19 Ps 111 Personal commentary

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<td >Ps 111 (ESV) Text</td>

<td >Personal commentary/meditation</td>

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<p>¹&nbsp; Praise the LORD! I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.&nbsp;

²&nbsp;Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them.

³&nbsp;Full of splendor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever.

⁴&nbsp;He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered; the LORD is gracious and merciful.

⁵&nbsp;He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever

⁶&nbsp;He has shown his people the power of his works, in giving them the inheritance of the nations.

⁷&nbsp;The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy;

⁸&nbsp;they are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.

⁹&nbsp;He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name!

¹⁰&nbsp;The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!

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<p>1. Thanksgiving is due you Lord, and not out of obligation but with my whole heart. &nbsp;I hope my thanksgiving somehow shows You the love I have for You, a love engendered by the great love You first expressed to me (1 Jn 4.19). &nbsp;I see that the psalmist wants to express thanks to You as part of a whole congregation thanking You -- which reminds me of the importance You place on not just individual, private worship but on public, corporate worship (Heb 10.25).

2-3. Everyone who delights in Your works studies them; spends time and effort investigating, pondering, and reflecting on them; and comes to see in new and deeper ways just how great, splendid, majestic and righteous they are.

4-5. Thank You Lord for causing Your wondrous works to be remembered. &nbsp;They reflect Your mercy and grace, cause Your people Israel, and by extension Gentiles like me, to fear You. &nbsp;What a benefit that is, to fear You and relate to you in the sober, awed respect so appropriate to Your majesty; for You provide food, and I assume this means all needed providence, to those who fear You, who relate to you this way.

6. Your works are so mighty, and Your chosen people Israel have seen them and benefited from them as You gave them the lands and resources established by the efforts of other nations.
   

7a. Your works are faithful: &nbsp;everything You promise You perform, and everything you do faithfully reflects Your righteousness. &nbsp;And all Your works are just; always conforming to Your righteousness, justice, and fairness. &nbsp;

7b-8. &nbsp;And all Your precepts are trustworthy, we can depend on them to endure forever; and those precepts about Your promised actions will be faithfully and uprightly accomplished just as You promised.

9. For example, You promised to redeem Your people, Abram's descendants (Gen 15.16) and that is exactly what You did!
   
10. The beginning of wisdom, the starting place for right-thinking about You and about everything in life, is to fear You Lord, to have that accurate sense of Your holiness, authority as Creator and Sustainer, eternality, and perfect power creating that deep sense of awe and respect for You, and attention to You. &nbsp;And those who are getting this perspective, which causes them to pay close attention to You, gain good, beneficial and true understanding.
    

Forever Lord You should be, and will be praised!</p>

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