2/18/19

Tom Lowe

 

Title: Glorious and Majestic Are His Works

  • KJV Bible is used throughout unless noted otherwise

 

Psalm 111 (KJV)

1 Praise ye the LORD.

I will praise the LORD with my whole heart,

in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.

2 The works of the LORD are great,

sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.

3 His work is honourable and glorious:

and his righteousness endureth for ever.

4 He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered:

the LORD is gracious and full of compassion.

5 He hath given meat unto them that fear him:

he will ever be mindful of his covenant.

6 He hath shewed his people the power of his works,

that he may give them the heritage of the heathen.

7 The works of his hands are verity and judgment;

all his commandments are sure.

8 They stand fast for ever and ever,

and are done in truth and uprightness.

9 He sent redemption unto his people:

he hath commanded his covenant for ever:

holy and reverend is his name.

10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom:

a good understanding have all they that do his commandments:

his praise endureth for ever.

 

Introduction

Psalm 111 is an alphabetic [acrostic] hymn of an individual that was sung before the worshipping fellowship⸻as the psalmist himself says⸻”in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.” Scholars have long linked Psalms 111 and 112 together. The format and content is quite similar. It is possible that the same person wrote both psalms. The two psalms are written to give praise to God and with the intent of imparting wisdom among the worshipping community.

 

It is generally thought that Psalm 111 was written after the Babylonian captivity, probably early in the post-exilic period. The circumstances of the people were poor and depressing. And the aim of the religious leaders of the people was to get them to look up to God, and expect from Him a gracious repetition of the marvelous works of the past. The psalm has three major themes:

1.Worship (111:1-3)

The psalm begins with the word “Hallelujah, Praise ye the Lord.” Worship is the ascription of worthship to God.  It is praising God for the glory of His person and work. 

2. Wonder (111:4-6)

Worship leads naturally to wonder. Thoughtful consideration of God in the sanctuary will fill the reverent soul with awe.

3. Wisdom (111:7-10)

Wisdom calls for a deliberate and active response to all that God is in Himself.

 

Psalm 111

 

1 Praise ye the LORD.

I will praise the LORD with my whole heart,

in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.

The psalmist has made up his mind that he is going to worship the Lord. It is the rational, sensible response of a creature to his Creator, of the redeemed to the Redeemer. A proper setting for this psalm in the worship life of Israel would be the Passover festival, which took place on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Deut. 16:1-3). “Praise ye the LORD” is the same as Hallelujah!

The psalmist resolves to worship God personally: “I will praise the LORD with my whole heart,” he says. He is resolved to put all he has into it, to summons the resources of his intellect, to put all he has into it, to engage the passions of his heart, to enlist the dynamic of his will, to harness every ounce of strength⸻to pull out all the stops, so to say. It is not enough to call on others to praise; each of us must do so, as a matter of personal duty.

All too often our private worship is neglected as we fulfill obligations that we think can’t be delayed or cancelled, even though God deserves our very best. We should pay as much attention to singing God’s praise as we would pay to any other enterprise we consider important. Can you imagine the great volume of work we could accomplish, if we disciplined ourselves to do our jobs with a similar commitment; that is, with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength? We should do our jobs with the same earnest zeal. That is what the psalmist resolved to do; “I will praise the LORD with my whole heart.”

He resolved, moreover, to worship God publicly: “I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright [of the sincere worshippers of God], and in the congregation.” To sit sleepily through a sermon, with thoughts wandering to other interests and attention straying to every scrap of idle thought, is not worship. Worship demands active participation. It means that the “loins of the mind” are girt up, and every thought captured and brought to Christ. Hymns are sung that exalt the person, passion, and position of the Lord Jesus. Scriptures are read which parade before us in the stately cadences of holy authority, and the thoughts of God are converted into human language. Prayer is focused on Him and words are spoken in exposition and exhortation to exalt Him. That is worship.

 

2 The works of the LORD are great,

sought out †of all them that have pleasure therein.

