The Wonderful Works of God

Psalm 111 - Riley Boggs

Throughout all of history God has been doing amazing works. The Bible gives us accounts of these amazing works in times long ago. We read testimonies and hear stories from those who have seen God work in wondrous ways. And we ourselves have seen firsthand these works. This morning we come to a text that is being driven by this reality, that God’s works are wonderful, that they tell us something about who God is, and they demand a certain response.

Psalm 111 and Psalm 112 are often referred to as twin Psalms. They both start in the same way and carry the same theme, though different approaches, throughout them. Not only that, but they are both a particular kind of Hebrew poetry, a kind that is totally lost when translated to English from the original language. That is, both Psalm 111 and Psalm 112 are acrostic Psalms. What that means is that the first line begins with the first letter in the Hebrew language, then the second line begins with the second letter, and so on and so forth. Of course when these Hebrew words are translated to English, they don’t seem acrostic to us. 

The reason I point this is because sometimes we overlook some of the beauty of God’s work by approaching everything like a narrative. But this Psalm is a beautiful poem. It has been intentionally written in a certain way to increase its beauty and to make it more memorable among other things. 

So this morning I want to look at 3 questions that are answered in this Psalm. I want to answer the question, “What are God’s works like?”, “What do these works tell us about God?” and then lastly, “What is the right response to these works?”. In looking at the text this way, I think we’ll find that the author’s intention for this Psalm will be fulfilled. The author’s intention being to make the most God and His wonderful works.

Before we answer these 3 questions, I want to very briefly look at the 4 references made in this Psalm. The Psalmist is dwelling on all the works of God, but he specifically references 3 of them. I think it would be good for us to be reminded of them specifically before we dive in. 

First, in verse 5 the Psalmist says, “He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever.” This seems to be a reference to Exodus 16. This is the story where God made bread rain down from heaven to provide food to the Israelites who had just escaped out of Egypt.

Second, in verse 6 the Psalmist says, “He has shown his people the power of his works, in giving them the inheritance of nations.” This seems to be a reference to the book of Joshua, where we see Israel enter into the promised land. A land that had been controlled by many nations, and now Israel obtains the inheritance of them all through the taking of the land.

Third, in verse 9 the Psalmist says, “He sent redemption to his people…” This seems to be a reference to Exodus, specifically around chapter 14, where God delivers Israel from the captivity of Pharaoh in Egypt. He parted the red sea for them to cross and then made the waters collapse back on the Egyptians as they pursued them.

Each of these stories display God’s work for His people, and play a significant role in the history of Israel. I’m sure that the Psalmist has in mind other events as he is reflecting on all the things that God has done, but since each of these are referenced specifically, I thought it would be helpful for us to bring them to mind as well. 

But now, I want to answer these 3 questions from the text. Each of these 3 questions have 5 direct answers that can be clearly seen in the text. So the way we will do this is I will ask the question, point out the 5 answers, sort of explain each one, and then take a step back and think of the point being made. So first, let’s ask the question…

1.) What are God’s works like?

Here are the 5 answers. God’s works are great (v.2), full of splendor and majesty (v.3), powerful (v.6), faithful and just (v.7), and redeeming (v.9). If you were to stop and think about the works of God, is this how you would describe them? If someone were to ask you, “hey, how would you describe God’s work in your life”, what would you say? Would you say they are great, full of splendor and majesty, powerful, faithful and just, and redeeming?

 Maybe so, maybe not. Regardless, I think we should take note of how the Psalmist is intentionally using these kinds of descriptors. The Psalmist says great to show that His works are not like anyone else’s, but that there is something about them that makes them better. Plenty of works are good, but God’s work is great. Splendor and majesty are often used in the Bible to describe royalty. God’s works are royal. That is, they are grand, elevated, and people want to see them, they are attractive. Think about it like this. When you’re driving down the road, you might pass hundreds of houses and never really think twice about them. But then, in the distance you see an enormous house. As you get closer you realize it’s closer to a castle than a house. It’s huge and elegant with all sorts of amazing details, and there’s beautiful flowers and all of that. And you can’t help but just sort of stare at it. You might say to the rest of the people in the car, “hey, look at that! Did you see that? Man I’d love to see the inside of that house.” That is how God’s works are to be thought of when being described as full of splendor and majesty. There is something about them that draws you in, makes you want to tell others about them, and makes you want to see them more.

The Psalmist calls them powerful, showing their unfailing nature. They are powerful and they take place regardless of anything else because God has said they will happen. I love this next pairing, calling God’s Works faithful and just. It’s not simply that God’s works are great and powerful and royal, but they are good. They are faithful and they are just, they are never lacking loyalty. They accomplish the wrong purpose for a wrong reason. They are faithful and just. I am reminded of Revelation 19:11 where we get an image of Christ when he turns. The text says, “11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.”

