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The River ChurchSermons

Caleb Combs · 28 Jun 2026

Caleb Combs · Sunday, 28 June 2026 · 45:36 · 6,081 words

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Psalm 112 is examined as a wisdom psalm outlining five marks of a blessed, upright life: reverencing God as ultimate authority, leaving a lasting legacy, shining light in hard times, living generously, and staying steady amid uncertainty. The sermon stresses that true blessing is a life reflecting God’s character, not just material prosperity, and that we can only live these traits by Christ’s example. Listeners are invited to place God at the cornerstone of life, delight in His commands, trust His unchanging hand, and worship Him by emulating Christ.

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.

bless 59 uncertainty 14 characteristic 16 rightful 11 psalm 42 cornerstone 13 legacy 9 adversity 7 wise 15 delight 14 reverence 9 place 33

Topics

Righteousness 3 Atonement & Sacrifice 1 Faith 1 Grace 1

Scripture referenced 38

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

Psalms 112 1:20 Psalms 112 1:52 Psalms 112 2:56 Psalms 1 3:04 Psalms 1 3:19 Psalms 112 3:42 Psalms 112 4:14 Psalms 112 4:23 Psalms 111 4:23 Psalms 112 4:31 Psalms 112 4:45 Psalms 111 5:20 Psalms 112 6:14 Psalms 112 6:21 Psalms 112 9:13 Psalms 112 9:41 Psalms 112 9:47 Psalms 112:1 10:41 Psalms 112 11:25 Psalms 112:1 12:09 Psalms 112:1 12:46 Proverbs 3:5 18:30 Psalms 111 21:00 Psalms 111 21:12 Psalms 23 29:07 Psalms 23:5-9 29:16 Psalms 23:5 29:21 Psalms 23:9 29:28 Psalms 111 32:14 Psalms 111 32:14 Psalms 112 36:05 Psalms 112:9 36:56 Psalms 112:7 36:56 Psalms 112 37:13 Psalms 112 40:11 Psalms 112 40:37 Psalms 112 43:45 Psalms 112 44:37

Transcript

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

Pre-service announcement — 7 lines, 0:38. Excluded from every count and search on this site, kept here so nothing is hidden.

Hey everyone, my name is Dave Hudgens. Thanks for checking out one of our sermons today.

Hey listen, we're so glad that you are here and we want to connect with you and your family.

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Thanks again for joining us and we hope that you are blessed by today's message.

Good morning. Good to be with you. Good to see you. Good to sing with you and open God's word with you.

If I don't know you, my name is Caleb. I'm the pastor here and it's just an honor to be able to gather together in the name of Jesus. Amen?

Okay, amen. There you go. Let's go. Hey, that's alright. That's good.

So hey, we are in a series on the book of Psalms. I've said this a couple times and I'll just keep saying this.

We are not going through all 100.

115 chapters of Psalms, okay? That's going to take multiple years.

We are trying to do overarching themes throughout the book of Psalms.

And so this morning we'll be in Psalm 112.

And so if you have a Bible, a device, something to follow along or read along, I would always encourage that.

I've loved preaching through the book of Psalms, studying the book of Psalms.

I don't know. I know many of you have read.

I've reached out and said, wow, there's so much application to the book of Psalms.

I have found that so enriching in my own life and hopefully you've found that enriching in yours.

But while you turn to Psalm 112, I just wanted to, I didn't even tell him I was going to do that.

I don't know if he came and sat down, but Pastor Noble is heading up north this week to preach at a student camp up in the Cadillac area.

He's going to preach, I think, nine or ten times this week.

And so I'm going to...

I'm going to ask you to do this as a church.

I'm going to ask you to commit to praying for him and praying for the students and the counselors and the leaders and the worship leaders and for safety and the gospel to be clear.

And so if just by a show of hands, will you commit to praying for them, him and the camp assistant?

Thank you so much.

I appreciate you doing that.

Just pray for them.

It'll be, I think he's leaving today or tomorrow.

I'm not sure.

And then coming back Friday.

And so, but excited for him.

