We arrived at the cabin after midnight, so we really couldn’t see what was around us. As Lili and I went to bed we took a peek outside, knowing we were staying on top of Lookout Mountain and that we probably had a nice view, but we couldn’t see anything. So as I woke next morning one of the first things I did (this last weekend as we had taken this trip to Chattanooga) was raise up the blinds and get a look at the scenery around us. And was it impressive. It felt like we were about as high as you could get and down below us you could see trees on the side of the mountain, little houses down below, and you felt like there was a chance it could start raining but only below you, like when you’re in an airplane. It was beautiful. And I knew that it would have been senseless to put the blinds back down because everyone was going to take his or her trip to the window to catch this view.

There’s just something about us that yearns to behold something we feel is greater than ourselves. I think it’s why we walk outside on a clear night and look up or why we are content to sit on the beach and just stare at the ocean. There’s something within us that longs to behold something that makes us feel small in comparison. I think that what drives us to these longings is that we are created in the image of God and therefore, no matter how much we’ve perverted that, we still long to behold something that makes us small to throw ourselves into something much greater than ourselves.

That’s one reason why we’ve gathered here this morning. We’ve gathered because we want to gather with others and draw attention to One who is greater than any and all of us. Ideally, we’ve gathered here this morning being overwhelmed at the grace and greatness of God this week and longing to gather with others so that they might join you in your reaction to him. Just as I longed for others to see the view I saw outside that cabin on top of Lookout Mountain, I hope that you’ve been amazed at the greatness and glory of God and have longed for this precious time in our week when you get to gather with others who love you and love Him and join in your response to him.

But how should we respond to God? How should we respond to one who is infinitely greater than anything we can behold on top of a mountain or see when we look up at the sky? What should be our response to one who created us, sustains us, and with whom we long to spend eternity? Psalm 111 helps us in answering that question. It gives us two answers, at the beginning and the end of the psalm, and then provides us with reasons why in the middle verses.

We are to praise God (v. 1)

The first response the psalmist points us to in relating to God is one of praise. We are to praise God. He writes in verse 1, “Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.”

The psalm begins with a command, “Praise the Lord!” but is then quickly followed with the psalmist giving us the example of himself. This is quite similar to what Joshua does in Joshua 24. It’s a text we often misunderstand as if Joshua says to the people “Choose this day whom you will serve” as if he is telling them to choose to serve the true God or false gods. But he does no such thing. Rather, he commands them to fear God and serve him. Then, he notes that if they do not, their only choice is to serve the false gods beyond the river or the false gods of the Ammonites. But he has not given them a choice. He has given them a command: serve the Lord and fear him. Then, he gives himself as an example of obedience, saying, “As for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord.”

That’s what we find in this psalm. It begins not with offering a choice but in giving a command, “Praise the Lord!” But then, the psalmist provides himself as an example to follow. He will give thanks to the Lord. He will do it with his whole heart, and he will do it in the midst of the congregation.

And his example is helpful for us, isn’t it? It is helpful because sometimes we are tempted to make our praise completely unlike that of the psalmist. Either we are willing to praise God with our lips while our hearts are far from him or we are content to praise him in private but care not about making our praise public. The psalmist corrects both of these errors.

First, we are to praise God with our whole hearts. How we do things is as important as what we do. Just as it would be disobedience to God to refuse to praise and thank him, so it is disobedience to praise God half-heartedly. Therefore, we must fight to make sure our whole hearts are toward God in praise. And we’ll look more at how to do that in verses 2-9. But, secondly, we are to praise God publicly. This, I think is often overlooked as something that is good and right. At some point it seems that much of the church has bought into the thought that the height of praise is what occurs privately. We are tempted to believe that the greatest praise we can offer to God is when there’s no one else in our midst but God, and we praise him. In fact, we are taught that even in a public assembly such as this one, we should try to pretend as if there’s no one else here but us and God. But if that were the height of worship, why would we even gather?

That is not the picture the psalmist gives us. When he wants to thank the Lord he declares that he will do it with his whole heart and that he will give thanks to the Lord “in the company of the upright, in the congregation.” God must be praised, and he must be praised publicly. Public praise of God is a necessity for the Christian. It is a necessity because God has made his love for us public. God has not concealed his blessings for us. God has openly demonstrated his love for us in sending his Son to the cross. And so our praise of God should be public as well.

