The Fixed Compass
W. Arnot, D.D. Psalm 112:7 He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD. The pattern saint of this psalm is happy as well as holy. Evil tidings, when they come, will pierce a good man's heart; but in two things he has an advantage over those who know not God: first, he is not kept in terror before the time by the anticipation of possible calamity; and next, even when calamity overtakes him, he does not look upon it in blank despair. He knows that it is the chastening of a Father, and is sure that love is wielding the rod. "His heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord." This man has a solidity and an independence which others never know. His heart is fixed. It is something to have one's mind made up and settled. No man can be happy as long as he does not know his own mind — does not know what he would be at. On the contrary, "if thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." To have an object in view, and to go straight at it, constitutes in a great measure the difference between a useful and a wasted life. We obtain here an interesting glimpse of the true relation in which the children stand to our Father in heaven. It is a matter of the heart, more than even of the intellect. True religion is not a matter into which a man is driven against his will; it is a matter that he seeks with desire, as the hart panteth for the water-brooks. The heart goes to God; the desires of the new nature flow out in that direction: "Nearer to Thee, my God; nearer to Thee." And then, when you come nigh in the covenant, God is not a terror, but a trust. The magnet of the ship's compass is in this aspect very like a godly man in the course of his earthly pilgrimage. The magnet on the sea and the believing soul in this life are firmly fixed on one side, and hang loose on the other. Both alike are fastened mysteriously to the distant and unseen, but are slack and easily moved in all their material settings. Precisely because they are unattached beneath, they are free to keep by their hold on high; and precisely because of their hold on high, they do not turn round with every movement of their material supports. (W. Arnot, D.D.) Parallel Verses KJV: He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD. WEB: He will not be afraid of evil news. His heart is steadfast, trusting in Yahweh.