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By: AJ Hochhalter You may listen to this devotion in audio form via podcast here.
Psalm 111
1 Praise the Lord.
I will extol the Lord with all my heart
in the council of the upright and in the assembly.
2 Great are the works of the Lord;
they are pondered by all who delight in them.
3 Glorious and majestic are his deeds,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4 He has caused his wonders to be remembered;
the Lord is gracious and compassionate.
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,
giving them the lands of other nations.
7 The works of his hands are faithful and just;
all his precepts are trustworthy.
8 They are established for ever and ever,
enacted in faithfulness and uprightness.
9 He provided redemption for his people;
he ordained his covenant forever—
holy and awesome is his name.
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all who follow his precepts have good understanding.
To him belongs eternal praise.
Prominent worship theologian Robert Webber proposes that Old Testament worship was event oriented, that is, centered around remembering, retelling, and re-enacting a particular event. That event was God’s redemption of Israel from the bondage of slavery in Egypt, and his subsequent establishing of the Mosaic Covenant at Mount Sinai.
The Psalm for today reflects Webber’s point. The psalmist praises God for his great works, glorious and majestic deeds, the wonders that he performed out of his grace and compassion, his provision of food. The psalm climaxes in verse 9, “He provided redemption for his people; he ordained his covenant forever—holy and awesome is his name.”
The redemption referenced here must be the Exodus-event. In essence the Psalmist is praising God for his great works of Salvation by rescuing Israel from bondage in Egypt and praising God for his covenantal faithfulness to his people.
If Hebrew worship was oriented around the Exodus-event, Webber proposes therefore that Christian worship must be oriented around the Christ-event. We know that the Exodus event, that is Israel’s deliverance from slavery in Egypt by the blood of the passover lamb and the deaths of the firstborn sons in Egypt, is a foreshadowing of our redemption from slavery to sin and death by the blood of The Lamb of God and the death of the Firstborn over all creation. So where the Psalmist praises God for His great works, majestic deeds, and covenant faithfulness we get to join the song. God has redeemed us and he has established a new and better covenant by the sacrifice of Christ.
Isaac Watts has been referred to as the Father of the English hymn. His essential work as a hymn writer was to write songs based off of the Psalms, from a Christ-centered perspective.
Here are the first three stanzas of his second setting of Psalm 111 -
Great is the Lord; his works of might
Demand our noblest songs;
Let his assembled saints unite
Their harmony of tongues
Great is the mercy of the Lord;
He gives his children food;
And ever mindful of his Word,
He makes his promise good.
His son, the great Redeemer, came
To seal his cov’nant sure;
Holy and reverend is his name,
His ways are just and pure.