Berean Study Bible Majestic Is His WorkPraise the LORD opens Psalm 111 with a summons to worship. The psalmist calls God’s people to respond to His revealed works with joyful reverence. Heaven’s worship likewise resounds with “Hallelujah,” a Hebrew expression meaning “Praise the LORD,” when God’s righteous judgments and saving reign are displayed (Revelation 19:1–6). Rev 19:1 After this I heard a sound like the roar… I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart Thanksgiving rises from undivided devotion rather than empty ceremony. The LORD’s covenant faithfulness, power, and mercy deserve the whole person, fulfilling the command to love Him with all the heart, soul, and strength (Deuteronomy 6:5). Psalm 111 will ground such gratitude in the greatness of God’s works and the enduring reliability of His word. Psa 138:1 Of David. I give You thanks with all my heart;… in the council of the upright Public praise belongs among those committed to fearing the LORD and walking in His ways. God strengthens His people through the testimony of fellow believers, who recall His deeds and encourage one another in faithful obedience. Pro 3:32 for the LORD detests the perverse,… and in the assembly. Worship is both personal and corporate. Israel gathered as the covenant people to hear God’s Word, offer praise, and remember His saving acts; the church continues in that calling as the body of Christ (Hebrews 10:24–25). The gathered congregation declares that the LORD’s greatness is not a private conviction but a truth to be proclaimed before His people. Psa 149:1 Hallelujah! Sing to the LORD a new song—… Great are the works of the LORD; God’s works display His power, wisdom, righteousness, and faithful rule over all He has made. Creation declares His majesty, Israel’s deliverance from Egypt reveals His covenant faithfulness, and His preservation of His people throughout their history confirms that He remembers His promises. The mighty acts celebrated in Israel’s worship were not distant events without present meaning; they established the nation’s identity as the people redeemed by the LORD. Jesus Christ’s signs likewise revealed God’s glory and pointed to the greater redemption accomplished through His death and resurrection. Psa 92:5 How great are Your works, O LORD, how deep are Your thoughts… they are pondered by all who delight in them. Those who love the LORD do more than notice His deeds; they return to them in worship, remembrance, and obedient faith. Israel rehearsed God’s saving acts in feasts, songs, and instruction so that each generation would know the God who had acted for them. Meditation on God’s works strengthens trust in His character and teaches His people to recognize His continuing providence. Mary’s response to the events surrounding Jesus’ birth reflects such devotion, as she treasured God’s revelation and considered its meaning in her heart. Psa 1:2 But his delight is in the Law of the LORD, and on His law… Splendid and majestic is His work; God’s works in creation, providence, judgment, and redemption display His glory and sovereign wisdom. The heavens declare His glory, and Israel’s deliverance from Egypt revealed His power over nations and false gods. Above all, the Father’s saving work is revealed in Jesus Christ, through whom all things were created and reconciled. His cross and resurrection unite holy justice, unfailing love, and victorious power. Psa 145:5 The glorious splendor of Your majesty. And I will… His righteousness endures forever. God always acts in perfect faithfulness to His character and covenant promises. Unlike human strength and earthly kingdoms, His justice does not fade or fail. His righteousness is made known in Christ, who bore sin and grants righteousness to all who believe. God’s enduring righteousness assures His people that His promises will stand until He completes His redemptive purpose in the new creation. Psa 112:9 He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor;… He has caused His wonders to be remembered; God established lasting memorials of His mighty acts so that His people would live by faith rather than forgetfulness. The Passover preserved the memory of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, while the Sabbath, sacrifices, feasts, and stones of remembrance taught later generations what the LORD had done. His works in creation, at the Red Sea, in the wilderness, and in preserving His covenant people reveal His power and faithfulness. Remembering God’s deeds calls His people to gratitude, obedience, and confidence in His continuing care. Psa 105:5 Remember the wonders He has done, His marvels,… the LORD is gracious and compassionate. The God whose power is displayed in mighty wonders also deals tenderly with those He redeems. He revealed this holy character to Moses after Israel’s sin with the golden calf, showing that mercy stands at the heart of His covenant dealings. His grace supplied bread in the wilderness, forgave repentant sinners, defended the helpless, and sustained Israel despite repeated rebellion. In Jesus Christ, God’s compassion reached its fullest revelation as He came to save sinners, bear judgment, and bring His people into everlasting fellowship with Him. 2Ch 30:9 For if you return to the LORD, your brothers and sons… He provides food for those who fear Him; God faithfully supplies the needs of those who honor Him with reverence and obedience. Israel experienced this care in the wilderness when the Lord gave manna daily after delivering them from Egypt (Exodus 16:4–15). His provision demonstrated that their survival depended not on human strength or stored resources, but on His sustaining word and power. God’s care includes physical necessities, while also pointing to the deeper nourishment found in His truth and grace. Jesus identified Himself as the true bread from heaven, giving eternal life to all who come to Him in faith (John 6:32–35). Psa 145:15-16 The eyes of all look to You, and You give them… He remembers His covenant forever. God never forgets the promises He has made to His people. He remained faithful to His covenant with Abraham, preserving Israel and bringing them into the land He had pledged to their fathers. Though Israel often sinned and suffered discipline, the Lord’s covenant faithfulness endured. His redemptive purposes reached their fulfillment in Jesus Christ, whose blood established the new covenant and secured forgiveness for His people (Luke 22:20; Hebrews 9:15). Psa 105:8 He remembers His covenant forever, the word… He has shown His people the power of His works God made His might known publicly and decisively in Israel’s history. He judged Egypt through the plagues, divided the Red Sea for His redeemed people, sustained them in the wilderness, and gave them victory over stronger nations in Canaan. These works displayed His sovereign rule over creation, kings, armies, and false gods. Israel’s possession of the land rested