Psalm 111. Praise ye the Lord. I will praise the Lord with my
whole heart in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation. The works of the Lord are great,
sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. His work is
honorable and glorious, and his righteousness endureth forever. He hath made his wonderful works
to be remembered. The Lord is gracious and full
of compassion He hath given meat unto them that fear him. He will
ever be mindful of his covenant. He hath showed his people the
power of his works, that he may give them the heritage of the
heathen. The works of his hands are verity and judgment. All his commandments are sure. They stand fast forever and ever
and are done in truth and uprightness. He sent redemption unto his people. He has commanded his covenant
forever. Holy and reverend is his name. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. a good understanding have all
they that do his commandments. His praise endureth forever. Let's pray. Lord, we ask that we might be
enabled by your grace from our hearts to do what the psalmist
says to do to be enabled to truly praise you. Lord, enable us to
enter in to this. Psalm. And Lord, we ask in Christ's
name that your gospel would be preached in the power of your
spirit. We pray that you would. Speak, oh Lord, we desire for
you to speak to our hearts from your word. Grant us your presence. Lord, we confess our sins. You've
taught us to pray when we pray to confess our sins and we confess
our sins. We pray that we might be cleansed,
forgiven. We so need you and your help
and your grace. Grant us a worship service for
Christ's sake. In his name we pray. Amen. Praise ye the Lord. Don't you want to do that? Praise
ye the Lord. The Lord is so glorious that
this should be our response to him. Praise from our heart. Praise for who he is. Being thankful for who he is.
Thankful for his attributes, for his holiness, for his power,
for his mercy, for his grace, for his justice. Every attribute
of God he's to be praised for. Praise ye the Lord. And then he says in verse one,
I will praise the Lord with my whole heart in the assembly of
the upright and in the congregation. Now, I love to remember first,
when we read the Psalms, who's speaking? Christ Jesus. When I say I will praise the
Lord, I hope I will. I ask for grace to, but the Lord
could say this with Power, I will praise the Lord. Now anything
that starts with my I will is a little bit questionable. But
his, I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, with my whole
understanding, with my affections, with my will. And he says in
the assembly of the upright, and that's what this is right
now, the assembly of the upright. This is talking about public
worship. in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.
Verse two, the works of the Lord are great, sought out of all
them that have pleasure therein. Now let's think about the works
of the Lord. His glorious work of creation.
He spake the universe into existence, simply as an act of His will.
You think of the vastness of this universe. We can't calculate
its size. The galaxies, the nearest star
is what, four, how many light years away? I mean, just the
vastness of this universe. And think of the complexity of
the atom. What comes from an atom? glory
of his creation, and I love to think of the works of his providence.
Do you know he controls everything? Everything that's going on through
your mind right now, ultimately, he's in control of, because he
controls everything. I know people have objections
to that. Well, are you saying he's the author of evil? No,
I'm not saying he's the author of evil, but I'm saying he controls
everything. And I've heard objections to, well, he doesn't care if
your biscuits burn or if you spill something. You can say
he's in control of that. Yes. And it's not hard because
he's God. He controls everything, everything
in Providence. He's the first cause. And he
brings good out of evil. I know there's terrible things,
painful things, to think of the things that people go through,
terrible things, but he always brings good out of evil, because
that's who he is. Praise the Lord for his works
of providence, and most especially, we praise the Lord and thank
the Lord for his work of salvation. Now you think of this thing of
salvation, he's taken and made a way in sending his son to die
on the cross to make it to where my sin is not. That I have a perfect history,
a history without sin. Is that great? He's made it to
where I am, and this is every believer, I'm the very righteousness
of God in him. Now, is that great? the greatness
of his works, his work of creation, providence, salvation. I love the way that the psalmist
says, sought out of all those who have pleasure therein. And
truly we have pleasure in all of his works, don't we? Don't
you love singing, this is my father's world? I am walking
in the earth that my Lord has made. It's his world. The earth
is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. The world and they that
dwell therein. I have pleasure in that. I have
pleasure in this. All things work together for
good. His providence. All things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose. And most especially, I have pleasure
in this salvation is of the Lord. He took full responsibility for
my salvation. I have pleasure in that, don't
you? I rejoice in that, that everything God requires of me,
he looks to his son for. Sought out of all them that have
pleasure therein. Look at verse three. His work
is honorable and glorious. His righteousness endureth forever.
