By some estimates, there were about 7,000 Christians by the end of the 1st century. Over the next 300 years, the church grew to over six million!

How did the church grow? The early church leader Tertullian said that outsiders looked at Christians and saw them feeding poor people, caring for boys and girls who lacked property and parents, and helping slaves and the aged. Non-believers said, “Look! How they love one another.” In this way, they were attracted to the church.

But what makes Christians, then and now, love like that? “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). God showed His love for us by saving us through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. This divine love produces love in the hearts and lives of people.

Likewise, Psalm 111 and 112 belong together as cause and effect. Psalm 111 describes what God did for us; Psalm 112 proclaims what we do in response to His grace and compassion. Psalm 111 ended by exhorting God’s people to fear the Lord; Psalm 112 begins with the promise of blessing to those who are fearful, then goes on to describe these blessings.

Notice two things. First, God’s goodness to us is the motive and model for the good we are to do to others. God is gracious and compassionate (111:4), so He will care “for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous” (112:4). God provided food for those who fear Him (111:5), so those who fear Him “freely scattered their gifts to the poor” (112:9). As God is faithful and just (111:7), so His people will “conduct their affairs with justice” (112:5).

Second, while Psalm 112 promises blessing, prosperity, and security to those who trust in the Lord, it’s realistic about life. There are days of darkness (v. 4). Sometimes, the faithful receive bad news (v. 7). They have enemies who unsettle them, but the righteous trust that “in the end” they will triumph (v. 8). In the light of the New Testament, we understand that this happy ending might not be experienced in this life. We wait in hope of the coming day of judgment, when our “horn will be lifted high in honour” (v. 9).

In 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, Paul exhorts the church to cheerfully contribute to the financial needs of the poor in other churches (9:7). He then quotes Psalm 112:9 to reassure the church that God will bless them abundantly for their generosity, particularly that they will abound in good works. They will be given more so that they will have even more to give (2 Corinthians 9:11).

This is a wonderful principle for Christian living—since God has generously lavished His grace upon us, we display practical generosity towards the needy around us. This is a mark of the upright man or woman.