not on military strength but on the Lord’s faithfulness to His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The same God who spoke creation into being actively accomplishes His purposes within human history. Exo 14:31 When Israel saw the great power that the LORD had exercised… by giving them the inheritance of the nations. The land of Canaan had been occupied by nations whose judgment God had long delayed, yet whose sin had reached its appointed measure. God gave their territory to Israel as the promised inheritance, and Joshua led the tribes into the land according to the Lord’s command. The distribution of Canaan among the tribes fulfilled God’s ancient promise to Abraham. Israel’s earthly inheritance also points beyond itself to the greater inheritance secured through Christ: forgiveness, adoption, and an eternal place in God’s coming kingdom for all who belong to Him. Jos 23:4 See, I have allotted as an inheritance to your tribes… The works of His hands are truth and justice; God’s deeds in creation, providence, redemption, and judgment perfectly reveal His faithful character. He delivered Israel from Egypt, sustained them in the wilderness, and gave them a covenant law that reflected His holiness and care for the vulnerable. Moses declared that the Lord is “a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He” (Deuteronomy 32:4). His judgments are never corrupt, and His saving acts never fail to fulfill His promises. Dan 4:37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify… all His precepts are trustworthy. The commandments God gave Israel were dependable because they came from the God who does not change. They directed His people to worship Him alone, practice righteousness, protect the weak, and live as a holy nation among the nations. Psalm 19 celebrates the perfection of the Lord’s law, and Jesus affirmed that God’s word would stand until all things were accomplished (Matthew 5:18). Christ fulfills the law and embodies the truth and justice that God’s precepts reveal. Psa 119:86 All Your commandments are faithful; I am persecuted… They are upheld forever and ever, God’s precepts endure because they reflect His unchanging character and righteous will. Unlike human laws and institutions, which rise and fall with nations and generations, the Lord’s commands remain firm. Scripture consistently affirms this permanence: the word of God stands forever, and Christ declared that His words will never pass away. God’s promises, judgments, and standards can therefore be trusted in every age. Psa 119:89 Your word, O LORD, is everlasting; it is firmly fixed… enacted in truth and uprightness. Everything God establishes is faithful, just, and morally perfect. His works reveal the righteousness of the Judge of all the earth, whose rule is never distorted by partiality or error. God’s truth also finds its fullest revelation in Jesus Christ, who is the truth and who perfectly fulfilled the Father’s will. Those redeemed by Him are called to reflect that same integrity by acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God. Psa 33:4 For the word of the LORD is upright, and all His work… He has sent redemption to His people; God proved Himself Israel’s Redeemer by delivering them from Egypt, sustaining them in the wilderness, and restoring them when they cried out in distress. The Exodus stands as the central Old Testament pattern of redemption: the Lord brought His people out of slavery by His mighty power and claimed them as His own (Exodus 6:6). Israel’s laws concerning the redemption of persons, land, and debts also pictured God’s concern to restore what bondage and loss had taken away (Leviticus 25). These deliverances anticipated the greater redemption accomplished by Jesus Christ, who gave His life to redeem sinners from sin, death, and judgment (Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:18–19). Luk 1:68 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,… He has ordained His covenant forever; The Lord established His covenant by His own sovereign purpose and bound His name to His promises. He pledged enduring blessing through Abraham’s offspring, preserved that promise through Isaac and Jacob, and formed Israel into His covenant people at Sinai (Genesis 17:7; Exodus 19:5–6). Israel’s repeated unfaithfulness did not overturn God’s faithfulness. The everlasting covenant purpose reaches its fulfillment in the New Covenant, secured by Christ’s blood, through which forgiveness and a true knowledge of God are granted to all who belong to Him (Jeremiah 31:31–34; Hebrews 9:15). 2Sa 23:5 Is not my house right with God? For He has established… holy and awesome is His name. God’s name reveals His character, authority, and presence among His people. His holiness sets Him apart from all creation and from every form of evil; His mighty works rightly produce reverent fear and worship. Israel was commanded not to treat His name lightly, because the God who redeems and keeps covenant is utterly pure and supreme over all nations. Jesus likewise taught His disciples to begin prayer by honoring the Father’s name as holy (Matthew 6:9). Those redeemed by the Lord are called to live with reverence, trusting His covenant mercy while honoring the majesty of the One who saves. Psa 99:3 Let them praise Your great and awesome name—He is holy! The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; Wisdom begins with humble reverence for the holy God who created, rules, and judges all things. Such fear is not servile terror but a worshipful recognition of His majesty, righteousness, and authority. Job likewise declares that fearing the Lord is wisdom (Job 28:28), and Proverbs places it at the foundation of knowledge (Proverbs 1:7). No lasting understanding of life, morality, or eternity can exist apart from submission to God. Pro 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom… all who follow His precepts gain rich understanding. God’s wisdom becomes evident in obedient living. His commandments reveal His character and direct His people in paths of justice, purity, mercy, and truth. Israel’s obedience was meant to display wisdom before the nations (Deuteronomy 4:6). Faithful obedience remains the fruit of reverence for God, shaping discernment in the ordinary decisions and moral trials of life. Psa 119:104 I gain understanding from Your precepts;… His praise endures forever! The God whose works fill Psalm 111 is eternally worthy of praise. His faithfulness to His covenant, His righteous judgments, and His redemption of His people do not fade with time. The worship offered by Israel anticipates the unending praise of God and the Lamb by every creature in heaven and earth (Revelation 5:13). Psa 145:21 My mouth will declare the praise of the LORD;… This is a draft of the Berean Study Bible. Please send all comments and recommendations to bereanstudybible@aol.com. Bible Hub |
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