Psalms 111 & 112
Part 16
Psalms 111 and 112 are referred to as the twin Psalms, because there are many similarities between the two. For example:
Since both of these Psalms are closely related and complement each other, it is only fitting that they be studied together.
Psalm 111:1 Praise
the LORD! I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, In the assembly of
the upright and in the congregation.
As the writer expresses
God is always worthy to be praised with our whole heart. God deserves nothing
less. Notice, the writer was offering God his whole being when he was gathered
with those like-minded in the congregation. While their worship in the O.T. was
different than our worship today, we both have in common this idea of gathering
together with those that are like-minded and righteous. As Paul writes:
1 Corinthians 12:12 For as
the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body,
being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all
baptized into one body -- whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free -- and
have all been made to drink into one Spirit.
14 For in fact the body is not one member but many.
Unlike those in the O.T.
who gathered together at a specific place, we can gather together wherever we
want because we make up that one body of Christ. When we do so, we honor our
Father in heaven and show that we care and appreciate what Jesus did for us.
Psalm 111:2 The works of the LORD are great,
Studied by all who have pleasure in them.
3 His work is honorable and glorious, And His
righteousness endures forever.
Those who love the Lord are
going to learn as much as the can about Him and what He has done. Not only
should we desire to learn about His great works, when we do, we will discover
all that God has done for us and it will increase our faith and confidence in
God. The Bible make it clear that everyone can know that He is our God and that
He exists because of all the mighty works He has done:
Romans 1:20 For since
the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and
Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
No one today can honestly
deny that mighty works of God as David rightly said:
Psalm 8:3 When I
consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which
You have ordained, 4 What is
man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?
When we consider the
universe and how God designed it and created us, it should cause us to stand in
awe and be thankful that God is involved in our lives and how He loved us
enough to set forth a plan of salvation so that we might be with Him forever in
eternity. As our writer said, God’s righteousness endures forever.
Psalm 111:4 He has
made His wonderful works to be remembered; The LORD is gracious and full
of compassion.
Again, the Psalmist
comments on the works of God and how He has made them to be remembered. The
writer points out some of the characteristics of God such as God being gracious and full of compassion. To be
gracious means to have a generous spirit, and no one can honestly deny that God
has generous spirit and that He is full of compassion. While many examples can
be given of God’s graciousness and compassion, the writer mentions two examples
of it:
Psalm 111:5 He
has given food to those who fear Him; He will ever be mindful of His
covenant. 6 He has declared
to His people the power of His works, In giving them the heritage of the
nations.
Most believe verse 5 is
referring to when God fed the children of Israel in the wilderness even though
they were rebellious at times, which is why it says that God was ever mindful
of His covenant. The great thing about God, is that He will always keep His
promises even when we do not. There are many times in
Most believe verse 6
refers to the time of Joshua and how God made it possible for them to fulfill
the land promise. They could not have accomplished this on their own, therefore
is correct to say that God is the one the gave them the heritage of the
nations.
In a similar way, God
provides for us through His providential care, and we can be confident that we
will have our inheritance in heaven because of the great work He did through
His Son, which was one the greatest works He did because it made it possible
for all of us to have salvation. We should always be comforted by the fact that
God loves us, is gracious, has compassion on us because without those characteristics,
we would all be in a lot of trouble.
Psalm 111:7 The
works of His hands are verity and justice; All His precepts are sure. 8 They stand fast forever and
ever, And are done in truth and uprightness.
The word verity means
faithfulness or truthfulness. The message is that when God did His works, they
were always done in truth and for justice. God does not abuse His powers or do
anything without a purpose. I am sure most of us have heard of the book the
purpose driven life, which I have never read, but one could right a book title
a purpose driven God because everything He does has a reason and a purpose.
Along this same line, His
precepts or we could say commandments has a purpose as well, and we can count
on them and know they are true. We can know that His truth as found in our
Bible and will never be destroyed because His Word will be around forever.
Knowing that God is like
this and this His Word is like this should motivate us to be more faithful and
true. We should have no doubts that on the Day of Judgment that we will receive
a fair trial because our judge is gracious and compassionate, but He is also
just. We will be judged by the Word of God, and we cannot offer up excuses for
our sin because everything we need to know about being pleasing to God is found
in the Word of God (2 Tim. 3:16-17).
One way that people are
attacking the Bible today is by teaching that there is no absolute truth, but I
here to tell that when it comes to God’s completed Word, it is absolute truth,
and we can rely on it without any doubts.
Psalm 111:9 He has
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; A good understanding
have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.
The psalmist praised God
for how He redeemed His people from the Egyptians. We can be just as excited if
no more excited about how God has redeemed us from the power of sin through His
Son. Truly, our God is an awesome God.
Verse 10, is so true
because until you fear God that is show reverence to Him, you cannot become
wise. When you lack reverence for your Creator, you will not listen to what He
has to say and you end up disrespecting Him, and He will allow you do this, but
when the Judgment Day comes everyone will show their reverence to God whether
they are bound for heaven or hell.
Romans 14:11 For it
is written: "As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me,
And every tongue shall confess to God."
12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to
God.
When we fear God, we will
do our best to learn exactly what He expects from us, and we can gain wisdom by
going to His Word and living our life by His commandments. As the writer ends
his Psalm, His praise endures forever.