Don Carson has told a story about a student of his who was serving as a missionary with his wife and daughter when he decided to come back to Trinity Evangelical Divinity School to get his Ph.D. He then hoped to return to the mission field. However, not too long into his studies his wife got cancer. He had to quit studying full-time, tended to his wife, and eventually the doctors were able to treat the cancer, and so he resumed his studies full-time. Then, however, he got stomach cancer. The news from the doctors was that he had no hope. The mission agency, though, thought much of him and decided to invest much money in hopes of saving his life. They sent him to the Mayo Clinic and sure enough they were able to save his life, ridding him of his cancer. However, in order to save him they had to remove ninety percent of his stomach. He would now have to eat in very small portions many times throughout the day because he had virtually no stomach. But, he went back to his Ph.D. work full-time. Then, his wife got cancer again and she died.

And after all of that, this man stood in front of the church where Dr. Carson is a member and spent thirty minutes praising God. He praised God for saving him, for sparing his life, for giving him his wife for as long as he had her, for allowing their daughter to have at least one parent, for allowing him to serve on the mission field, for allowing him to work on his Ph.D., for moving the hearts of people to support him, and on and on. And then Don Carson ends the story with a statement that caught me off-guard when he first said it but soon found myself agreeing with wholeheartedly. He said, “And that’s normal. Anything else is subnormal for the Christian.”

And he is right. This story does not end with something we should look at as crazy – this man praising God after all he’s gone through. This story ends with what should be normal for the Christian, namely, publicly praising God for all that he has done for us. I think the psalmist of Psalm 111 would agree. The normal thing for a Christian should be that we long to publicly praise God.

I hope that as people come to join us in corporate worship here that they say, “Man, do these people sing his praises! They almost can’t sing loud enough.” May that be our habit, not being shy about publicly declaring God’s praise, but making known his goodness. May that fill our meetings as we gather.

Our first right response to God is to praise him, with our whole hearts and publicly. Then, the psalmist gives us reasons why we should praise God in verses 2-9.

Reasons why we should praise God (vv. 2-9)

He first declares that we praise God because his works are great and are studied by his people. He writes in verse 2, “Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them.” The psalmist simply looks at the Lord’s works and declares they are great. No doubt he thinks of creation, of him flooding the world and saving Noah and his family, and of delivering the Israelites from Egypt and destroying the Egyptians. These are impressive works. They are great. And he notes that they are studied by all who delight in him.

So, let me ask you, “Do you study God’s works?” Do you take time to ponder on all that God has done – in history and in your life? If you don’t, you do yourself no favor because we need to be able to recall his works. We need to be able to think on all that God has done, for this sustains us, encourages us, and helps us in the battle of faith. He notes that God should be praised because his works are great.

He then notes that his works, full of splendor and majesty are also righteous, gracious, and merciful. He writes in verses 3-4, “Full of splendor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever. He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and merciful.” As we think of the Red Sea, David and Goliath, and even the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, they are majestic works. They reflect God’s power in overcoming his enemies, even death. But they also remind us of his mercy and grace toward us. All of these are astounding works, but they are also good for us. They are not to be admired from a distance but treasured in our hearts. And for this reason God has us remember them. He “has caused his wondrous works to be remembered.” God ensures we remember his works because we need them. Whether it is through ceremonies, feasts, or communion, God ensures that we remember his works.

But the psalmist points out that God’s works are such that they meet our needs not simply on the grand scale, as with the parting of the Red Sea, but he also meets our day-to-day needs. He writes in verses 5-7, “He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever. He has shown his people the power of his works, in giving them the inheritance of the nations. The works of his hands are faithful and just.”

Now, doesn’t that sound odd? It is odd to hear the psalmist say that God’s care for his people proves him faithful and just. After all, who are we? Apart from Christ, we are sinners, enemies of God, and those who continue to spurn him and fall short of his glory. And yet when we speak of God caring for us we say his is faithful and just. Imagine is someone made himself my enemy, killed my children, and then one day I saw him on the street, he was hungry, and I gave him food. Then, imagine he responded saying, “You are so faithful and just.” I think I would respond, “Faithful and just!? Are you kidding me? I would be faithful and just to ensure you die for your crimes. I am simply showing you mercy. You deserve nothing but judgment for your actions.” The response would be completely out of place.

So why is it then that we say to God, when he cares for us, “He has been so faithful and just”? It is not because we think we deserve it. The psalmist knows better. The reason the psalmist can declare “the works of his hands are faithful and just” is not because he thinks God owes him something because he has been so deserving but because of what he has said only a few lines earlier. In verse 5, he declares, “He remembers his covenant forever.” There it is.

