Psalm 111

This psalm is an acrostic poem, each line beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet

1 Praise the LORD! I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.

In this acrostic psalm, the worshiper uses the ordered letters of the Hebrew alphabet to form the structure of his prayer. It begins with a “Hallelu Yah”, or “Praise YAH” (short for YHWH) -- one of 22 occurrences of the phrase in the Psalms, corresponding to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. It is both a command and an exclamation. So the psalmist summons himself to worship with these two words and announces his commitment to gratitude. He will give thanks to YHWH with his whole heart. Worship is first of all an act of the heart, not just the body. The psalmist’s heart is in it, and not just a part of it. This is whole-hearted gratitude for all that God is and all that he has done. It begins here and moves outward. Utilizing the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the psalmist declares that he will express his gratitude publicly, in the presence of the upright and in the congregation. This is a great prayer for every day, starting with gratitude in the heart and then sharing that with others continually. Being grateful is a key to happiness. We know this intuitively because we love being around grateful people. It’s one of those virtues that everyone can agree on. There are also studies to back this up, but we don’t really need them. God’s word teaches us this, and the psalmist sets the example. LORD, help me to begin each morning with whole-hearted gratitude, and then look for ways to express the gratitude genuinely throughout the day. 

2 Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them.

3 Full of splendor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever.

In these two verses the psalmist uses the next four letters of the alphabet to continue his thanksgiving declaration. First, the works of YHWH are great and they are studied by all who delight in them. The word “studied” is variously translated, but the core meaning seems to be “to seek, search, and investigate”. The pondering of God’s works is motivated by pleasure, the pure delight of doing theology, the queen of the sciences. However all investigative disciplines ultimately are a study in the works of the LORD since he made everything. Science, Math, Engineering, Philosophy, Psychology, History, the Humanities -- all of these are realms of knowledge that investigate what God has made and done. Verse 3 takes us the next two letters of the alphabet and elaborates more on the nature of God’s works. They are full of splendor and majesty, or “honorable” and “glorious”. This is the lesser used word for glory, and it speaks to the shining brilliance of God’s works. It is the same word used in Psalm 8:1, “You have set your glory above the heavens.” Imagine the shining splendor of the Milky Way or a vast multi-colored sunset. Imagine anything that God has made on this planet and it’s glorious! The next letter of the alphabet leads us to consider God’s righteousness or justice. God is unyielding in his rightness. His laws are forever true and right, and he abides by them. Our righteousness is inconsistent. We are right and we do right things some of the time, but God is righteous forever, holy. 

4 He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and merciful.

5 He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever.

The next four letters of the alphabet direct us to think of God’s gracious and merciful nature. These are expressed in his wonderful, memorable works. The specific works that the psalmist highlights are his provision of food and his covenant faithfulness. One of the ways that YHWH has caused his wondrous works to be remembered is through his Word. The Jewish people have always been a people devoted to the Torah. It has been the centerpiece of faith and life for millennia, and we are inheritors of that legacy. The story of God is written in its pages, and those stories have been passed down from generation to generation, always guided by God’s preserving hand. We remember what we have done by taking pictures. It’s a good thing because we are very forgetful. We don’t have the capacity to store everything so our brain takes short-cuts. Not so with YHWH. He knows all things and remembers everything as well. God’s grace and mercy are revealed in the pages of scripture through the lives of individuals and in the nation of Israel. Remember his works today and reflect on them as they relate to how you live. Verse 5 reminds us that everything that we have comes from God. I have been blessed to live in a place where food is abundant and I’ve never known hunger. But I know this is not the case in many parts of the world. So give thanks for the food on your table. For most of human history, for most people, obtaining and enjoying good food has not been so easy. So be grateful, not critical. Finally, YHWH remembers his covenant forever. This means that he keeps all of his promises. Help me to remember the covenants I have made forever -- marriage, fatherhood, ministry -- these are the big ones for me, and I wonder how much I actively remember them. Is this something that will be said of me: He keeps his covenant forever? The Promise Keepers movement got it right -- calling men to keep their promises is a really good thing. As we reflect on the character and actions of God, it is a reminder that we are made in his image and our lives should reflect his character and actions. Remember his works, remember his covenant, remember to be grateful. 