And...

um it's not a river ministry thing but excited that the ministry is way bigger than the river

if that makes any sense and what i just said and so excited for him and excited for what god is

gonna do in and through them but psalm 112 um as you have reached there is uh considered a wisdom

psalm okay and so as we kicked off the psalm series in psalm chapter one it was a wisdom psalm

uh categorizing or looking at the wise man or the blessed man and so you can look at the the

contrasting statements in psalm chapter one that uh the wise man will do this or the blessed man

will do this or the foolish man will do this and so what's great about this is jesus echoes the

same teaching method in categorizing the wise man and the foolish man and uh building a foundation

which we'll get to in a little bit

a little bit but the psalm 112 um gives us a realistic portrayal of what true wisdom is

and what it brings in our lives the blessings of honor children riches but also the reality

of adversities and i'm going to say that again because we automatically think all right a blessed

person a blessed man a blessed female a blessed family a blessed church a blessed um identity

has no difficulties well psalm 112 is uh not echoing that sentiment and we'll talk through

that this morning psalm 112 could be bookended with psalm 111 where we look at some characteristics of

what a blessed wise person should live and then it goes to psalm 112 looking some things that

ultimately the attributes of what god is and hopefully highlighting

those this morning psalm 112 gives us five characteristics of what a blessed or upright

man is and we're going to talk through those this morning i do want to say that as i

echoed and I put it in my notes, I put note. I don't know why I put note because they're all

notes, but note, all right? God's blessing is not merely about prosperity, but about producing a

person whose life reflects his character. I'm going to repeat that again because if you tune

me out the rest of the morning, this is what you need to hear. Psalm 111 praises, excuse me, Psalm

112, God's blessing is not merely about prosperity, but about producing a person whose life reflects

the character of God. That is our heartbeat. That is our goal. That should be what we strive to do

every single day perfectly. I wish I could get up here and say, all right, just do everything that

I say this morning and you'll have a perfect week. That'd be really cool, right? We'd have a lot more

people here next Sunday, but that's not the reality of life.

And so dealing with the ups and downs, the prosperity or the lack of prosperity,

and how do we navigate that? And so Psalm 112 gives us a good look at that. And so let's look

at the 10 verses and we'll, we'll unpack what those five characteristics are. Psalm 112 verse

one, praise the Lord, praise the Lord. Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights

in his commandments. His offspring will be mighty in the land. The generation of God will be mighty

in the land. The generation of God will be mighty in the land. The generation of God will be mighty

in the land. The generation of God will be mighty in the land. The generation of God will be mighty

in the land. The generation of God will be mighty in the land. The generation of God will be mighty

trusting in the Lord. His heart is steady. He will not be afraid until he looks in triumph on his

adversaries. He has distributed freely. He has given to the poor. His righteousness endures

forever. His horn is exalted in honor. The wicked man sees it and is angry. He gnashes his teeth

and melts away. The desire of the wicked will perish. God, we come to you this morning. We

glorify you. God asks that you speak through your word this morning. Thank you for being here. God,

we praise you. We love you. We adore you. God, as we lift you up in song and sermon this morning,

God, ultimately we're here gathered in your name. God, as we seek to be wise, ultimately

representing you. God, reflecting you. God, give us the ability to see that. Give us the ability

to do that. Give us the ability to understand when we are not doing that. God,

with your Holy Spirit guiding our words, our thoughts, our responses, our actions. God,

we just seek to be led by you. God, thank you for this morning. Thank you for this

building. Thank you for every single person that is sitting in this room, joining us online. God,

we are here gathered in your name. God, we lift up Pastor Noble to you as he is

heading up north this week. Keep him safe. Go before him. God, may you prepare the hearts of

the ones that he's going to be preaching to. God, you may you prepare his heart. God,

we are expecting you to do great things through him. God, we know you bring the power and authority

and you bring the change. God, we pray for that. We love you. We honor you. We praise you in Jesus

wonderful name. Amen. So Psalm 112, it's a, one of the shorter Psalms, just 10 verses.

