maybe they're struggling right now. Maybe they're struggling right now. Maybe they're

struggling to get food. God's blessed you to be able to help take care of that person. This is

what it's talking about. And I believe Paul, it's the reason why Paul directly quotes this Psalm

in 2 Corinthians chapter 9. So 2 Corinthians 9 verses 6 through 9, it's the section where

Paul talks about how God loves a cheerful giver. And in verse 6, it says,

Now again, why does God love a cheerful giver? Because it reflects a heart that has received

the grace of God. The reason is no longer under compulsion because how can I reserve anything in

my life when I've received new life, not on my own, not based on my merit. When I have received

the greatest blessing in the world, I'm no longer under compulsion. I'm no longer under compulsion

part of me. And I don't got to pay anything back for it. When I've received this, man,

there's no other response than to give generously. He loves a cheerful giver. And he says,

And this is where he quotes Psalm 112. As it is written,

The reason we are generous givers, because God is the most generous giver there is.

God generously gives salvation to sinners who don't deserve it. God gave his son for us when

we were still sinners. But God shows his love for us in that while we're still sinners, Romans 5, 8,

he died for us. He gave his own son so that we might be saved while we were the ones mocking

him at the cross. While we were the ones calling out for Barabbas, while we were asking for him to

be crucified, we were the ones calling out for him to be crucified. We were the ones calling out

Jesus willingly and for the joy set before him, went and endured the cross for you. When that truth

is real to you and it changes you, it produces this generosity that only comes by knowing the

grace of God. We act like our God who saved us. Now, in full transparency, I'll be honest, I don't

like teaching on giving, especially as a young pastor who hasn't done it often. I've just over

a year here, which is crazy to think, and I've loved every moment of it. I don't like talking

about this because it's not true. I don't like talking about it because it's not true. I don't

like talking about it because it's uncomfortable because I know what other churches have done

because I know how greed can easily slip into my life if I don't take close watch of myself.

We don't even need to name any moment. It has happened all around the world in every country

where pastors have fallen into greed because they didn't check themselves and they worried too much

about the giving. I'll be honest, I don't know at all anything of what anyone gives in here, who gives

in here. I don't want to know it because I don't want to allow Satan to get a foothold in my life

because I know

if I do, I will be, I'll burn my life down. However, giving is so important to our walk with

the Lord. Giving is so important for our worship before God. And so all I would call you to do is

what 2 Corinthians 9, 6 says, whoever sows sparingly, reaps sparingly. And this isn't about

gaining back riches if you give. It's not about saying if you give X amount of money, you'll

receive double that amount of money. I believe what you'll reap when you lay down control of

finances in your life, you'll receive double that amount of money. I believe what you'll reap when

you lay down control of finances in your life and give towards the Lord is a peace that surpasses all

understanding. It is to join the Lord, knowing that God is using it to further his kingdom. And

then it says, prayerfully consider as each one has decided in his heart what you will give. And that's

two copper coins like the lady in the parable Jesus gave. Amen. God doesn't need our money to do what

God's going to do, but he's called us to give and to give generously. And so that's for you to decide

between you and the Lord to prayerfully consider that. But I would say it is such an essential

aspect of our worship. And I would say it is such an essential aspect of our worship and our

challenge on this in my own life recently, because it reflects how much and how deep I think of the

grace of God. Now I will say too, we mentioned this at the end, if you have any questions about

the giving here at the River Church, we are transparent about that. You can ask any question

you want for any reason about anything. You can set up a time to meet with me. I would be happy

to walk with you through that and to see all those things. There's nothing we're hiding here, okay?

But the next thing I want to talk about, what the righteousness of Christ produces in our life. I

So going back to verse six, he says,

This righteousness of Christ, knowing Jesus as our Lord and Savior, I believe produces

a trust in our life that sustains us through any moment we go through.

Any circumstance that we go through. Because when you know something is secured, it builds a trust

within you, right? So how many of us feel more comfortable when we go to a place we don't know?