Lastly, the Psalmist calls God’s works redeeming. I want to explain what is to be meant here. You’ll notice that there are 2 references to a covenant. One in verse 5 where we read that, “he (God) remembers His covenant forever”, and then again in verse 9 we read that, “He has commanded His covenant forever.” Understanding this will help us understand what it meant by God’s work being redeeming in nature. Remember, this Psalm has been written before Christ came to Earth and did the ultimate redemptive work of atoning, once and for all, for the sins of His people on the cross. No, there is something else in mind. A covenant is a promise, commitment, or relational oath between 2 parties. and in this Psalm the covenant being referred to is the one that God has made with His people. Without getting into the details of it all too much, because we simply do not have the time, God established a covenant with Israel. He promised to deliver them and make them a great nation, and so the Psalmist is calling God’s work redeeming work because of how God is continuing to keep the covenant with His people, despite their failings. Each time Israel failed, and they failed many times, God continues to restore them, provide them a way of provision, whereby they be redeemed. Over and over again God brought about redeeming work for Israel. 

And then we know what happens eventually. God send His son to take on flesh, to live a sinless, and to fulfill the law perfectly. He dies a sacrificial death and resurrects, showing His power over sin and death. And He does all of this in order to atone for the sins of His people, which is no longer Israel. But instead it is Jew and Gentile alike, it is all who would place their faith in Christ. He then ascends to the right hand of the Father, and is awaiting His final return. We all know what is to be meant by God’s redeeming work because of this, because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

This is the kind of work God does, though we often minimize it as we grow numb to the stories. But God’s work is wonderful. It is great, full of splendor and majesty, powerful, faithful and just, and redeeming. The next question I’d like us to answer this morning is this…

2.) What do these works tell us about God?

We often assume something about a person’s character based off their actions. For example you hear of someone who is constantly donating things to people in need, you might think they are a generous person. Or if you hear of someone who has been caught stealing, committing fraud, and other things, you might think they are a greedy person. One action doesn’t necessarily tell us who a person is altogether, but if you were to look at someone’s actions as a whole, you might be able to tell who they are. 

The same is true of God. The Bible is full of insight into who God is. We read throughout the pages of Scripture of direct descriptions of the character and nature of our God. Not only that, though, we can learn more about who God is by looking at His works. We just looked at these 5 different descriptors of God’s Work, and each of these tell us more about our God. 

And the Psalmist, as he thinks and dwells on all of God’s works throughout this poem, he tells us what these works show God to be. You could draw out many more than the 5 I am going to point to here, but these are just the 5 things that the Psalmist points out about who our God is, when considering His works.

That is, these works of God tell us that God is righteous (v.5), gracious and merciful (v.4), the provider (v.5), trustworthy (v.6), and holy and awesome (v.9). This is, if we only saw God’s works, we could know about Him.

God is righteous. This means that there are no flaws within God, He is morally perfect. There is not the slightest of hint of anything wrong about Him. All His works show this to be the case, as every one of His works are righteous as well. God is gracious and merciful. Throughout all of history, despite our continued failings, rebellions, and sins, God continues to do works for our good. While we were enemies, Christ died for us. He brought us to Himself, He saved us, despite who we are, not because of who we are. He is so gracious and so merciful, and in the climax of all of human history, when God sent His only Son to reconcile us to Himself, we clearly see this to be true.

God is the provider. He cares and provides for us in His works. He feeds us when we are hungry, He gives us joy when we are sad, He gives us means when we have poor, He gives us friends and laughter when we are lonely, He gives us peace when we are anxious and worried. He even gave His Son so we could be saved. In all of His works, can’t you see that He is the great provider. And unlike the Israelites, we haven’t seen bread fall from the skies as we grow hungry in the wilderness, but that doesn’t make His provision any less. Nothing we have has come to us without God being the orchestrator of it all. He provides for us everything we would need, and at times He even takes away because there is something else, we need that we do not yet see. But in it all, He is the provider.

Next, we have God is trustworthy. He has never broken a promise, His works have never failed. We see all His works and how could we do anything but trust Him. He is able to do anything, and He does all things for us. We see that, and so we know He is trustworthy.