We are unsure of the author, but ultimately we know all scripture is God breathed. And so we

know this is God breathed, but we're unsure of the author. But as I mentioned, the year, there

are five really characteristics. What a blessed man or a wise man or righteous man. And I use the

word man because Psalm 112, but you can replace that with person. That's not just categorizing,

just men. So this is for men and women specifically, but Psalm 112 is calling us

to live out these five characteristics as one that is blessed.

upright or righteous in their lives. As I mentioned, and I do want to throw this caveat again,

and I'll repeat it probably multiple times, this psalm isn't promoting an easy life. It's

describing a blessed life, a blessed life living like Jesus. In the first verse, we see the first

characteristic of someone that is living a blessed life. And I think it's important that we understand

this is the foundation of living a blessed life. It should be the foundation of all that we do and

all that we are. The foundation of a blessed life is the fear of the Lord. Psalm 112, verse 1,

praise the Lord, begins with a praise to the Lord and a hallelujah. Blessed is the man who fears the

Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments. You may read this at surface level and think,

oh my goodness, okay, pastor's getting up and say,

walk around, be scared of God, and that's how you'll be wise. That's not what I'm saying. That's

not what scripture is saying in this passage. So don't hear and read that word fear and think,

okay, I have to walk around fearful of what God's going to do next. That's not what this is

ascribing us to do or describing us to do. What is being described here in Psalm 112

is for us to live in full reverence of who God is.

Revering God, simply put, placing God at his rightful place in our lives. Realizing that God

is all powerful, God is all authority, and God is in his rightful place. And we also can follow this,

I'm not God, all right? That means you're not God either. None of us are God. God is

the full authority. And so that understanding of walking around revering God, God, you are

your rightful place. I'm not God. You are the authority. That's the end of verse one. The man

who fears the Lord. I walk around realizing God is authority. God is in his rightful place. I may

like what God does, or guess what? I may dislike what God does. I may understand what God does,

or I don't understand what God does. God, I can see what you're doing, but I'm not sure.

But I find myself in a place going, God,

I'm placing you at the rightful place. You are the authority in my life. And then the rest of

verse one, and I delight in your commandments. I delight in your word. I delight, if you want to

take it one step further, in your structure. I delight in your plan. I delight in the way you

guide and lead. And one step further, correct me. And that's a hard thing. I like, I, I delight in

your plan. Yes. Most of the time I delight in the plan of God or God. I delight in the plan of God.

I delight in who you are, but the correction of God is not something I delight in. Maybe you are

one that loves correction. I don't. Maybe you're one that you, Hey, you know what? You need to be

corrected. I do too. Don't worry. That's okay. But that's what the Holy spirit guiding, correcting

and sanctifying us in our life. Looks like God I'm placing you at your rightful place. And I want you

to, to sanctify, shape me, mold me. The new Testament says who the Lord loves, he chastens,

or he corrects. And so the corrected hand of God,

in our lives is, is super fruitful, but we first must begin as to live as a wise or blessed person

is realize and understand God is God. And I am not that simple truth is so important.

And that's for your life and other people's lives. Okay. It's easy to tell someone that

till the rubber meets the road in your life. And you're like, okay, what did I tell them

on Sunday? Right. But it is placing God. That's why the Lord's prayer begins. What

our father who art in heaven, hollow would be your name. That's reverence. God, I am placing you are

glory. You are honor. Hallelujah. God, I praise you. Paul David trip wrote in his commentary,

the fear of the Lord is defined, not as a cowering terror or a grim obligation, but as a wholesome

awe, wonder, and profound reverence. True righteousness flows from here's this word delighting

in God's word, rather than dragging oneself through reluctant duty and following it.

I delight in the plan and the purpose and the calling and the correction of God.

To the fear is not terror, it's reverence.

To the fear of the Lord means, God, I place you at your highest place.

You're the priority, you're the authority, you're the cornerstone of my life.

That's important as we begin to look at this, the blessed man living out in our lives,

because I think all of us would say, yeah, I want the blessings of God in my life.

I hope that, right?

I think every single one of us would want that for our kids or grandkids.

We want that in our lives everywhere we go.

We want the hand of God, we want the providence of God,

as I talked about last week a little bit, the providence of God in our lives.

This is what it begins as the cornerstone, the base truth of this is,

God, you are God, you are authority.

I'm placing my life under your hand or in your hand,

but also realizing that has to be the cornerstone-based truth.

