Wondrous Works, Awesome God

Far too often, with family, work, or church, I have been quick to add: “I did such and such” or “That was my idea.” I want recognition. I want glory. I don’t give others credit for their contribution, and I don’t praise God for any ability or knowledge He has given me.

Nebuchadnezzar is a prime example of self-glory. As he was walking on the roof of the royal palace, he said: “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence for the glory of my majesty” (Daniel 4:30). He attributed Babylon’s greatness to himself. He tried to steal God’s glory.

It doesn’t go well for Nebuchadnezzar. As the words are still in his mouth, Daniel’s interpretation of Nebbie’s dream a year earlier comes true. The kingdom departs from him, and Nebbie is driven from among men to dwell with the beasts of the field, eating grass like an ox (Daniel 4: 31-32a).

A voice from heaven tells Nebbie: “And seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will” (Daniel 4:42b). God deserves all praise, thanks, and glory.

Psalm 111 is a perfect psalm to remind us that God alone deserves the glory. He is the One who does great works not us.

Great Are the Lord’s Works

Praise the Lord!

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,

in the company of the upright, in the congregation.

²  Great are the works of the Lord,

studied by all who delight in them.

³  Full of splendor and majesty is his work,

and his righteousness endures forever.

⁴  He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered;

the Lord is gracious and merciful.

⁵  He provides food for those who fear him;

he remembers his covenant forever.

⁶  He has shown his people the power of his works,

in giving them the inheritance of the nations.

⁷  The works of his hands are faithful and just;

all his precepts are trustworthy;

⁸  they are established forever and ever,

to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.

⁹  He sent redemption to his people;

he has commanded his covenant forever.

Holy and awesome is his name!

¹⁰  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 (ESV)

Awhile back, I wrote on Psalm 112, “Happy People”. Even though I made connections to Psalm 111, I should have started with Psalm 111 and written on both of them at the same time. They go together for several reasons:

·      Both begin with “Praise the Lord!”.

·      Both are acrostics with each line starting with the subsequent letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

·      Both center on the fear of the Lord.

·      Both share key vocabulary.

The principal difference between the two psalms is that Psalm 111 highlights God, while Psalm 112  focuses on the people of God. Psalm 111 overflows with “God is…” and “God does…” truths, and exhorts us to praise and thank God for who He is and what He has done. If there was a subject for Psalm 111, it would be God and His wondrous works.

“Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation” (vs 1). The psalmist opens with praise and thanksgiving. God is worthy to be praised and thanked. End of story. There are innumerable reasons to praise and thank God, but the psalmist doesn’t list those first. He simply bursts out in praise and thanksgiving.

Notice two things about the psalmist’s praise and thanksgiving. It is with his whole heart. We are not to be divided (Matthew 6:24). In my writing, I desire for God to be glorified. I want to point others to God and the Gospel, but usually my heart is divided. I want some glory too. I want people to like and share my posts on social media. I want subscribers to my website to soar through the roof. I want glowing book reviews to fill my inbox.

I’m thankful that when someone does compliment my writing or teaching in person it usually feels awkward and uncomfortable, reminding me that God may choose to work through me, but it is still all His work, all His glory.

The second thing to note is that the psalmist praises and thanks God in a corporate setting. It is good to praise and thank God in your own time with God, but it is also to be corporate. In 2015, I bought myself and a good friend Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts: Reflections on Finding Everyday Graces. Yes, the book was good for me be intentional in seeing God’s gifts of grace all around me, but something else came out of the book.

Whenever I would visit my good friend, I would take my book with me. She would get her book out, we would take turns sharing five thanksgivings we had written down. Some of them, we would pause and share more of the backstory. It was a time of encouragement, building up, and praising and thanking God. God used our sharing with each other to edify us both. Don’t keep your praise and thanksgiving to yourself!

Next, the psalmist shares some of the wondrous works of our awesome God (vs 2-9).  They are studied or sought with interest (vs 2a). We are blind to so many of God’s everyday graces. In Voskamp’s book, she uses the illustration of mounds of laundry from a large family. Most of us would grumble and complain, but there are numerous reasons to thank God for laundry. Can you think of a few?

They are a source of delight (vs 2b). Psalm 1 teaches: “¹Blessed [happy] is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seats of scoffers; ²but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night” (vs 1-2). As delightfully meditating on God’s Word is a source of true happiness, so too is delighting in God’s works.

“Full of splendor and majesty is his work” – These are words of royalty indicating God’s sovereignty.

Verse 4’s wondrous works recall God’s deliverance of His people from Egypt, verse 5 His provision of manna in the wilderness and the establishment of His covenant through Israel’s redemption, and verse 6 the conquest of the Promised Land under Joshua.

Redemption is God’s crowning wondrous work (vs 9a). God’s redemption was an event God repeatedly called on the Israelites to remember. It was a wondrous work, but we now understand the eternal redemption to which it pointed – Jesus’ substitutionary, atoning death. Dale Ortlund comments: “The Bible is a message of gracious redemption from start to finish.”^[1]

I will let you identify other specific “God is…” and “God does…” truths in this section. Basic to God’s wondrous works is His character. We can’t separate the two, so identify both.

We will jump ahead to the next point: a call to obedience. “⁷all his precepts are trustworthy; ⁸they are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness… ⁹he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name! ¹⁰The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding” (vs 7b-10a).

God carries out the covenant through commandments (vs 9b). As verses 4-6 recalled specifics from God’s deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt into the Promised Land, verse 9 pictures Moses receiving the commandments on Mt. Sinai.

We are partakers of the new covenant. Jesus fulfilled the law perfectly in our place, and we by faith in Jesus’ atoning work on the cross, whereby He took our sin, He imputed His righteousness to us. In Christ, we are redeemed from sin and death. We obey God because He still and always will have all authority, but we obey out of thankfulness not drudgery.

If we look ahead to Psalm 112, the psalmist instructs: “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments” (vs 1b)! Obeying God is a delight because we are gratefully responding to who God is and what He has done. Nothing God commands us to do can ever outweigh what God has done for us in Christ.

Have you ever grumbled over a command in God’s Word? Have you disobeyed a command because it seemed to difficult, you thought it was not as important as other commands, or you just didn’t like it? Christ obeyed perfectly which means He never grumbled and complained. He never avoided a command because He didn’t like it or it was too hard. He obeyed in suffering and even unto death on the cross (Philippians 2:8).

The psalmist ends as he began, with praise: “His praise endures forever” (vs 10b)! May praise for our awesome God and thanksgiving for His wondrous works ever be on our lips.

Reflection

1.    Is worship primarily a Sunday activity for you, or does praise and gratitude characterize your daily life? What is a specific way you can grow in praise and gratitude?

2.    How does neglecting praise and gratitude affect your emotions (anger/bitterness, anxiety, discouragement), decisions, and relationships?

3.    What circumstances tempt you to doubt that God is who He says He is? We often confess truth, but we don’t practically function in light of the truth we confess.

4.    What areas of your life do you need to submit to God’s authority (fear of the Lord)?  What would it look like to respond to God today with humble, grateful obedience?

5.    How have you seen the blessings that come from delighting to obey God’s commands?

6.    To read “Happy People”, Psalm 112, go to:

https://tarabarndt.wixsite.com/journeythrough/post/happy-people

^[1] Ortlund, Dale. In The Lord I Take Refuge: 150 Daily Devotions through the Psalms (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2021), 315.