“Hallelujah! Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in his commands. Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous person. Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice” (Psalm 112:1,4,5).

When I was young, I remember waking up on certain mornings to a world gone missing. Outside my window there was nothing but a light grey brightness: fog.

On school mornings, the buses would run an hour or two late depending on how long the meteorologist expected the fog to stay. Those unexpected extra hours were dedicated to pure enjoyment while we waited for the sun to burn the mist away.

When my children were in school, the buses were just cancelled. Its as if someone forgot that the sun would rise and burn it away. When faced with fog, it is easy to forget that there is a sun.

Psalm 112 calls attention to this Christian forgetfulness. Verses 4 and 7 both speak of fog in the life of the saint; yet the godly person is not afraid. Despite a foggy morning, the righteous sing: Hallelujah!

We know that behind the fog is the sun. Behind the clouds of pain, God still reigns. Christians are people of faith; there is more to this world than what the physical eye can see. Jesus is king, even if the evidence is hiding. Despite a foggy morning, the righteous sing: Hallelujah!

If you are looking for the word 'Hallelujah!' in this psalm, you will not find it in many English translations. It's a Hebrew word most often translated, "Praise the Lord!" (In Greek, Alleluia).

There is much to meditate on in this psalm, but two more things for today. First, early on, we come across the word 'Blessed' which we find so often in the Bible that we frequently overlook it.

Its one of those wonderfully difficult words to translate because it has such profound emotional and spiritual resonance. But let's try. The dictionary includes this: "go straight, advance, follow the track."

Think about the seven dwarfs from Snow White's story, sauntering home after a day's work singing their song. They know every inch of the path; each shrub and rock familiar to them. At the end of the path is their snug little dwarf home.

To be blessed means that one is walking on the right path, the one God has laid out for us. This path is the basic trail of the Christian life: loving God and neighbour as fully as possible. And to be enjoying that path to the fullest. Living thus is to be blessed.

Do you know this? Do you believe it? Do you live this way?

Second, the psalm points out that the work of the righteous (the acts of love) will endure while the work and memory of the wicked will fade. God will take the good that we do and cause it to produce fruit 30, 60, and 100-fold.

Jesus makes mention of this when he calls us to “lay up treasures for ourselves in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:20-21).

What kind of treasures are you making? Where is your heart fixed?

The blessed person is content to walk along the path of God, not afraid of the fog, knowing that God will shine through. Our Lord will also cause our righteous acts to produce their harvest.