“The works of His hands are faithful and just; all His precepts are trustworthy; they are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness. He sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever. Holy and awesome is His Name! The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!” Psalm 111:7-10
Devotional Thought For The Day
The comforts and assurances of this psalm are repetitive, and the foundation is established and strongly asserted. One must think that if there is a God, a Being Who is truly worthy of being honored, believed, revered, and worshipped, that Being must be as the psalmist describes Him. He has revealed Himself to us in the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who know Jesus also know the Father. The purpose of Jesus coming into the world – the Word Who was with God in the beginning, and through Whom all things were made [Jn. 1:1-3], and Who became flesh and dwelt among us [Jn. 1:14] – was to be “the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world” [Jn. 1:29]. This is the “redemption” God has sent to His people, in accord with the covenant He commanded “forever” – to Adam and Eve, Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc., the will and predetermined plan of God established even prior to His work of creation [Rev. 13:8]. This is established for us, for our salvation “forever and ever” and has been performed “with faithfulness and uprightness.” It is His covenant which He has “commanded forever.” What more could God say to us to assure us of His everlasting love and good will toward us, His free gifts of forgiveness, redemption, salvation, and eternal life in His glory?
How shall we not agree that “holy and awesome is His Name”? How shall we not join with the psalmist in proclaiming the wonders of His love? Of course “His praise endures forever,” and so we also “praise the LORD” and “give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.” Nothing pleases us more; indeed, we are compelled to do so from the very core of our being, as God writes His Word upon our hearts and minds and renews us in His own image! [Jer. 31:33; 2 Cor. 3:18] This too is “the work of His hands,” a central aspect of the redemption of His people, the renewal and sanctification of our whole being, heart, mind, soul, tongue, and body [2 Thess. 2:13]. It is God’s work – He is our Savior; and we do well to simply “study” and “delight” in what He does for us, instead of constantly busying ourselves and obstructing our minds with all of our “works.” When He has accomplished His work within us then everything we do will be His work as He “works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” [Phil. 2:13]
This is “the fear of the LORD” – to know and believe His love for us, to grasp His wondrous works, especially His redemption; and as the psalmist observes, this is also “the beginning of wisdom.” As we study and delight in the work of His hands – through His written Word of Holy Scripture, the Bible – as His own Word encourages us to do, we have His promise that we will not only come to “fear” [revere] the LORD, but that “all those who practice it have a good understanding.” This certain assurance is repeated by Jesus when He promised: “If you continue in My Word you are truly My disciples, and you shall know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” [Jn. 8:31,32] This takes time – our sinful, proud, self-assured, and self-determining nature is terribly strong and incorrigible, and must be put to death – and this also must be accomplished by God, through His Word. But in that this is God’s will, and God is love, this is what is best and most blessed for us, and in that He has promised so He will surely accomplish it. We are in His hand, and no one can snatch us out of His hand – thanks and praise be to God! [Jn. 10:28-30]
Prayer For The Day
Dear Lord Jesus, thanks and praise be to You for revealing the Father to us, and for bringing the great gift of redemption to us through Your bitter suffering and death, and Your glorious resurrection! Thank You also for Your great Word of life, recorded and revealed to us through the writings of Your prophets and apostles, through which You free us and sanctify us in the truth. Help us to not only be sustained in faith and life, but to thrive and flourish in all good fruits, as You bring us inexorably to Your glorious heavenly kingdom. May we be and remain, always, to the praise of Your glorious grace. Amen.