Psalm 112:1 Praise
the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, Who delights
greatly in His commandments. 2
His descendants will be mighty on earth; The generation of the upright will be
blessed. 3 Wealth and riches will
be in his house, And his righteousness endures forever.
As with our previous
Psalm, this Psalm starts out with the same phrase Praise the Lord!, which means
hallelujah in Hebrew. This Psalm will focus on how great a man can be when He
is faithful to God.
Again, this writer stress
the importance of fearing God, and says that that He blessed when He does so.
This same thought is given numerous times throughout different Psalms including
the first one. Those who fear God, are going to have strong desire and love for
studying God commands. If we find studying God’s Word as being boring or a time
waster, then I can tell you do not have much respect for God, and you are not
blessed.
The writer gives us some
general examples of how God blesses those that fear Him. He says they will be
mighty on the earth and that exactly what see happening with the children of
While this is not teaching
that if you are faithful that you will be guaranteed to be physically rich
today, but it does promise that we will be blessed. For some, it might be
material wealth, but more importantly, every Christian will be rich spiritually. History shows that
nations that fear God usually prosper, but when they push God out of their lives,
they usually end up falling. Again,
Think about our nation. Our
nation was built on religious principle and our country has been very
successful, but if we keep pushing God out of our lives as whole, we will most
likely fall hard as well.
Psalm 112:4 Unto
the upright there arises light in the darkness; He is gracious, and full
of compassion, and righteous.
The ESV makes this easier
to understand because it says:
Psalm 112:4 Light
dawns in the darkness for the upright;
Many times the Bible
refers to those things that are righteous or close to God as being in the
light, and everything else is in the dark. So, those who are upright and follow
the way of God are never in the dark. In fact, in the new testament we are
taught to be a light for God by being reflection of Jesus.
As the Psalmist said, we
are to be gracious, full of compassion and righteous. If you will remember
these are the same characteristics that Psalm 111 said God had. The reason for
this is because we are supposed to become like God as much as we can because we
represent Him. So, if He is gracious, we must be gracious. If He is full of
compassion, we must be full of compassion. If He is righteous, we must be
righteous. Next, the Psalmist gives us some examples of how we can have these
characteristics of God.
Psalm 112: 5 A good man deals graciously and
lends; He will guide his affairs with discretion. 6 Surely he will never be shaken;
The righteous will be in everlasting remembrance.
Lending to those in need
is not a new concept and it is taught to us in the NT as well. Of course, the
N.T. usually holds us to a higher standard:
Luke 6:33
"And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to
you? For even sinners do the same. 34
"And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what
credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much
back. 35 "But love your
enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will
be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the
unthankful and evil. 36
"Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.
You will also notice that
the Psalmist says that a good man will guide his affairs with discretion, which
means that when he does lend, he will use sound judgment and not just lend to
everyone that asks for a loan. This would apply to anything that we do. We
should always examine what we do closely and pray about it because a rash
decision is bound to be the wrong one.
As the Psalmist said, the
righteous will be in everlasting remembrance. One example of this would be some
of the faithful people we read about in our Bibles, but more importantly, God
will remember us because our name will be written in the book of life.
Psalm 112:7 He will
not be afraid of evil tidings; His heart is steadfast, trusting in the
LORD. 8 His heart is established;
He will not be afraid, Until he sees his desire upon his enemies.
Whenever respect God and
live our life for Him, we will not fear those who are evil because we know that
they can only destroy our physical bodies, but they cannot touch our souls.
Since we have that assurance from God, our hearts will be steadfast as we put
our trust in God.
When we have that kind of
faith in God our hearts will be established, and nothing will shake our faith.
Nothing will cause to be afraid before we see our enemies face the wrath of
God.
Finally, the Psalmist
says:
Psalm 112:9 He has
dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever;
His horn will be exalted with honor. 10
The wicked will see it and be grieved; He will gnash his teeth and melt
away; The desire of the wicked shall perish.
Those that love God and
follow His example are going to be gracious givers, and they will help those
that they can. Giving to the needy is just one of many works that we can do to
glorify God in heaven. When we mimic our Father in heaven, our righteousness
will endure forever, and we will be exalted with honor.
When the wicked see the
righteous prosper, they don’t like it one bit, and it grieves them, but there
is nothing they can do about. All they can do is gnash their teeth and melt
away and their desires will melt away and perish.
This can happen to them
while they are still living, but there is no doubt that it will happen to all
the wicked at the end of time. Again, at the Day of Judgment, there will be a
separation of the righteous and the wicked. The righteous will live forever in
eternity, and the wicked will live forever in eternal torment, where their will
be gnashing their teeth forever.
In conclusion, we have
learned that God is worthy of our praise, and when we praise Him, we should do
so with our whole heart. Just as God is gracious, full of compassion, and
righteous, we should do best to be the same because without these
characteristics, we cannot be pleasing to God. If we find that this is not
important to us and we find God’s Word as being boring, then we do not fear God,
and we will not be blessed. When we do fear God and we mimic His example, we
will be blessed in this life and in heaven. So, I hope that you will fear God
so that you can obtain the wisdom you need to make it to heaven and avoid the
terrible place called hell.