Psalms 111:1-10 GW Hallelujah! I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart in the company of decent people and in the congregation. 2 The LORD's deeds are spectacular. They should be studied by all who enjoy them. 3 His work is glorious and majestic. His righteousness continues forever. 4 He has made his miracles unforgettable. The LORD is merciful and compassionate. 5 He provides food for those who fear him. He always remembers his promise. 6 He has revealed the power of his works to his people by giving them the lands of other nations as an inheritance. 7 His works are done with truth and justice. All his guiding principles are trustworthy. 8 They last forever and ever. They are carried out with truth and decency. 9 He has sent salvation to his people. He has ordered that his promise should continue forever. His name is holy and terrifying. 10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. Good sense is shown by everyone who follows God's guiding principles. His praise continues forever.
The Psalmist
B1 Praises God
B2 Gives thanks to God
B3 Offers praise and thanks publicly
God is described as
B1 Doing spectacular deeds
C1 To a Jew this would cause reminders of God’s deliverance from Egypt and all the miracles that happen then and in their 40 years of wandering.
C2 To a Christian, not only the above, but also all the miracles of the Lord Jesus. We see His authority over death, sickness, weather, demons, evil people, etc.
B2 Righteous
C1 To be righteous, there must be a standard to measure.
C2 God’s standard is primarily the 10 Commandments. God always has, is, and will live perfectly by that standard in thoughts, desires, words, and deeds.
B3 Doing miracles
C1 Miracles show Yahweh is the creator. Only the creator can create in these ways as healing, etc.
C2 Miracles authenticate one’s qualifications.
D1 The devil can do miracles: Exodus 7:11 WEB Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers. They also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same thing with their enchantments.
D2 The devil’s miracles are limited: Exodus 7:12 WEB For they each cast down their rods, and they became serpents: but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.
D3 God can do miracles: Exodus 7:8-10 WEB Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 9 “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Perform a miracle!’ then you shall tell Aaron, ‘Take your rod, and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it become a serpent.’” 10 Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, as Yahweh had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent.
D4 God’s miracles are superior: Exodus 7:12 WEB For they each cast down their rods, and they became serpents: but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. [Emphasis is mine]
B4 Merciful
C1 God has the authority to judge and sentence. 2 Timothy 4:1 NET I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:
C2 God has given conditions under which one can receive His mercy. He does not have to, but enjoys doing so because of His love.
D1 John 3:18 WEB He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn’t believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.
D2 James 2:13 GW No mercy will be shown to those who show no mercy to others. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
C3 Ephesians 2:4 NET But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us,
B5 Compassionate
C1 Showing concern for other’s hurts and needs
C2 2 Corinthians 1:3 GW Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! He is the Father who is compassionate and the God who gives comfort.
B6 Providence
C1 Able to, wanting to, and does supply our needs.
C2 For example:
D1 2 Corinthians 9:10 BSB Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your store of seed and will increase the harvest of your righteousness.
D2 Philippians 4:19 BSB And my God will supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
B7 Keeps His promises: Hebrews 6:16-18 BSB Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and their oath serves as a confirmation to end all argument. 17 So when God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of the promise, He guaranteed it with an oath. 18 Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged.
B8 Does everything in truth
C1 Truth is reality.
C2 John 14:6 WEB Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.
C3 Hebrews 6:18 EMTV in order that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong encouragement, who have fled to take hold of the hope being set before us;
B9 Does everything with justice
C1 Justice is treating all equal when judging, etc.
C2 Deuteronomy 32:4 LEB The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are just; he is a faithful God, and without injustice righteous and upright is he.
C3 Psalms 9:8-9 CPDV But the Lord remains in eternity. He has prepared his throne in judgment. 9 And he will judge the whole world in equity. He will judge the people in justice.
B10 His wisdom is trustworthy
C1 1 Thessalonians 5:24 NET He who calls you is trustworthy, and he will in fact do this.
C2 Psalms 19:7 GW The teachings of the LORD are perfect. They renew the soul. The testimony of the LORD is dependable. It makes gullible people wise.
C3 When we read His words in Scripture, we know they are 100% true.
D1 Direct quotations of God are 100% true.
D2 Direct quotations of others are a 100% truthful recording of what they said and did.
B11 Does everything decently
C1 God has standard.
C2 He lives by His standard.
C3 What He requires of others, He, Himself, lives by.
C4 The word for decency (uprightness in the KJV) is a word meaning (via Thayer)
D1 straight, upright, correct, right
E1 Straight, level
E2 Right, pleasing, correct
E3 Straightforward, just, upright, fitting, proper
E4 Uprightness, righteous, upright
E5 That which is upright
D2 Psalms 119:137 MKJV You are righteous, O LORD, and Your judgments are right.
D3 Nehemiah 9:13 GW You came from heaven to Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven. You gave them fair rules, trustworthy teachings, and good laws and commandments.
B12 Holy
C1 The Hebrew word is קָדוֹשׁ qâdôwsh meaning separated from evil, dedicated to God for service, etc. Free from defilement of crimes, idolatry, and other unclean and profane thing (Gesenius Hebrew Chaldee Lexicon).
C2 Psalm 78:41 NLT Again and again they tested God's patience and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
C3 Zechariah 14:5 NLT You will flee through this valley, for it will reach across to Azal. Yes, you will flee as you did from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all his holy ones with him.
B13 Awesome (worthy of reverence)
C1 The Hebrew word is יָרֵא yârêʼ. It means fear of something (thus running away from it), to fear God (as in fear of the one who can judge, sentence, and punish), to tremble for joy (as in Isaiah 60:5), and something so wonderful we are in shock and awe (as in Psalm 66:3 and 5).
C2 Revelation 19:16 NLT On his robe at his thigh was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all lords.
One more thing
B1 Psalm 111:10 CSB The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his instructions have good insight. His praise endures forever.
B2 God’s ways are best. Look at the mess in the world of all societies and nations.
B3 Commenting on this verse Whedon writes:
10. The beginning of wisdom—Not only in the sense of order of time, but also as chief or first in dignity. See Proverbs 1:7; 4:7, where the same word, “beginning, ” occurs. Understanding must here be taken in its ethical sense of wisdom, prudence, discretion; which was always looked upon as the gift of God and the guaranty of success and happiness. Job 28:28; Proverbs 13:15.
His praise endureth—Whose praise? Some suppose the praise of the wise man, who keeps the commandments, is meant, as in Psalms 112. But Jehovah in his works is the theme of the psalm, and the pronoun more properly refers to “Lord ” in the first member of the verse, to whom all praise is due.
Revelation 22:17 NLT The Spirit and the bride say, "Come." Let anyone who hears this say, "Come." Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life.