This last week, my youngest daughter and I, we're getting into Legos.

And so she's five, and so we love doing Legos.

I just make sure she doesn't mess up what I build.

But no, we have some fun, and so reading the directions and everything.

So we got this big Lego set we worked on, and we built this entire thing,

and we realized we're missing pieces, we're missing pieces.

And so I finished it all, and this big castle we built,

and I said, Clem, it's all finished.

And she said, no, it's not, Dad.

I said, what?

And she comes and points out the one piece that it's missing on all the pieces.

Like you're five years old, stop.

I did a lot of time in this.

But what did she understand?

What did she recognize?

It was missing a piece.

It's missing a piece.

That happens in our lives.

If we try to be our own foundation, or we try to build our lives on our own understanding,

our own ability.

Our own skills, our own knowledge, on us, we're missing a piece.

And we're not made complete, and we can't be blessed or be wise missing a piece.

That full completion only comes when we place the fear of the Lord,

or the reverence of the Lord, the authority of God as the cornerstone structure piece.

And that is when we can be made complete in our lives.

This morning you may be sitting here thinking, what is he talking about?

What is he talking about?

Guess what?

Simply coming to the very understanding of God, I'm placing you as the authority, as

the cornerstone of my life, is a base truth for our walking out as a Christian.

God, I'm following you.

Well, great.

Follow him, but place him as the authority, and as the cornerstone of your life, of your

marriage, as your home, as your workplace, of every area of your life.

That's a simple, practical truth.

Yet it is so difficult.

How do you live?

I'm not up here thinking, yeah, I've got it all perfected.

I'll show you exactly what to do.

No, that's a hard thing to do.

I commonly preach this.

My life verse is Proverbs 3, 5, and 6.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

Lean not on your own understanding.

In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths.

The reason it's my life verse is because I have to remind myself of it on a daily basis.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

Lean not on your own understanding.

Don't lean on your own reverence.

The only one that deserves reverence is God.

That's why we revere and place him at his right authority as our foundation.

Keep going.

The second truth we see in this passage is found in verses 2 and 3.

It says his offspring will be mighty in the land.

The generation of the upright will be blessed.

Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.

See, the blessed life leaves a lasting legacy.

We also see in verse 6.

For the righteous will never be moved.

He will be remembered forever.

The righteousness shall be in everlasting remembrance.

What's great about this passage is we seek the very blessings of God.

But the blessing extends beyond the individual described in here.

It bleeds into others around him.

I love that truth, and I won't land here super long.

But what's interesting is, is when we experience the blessings of God, others around us feeling

and experience it. When we experience bitterness, others around us experience it. You notice that

we don't live and die to ourselves. I find that an interesting parallel in our lives.

But the blessed life leaves a lasting legacy. Proverbs says, blessed is the man who leaves an

inheritance. That's not just simply a financial inheritance, but one that is spiritual. See,

godly life or a godly life, a godly parent, a godly grandparent, godly marriage, godly aunt,

uncle, can leave a lifelong lasting influence to multiple generations. That's important where this

phrase, his righteousness endures forever. That is referenced in Psalm 111. It's describing God,

describing God. What I love about this connection to Psalm 111 and 112

is it's

calling the wise man to not leave a lasting legacy of themselves, but leave a lasting legacy of God.

So as we have placed God at his rightful place, now we can leave a lasting legacy, a lasting memory

of God in our lives. A great song that I love, Casting Crowns, asks the question,

how will they remember me? His response is, only Jesus, only Jesus. I'll tell you this,

unequivocally, that is all that matters. That is all that matters.

In our lives, you can make a million, a billion, a trillion dollars, but that will evaporate at the

end of time. You can build the biggest house. You have this job. You can drive that. But as I

mentioned last year, in this life, it's fleeting. In the memory, the legacy, the lasting remembrance

we've been called to be as Christians, as followers of God, is have them remember Christ

through our actions, in our responses, the way we interact with one another.

They see Christ in us and through us, reflecting Christ in the world around us. We've been called

as ambassadors, as representatives to Christ in our lives, and we've been given that mantle to carry.