Now, he'd been talking about his works, but now he narrows
it to his work. And the fact that he talks about
his righteousness enduring forever lets me know that this is talking
about his work of salvation. His work is honorable and glorious. His work on the cross. is honorable. He honored his father. He honored
his father's law. He honored every attribute of
God. Whenever we hear a message, it
better be consistent with all the attributes of God. He honored
his father. His work is glorious. His righteousness
endures forever. It's an eternal righteousness
that every believer possesses. Verse four, he hath made his
wonderful works to be remembered. I love to remember in the beginning,
God created the heavens and the earth. That's to be remembered. This is to be remembered. All
things. work together for good. Doesn't
matter what it is. All things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose. That's to be remembered. Most
especially, his work of salvation is to be remembered. I think of what Jeremiah said
in the book of Lamentations. He said, this I recall to mind. You know, faith is remembering
what he has said. This I call to mind, therefore
have I hope it's of the Lord's mercies that were not consumed. He remembered that. You know,
unbelief is forgetting that, isn't it? Unbelief is forgetting. Anytime I'm in a state of unbelief
or scared or uneasy, it's because I'm not
remembering. When I remember, Like he said,
this I recall to mind. It's of the Lord's mercies that
were not consumed. His compassions fail not. The
work of the Holy Spirit is to bring all things in remembrance. That's what the Lord said. He
shall bring all things in remembrance whatsoever I've said to you. And that's what faith is. It's
remembering what he said. I love what Paul said. Remember. Remember. that Jesus Christ of
the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my
gospel. Remember that. Remember Christ's resurrection.
Isn't it glorious to think of that? I love to think of him
being in that tomb in utter darkness, dead, dead. And all of a sudden his heart
started beating. He started breathing. He opened
his eyes. And when he was raised from the
dead, every believer was justified. Don't you love to remember that?
He was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification. He hath made his wonderful works
to be remembered. And then he mentions these attributes
of the Lord. The Lord is gracious. And full of compassion. This is who he is. He's gracious. He delights in grace. He's full of compassion. You
know, people have hard thoughts of the Lord. Well, he's gracious
and he's full of compassion. The scripture says, verse five,
he has given meat unto them that fear him. He will ever be mindful
of his covenant. He's given meat and whatever
else we need to them that fear him. Now, let me remind you,
we're going to get more into what the fear of God is at the
end of this psalm, but the fear of God is that respect and reverence
for God that makes you look nowhere but Christ. That's the fear of
God. If you can look anywhere but
Christ, You don't really fear him. You don't really respect
him. You have no true reverence for his person. But if you know
who he is, you're afraid to look anywhere but Christ alone. That is the fear of God. Now he has promised to give meat
and everything else that we may need to them that fear him. Think
of that scripture in Romans chapter eight, verse 32, he that spared
not his own son. but delivered him up for us all. How shall he not? What could
possibly prevent him from freely giving us all things? Look at the last phrase of verse
five. He will ever be mindful of his
covenant. I don't know if I'd ever thought
about this as clearly, or I hope clearly, as I had in the past.
The same covenant he made with David, he made with you, personally. Now I want you to think of the
awesomeness of that. 2 Samuel 23, 5, David said, although my
house be not so with God. Yet have he made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things, and sure, child of God, the same
covenant that God made with David he made with you." That is just Amazing. You think of him ever
being mindful of his covenant. Now, what I thought of in this
thing of ever being mindful of his covenant, you remember when
David in 2 Samuel chapter 9, after he had become the most
powerful man in the world, and he didn't have to prove anything
to anybody. He didn't have to, I mean, he
was, the fear of David came upon every nation, the scripture says.
Everybody's afraid of David. He says, is there any yet of
the house of Saul that I may show kindness to for Jonathan's
sake? You see, he had made a covenant
with Jonathan years before that he would show mercy on any
of his kids. And now he's at the top. And he remembers that covenant.
He's ever mindful of his covenant. There is no time when he looks
at me apart from and outside of that covenant ordered in all
things and sure. He's ever mindful of his covenant. Verse six, he has showed his
people the power of his works. Now once again, what power did
it take to create? That's infinite power. That's
unlimited power. That's omnipotence. What power
does it take to control everything that happens? Now, you ever look
in the sun and you see all the dust particles or whatever they
are flying around? Do you know he's controlling
every one of those? Somebody says, he doesn't care about that.
He's God. He's not like us. He's in utter
control of everything. What power, the power he demonstrates
in Providence, not a sparrow falls to the ground without your
father. And what power he demonstrated
in salvation. He made my sin to not be. And he made me the very righteousness
of God. Now, power? He hath showed his
people the power of his works, that he may give them the heritage
of the heathen. Now, the heathen are dispossessed.
What's the point? He gives us that which we didn't
work for. That's what the point of that is. He gives us that
which we did not work for. He gives us the possession of
the heathen, the heritage of the heathen. Verse seven, the
works of his hands are verity, truth, and judgment, and all
his commandments are sure. They stand fast forever and ever. and are done in truth and uprightness."
Now, once again, the psalmist is speaking of his works. You
know, this could be the theme of this psalm, his works. His
works. That would be the most appropriate
title for the theme of this psalm, his works. He keeps repeating
his works and who he is is seen in his works, what he does. Now,
let me repeat that. I want you to think about the
logic of this. Who he is is seen in what he does. What he does
can only be understood by who he is. The person and the work
of the Lord Jesus Christ. His works He glorified his father completely
and he saved his people completely. Oh, the glory of his works. They're all done in truth and
absolute justice and all his commandments are sure. His will
must be obeyed. Now, I want you to think about
this statement. The works of his hands are verity and judgment.