These mighty acts of the Lord on behalf of His people are the practical outflow of His graciousness and compassion (v. 4b) and of His truth, uprightness and justice (vs. 7a, 8b), but they are also the fulfillment of His covenant obligations to them (vs.5b, 9b). There is, of course, God’s might as displayed in His work as Creator of the universe. Everywhere we see the fingerprints of an omnificent, omnipotent Creator. We reach out to the stellar empires and see evidence of that inconceivable might that can orbit a galaxy, explode a star, or lock up within an atom the power to obliterate a city. There is the power to harness an earthquake, to summon an eclipse, to erupt a volcano.

There is too, God’s might displayed as Controller of the universe. The Jewish repatriates from Babylon were awed by the ease with which God could control the heart of the Persian king Cyrus, who at that time was the most powerful monarch on earth. God worked on his heart until he emancipated his Jewish captives, gave them his blessing, and sent them back to rebuild the Promised Land.

That word “works,” is the keynote is the Psalm, occurring constantly (vs. 2, 3, 4, 6, 7). When we are tempted to lose heart, because of some current difficulty, let us go back in our past and think about the former deeds of the right hand of the Lord.

It is the essence of worship to give God our thanks, adoration, and praise for being the kind of God He is.

 

“Of all them that have pleasure therein” can be rephrased as of all them that take delight in observing and considering the works of God.

3 His work is honourable and glorious:

and his righteousness endureth for ever.

“His work is honorable and glorious” which is evidence of His righteousness that “endureth for ever.” The word glorious here literally means “majestic.” Everything God does reveals the majestic splendor with which He robes himself. There is nothing mean or petty about God.

Human kings surround themselves with the trappings of pomp and power, courtiers in impressive robes, are guarded by soldiers with imposing uniforms and striking accessories, and must be approached with proper protocol. All this is borrowed splendor, a shadow of the magnificence surrounding the presence of the living God.

 

“His righteousness” means His Justice or faithfulness in performing His word.

“Endureth for ever” means has always been, and will still be, evident to His people in all generations, and in all conditions, even when He afflicts them, and seems to deal with them most severely, and to break His promise to them.

 

4 He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered:

the LORD is gracious and full of compassion.

Worship leads naturally to wonder and awe. Thoughtful consideration of God in the sanctuary will fill the reverent soul with awe.

Here the psalmist is probably referring to God’s wonders as remembered in the Passover. The Passover was to be a permanent memorial to Israel of God’s majesty and splendor displayed in their redemption from Egyptian bondage.

God wants us to remember what we owe Him. Today we remember our redemption in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. The Lord has made His wonderful works remembered. And of all His wonderful works, none is greater, grander, more glorious, and more gracious than the work of the cross. We must appreciate and comprehend what He has done.

 

5 He hath given meat unto them that fear him:

“He hath given meat unto them that fear him." The word for meat is tepeph, which literally means “the prey of a lion.” The same God who feeds the forest lion faithfully provided for Israel every step of the wilderness way, He faithfully brings in seedtime and harvest, year after year, so that His creatures might be fed.

These words by the psalmist are probably a reference to the great covenant that God drew up with Abraham which guaranteed Israel’s emancipation from Egyptian bondage and their ultimate settlement in the Promised Land. We must appreciate God’s faithfulness. He is dependable and completely trustworthy. Don’t judge God by His delays; but by His promises. He waits so that He may be gracious.

 

“Them that fear him” refers to the Israelites, the only people in the world which feared and worshipped the true God, according to His will; and especially, to those among them that truly feared God.

 

6 He hath shewed his people the power of his works,

that he may give them the heritage of the heathen.

This seems to be a reference to the conquest of Canaan. The Canaanites had forfeited all rights to their land, because their religious system was an insult to the character of God, corrupting society, and a glorification of the worst lusts of the unregenerate human heart. So God foreclosed on their land, and He handed it to Israel.

