Psalms 111:1

The Bible says in Psalm 111:1-3, “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.” Verse one says, “Praise ye the LORD.” This is God’s Word. This is God telling us what He wants us to do. God wants us to praise Him. When we praise God, it shows that we truly believe who He is and what He has done and is doing for us. Jesus died for us and we will live forever in heaven because of the terrible suffering that He endured. Then He worked in our lives to bring us into contact with the Gospel, and the Spirit led us to trust Christ as Savior. That alone should cause us to praise Him without ceasing. Verse three says to praise the Lord with the “whole heart.” We are called not to give part of our heart to the Lord, but all of it. That is a very high standard that we easily break. It also means that we rely upon the mercy of the Lord Jesus each day in order to stay in fellowship with Him. Verse three also says to praise God “in the assembly” and “in the congregation.” God wants Christians to gather together in what we call “church services.” One of the most important things that are done in a church service in addition to preaching-teaching God’s Word, praying, and fellowship is praising God through songs and testimony. God likes it when Christians get together. We need each other. We will be in heaven together forever.

Verse two gives us a reason to praise the Lord: “The works of the LORD are great.” God is at work. Jesus is at work saving souls and causing Christians to grow in faith and in the knowledge of Christ. God is at work arranging every event in the world and in every life in order to save souls and to cause Christians to grow in Christ. Of course, it takes some desire and effort on our part to “see” the works of God. If you want to see His works, you will see them. You will find what you are looking for. Open your eyes: “sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.” If you want to be happy as a Christian, interpret all things as God being at work. Then you can praise God for everything you see. One of the most common reactions for a Christian to anything that happens is: “Praise God.” Verse three tells us that God’s work is “honourable and glorious.” God does not make mistakes. He knows what He is doing and He does the honorable thing. He always does what is right. Whatever you experience is God’s hand doing the right thing. And whatever He does is “glorious.” It will result in glory being given to God. At the judgment it will be known that everything will add to God’s glory. Evil people will bow at the feet of Christ and all their deeds will be recounted, and it will be shown how they could have turned to Christ and how things would have been different, and it will be shown that God was involved in all things even in their lives, and the name of Christ will be glorified. Why wait for the judgment? Why not give glory to God now?

The Bible says in Psalm 111:4, “He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion.” Why does God do so many things for us? Of course, one reason is because He loves us through Christ. But another reason is so that we will remember what He has done for us and praise Him for it. There is a lot to remember. How many times does He bless us each day? Every detail in every life is the hand of God to fulfill God’s purpose. One of the most important things in the Christian life is to remember what we should remember. One of the Ten Commandments is the command “remember.” “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.” We memorize scripture so that we will remember it when we need it. Remember the good things and forget the bad. Remember what people have done for you and appreciate them. Remember what God has done for you and appreciate Him. How should we serve God? We should serve God with our mind. When we do not remember, we fail the Lord. Thankfully, the last part of verse four reminds us, “the LORD is gracious and full of compassion.” God continues to give to us even though we have not used our minds very well in our service to Him. He knows how weak we are, even if we do not.

The Bible says in Psalm 111:5, “He hath given meat unto them that fear him: he will ever be mindful of his covenant.” God keeps His promises. One of His promises is that He will take care of the material needs of His children. Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” It says in Psalms 37:25, “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” Yes, there is a practical side to this. We must work and do our part, but do not worry. And do not make a decision based upon an over-emphasis on the material needs. Trust in the Lord Jesus and put Him first. As it says at the end of verse five, “he will ever be mindful of his covenant.” Of course, that is true of any of His covenants. We live in the time of the new Covenant: the best covenant of all because it is based upon the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. God will not forget His covenant, and the covenant that we have gives us the forgiveness of sins. Enjoy it.

The Bible says in Psalm 111:6, “He hath shewed his people the power of his works, that he may give them the heritage of the heathen.” That is a great phrase in the first part of this verse: “the power of his works.” God has all power so that He can do anything, and because God has all power, He is doing everything. You will only know this if it has been shown to you by God Himself. If you do not know it, then you will think that human beings are determining what is happening. The people who think that humans decide are struggling and cursing and fighting in order to get, get, get. But God is leading all of human history to one great final event: the judgment. One of the things that will ultimately happen is that God will give to His children “the heritage of the heathen.” We shall judge kings, and we shall rule the world with the King.

The Bible says in Psalm 111:7-8, “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.” Everything that God does has to do with truth and judgment. Only God is true. You find truth when you find God through faith in Jesus Christ. Judgment refers to discernment between right and wrong and then making the right decisions. God always makes the right decisions in what He allows and does not allow. And He wants us to make the right decisions also. That is one reason that he gave us His “commandments.” “his commandments are sure.” That means that His commandments (His Word) will support us. We can rely upon the Word and depend upon it. The Word will “stand fast for ever and ever.” God’s Word is eternal. That means that not only did He give His Word, but He also preserved it. I may not be able to describe all the details of how He preserved The Word over the centuries, but the Spirit lets us know that some how He did. Those who do not believe are not of the Spirit. From the Word we understand “truth and uprightness.” No matter how many lies are told by the people or the world around us, we can always enjoy the truth of His Word. And we have instruction directly from the Spirit of God on how to live a life of “uprightness.” One of the reasons for all of the unethical and immoral behavior in the world is because people are not reading the Word of God enough and not putting it into practice in their lives.

The Bible says in Psalm 111:9, “He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name.” When we first accept Christ, we are redeemed. We belong to God at that point. He saved us from our sins. And his attitude is always the same: a saving attitude toward His people, forgiving and having compassion. He continues to save us from all the other problems of life. That is because his covenant is “for ever.” This is eternal security. God will always save, always help, always bless His children. Also, because His name is holy, He will do such things for His believers. Of course, anyone who does the right thing will keep His word. God always keeps His word. Therefore, His name also should be feared. The word reverend comes from the word “to fear.” God has also promised that there will be judgment and consequences to our actions. We had better fear. He will chastise us if He needs to so that we will be awakened to our need of Him.

The Psalmist continues writing about fearing God. The Bible says in Psalm 111:10, “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.” Fearing God, having wisdom and understanding, and keeping His commandments are all related in this verse. This verse implies that anyone who does not fear God is a fool. Such a person does not understand life, and does not understand what is really going on in life. Such a person is more likely to break the commandments, thinking they will get away with it. Remember what verse nine said: God is holy. Holiness cannot let sin go by without some holy response. And God sees and knows all things. If you have the fear of the Lord, it means that you believe that God is all powerful. If you have the fear of the Lord, it means that you believe that God sees all things that you are doing. If you have the fear of the Lord, it means that you believe that God is holy. Thankfully, God is also merciful because of Christ. We will praise him “for ever.”

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