The reason we declare God to be faithful and just when he provides for us and cares for us is because he is being faithful and just, not to what I deserve, but to what he is promised. God took it upon himself, when we were undeserving of such a blessing to make a covenant with us to be our God and make us his people. Every time we drink from the cup in communion we are reminded that all who are in Christ are in covenant with God. And part of that covenant promise is that he will work all things to the end of making us more like his Son so that one day we will dwell with him forever. Therefore, we should praise God for he cares for us, even providing us food, and because he has made those works a just and faithful thing for him to do because he made a covenant with us.

And I think this is helpful to realize. It is helpful because we have a tendency to focus on ourselves way too much in life. We tend to doubt God will care for us and provide for us not because we do not think he is able or is good but because we see so clearly that we are undeserving. But this psalm reminds us that his works, his provision isn’t about what we deserve. It isn’t conditioned on whether or not we’ve done enough to merit God’s care and provision, it is simply conditioned on his covenant that he made with the shedding of the blood of his Son. Therefore, as you battle to trust God and walk in faith, remove your eyes from yourself, and remind yourself of the covenant he has made with you when his Son shed his blood. Then, with the psalmist we will declare that we will praise God with our whole hearts for he remembers his covenant forever, even providing food for his people.

And moving on from his works, even God’s words are trustworthy and true. The psalmist writes in verses 7-9, “All his precepts are trustworthy; they are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness. He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name!”

God doesn’t simply point us to events, such as the Passover, David and Goliath, or even the work of Christ. He also makes us promises and statements of blessing. Just as God has acted justly and uprightly in his actions, so he will act justly and uprightly with regard to his words. The God who sent his Son to die for us did not only give us that event but gave us words to show us what that event means for us. He inspired Paul to reason and writes, “If he did not spare his own Son how will he not also freely give us all things in him” (Rom. 8:32). Do you see? It’s as if to make sure we see we can trust his faithfulness to his covenant, he made the covenant, sealed it with the blood of his Son, calls us to remember it with our senses by eating and drinking in the Lord’s Supper, and then tells us the significance of this covenant and promises he has made to us.

Could you imagine if a friend were to walk up to you and declare, “I am making you the object of my care and affection.” Then, he showed it some time later when you deserved punishment by coming and taking the punishment on your behalf. Then, he told you to eat a certain meal regularly to remember the promise he made and what he had done to seal that promise. Then, he actually wrote you to tell you what the covenant meant, that he would do all he could to work all things for good in your life, to meet your needs, etc. You would probably think, “This is a bit crazy.” I get it, okay. You’re going to care for me. You’ve shown yourself trustworthy in your actions and words.

Yet, this is what God has done and more. Therefore, we need to highlight his covenant faithfulness in his actions and words. We need to speak of his actions he has done in our lives and declare again his promises. We must not forget. We must study them, meditate on them, and praise God because of them. That’s what we must do as a church. This should be much of what we do on Sunday nights. It should be a time of edification as we ponder on God’s covenant faithfulness in the midst of the congregation. Finally, the psalmist thinks of his redemption and simply erupts in declaring, “Holy and awesome is his name.” And we have seen his redemption even more clearly.

We praise him for his great works, his majestic and gracious works, his faithful and just works, and his commands and promises that are faithful and true. We praise him for the new covenant and his faithfulness to the covenant.

But then the psalmist gives us one more right response to the Lord in verse 10.

We are to fear the Lord (v. 10)

He writes, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!” (v. 10). After giving us a look at God’s greatness, goodness, and praiseworthiness, the psalmist tells us to fear God. Now, this does not mean that we are to spend all of our life cringing before God as if he is ready to harm us. Rather, to walk in the fear of the Lord means that we live continually with “an apprehension of the majesty and holiness of God whereby we do not think, act, or speak without a profound sense of his presence and a healthy dread of his judgments.”¹

We must live all of our lives being constantly aware of who God is so that it affects everything we do. We live knowing that everything must be lived and seen in light of him, and we must tremble at the thought of disobeying such a God.

Therefore, how do we respond to a God like ours. We praise him and rightly fear him. That is the only right response. May that indeed be how we live both this day and in every day to come. Let us now demonstrate our praise and right fear of God by coming to the table and remembering his great, majestic, good, faithful, and just work in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

¹This definition was given by Dr. Russell Fuller in a class at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY.

OUR GOD WHO IS WORTHY OF PRAISE