And then lastly, God is holy and awesome. In His works we see that there is something about Him that is different than anything else. He isn’t like us, He isn’t like any of creation. He is distinct. He is Holy, set apart, without any sin, without any ability to sin. And He is awesome. I overuse this word, clearly. I try some vanilla ice cream, and I call it awesome. When you consider what the word awesome means, I’m not sure it’s the one I should use. Am I filled with awe? Is the ice cream so amazing that it is daunting? Well, it depends on where the ice cream is from. No, of course not. I’m saying this so that we don’t minimize what the Psalmist is saying here. When he says, “Holy and awesome is His name”, he doesn’t mean that He is awesome like something man-made. No, God is eternal, beyond all things, and should filled us with awe to the point where to think of His magnitude and greatness it is hard to comprehend. 

This is what God’s work tell us about who He is. The Bible tells us all of these things directly, and we can look at all of His works as further proof that it is true. He is righteous, gracious and merciful, the provider, trustworthy, and holy and awesome. The last question I want to answer is this…

3.) What is the right response to these works?

There have been 5 answers to the first two questions, but for this question the text only gives us a clear 4 examples of proper responses to seeing and hearing about these wonderful works of God. They are, to praise and give thanks with other believers (v.1), to study and delight in them (v.2), to remember them (v.3), and to begin with them (v.10). 

First, we are to praise and give thanks, as the Psalmist says, with our whole hearts in the company of the upright, the congregation. That is to say that there is something about God’s work’s that cause us to worship with other people, specifically other people who believe what we believe. There is something so amazing and wonderful about the works of God that to worship God alone only isn’t enough. We have to join our voices with other voices, so that together we can lift of the name of our God. We have to tell one another about what He has done and rejoice when we hear others tell us. We are to praise and give thanks, together. That is why when we gather each week here in this building we sing songs that don’t make the most of us or draw attention to what we have done, but beckon every person under the sound of our united voice to see what God has done.

Second, we study and delight in them. Notice how the Psalmist says that God’s works are great, and everyone who delights in them, studies them. In other words, once you realize that these works are not happenstance or random events, but they are of God, they fill you with delight and pull you in to see them more. We open the Bible and read the great redemptive work God has brought, and is still bringing, about. And we study it, delight in it. We think about the examples of God’s work in our own life, and we talk about it with one another, looking at it from different angles, studying it. His works are like a beautiful painting. We step back and see how great it is, and then we step closer and see this detail here and this detail there, and then we step back again. God’s works should cause us to delight in them, and to study them.       

Next, we are to remember them. The Psalmist says that God has caused his wondrous works to be remembered. That is, they are so amazing that they stay in our minds. God gave us memory, so that we could remember these things, and so we do. We dwell on them, write them down, tell them to one other, and recall them ourselves so that we may remember them. They are worth remembering, as they remind us of who our God is.

Lastly, we are to begin with them. In verse 10 the Psalmist says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!” This is what I think is to be understood here. If we are ever to become wise, we must first start with a proper understanding who God is. We are to have a right fear of God. That doesn’t mean we are scared of Him in the same way we might fear someone is dangerous and intends to harm us. No, it is the kind of fear that means He is revered above all. In light of the fact that we have been made right with God because of Christ, we have no reason to be afraid of Him, or to cower at the thought of Him. But we must still revere Him, we must have a right fear of Him, an acknowledgment of His greatness.

And the Psalmist says that this is the beginning of wisdom. In other words, if you want to attain knowledge and grow in wisdom, start thinking about the works of God. Think about all He has done and within you a right fear of God will begin to grow, and that is where wisdom begins. When you think about the work of creation and how God spoke everything into existence, and it makes you realize the incomprehensibility of God, then wisdom can begin. Those who seek wisdom without starting here will never find it, because they have not started in the right place.

We have looked the answer to 3 questions this morning. “What are God’s works like?”, “What do these works tell us about God?” and “What is the right response to these works?”. I did not choose to preach this text because I thought it was a good Christmas sermon or anything like that, but as I studied this text and prepared to preach, I couldn’t help but think about the birth of Christ.

This Psalm is supposed to make think about all that God has done, and how can we do that and not think about Jesus. How could we not think about the mystery and beauty of God sending His Son, to be born of a virgin, to be subjected to all the temptations of mankind, to be human like us. But not only that, He was both God and man, fully both. And He lived a sinless life and fulfilled the law. Then He was crucified, buried, and resurrected so that we might live. So that we might have forgiveness of sins and life forevermore. So that we might be made right with God, made like our Savior, and reign with Him. What a wonderful, the most wonderful, thing.

And this work, this atoning, sacrificial work of God, is eternal. Look one last brief time at this text. You’ll see the word forever ascribed to the character and work of God 5 times. Such is the work of Christ. It was a once and for all sacrifice. If you have placed your faith in Him and trusted Him for salvation, you have been made right, forever. Our God is that great and that gracious. I did not intend for this sermon to be a Christmas sermon specifically, but how can you not think of our Savior being born when you think of the wonderful works of God.