Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb19980517.htm

PSALMS: DIARIES OF GODLY OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS
Psalm One Hundred And Eleven - Rejoicing And Resting In GOD'S Work To Lead Men To Respect Him
(Psalm 111:1-11)
  1. Introduction
    1. Jesus said that the world's harvest field is very needy, Luke 10:1. We know from 1 John 5:19 that the whole world lies in Satan's control and from 2 Cor. 4:4 that Satan has blinded the minds of people lest they believe the Gospel. Even many believers are at times far from fellowship with the Lord as Paul admits in 1 Cor. 3:3. Considering all of this bleakness can make the godly feel alone in the struggle for uprightness. One can get very paranoid and discouraged and say, "What's the use of trying to live for the Lord and serve Him in view of the uphill obstacles of spiritual darkness and carnality we face all around us?"
    2. Psalm 111:1-10 offers an encouraging insight that offsets this discouragement as follows:
  2. Rejoicing And Resting In GOD'S Work To Lead Men To Respect Him, Psalm 110:1-10.
    1. The psalmist expressed praise to Jahweh, that he would exalt Him in praise with his whole heart in front of the upright in the temple worship assembly, Ps. 111:1. In other words, he had something edifying to all those who loved the Lord, and they needed to hear about it.
    2. Just what the psalmist had to share by way of encouragement to the upright is given in verses 2-10:
      1. The psalm is arranged accrostically, each of its 22 lines in the Hebrew text beginning with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet in order, cf. Ryrie Study Bible, KJV ftn. to Ps. 111.
      2. As such, the issues the psalmist offers by way of encouragement to the upright in the temple worship assembly are locked into a mnemonic device (a device to make something easy to memorize) as follows:
        1. Jahweh's works are great, and so great that they are pondered by all who delight in them, Ps. 111:2.
        2. His deeds are glorious and majestic, and He is righteous all through history and into eternity, 111:3.
        3. God has caused His wonders to be remembered, effecting a contemplative response from men, v. 4a.
        4. He is gracious and compassionate as realized by those who think on His works, Ps. 111:4b.
        5. God gives good for those who respect Him, remembering His covenant forever, Ps. 111:5.
        6. God has demonstrated to His people, Israel the power of His works of giving them the lands of other nations in Canaan, Ps. 111:6. We know from Deuteronomy 1:30-33; 8:4 and 29:5 that God protected and supplied for Israel to not let the ir clothes or shoes wear out as they took 40 years to cross the barren wilderness. We know from Deuteronomy 2:7 that they had been blessed with the works of their hands and lacked nothing. We know from Deuteronomy 7:22 that He drove out the Gentile nation s of Canaan little by little so the land wouldn't be too overwhelming for them to take control of, and from Deuteronomy 8:7-8 that the agricultural fields and orchards had already been planted for them before they took the land. The great power of this pro vision is awesome to review!
        7. God's works are faithful and just, and all of His precepts are trustworthy, Ps. 111:7.
        8. God's works are steadfast, unchanging forever, done in faithfulness and uprightness, Ps. 111:8.
        9. God provides redemption for His people out of Egypt, ordaining His Abrahamic Covenant with them for ever to show He is separate from sin and awesome in power, Ps. 111:9.
        10. As a result of these works of God, and of men coming to contemplate their meaning, people respect Jahweh, starting them on the road to wisdom, Ps. 111:10a. All then who follow His precepts have wholesome understanding of God and His will, eliciting praise from the psalmist, 10b.
Lesson: The psalmist's point is that every BELIEVER needs to be ENCOURAGED that GOD will reveal HIMSELF to others by His great WORKS around them, making people THINK and thus RESPECT God so as to FOLLOW Him. As such, we need not fear that our stan d for righteousness in God is FUTILE, for the LORD of the HARVEST is busy HIMSELF causing men to revere and then follow Himself, Rev. 22:17. [Not only the BRIDE, the CHURCH witnesses of Christ, but the SPIRIT of God DIRECTLY communicates to unsaved peopl e to come to Christ!]

Application: If we are discouraged at what appears to be a "losing cause" in living for and standing for God's truth, recall that the GREAT GOD of truth is busy showing His greatness so as to elicit a response from men! As GOD is at work to help o ur cause, we can REJOICE and REST in Him!