Psalm 111 English Standard Version Great Are the LORD's Works 111 Praise the LORD! I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation. 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. 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. 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; 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! 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 LORD's greatness and majesty is known by His great and mighty works--which all know about and should celebrate. Romans 1 tells us that these works are self-evident and that anyone who denies the existence of God is a fool and does so because they are in rebellion against Him. All we need to do is look at the vastness of the heavens or the complexity of microorganisms to know that none of this happened by chance--it was all by design. It was all created for His good will and pleasure and to bring Him much glory, and to cause us to recognize His excellent greatness and give us reason to exalt and praise Him for who He is and what He has done.
The LORD is gracious and merciful bringing rain on the righteous and unrighteous alike. He causes a fruitful harvest that comes at just the right time to provide us with the food we need. His mercies are new every morning, because without them, we would not make it from day to day. The LORD does not forget His covenants that He makes and is faithful to keep them even when His people are unfaithful, for He is the wone who is faithful and true. He knew we would be unfaithful, which is why He did not make us swear to keep the covenant, but instead swore only by Himself and His own Name because there was nothing greater that He could swear by. He did not make Abraham join hands with Him when he cut the covenant of blood with the animals that Abraham had laid out, nor did He make us walk the path with Him when He cut the new covenant with the body and blood of Jesus. That was a path that He walked alone because none of us could walk it with Him. The LORD has given Israel an inheritance among the nations--a Promised Land that is a symbol of His eternal covenant with His people, and His lover for them. It points us to an even better home that He is preparing for all His people--a place for men and God to once again dwell together in the New Jerusalem--the New Heavens and the New Earth. God gave us the covenant of His Law so that we might be blessed and not cursed. We would know who and what He called us to be as His covenant people, yet He knew we could not keep the Law, so the Law made way for atonement for unintentional sin. Yet, much sin is intentional if we are being honest. We commit high-handed sins of rebellion where we know the Law and violate it anyways. For this reason a better sacrifice and a better covenant were needed. Jesus fulfilled the Old Covenant on our behalf and cut a new covenant for us which He told us about at the Lord's Supper, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” (1 Corinthians 11:25). However, the Old Testament tells us of this "New Covenant" that Jesus was referring to. Jeremiah 31:31-34 English Standard Version The New Covenant 31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” God made a way for our sins not to be just covered over, but to be dealt with forever so that He will no longer remember them. While the LORD is omniscient and knows all, He also can choose to not remember things. If He chooses to forget things and remove the records of them every happening, for our sins are blotted out of the book that records our sins, then who can bring a charge against us? Satan will try, but there will be no evidence to present which the LORD will hear on that day. If we are in Christ and belong to Him then our names will be in a book called the Lamb's Book of Life, and that will be all the evidence that God needs to see. No other evidence will be heard. For this, we also praise Him because of the wonderful work of salvation that He has provided that we now more fully understand than when David wrote this psalm. The people of Israel can tell of the redemption and salvation that He gave to them at the first Passover and how He has continued to save them and keep them year after year (and they still tell this afresh every year to this day), but only in Christ do we see the fulfillment of the Passover in that God is saving a people out of slavery to sin and death, making them a people unto Himself and defeating the superpower of the world and the devil so that they will be able to do nothing to keep the LORD from delivering the promises of His covenant to us. We are now citizens of a new kingdom--a new heaven and new earth. We serve the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who is worthy of all glory and honor and praise. Therefore, we fear the LORD and worship Him and obey and serve Him with gladness, for great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised among all people from all nations! Comments are closed.
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Daniel WestfallI will mostly use this space for recording my "journal" from my daily devotions as I hope to encourage others to read the Bible along with me and to leave a legacy for others. Archives
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