But sadly, what happens is, if we become the cornerstone, if we become the most important

or the place of receiving reverence, the memory becomes about us. Guess what? I don't want the

memory to be about me. I want the memory to be about me. I want the memory to be about me.

I want the memory to be about Christ. Hopefully, you leave every Sunday morning and think of Christ,

not Caleb. I want you to think about Christ. I want you to think about how the Holy Spirit can

work in your life, that application in your life. May people see that in the way we love

the community around us, not so they can say, wow, the River Church is this. Guess what? The

River Church is overrated. We want them to rate Christ at his rightful place. That's the most

important thing that we can do, that lasting legacy of Christ.

Christ is the most important thing that we can do, represent, preach, live out. In every action,

may we reflect Christ. So one, in this passage, the foundation of a blessed life is the fear of

the Lord. Two, the blessed life leaves a lasting legacy. Three, as found in verse four, the light

dawns in the darkness for the upright. He is gracious, merciful, and righteous. The third

verse, the blessed life is the blessed life shines during dark times. Darkness in verse four is used

as a metaphor for adversity. It's important you see that follow-up to verse two and three and

think they're almost in opposition. You can read two and go, oh yeah, they'll experience wealth

and riches. They have a house. Their righteousness won't do it forever. But then verse four, light

dawns in the darkness for the upright. He is gracious, merciful, and righteous. The third verse,

the darkness for the upright. Oh, that seems like the antithesis of a blessed man. No, that's the

truth of our lives. As I mentioned earlier, the promise isn't that darkness, whatever appear in

our lives, the promise is that light arrives in the darkness. Jesus said, I'll never leave thee

nor forsake thee. All throughout the Old Testament, the New Testament, take courage,

hold fast. That word steadfast is all throughout as a truth for us as followers. Yes, when darkness

comes, not if it comes, but when it comes. When that adversity comes, the blessed man, the wise

man, the righteous, the upright will have the following three characteristics, gracious,

merciful, and righteous. See, trouble reveals character. Difficulty reveals character. I love

to coach athletic teams. I've said this before. I get to coach all sorts of ages, boys and girls.

I always say this about a team. You find out the character of a team,

not when it wins a lot of games, but you find out the character of a team when it loses.

You find out the cracks. You'll start to see cracks like, oh, this person doesn't like this

person, or they don't get along, or they dislike one another, or they can't play together. I think

in our lives, you start to see the cracks when adversity comes. See, adversity reveals character.

Let's see image or the illustration. When you're shaking, you'll find out what comes out, right?

I think for us, as followers of Christ, to live as upright, wise followers of Christ,

when darkness comes in our lives, will grace, mercy, and righteousness pour out?

I read this this week. Lighthouses are never built where it's safe. They're built where storms come.

God doesn't remove every storm. He makes his people shine within them. I thought, what a great imagery.

What a great imagery for us as followers of Christ.

As the church, as individuals that are trying to live as a light in a dark world. May, when the

adversity comes in our lives, we be shaken, and those characteristics pour out of our life.

Max Lucado said, faith is not believing that God will do what you want. Faith is believing God will

do what is right. But again, it's all built on truth number one. God, I walk in fear and reverence

and an awe of God.

God, I may not see what you're doing. I may not understand. But when I trust you,

people around me will see that. The blessed light shines during dark times.

Some of you who are sitting in this room have experienced the darkest times of your life in

the last few weeks, months, years. And I want to say to you, your light has shined in my life.

Your light has shined as a great testimony for me and for others that have watched you walk

through that, as Psalm 23 describes that valley of the shadow of death. The fourth truth is found

twice in verses five and nine. The fourth characteristic is a blessed life is marked

by generosity. Verse five, it is well with the man who deals generously and lends, who conducts

his affairs with justice. Verse nine says he has distributed freely, is given to the poor.

See, the righteous, the wise lives a life of open hands, realizing because every good and

perfect gift comes from above. God given, God provided. We are just,

stewards of what God has blessed us with. We're just stewards of that. We're just,

God has given us an opportunity.

Whether you have a million dollars in your bank account or $10 in your bank account,

you've been called to steward that faithfully.

God's blessings in your life, that includes not just financial,

that includes in your home, that includes your children,

that includes your job, that includes your giftings and abilities.