Maybe we're parking somewhere, we're going to a ballgame, and we lock our car. There's no guarantee

the car's not going to get broken into, but you feel a bit more secured about your car and its

belongings if you do that. Then if you were to walk away and you forgot to lock it and you get

into the ballgame, you're like, oh my goodness, did I lock my car? Right? You feel a bit more secured

than you do that. And I believe knowing our salvation is secured, the most important thing

in our life, the only thing that really matters at the end of the day when we finish our life,

that produces a trust unlike any other. And Philippians 1.6 gives us this rock solid

assurance that says, and I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to

completion at the day of Jesus Christ. That's not a maybe. He's not saying, I believe.

He who began the good work in you might bring it to completion. You'll have to find out when you

stand before the pearly gates. He says, no, he who began it will see to it that you are brought

before him and stand with him forever in eternity. That is our promise of our Lord, because Jesus

secured the salvation. And so Romans 8.1, right? There's therefore now no condemnation. Why is that

the case for us? Why is there therefore now no condemnation for any of us if we're in Christ? Because

Christ is our God.

Christ died. He died on the cross. He paid the price and he rose again. Therefore, we have

confidence in the Lord, no matter the situation. And I believe these three verses are mirrored

so beautifully again in 2 Corinthians. So 2 Corinthians chapter four, I think we get this

wonderful mirroring if we set them side by side. So Paul speaking in 2 Corinthians 4 verse 8

talks about what he is going through, what other beliefs he's going through, what other beliefs

are going through. And he says, we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed, perplexed, but not

driven to despair, persecuted, but not forsaken, struck down, but not destroyed. See, I believe

this is what verse seven says in Psalm 112. This is not being afraid of the bad news. You see,

Paul says, we are going through persecution. We are going through some heavy things. We are being

struck down. We are being perplexed at what is happening. And we're having questions, but guess

what? We're not driven to despair. We're not forsaken. We're not forgotten. These things

are happening to us. And that's what Psalms 112 says. Bad news will come. We need to know that.

We need to not be ignorant to that truth in this world. We live in a fallen, sinful world. Bad

things will happen. Sometimes it'll be because of our own faults. We are fallen, sinful people.

We'll bring on these issues sometimes. We know our bodies. We know how one day a diagnosis can come.

And I'm thinking about David and Megan right now as I was reading this, how much that hurts. These

things will happen to us. But when it comes, we are not afraid. When it comes, we are able to stand

firm. When it comes, we have the promise that we are not crushed, that we are not forsaken, that we

are not destroyed. Because going on to verse 14, 2 Corinthians 4, knowing that he who raised the

dead is going to raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. So we're not afraid

of the bad news. Why? Psalm 112, 6, because we will be remembered. We will be remembered. Because

even though we go through suffering, guess what? He who raised Jesus from the dead is going to

raise us also. That is a rock solid assurance that we have as believers in Christ. That if Jesus died

and rose again, the same spirit that raised

him will raise us also. That's the beautiful truth that our trust rests on. That's where our hope

comes from. And this isn't a vain promise. This isn't a promise given to us by someone who,

is he going to come through or not? Is he going to follow through on these promises?

This is an assured truth. And we can go back to see how it's assured because Jesus Christ is no

longer in the tomb. Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. That

is our promise. That is how we know that one day we will also be raised again if we put our faith

in him. Therefore, 2 Corinthians 4, 16 through 18, we do not lose heart. Though our outer self

is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction

is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. As we look

not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that

are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. We're going to go through

hard times. We're going to be afflicted. We're going to be persecuted. We're going to be struck

down. But our trust is that just as he who raised Jesus from the dead, we will also be raised from

the dead. And there's a lot of issues and problems in this life, but they're light and momentary

compared to the eternity of glory that we will see.

As we stand before God forever. Because the only thing that really matters in this life,

when we get to the end, the questions aren't going to be, what struggles did you go through?

