PSALMS LESSON 115

     We will begin this lesson by giving the 111th Psalm in metre.

                   THE PSALMS OF DAVID IN METRE
 
                             Chapter 111

Verse 1  "Praise ye the Lord: with all my (heart) I will God's praise
         declare, Ev'n where assemblies of the just And congregations
         are."
Verse 2 "Jehovah's works are very great, The wonders of his might;
         Sought out they are of every one Who in then takes delight."
Verse 3  "His work most honorable is, Most glorious and pure, And his
          untainted righteousness Forever doth endure."
Verse 4  "His works of wonder he hath made To be remembered well: In
         grace and in compassion great Jehovah doth excel."
Verse 5  "The Lord provideth food for all Who truly do him fear; And
         evermore his covenant He in his mind will bear."
Verse 6  "He did the power of his works To his own people show, That
          he the heathen's heritage Upon them might bestow."
Verse 7  "His hands' works all are truth and right; All his commands
         are sure And, done in truth and uprightness, They evermore
         endure."
Verse 8  "He to his chosen people sent Redemption by his pow'r; His
         covenant he did command To be forevermore."
Verse 9  "His name alone most holy is, In fear to be adored.
         Of wisdom the beginning is To truly fear the Lord."
Verse 10 "Good understanding have they all Who carefully obey His just
         commandments ev'ry one; His praise endures for aye. "

     We will begin the verse by verse study of the 111th Psalm, now.
Psalms 111:1 "Praise ye the LORD. I will praise the LORD with [my]
whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and [in] the
congregation."

     True praise begins in the heart. This is a determination on the
psalmist's part to worship the LORD in public, as well as in private.
The assembly of the upright would be in the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The congregation usually indicates the gathering of the
Hebrews. The Israelites were many times referred to as the
congregation. It is always the correct time to praise the Lord. There
is never a place that is the wrong place to praise the Lord. Praise
can be in prayer, in word, or in song. It seems to add feeling to it
when it is sung. We should be like this penman, and worship and praise
our Lord with all of our heart.

     Psalms 111:2 "The works of the LORD [are] great, sought out of
all them that have pleasure therein."

     This is speaking of those who truly love the Lord. It is not one
nation or one group of people, but all who love God. Those people see
God in all the beauties of the earth. Atheists do not see God or
respect His creation, because they do not believe He created
everything. The believer is totally aware that everything, and
everyone upon this earth are part of God's creation, and we see His
wondrous works in everything.

     Psalms 111:3 "His work [is] honourable and glorious: and his
righteousness endureth for ever."

     This work mentioned, here, is possibly the glorious work of the
Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary. Let's look at two Scriptures that say
this better than we could. John 17:1 "These words spake Jesus, and
lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come;
glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:"  John 17:5 "And
now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory
which I had with thee before the world was." It seems strange that
this could glorify the Father, but that is just what it did. The 6
hours of work for Jesus on the cross purchased our salvation for us.
His righteousness is from everlasting to everlasting. The thing that
makes acceptable unto the Father, is the fact that we traded Jesus our
sin for His righteousness. He took our sin upon His body on the cross,
and He clothed us in His righteousness.

     Psalms 111:4 "He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered:
the LORD [is] gracious and full of compassion."

     Every Christian remembers the Lord and the work He has done for
each of us. His works will be remembered from generation to generation
by His followers. His Word {Bible} reminds us of His wonderful works.
II Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some
men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that
any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."  You can
see from the Scripture here and the one above, that it is the desire
of the Lord for all to believe and be saved. The compassion of Jesus
was shown to each of us in that while we were yet in sin Christ died
for us.

     Psalms 111:5 "He hath given meat unto them that fear him: he will
ever be mindful of his covenant."

     This could mean that Christ has taken care of the needs of His
people, but I believe this is more spiritual. Hebrews 5:12 "For when
for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you
again which [be] the first principles of the oracles of God; and are
become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat."  Those that
fear Him, study His Word to know what His will is in their life. They
do not need to be fed the milk of the gospel, as if they were brand
new Christians, but are able to handle the meat of the Word. The
covenant that God made with man is an unbreakable covenant, because He
swore on His own name. Man may break his covenant with God, but God
will never break His covenant with man.

     Psalms 111:6 "He hath shewed his people the power of his works,
that he may give them the heritage of the heathen."

     This possibly has to do with the reign of Jesus on this earth as
King of kings and Lord of lords. His people {Christians} will rule
with Him, as His subordinates, over the heathen. Israel saw His great
power, when He defamed the gods of Egypt on their behalf. The
Christians saw the great power of the Lord, when He defeated Satan,
and when He rose from the grave.

