Psalm 111 – God deserves to be praised for His works

Psalm 111 is another one of the 50 anonymously written Psalms. It was written with the purpose to praise God for His work. It’s also an Acrostic Psalm, in that every line begins with one of the 22 Hebrew alphabets. It is also known as a Hallelujah Psalm because it begins with the word, Hallelujah. Psalm 112 is paired with this Psalm in that they both start off with the same word. And each of the Psalms also has the same structure, and number of verses. Both also have many similar words and phrases.   

This Psalm begins with a call to praise the Lord. The Psalmist starts out resolutely to do so. He plunges straight from verses 2-9 to talk about the works of God. He devotes all eight verses to talk about God’s works. He describes them as great and are known to people who intentionally take pleasure to study and seek them out. He also shows that everything that God does is full of excellence. Three words are used to describe them - splendid, majestic and righteous. They are also worthy of remembrance because of their great value. Verses 4-9 speak of the works He demonstrated among His Covenant people. He had shown His Covenant faithfulness toward them through the works He performed. He supplied them with the goods of the enemies and made heathen nations their inheritance. He faithfully discharged His work with truth and uprightness. He redeemed His people and established His Covenant with them forever. With all those descriptions, the Psalmist declares that a proper response would be to fear Him and keep His commandments.

This Psalm teaches us to be thankful people. We should not fail to praise the Lord and His works. From the works of God we can see His providence and grace. Hence it’s appropriate to thank and praise Him with our whole heart. We should not only declare His praise privately but also to do so publicly. Praise the Lord!