Psalm 111 - The God of Providence

This song of praise to God focuses on his providence, particularly in how he has blest his people Israel. The strong feeling that the psalmist has is one of wholehearted gratitude, and he senses this so strongly that he desires to express it publicly at the temple when God’s people gather to worship him (v. 1).

Yet his gratitude is informed gratitude – he knows why he is grateful because he has thought about what the Lord has done. The research, if we want to describe his consideration by that word, was a delightful process, and the deeper the probing the more incredible the discoveries of God’s abilities and actions. His works are what is expected from a powerful King, but they are also in line with his righteous character. The Lord is a consistent sovereign, and his consistency is at the highest of levels (vv. 2-3). The only proper response to his works is enthusiastic worship.

His activities for Israel are the outworking of his covenant agreement regarding his people. Those actions are easily remembered, and they reveal his constant commitment to that covenant, even to ensuring that they have sufficient provisions, a sign of his grace and compassion. Moreover, he had revealed somewhat of his power when he gave to them the promised land, an inheritance that they did not deserve before they received it and after they received it (vv. 4-6).

In addition to meeting their daily needs and providing them with a rich inheritance, the Lord had also given his law to Israel. This was a unique privilege in his providence regarding Israel. Other nations received food and territory through his providence, but the possession of his law was a sign that he had redeemed the Israelites to be his permanent possession. As his redeemed, the Israelites were under obligation to live according to his terms, expressed to them in his precepts, with faithful adherence to them being the evidence that the Israelites desired to keep their side of the covenant (vv. 7-9).

What can one say about such a great God? The psalmist confesses that the Lord is holy and awesome. Holy is a forgotten word today and awesome falls into the category of the most ill-used of words today. Both are proper words to use of the Lord. He is different from all his creatures, infinitely above them in perfection, and that height is what is meant by his holiness. Because he is ‘holy, holy, holy,’ he is truly awesome (v. 9).

The appropriate response to his greatness is to fear him. There are degrees of fearing God, but if it is absent in any way, it is impossible to be truly wise. Angels fear him for their reasons, and the redeemed fear him for their reasons, including the fact that he has redeemed them. He did not redeem them merely to be delivered from something; he also delivered them to be devout worshippers who live according to his commandments (v. 10).