     Psalms 111:7 "The works of his hands [are] verity and judgment;
all his commandments [are] sure."

     Verity, in the Scripture above, means stability, certainty,
truth, or trustworthiness. The work that the Lord did for each of us
is something we can depend upon. His judgement is just. What were His
commandments? Matthew 22:37 "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all
thy mind." Matthew 22:38 "This is the first and great commandment."
Matthew 22:39 "And the second [is] like unto it, Thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself."  Matthew 22:40 "On these two commandments hang
all the law and the prophets."

     Psalms 111:8 "They stand fast for ever and ever, [and are] done
in truth and uprightness."

     This is telling us that the Lord is the same today, yesterday,
and tomorrow. His commandments never change, because they are the
absolute truth. They are not to change with circumstances, but are
absolute. The Truth is always upright. The truth needs no explanation,
it is always the thing to do. The wonderful thing about the Word is
that it is alive and is just as current for each generation as it was
for the generation before. Truth needs no apologies.

     Psalms 111:9 "He sent redemption unto his people: he hath
commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend [is] his name."

     Redemption is a free gift that must be received, not earned. The
grace of Almighty God brought redemption. God saw that man was just
flesh and could not save himself. We mentioned in the previous lesson
that Jesus is the Saviour of all men. Then why are not all saved?
Because they do not receive the salvation that He provided. Only the
children of men who become the sons of God, receive the redemption
offered. Reverence is the same word as fear, here. His name is above
all names. The holiness of the Lord is what causes the reverence or
fear. We are aware that we are not holy. We should hold the Lord in
very high esteem above all others.

     Psalms 111:10 "The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of wisdom:
a good understanding have all they that do [his commandments]: his
praise endureth for ever."

     To reverence the Lord with a holy fear is the beginning of life.
Without this reverence, or fear of the Lord, we would have no eternal
life. We have a good understanding, because the Holy Spirit of God has
opened our understanding. We have ears, and we can hear. We have eyes,
and we can see, because the Holy Spirit has revealed these truths to
us. The world has ears, but cannot hear and eyes, but cannot see.
Jesus spoke in parables, so that the world would not understand with
their mind and come to Him. God does not want our mind, He wants our
heart. So many times we say, I love God, but how can I show Him that I
truly love Him? Look, with me, at two Scriptures from John that answer
that question beautifully. John 14:15 "If ye love me, keep my
commandments." John 15:10 "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide
in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in
his love."  Both of these Scriptures are printed in red in my Bible,
which means that Jesus spoke them. Look with me at one more Scripture
from the Old Testament that is basically saying the same thing.
I Samuel 15:22 "And Samuel said, Hath the LORD [as great] delight in
burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD?
Behold, to obey [is] better than sacrifice, [and] to hearken than the
fat of rams."

     The Christian, that has really grown into maturity with the Lord,
is the one who obeys the will of God and is not ashamed to praise Him
for His wonderful works. Can you say that you have grown beyond the
milk and honey, and are ready for the meat of the Word? Perhaps you
can, because you are interested in the study of the Bible.


































                             Questions 115

1.  I will praise the LORD with my whole ________.
2.  Verse 1 names two places he will praise, where are they?
3.  Where does true praise begin?
4.  What is the assembly of the upright?
5.  What is meant by the congregation?
6.  Name three ways you can praise the Lord.
7.  Who is verse 2 speaking of ?
8.  Why do atheists not praise the works of the Lord?
9.  How does verse 3 describe His work?
10. What work is verse 3 speaking of?
11. Quote John Chapter 17 verses 1 and 5.
12. What did we trade Jesus to receive His righteousness?
13. What is the Bible?
14. Quote 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 9.
15. What meat is verse 5 speaking of?
16. Why is the covenant that God made with man unbreakable?
17. Who is verse 6 speaking of ?
18. Who will the Christians reign over?
19. What does verity in verse 7 mean?
20. What were His commandments?
21. What does the author say, is one of the wonderful things about the
    Word?
22. Redemption is a free ______.
23. Redemption must be _______.
24. Why are not all men saved?
25. What does reverend in verse 9 mean?
26. The _____ of the ______ is the beginning of wisdom.
27. Why does the Christian understand things that the world does not
    understand?
28. Quote John chapter 14 verse 15.
29. Quote 1 Samuel chapter 15 verse 22.
30. Describe a mature Christian.