6 He has shown his people the power of his works, in giving them the inheritance of the nations.

7 The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy;

A key word in this psalm is “works” occurring in verses 2,3,4,6 and 7. The other verses speak of God’s works without using that word. In many ways this psalm is a reflection on the varied works of God. Verse 6 speaks of the power of God’s works in directing the nations. The conquest of Canaan may be in mind here as the psalmist reflects on the miracle of slaves coming out of Egypt, crossing the Red Sea, surviving 40 years in the wilderness and then moving into inhabited land and quickly subjugating the people who lived there. The subsequent protection of that land from foreign dominance throughout the following centuries is also amazing by any standard. Warfare is a constant in human history and to maintain one’s civilization and land for as long as the Jewish people did is indeed a miracle, certainly one of a kind. One thinks that this might have something to do with the mighty power of God. Relating to the endurance of the nation of Israel is the passing down of the precepts of God. His works are faithful and just and his precepts are trustworthy. The Torah told the story of God and the Jewish people and passing that story down through the generations, and stubbornly holding onto its truth and to every letter of the book that contained it, was what enabled this great civilization to survive. And what a blessing the Jewish people have brought to the world in every sphere of life. Perhaps this is why the enemy has fought so hard to destroy them. The works of God are expressed as the work of hands, which suggest both power and touch. The Creator got intimately involved with his creation, touching and shaping, just as he formed the universe with his fingertips (Psalm 8:3), crafting as an artist. So God is at work today in our lives, absolutely trustworthy is He. Even when we don’t understand the reason behind the work of his hands, we can be confident that they are ultimately for our good and for his glory. 

8 they are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.

9 He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name!

As the psalmist moves his reflection to the permanence of God’s word, he states that they are established forever and ever. In other words, they are timeless and unchanging. The Hebrew isn’t clear whether God is doing the performing of his precepts or we are. It is a passive voice, but the subject isn’t clear. Translations vary. Of course God’s word is enacted by him in faithfulness and uprightness, and given the implicit command to us in verse 9 regarding covenant obedience, I prefer the ESV translation that suggests that we are to perform the commands of God in faithfulness and uprightness. The word of God is not merely to be studied, but it is to be lived out to the best of our ability through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, YHWH has ransomed his people (literally, “sent redemption”) and commanded a covenant with them forever. This sending of redemption becomes even more vivid in Jesus whom God sent to save the world. The additional line in verse 9 brings an end to the praise portion of this psalm, verse 10 being instructional wisdom. Overwhelmed by his meditation on the works and words of YHWH, the psalmist declares that God is holy and awesome! God is unlike any other -- any other god, any human philosophy or wisdom, any person however great they may seem to be. God is holy. His greatness demands our worship and commands our obedience to his timeless words. Some in the church today believe that the words of God need a fresh interpretation in light of modern ideas that have come to dominate western culture, that they must yield to the new reality that elevates the individual above all else and personal experience above received truth. So these are hard words that push against a tidal wave of societal pressure to conform to the new orthodoxy. In this context, remember that God’s words were established forever and ever and were enacted in faithfulness and uprightness. They are for our good, and compromising them will only bring us harm. 

10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!

The final lines of the psalm end with the final three letters of the Hebrew alphabet, the three lines corresponding to the three lines of the first verse and offering a transition to the next psalm which will be a description of the person who fears the LORD. Echoing the central message fo the Proverbs, the psalm concludes with the statement: “the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the LORD.” The foundation of wisdom is an acknowledgement of the existence and authority of God over your life. Now wisdom is generally defined as applied knowledge, emphasizing the fact that what you know to be true must be put into practice or it is not wisdom, it hasn’t soaked in deep enough to affect behavior. The emphasis of this text is on the foundation of wisdom, the starting point. If you are building on a foundation other than the reality of God, you are building your thinking and your behavior on a false floor and it will not bear the weight of reality. The second line accents the truth that wisdom is activated by practicing the wisdom of God exemplified in the Torah. The words of God reveal the nature and the will of God. Those who align their thinking and their lives with this revealed wisdom will have good understanding. As our culture veers further from the foundation of faith in God, it drifts deeper into chaos and the tyranny of the self. This promise helps us push back against the urge to measure everything by our own experience and feelings. It is the praise of God that endures forever, and the futile attempts of man to find another way to live without God’s wisdom will always end in greater human suffering and misery. Teach me wisdom in the secret heart, and help me to put the commands of God into practice every day that my understanding may grow and so that I can be a teacher of others.