NOTES for Psa 111

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¹Praise ye the LORD. I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.

²The works of the LORD are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.

³His work is honourable and glorious: and his righteousness endureth for ever.

⁴He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion.

⁵He hath given meat unto them that fear him: he will ever be mindful of his covenant.

⁶He hath shewed his people the power of his works, that he may give them the heritage of the heathen.

⁷The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure.

⁸They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.

⁹He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name.

¹⁰The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.

The works of the Lord stand firm for ever and ever; nothing can compare with them. But if so, why does He allow His people to take possession of the inheritance of the nations? Of course, this primarily means the Promised Land, won back from the pagans, but is that all? Might the lands of Palestine also be an image of another, spiritual inheritance?

With such an interpretation, it is easy to succumb to the temptation of regarding the many manifestations of pagan customs as an inheritance to be assimilated. We know that many Israelites reasoned in precisely this way, and the Bible repeatedly shows where this led.

Yet the land was promised to Abraham’s descendants not only long before Joshua’s wars, but even before the pagan peoples whom Joshua drove out had established themselves there. The land they possessed was not their own. And if the question is whether we need to assimilate genuinely valuable achievements of culture and technology that took shape in a pagan environment, it is worth considering: did paganism really produce them? Were they not drawn from another source, like lands that were not intended for the pagans?

Other notes

For Psa 111:1-10

¹Praise ye the LORD. I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.

²The works of the LORD are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.

³His work is honourable and glorious: and his righteousness endureth for ever.

⁴He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion.

⁵He hath given meat unto them that fear him: he will ever be mindful of his covenant.

⁶He hath shewed his people the power of his works, that he may give them the heritage of the heathen.

⁷The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure.

⁸They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.

⁹He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name.

¹⁰The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.

For the upright, light in the darkness is the knowledge that there is no other way. One cannot act otherwise; one cannot refuse to believe or to trust God... Read more

For the upright, light in the darkness is the knowledge that there is no other way. One cannot act otherwise; one cannot refuse to believe or to trust God. In darkness it often seems to us that there is no light at all, and then this knowledge sustains us. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” the Psalm says; “all who practice it have good understanding.” The people’s agreement to carry out God’s commandments (see Ex 24:3) allows God to reveal his merciful love and accomplish the great works of which the Psalm speaks.

For Psa 111:1-10

¹Praise ye the LORD. I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.

²The works of the LORD are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.

³His work is honourable and glorious: and his righteousness endureth for ever.

⁴He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion.

⁵He hath given meat unto them that fear him: he will ever be mindful of his covenant.

⁶He hath shewed his people the power of his works, that he may give them the heritage of the heathen.

⁷The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure.

⁸They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.

⁹He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name.

¹⁰The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.

One who fears God will not fear evil tidings, and not merely because one wedge drives out another, one fear replacing another. The fear... Read more

One who fears God will not fear evil tidings, and not merely because one wedge drives out another, one fear replacing another. The fear of God does not differ “quantitatively” from any human fear; it is inseparable from love for God, and “there is no fear in love” (1 John 4:18).

All this is true, yet so far the text speaks not of love for God but only of love for His commandments, a love that transforms the person who follows them. But is it possible to follow the Lord without seeking to remain united with Him? One can, of course, observe rules of conduct simply by obeying accepted discipline, but how long will such zeal last? Will one not begin to avoid the rules?

It follows that love for the commandments, even in embryonic form, is inseparably linked to love for the Giver of the commandments and is itself the beginning of love for Him.

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