John Calvin Commentary Psalms 112:5

"Well is it with the man that dealeth graciously and lendeth; He shall maintain his cause in judgment." — Psalms 112:5 (ASV)

A good man. This is the commonly received interpretation of the passage. I am disposed, however, to prefer another: that it will be well with those who are gracious and communicative, because this is more in accordance with the purport of the prophet’s language. It is his intention to show how greatly the ungodly are deceived when they aspire to happiness by nefarious and unlawful practices, since the favor of God is the source and cause of all good things.

Hence, it becomes necessary to supply the relative who. He proceeds, therefore, to warn us about the deception that those who hasten to enrich themselves by sordid parsimony and oppressive extortion practice on themselves. For the faithful, by their clemency and kindness, open up a channel through which the favor of God flows to them. For the term טוב, tob, though in the masculine gender, signifying good, is often taken as if it were neuter, to denote that which is good.

He presents lending as if it were the fruit of mercy. For the usurer also lends, but his purpose is that, under the false pretense of assisting the distressed, he may plunder them. It is, then, the truly liberal, who grant relief to them from compassion and not with the design of ensnaring the poor, that God makes prosperous.

The term דברים, debarim, at the end of the verse, signifies words. However, along with David Kimchi, the most correct expositor among the Rabbis, I take it to mean affairs. Words is a very tame translation, not to mention that if this had been the prophet’s intention, he would have expressed himself in simpler terms.

The translation I have given is the proper one: that the righteous will manage their affairs with prudence and discernment. Consequently, in their domestic affairs, they will be neither too lavish nor sordidly parsimonious. Rather, in everything, they will strive to combine frugality with economy, without giving way to luxury.

And, in all their mercantile transactions, they will always be guided by the principles of equity and morality.