Psalm 111: Works

Psalms 111 and 112 are both alphabetic acrostics. Each line begins with the next letter of the alphabet, in these cases, 11 verses with 22 lines, one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The purpose of the acrostic is to repeat a single theme through each line by using a different letter. There is a simplicity and a flow to this form of poetry, but there is also a depth. It is not mere repetition, not saying the same thing over and over, but peeling back the layers of a thing, seeing it more clearly by saying it more thoughtfully, more thoroughly. What is that theme that runs through Psalm 111? It is the greatness of God’s works. 

The psalm begins with an exclamation, “Praise the LORD!” or as many of us would say it, “Hallelujah!” And then a declaration, “I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.” Praise and gratitude are actions to be shared, they are not only exclamations but conversations, they are not merely personal but are designed to become corporate. Our testimony is not the story of what has been done for us, but our gratitude to the One who has done it. Its power is not in how much we needed, but the kindness and generosity of the One who gave. Thanksgiving is not something we feel in the moment of abundance, but the mindset we live in and live from long after that moment has passed. The psalmist is teaching that worship is not excitement over what is happening or what has just happened, but contentment and gratitude over all that has ever been. It is this kind of gratitude, this kind of corporate giving thanks that fights against disappointment, discontentment, selfishness, and impatience. He is calling us to live in thanks more than simply giving thanks, for continuous praise rather than bursts of emotion. 

The basis of this kind of praise is established in verse 2, “Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them.” We tend to look for the next thing that God will do, we focus on promises to be fulfilled, we talk about the future and look ahead, but the psalmist calls us to a worship that “studies” what God has already done. In the same way that our words reveal our hearts (Luke 6:45) our actions reveal our character. This is why, often in the Old Testament, when someone experienced God’s action, they gave Him a “new” name. In Genesis 16, when Hagar had run away from Abram and Sarai because she was being treated harshly “the angel of the LORD” met her, spoke to her, told her to go back to her household, and promised her that He would care for her. Verse 13 says, “So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, ‘You are a God of seeing’ (El Roi), for she said, ‘Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.’” Hagar did not simply have an experience with God, she learned something about the character of God, something that was not only for her to know, but for us to study. What God did for Hagar was not an isolated action, it was a revelation of who He is, what He did for her is what He does for us. God meeting her on the way to Shur continues to be a reason to give Him praise. 

Biblical examples are not reasons to say, “He did it before He will do it again”, they are evidence of who God is, they are not predictors of our future, they are promises of God’s character. He is good, He is faithful, He is holy, He is worthy, He is kind, He is generous; His actions flow from His character, He does what He does because of who He is. The struggle for us, is that we are called to trust His character even when we cannot or do not understand His ways. We love that God met Hagar when she seemed to need Him most because we can hold it as a promise that He will meet us when and even how we want to be met. What do we do with John 11? Mary and Martha, two of Jesus’ dearest friends and most loyal supporters sent word to Him that their brother, whom Jesus loved, was sick. When this family needed Jesus the most, when they wanted Him, when they expected Him to come and meet them, Jesus did not come. John 11:5-6 says that Jesus got word and stayed where He was for two days because He “loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.” This means that Jesus’ staying is just as compelled by His love as His going. It means that His works are always determined by His character and so, whatever He does and does not do for that matter, is about His love for us, His patience with sinners and His desire that all would be saved. He is not a God of repeated works but of unchanging character. The psalmist is telling us that worship does not believe for what we want God to do but to study what God has done because that is how we discover who God is. 

The greatest of all God’s works may be found in verse 4, “He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered; the LORD is gracious and merciful.” We like to think that we remember the memorable things, that the moments that mean the most to us are etched in our minds, that the things that moved us will never move from us and yet we have all discovered that we are a forgetful people. We forget the things we should remember, and we remember the things we should forget. But God does not hold that against us, in fact according to the psalmist, when we do remember it is because God has caused it. Jesus would further cement this in John 14:26 when He promised that the Holy Spirit would “bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” But here is the true beauty, God does not cause us to remember because we are forgetful. The Holy Spirit does not bring Jesus’ words to our remembrance because we cannot or do not do it ourselves, Psalm 111 says that God does this because He is “gracious and merciful.” 

Once again, His action flows from His character. We see our negative where we should be looking at the abundance of God’s positive. God did not send Jesus into the world because of the greatness of our sin but the depths of His love (John 3:16). God is not slow in keeping His promises, He is patient, longing for salvation (II Peter 3:9), He does not remind us because we are forgetful but because He is gracious and merciful. That description of God is used ten times in the Bible by prophets, and even a king, but the first time it was ever used is the one that matters most. In Exodus 34:6, when God granted Moses’ request to show him His glory, as the LORD passed by, He proclaimed about Himself, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness . . .” The God who had already met Moses in a burning bush, used him to bring 10 plagues to Egypt and to deliver Israel from 400 years of slavery, the God who had parted the Red Sea for His people and then closed it on their enemies, who sent manna from heaven every day and guided them by fire and cloud every step, the God who had come down on Mount Sinai to speak to the nation and then took Moses up into the cloud to give him the Law, this God, when He passed by, declared that He is, first and foremost “merciful and gracious”. He causes us to remember His works because it is in His works that we discover who He is. 

The works that God has done are not meant to propel us but to sustain us. They are not reasons to believe for the next thing we want Him to do, but to be content in who He has shown Himself to be. He is not doing our works for us, He is doing His work in us, through us and yes, even for us. Everything He does flows from who He is, and all that He is, is found in what He has told us about Himself. He is gracious and merciful, patient and longsuffering, faithful and unchanging. He wills that none would perish, He desires that all would be saved, He is love. And our response must be to give thanks. To give thanks because the good God works all things for good. To give thanks because He does all things well. To give thanks because His ways are not ours. To give thanks because we have not chosen Him, but He has chosen us. To give thanks because His mercies (yesed) are new every morning. To give thanks because of all that He has done and for all that He will ever do because it has, and it will all come from who He is. We love to remember that we are saved by grace through faith, not a result of our works (Ephesians 2:8-9), but we must also remember God works in grace and He causes faith. Give thanks to the LORD for He is good; His love endures forever; His works are worthy of our continuous and corporate praise.