How are you stewarding what God has blessed you with?

God has given you ability.

Are you using it for his glory or your own glory?

Living a life of generosity, open-handedness.

Winston Churchill said, we make a living by what we get.

We make a life by what we give.

I love that statement, that phrase.

I thought it was so profound.

See, generosity is evidence.

God has given us money, giftings, homes, doesn't own us.

It belongs to God.

See, a blessed life is marked by generosity.

And lastly, a blessed life is steady.

During uncertainty, almost mixed and put the truth three,

the blessed life shines during dark times.

And five, the blessed life is steady during uncertainty.

But I felt like they were different.

And I think it'll be important for us to understand here

just for the next couple of minutes.

Verses six through eight says,

for the righteous will never be moved.

He will be remembered forever.

He is not afraid of bad news.

His heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.

His heart is steady.

He will not be afraid until he looks in triumph

on his adversaries.

Three times it mentioned his heart is fixed.

His heart is established.

He is not afraid.

Those are important in uncertain time.

See Psalm 111, chapter 111 describes the wise man

as steadfast forever and ever.

I wrote this word in my notes, unflappable, unshakable,

because his faith, his trust,

is built on a cornerstone of Jesus Christ.

That's why I began this whole message

with our understanding of if Christ is the cornerstone,

if we're placing God at his rightful place,

we'll begin to walk those characteristics out

and they'll build on one another,

similar to the Beatitudes in the book of Matthew.

We'll begin to see the blessed man,

or blessed is the man.

We'll see these truths build on one another

all by placing God at his rightful place.

We'll see these truths build on one another,

of realizing in the uncertainty of our world,

the uncertainty of your life,

the uncertainty of a relationship,

the uncertainty of finances,

the uncertainty of health,

the uncertainty of the political sphere of our world,

the uncertainty of our country,

the uncertainty of all the things in our lives,

we will not be shaken

because our cornerstone is built on Christ.

Man, the things in this life will shake you.

There's things in this life

that can throw you on the ground

and you realize, how did I get here?

It's easy to find yourself at that place.

Speaking to you as someone that is,

hey, you know what, I've observed this.

No, I've experienced that in my own life

because I've placed other things

as the cornerstone of my life.

I placed more authority in them

than ultimately God,

or I placed more importance on them

than the things of God.

And it's easy to say,

but not until you realize,

God, you are at your rightful place.

Yes, heaven and earth will pass away,

but God, you are forever.

And it's so important that we realize

that in this uncertainty of life,

my heart must be fixed.

My heart is established.

I am not to fear anything in this world.

Why?

Because I am steady realizing

the captain of my ship is not myself.

No, but it is Christ.

realize, man, that's super easy to preach on a Sunday morning at 1130. I say these things not in

a just way, but in a truthful way that yes, there are things that you are dealing with this right

now. I say that and you're going, well, Caleb, if you really knew what I've gone through, well,

Caleb, if you know what's happening in my life, Caleb, you understood all the, what the test said

this week or what this experience was, or I've lost this person or this marriage broke apart,

or I've lost this job, or you fill in the blank of the uncertainty. I realize all those things

and I mourn with you through them. It'd be a cold hearted pastor that says, hey, just live this

truth and you'll be fine. No, the weight of the things that many of you are carrying that right

now in this room is overwhelming. Can I say to you is the truth of Psalm 112,

has called us as we've placed God as our cornerstone. Don't be shaken by the things

of this earth. Find your cornerstone as Hebrew says in Christ, find that solid rock, find your

strength in the storm, find the light in Christ, not in yourself. I read this this week. These are

the most comforting verses of this passage. Bad news will come. Found it interesting in this

I think verse nine or verse seven, where it says, they're not afraid of bad news. I don't know if

you're like me. If I know there's bad news, like in an email or a text, I just don't even open it.

I don't even know what's there. You don't do that. It's just me that does that. Okay. All right.

I laughed at myself this week as I was reading Psalm 112. If I just avoid it, it's not really

there, but bad news will come. But the person rooted in God has a fixed and established heart

because he's not afraid of bad news. He's not afraid of bad news. He's not afraid of bad news.

