Psalm 111--Praise for the LORD’s Works

Psalm 111
World English Bible

111 Praise Yah!
    I will give thanks to Yahweh with my whole heart,
    in the council of the upright, and in the congregation.
2 Yahweh’s works are great,
    pondered by all those who delight in them.
3 His work is honor and majesty.
    His righteousness endures forever.
4 He has caused his wonderful works to be remembered.
    Yahweh is gracious and merciful.
5 He has given food to those who fear him.
    He always remembers his covenant.
6 He has shown his people the power of his works,
    in giving them the heritage of the nations.
7 The works of his hands are truth and justice.
    All his precepts are sure.
8 They are established forever and ever.
    They are done in truth and uprightness.
9 He has sent redemption to his people.
    He has ordained his covenant forever.
    His name is holy and awesome!
10 The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom.
    All those who do his work have a good understanding.
His praise endures forever!

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The psalmist (probably David) declares that he will give praise to the LORD in all places and all times no matter the setting--whether in government meetings or in a worship service--there is no separation of church and state for him.  The psalmist declares that everyone who belongs to the LORD should stop and think about all of His wonderful and powerful deeds that should also lead us to worship Him in all places at all times and among all people.  There should not be a wrong place or wrong time to worship Him.

We should delight in His mighty works and see how they bring Him honor and majesty.  His righteousness (goodness) is everlasting.  Everything He has ever done and will ever do is good and right.  His mighty works declare His existence and His "invisible attributes" they make clearly known (see Romans 1).  The LORD is not only powerful, but gracious and merciful--yet even more reason to praise Him both now and forevermore.

He meets the material needs of His people (like food) and always remembers His covenant with His people.  He has made a promise to Israel to make them the head and not to tail among the nations of the earth if they will obey and keep His covenant, and He has made them a blessing to all the other nations so that the Abrahamic Covenant is true--"Through you, all the nations of the earth will be blessed."

His mighty works declare truth and execute justice.  His Law is established and firm.  It is completely consistent with His nature and character and it leaves no room for guessing what verdict He is going to cast when we stand before Him in judgment.

However, He has chosen to redeem a people for Himself, a people of His choosing who did not deserve it.  He has done this for His good pleasure and to bring much glory to Himself.  He has made an everlasting covenant with His people which we now realize even more fully--a covenant that meant that God would have to satisfy His justice and holiness by sacrificing Himself in our place so that we could have the blessings of a covenant that we could never deserve because we could never earn them by keeping a conditional covenant.

To fear the LORD (this can be either fear of judgment or reverential awe because He is awesome) is the beginning of wisdom.  We understand and change our actions accordingly to avoid judgment and to respond in love towards the one who loved us instead of continuing in our rebellion against His Law.  If we fear Him, we will obey Him, and this will give us even better understanding of who He is and what He has done and give us even more reason to worship Him.  We will not just praise Him a little during our weekly worship services that last just an hour or two a week, but we will praise Him all day ever day so that we will no longer even consider the passage of time because it will no longer matter to us.  We will praise Him forever and ever and will never run out of things to praise Him for for the LORD is great and greatly to be praised.