The conquest of Canaan was a further demonstration of “the power of His works.” Already, news of what happened to Egypt had run ahead of Israel, demoralizing the people of Canaan. Then along came Joshua, and Jericho fell followed by Ai and Gebia. Two mighty coalitions of Canaanite nations were organized to halt the Hebrew conquest, but both were swept aside and the Promised Land was conquered.

But Israel failed to follow through and drive the Canaanites out of the Promised Land.  If there is one sin that is worse than forgetfulness, it is ingratitude. In Israel it made possible all the national sins and apostasies that followed. These sins climaxed in the deportation of Judah to Babylon, the destruction of the temple, and the demolition of Jerusalem.  The Promised Land was theirs for the taking, but they made a huge mistake which cost them dearly. They did not follow God’s instructions; instead of dispossessing the defeated Canaanites, they had compromised and settled among them .

 

He hath showed, not only by words, but by his actions.

“The heritage of the heathen” is the land of Canaan, which had been possessed by the heathens and inherited by the heathens.

 

7 The works of his hands are verity and judgment;

all his commandments are sure.

8 They stand fast for ever and ever,

and are done in truth and uprightness.

9 He sent redemption unto his people:

he hath ¥commanded his covenant for ever:

holy and reverend is his name.

Knowing his need of the Lord, the psalmist focuses attention on Him. He tells us here that God’s work is guaranteed by His nature. The reality that God is always true to His character as revealed in both His commandments and His covenants. Truth, justice and uprightness are the essence of His ways in the world. In other words, God does what He does because He is what He is.

That was illustrated in His giving Canaan to the Hebrews. He was being true to His character. He had pledged the land to the patriarchs, to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and to their seed forever. The promise was as sure as God’s integrity could make it.

God was also true to His Character in dealing with the people of the land. “The iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full: that was God’s explanation to Abraham for the delay in fulfilling that promise. The ultimate expulsion of the Canaanites would be a just recompense for their sins.

God’s works are also guaranteed by His name: “He sent redemption unto his people: he hath ¥commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name” (111:9).  Reverend is exclusively a name for God. Elsewhere it is rendered “terrible” (Ps. 99:3) or “fearful” (Deut. 28:58). God’s name, holy and terrible, stands behind His pledges. He will never dishonor His name.

“They stand fast” [Heb., they are established] points to the sure foundations of His truth and judgment [uprightness]; the psalmist says they are done [constituted and ordered].

 

The works of his hands” refers to all that He does either on behalf of His people or against His or their enemies. His works are verity and judgment, and they are “yea and amen in Christ” (2 Cor. 1:20).

“Verity and judgment” are exactly agreeable to His word or promises, and to the rules of justice.

¥ “Commanded” means that He appointed or established firmly by His power and authority.

“Reverend” in the King James Bible has nothing whatever to do with the courtesy title given to ministers in our day. True wisdom is a proper reverence for the Lord.

 

10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom:

a good understanding have all they that do his commandments:

his praise endureth for ever.

The psalm closes with a strong sentence, but just before this final word is spoken, the psalmist gives a beautiful statement of Hebrew wisdom, which clearly marks the psalm as dating from the late centuries of classical Judaism. The object aimed at by wisdom and at the same time its noblest content, is the fear of the Lord. The “fear of God” mentioned here is childlike fear, which dreads to offend, and is compatible with perfect love. This expression―”the fear of the Lord,” is one of the very finest proverbs in the Old Testament and gives insight from the poet’s own experience.

The psalmist tells us where wisdom starts: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” That was the basic premise in the wisdom literature of the Hebrew people. To abandon the fear of the Lord is to open the door to every wicked philosophy, which the mind of man is capable of devising.

The psalmist tells us why wisdom stands: “a good understanding have all they that do his commandments:” Obedience to God’s law both prove and increase the understanding of those who follow His precepts. The expression “a good understanding” can be rendered “good success.” If you want to have a good understanding of things, and men, and God, you will get it best by being right with God. But note that everything depends on obedience. Those that do, know. Act according to all you know, and you will know more (John 7:17). Do God’s will and He will prosper you.