Because their primary trust rests. And this is what I want you to hear, man. This is, this,

I think will be freeing for somebody sitting in this room this morning because their primary trust

rests in an unchanging creator rather than a shifting circumstance. They avoid the paralyzing

anxiety of the uncertainty on a daily basis. And they fix their eyes on Jesus.

What a great truth that we must grasp and understand in the unchanging

or in the, in the, in the changing world, we have an unchanging God. Nothing catches him by surprise.

I know that's weird to say at times, like, God, what's, what's going on? Felt that way.

Corrie ten Boom said, never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God. One of you agrees

the rest are working through it. There it is. See, the world is constantly shaken by headlines,

but may our anchor be in Christ. Your circumstances may shake you, but your confidence in Christ

doesn't have to see these five characteristics of a blessed life, righteous and upright life.

See, first, the foundation is the fear of the Lord. Second is less life leaves a lasting legacy.

Third, the blessed life shines during dark, difficult times where adversity is there for

the blessed life is marked by generosity. Five, the blessed life is steady during uncertainty

become unflappable. It's beautiful about Psalm.

112 is the realization that we can't do every one of those characteristics.

What? Did you just pull the rug out on us? I did. And all those things are realizing that I can't do

all those. I have been shaken by the things of this world. But Psalm 112 describes one that is

greater, one that is higher, one that is perfect, one that experienced this life, was born of a

virgin, one that lived a perfect life, one that died on a cross, one that conquered death, hell

and the grave and rose again three days later, one that is coming back again to get his children,

that one that are describing as Jesus Christ. Do you realize Psalm 112 is causing us, calling us

to be wise, to live in that, is realizing it identifies and celebrates the characteristics

of Christ. You see, he is worthy to be revered. He's a source of material and spiritual blessings.

He is the true embodiment of grace, mercy, and righteousness. He's generous and full of justice.

He's trustworthy and gives security. He triumphs over his adversity.

And he is power over all. Today, this morning, and right now, we make the proclamation that we

worship Christ and these attributes because he is worthy to be praised. We seek to emulate,

to reflect those attributes that who he is, that we may live them perfectly, a life committed to

living for him. Sitting here today and go, wow, those are great attributes of who God is. Yeah,

that's our goal as followers of Christ as the church.

is to emulate, to reflect him.

But first we must realize

this great love for us is realizing

that we are dead in our trespasses,

dead in our sins and trespasses without him.

This great love is he sent his son Jesus

to die on the cross,

to live out these perfect attributes

in a broken, dark world,

take our sin to the cross,

give us an opportunity for forgiveness.

That's where we look at the true grace

and mercy and righteousness lived out.

He was full of grace and truth

described in the gospels.

That's what these attributes are.

And so that's why I very commonly say

we are here to worship God.

That's why we're gathered.

We all have different reasons

why we come on a Sunday morning.

Some it's just habits,

some it's kind of really struggling,

some it's, hey, you know what?

I know I have to do this.

You fill in the blank.

But may our heartbeat be

when we are gathered here this morning,

whether in person or online,

we come to the realization

that we are here to worship Jesus,

we're here in his name.

We're to honor him and glorify him.

Why?

Because of these attributes and characteristics

he's called us to live.

Pray for you this morning.

God, we love you.

We honor you.

We glorify you.

God, thank you for Psalm 112.

Thank you for these characteristics

you've called us to live,

emulating your son, Jesus,

reflecting characteristics of Christ

to a world around us.

I thank you for your grace and your mercy.

I struggle or stumble through them.

I thank you.

I thank you for blessing my life

way beyond anything I ever deserve.

God, I see your blessings around me,

your handprints all over God.

Realize that it's not a life without difficulty,

without trials or tribulation or darkness

as Psalm 112 describes.

But God, may we find strength and solace,

stability, knowing not to be shaken

because you are the author of all things.

You are in control.

Think of what Job said.

said, blessed be the name of the Lord. God, may there be our heartbeat on all things. Blessed

name. Love you. Praise you. Thank you for this morning. Thank you for your word. Thank you for

its application. May we live it out in a real way this week. Love you in Jesus' wonderful name. Amen.