All his commandments are sure. They're absolutely certain. They're
going to be done. They stand fast forever and are
done in truth and uprightness. God's will of command and his
will of decree, his will of command is you obey me perfectly. You
keep my law perfectly. Don't sin. That's his will of
command. You can never say, I can never
say, well, if I sinned, it was all a part of God's purpose and
try to excuse myself. I can't do that. His will of
command is do what I say exactly as I say in my word. And that
is, that's it. If God says it in his word, it's
to be performed. It's to be done. It's to be followed. Amen. Amen. His will of command. Have you
ever kept his will of command? Have you ever not lied? Have
you ever not coveted? Now, his will of command, we
love it. It's glorious. We want to keep
it. We haven't. I haven't kept one commandment
one time. Ten commandments. Somebody says,
well, I've kept one. You don't know what they mean
then. You don't see the glory of his commandments, the exceeding
broadness of his law. But his will decree is always
kept. Not one time is there that his
will of decree is not done. Whatever he purposed, it takes
place. His will of decree is always
kept. You know the reason you're saved?
Because he decreed your salvation before time began and sent his
son to save you. And that's sure. His will of
decree, his will. They stand fast forever. Everything
he's purposed and are done in truth and uprightness. Verse nine. He sent redemption
unto his people. Who are his people? The elect. That's easy enough. Those whom
he chose before the foundation of the world, they are his people. He said, they'll be to me a people,
I'll be to them a God. The elect, those God gave to
Christ before time began to be his bride. The elect are his
people and he sent redemption unto his people. He redeemed
them. He redeemed them. I love to think
of this. He didn't make redemption possible.
He didn't make redemption available. He redeemed them. When he said
it is finished, they were redeemed. A particular redemption, definite
atonement, whatever you call it. When he said it is finished,
all the elect, their salvation was accomplished perfectly. He
sent. redemption to his people. Wherefore,
by one offering, he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. He sent redemption unto his people.
He hath commanded his covenant forever." Remember, it's ordered
in all things and sure. He's commanded his covenant forever. Holy and reverend is his name. When I hear a preacher refer
to himself as reverend, how creepy. I don't know what
else to call it. How evil. How arrogant. To be revered, I'm Reverend Norbert. Oh, that's gross. That's contrary to everything
that is true. Holy, preachers call themselves
by their titles. Holy and Reverend is his name. His name is his attributes. Oh,
his justice, his holiness, his otherness, his sovereignty, his
grace, his omnipotence, his omniscience, he knows everything. His omnipresence,
every attribute of God, holy. I love that word, holy. I love it. He's other. He's not like me. He's not like
you. There's none like Him. Holy and
reverend is His name. Do you believe that? I do. Holy and reverend is His name. Now he says in verse 10, the
fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Here's where wisdom
begins. The fear of the Lord. You know,
that's in the Bible a lot. Proverbs, Psalms, the fear of
the Lord. is the beginning of wisdom, the
fear of the Lord that's expressed by faith in Christ. Now, somebody
who looks to Christ only fears God. That's why they do it. And
in doing that, they respect the Lord. They respect Him. If I don't have faith in Christ,
I have no respect for the Lord. I have irreverence. I don't respect
Him for who He is. But if I look to Christ only,
if right now I'm trusting Jesus Christ as my righteousness before
God, my actual righteousness before God, my sin payment, my
redemption, He only is all my salvation, when I do that, I'm
showing respect and reverence for God. And here's what is amazing. I look to Christ like Abel. The scripture says with regard
to Abel, God had respect for Abel and his offering. Now this thing of respect, I
would say that as far as emotion goes, if I would call it that,
the way we feel about people, if somebody has no respect for
you, it really bugs you, doesn't it? It bugs you. You dislike it. And let me say
this, everybody ought to be respected. You ought to treat everybody
with respect all the time. I ought to treat everybody with
respect all the time. Don't be a disrespectful person.
There's nothing more ugly than being disrespectful. But to think
that the God of glory has respect for every believer. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. Here's where it begins. No wisdom
apart from this, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of
wisdom. Look what he says, a good understanding
have all they that do. Now notice his commandments is
in italics. The translators thought that
that would be a good way to understand this verse of scripture, but
really it takes away from the meaning of it. A good understanding
have all they that do have the fear of the Lord. What a blessed
thing it is by the grace of God when I can fear the Lord and
have this respect for Him, this holy and reverend is His name. His praise. And this Psalm started
with praise ye the Lord, I will praise the Lord with my whole
heart in the assembly of the upright in the congregation.
His praise endureth forever. You know what we'll be doing
in heaven? And it's not going to be phony. It's not going to be forced in
heaven. His praise endureth forever. That is the employment of heaven.
And if I don't enjoy it here on earth, I wouldn't enjoy heaven. His praise endureth forever. Amen.