What bad news did you get? What bad times did your family experienced? The only thing that's

going to matter at the end is Jesus Christ, your Lord and Savior. That is true for you,

that everything in this life, even though it doesn't feel like it in the moment, is light

and momentary. It's not even comparable to the eternity we will have with God. Therefore,

Psalms 112, 7 and 9, our heart is firm and our heart is steady because we are built on the

foundation of Christ. We are strengthened by his spirit every day and every trial we go through,

and they will come. And I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer, but that's the reality we live in.

Every trial we go through is an opportunity for us to have a deeper faith and trust in God. So to

wrap up, the righteousness of Christ produces many things. We talked about how it produces this

generous heart. We talked about how it produces this generous heart. We talked about how it produces

this heart. And again, please hear me. That's why we believe giving is so important. It's almost this

way of reflecting how much of the grace we've received from God. And again, if you have any

questions about it, please come find me. Set up a meeting, coffee, whatever it is. I'd be happy to

talk with you about all of that. Prayerfully consider what the Lord's calling you to give.

Reflect in your own life what your giving reflects about the grace you've received. And is it an

opportunity for you to grow in deeper devotion to God? It produces trust in the Lord. We will all go

through hard things. We will all go through hard things. We will all go through hard things.

If we trust in the Lord, he will get us through it. It's only him. There's other things in this

world that might sustain for a little while. And maybe you've tried it before. I know that I have.

And I've heard many stories of people who have tried other things for a while. But many of us

can attest and testify that Jesus Christ, that trust in him, following God is the only thing

that will really get us through every single moment in this life. But in all these things,

and there's many more blessings that we can go through. We could spend all of our time

going through the blessings that come by knowing Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. But at the end

of the day, what they are all rooted in, and what we must never forget, is that these blessings are

rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you've never received it before, receive it today. And

if you received it 50 years ago, or whatever the time was, then use today to praise God for the

gospel of Jesus Christ. And I hope that we can be a church that helps you in these areas. That we can

be a church that fosters this generosity.

That we would be a body of believers that fosters this trust, especially as one of our own are going

through struggles. That we can reach out to them. That we can go and talk to them. That we can go

and pray for them, so that their faith would be strengthened, just as we would want the same for

us. Father, we love you. And I thank you for this morning, and this opportunity to preach your word.

We thank you for the blessings that are offered to us in Christ, and for what your righteousness

in our heart produces in our life. And I pray for each person here in these two areas, of giving and

of trusting in Jesus Christ. And I pray for each person here in these two areas, of giving and of

trusting in Jesus Christ. And I pray for each person here in these two areas, of giving and of

trust. Lord, that your spirit would move within our hearts, to lead us to give what you are calling

us to give. Not reluctantly, not under compulsion, but in hopes that it would be used for the gospel

to be spread to the nations. For families to be cared for. For needs to be met. For love to be

shared. That we would be a part of this work. That we would want to give to what you are doing within

the River Church. And in our trust, God, through the Holy Spirit, remind us every day of how secured

our salvation is. And use that to give to what you are doing within the River Church. And in our

trust, God, through the Holy Spirit, remind us every day of how secured our salvation is. And in our

trust, God, through the Holy Spirit, remind us every day of how secured our salvation is. And in our

trust, God, through the Holy Spirit, remind us every day of how secured our salvation is. And in our

trust, God, through the Holy Spirit, remind us every day of how secured our salvation is. And in our

trust, God, through the Holy Spirit, remind us every day of how secured our salvation is. And in our

trust, God, through the Holy Spirit, remind us every day of how secured our salvation is. And in our

trust, God, through the Holy Spirit, remind us every day of how secured our salvation is. And in our

trust, God, through the Holy Spirit, remind us every day of how secured our salvation is. And in our

trust, God, through the Holy Spirit, remind us every day of how secured our salvation is. And in our

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