Your Praise Endures Forever - Psalm 111

Hello brothers and sisters in the Lord. I pray that the fast that you are doing is going well. Whatever it is that you are laying down to hear more clearly from Him, I am praying for you. There are so many revelations that He has shared with me today. I can hardly keep them in. This devotional will focus on Psalm 111 after our prayer.

My Jehovah Nissi. You are my banner, my mighty warrior, my victory. You are my all in all. I worship You will all my heart, soul, and strength. For there is no one else who deserves my all. You who made all of creation and it cries out in worship of You. You fill me with joy that cannot be contained. I love You. I seek to know You more. I humbly ask for understanding of Psalm 111. I want to know Your heartbeat for Your people. We know You are a just God. We know You sought to save us from our own sin and iniquities. Praise You for Your lovingkindness. I bow before You in reverence and holy fear. You chose us before time to know You, to be with You, to participate in Your will in this earth. I want Your perfect will. Protect me from the deceiver and from my own mind where I may exalt my thoughts above Yours. Forgive me when I do. I ask for that forgiveness now. Bring to my mind those I need to release through forgiveness so I can remain in right relationship with You and at peace with all as much as is possible. Please give me the mind of Christ so I can know Your thoughts more deeply. I praise You with all that I am. Bless this devotional today. In the name of my precious Jesus, Amen.

Psalm 111 (NKJV) begins with verse 1, "Praise the Lord! I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, In the assembly of the upright and in the congregation."

The Lord separates the upright and the congregation through the writing of the psalmist.

As I read on, I began to understand why.

Verse 2 continues, "The works of the Lord are great, studied by all who have pleasure in them."

Again, there appears to be a separation, "by all who have pleasure in them." In my spirit, I am thinking that there are those who do NOT have pleasure in the great works of the Lord. I read further.

Verse 3 through 4 state His attributes as shown in His great works, "His work is honorable and glorious, And His righteousness endures forever. He has made His wonderful works to be remembered; The Lord is gracious and full of compassion."

Our Father is honorable, glorious, righteous, wonderful, gracious, and full of

compassion. We know and have confidence of this because His works are a reflection

of His heart and character.

Then I see something I had not noticed before today... verse 5 reveals that "He has given food to those who fear Him; He will ever be mindful of His covenant."

Those who fear Him will receive basic nutrition needed for life. Holy fear is required so

we understand our position with respect to Him and His ways. He goes on to remind us that He is committed to His people because of the covenant that He made Abraham. The reminder of the power and majesty that His people witnessed when the Red Sea parted should have been enough for them to praise Him unceasingly. But it wasn't. Still, He fed them with manna and quail. He provided water from a rock. Our merciful, Holy God provided His grumbling, stiff-necked people with what they needed. It was not until after the consequences for the golden calf incident and seeing the Lord God meeting with Moses in a pillar of cloud at His tent outside of the camp that the people appeared to begin to understand. God is Holy.

Verses 6 through 8 continue to proclaim the character of God. "He has declared to His people the power of His works, In giving them the heritage of the nations. The works of His hands are verity and justice; All His precepts are sure. They stand fast forever and ever, And are done in truth and uprightness."

God is trustworthy, powerful, generous, true, just, sure, and upright. We should stand in

awe of His unfailing love for us.

Finally, this psalm finishes with verses 9 and 10 where it says, "He has sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever: Holy and awesome is His name. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever."

God's heart is one that has sought to redeem His people from the beginning back in

Genesis. So, He has fulfilled redemption through the work on the Cross. He followed

through with His commitment to the covenant making Him

HOLY AND AWESOME!!

Then the psalmist brings in a line that is repeated by Solomon in Proverbs 9:10, "The

fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." There is that fear of the Lord again. This

time instead of food there is wisdom as a response from God to His people.

He is HOLY AND AWESOME!!

The final note is that there are those Christ followers who may be in the congregation or be considered upright. The psalm uses the following of His commandments as the

dividing line ... it is our right and reasonable response to a Holy God for ALL that He

has done for us. Let us respond with our whole hearts with gratitude for all that He is

and has accomplished to prove His love for us.

I acknowledge and bow in reverential fear of my Holy Lord. For He is honorable, glorious, righteous, wonderful, gracious, full of compassion, trustworthy, powerful, generous, true, just, sure, upright, and having proven His redemptive love for His creation through the offering His Son as the acceptable sacrifice for our sin.

I choose to be with the upright, praising and worshiping Him, in Holy fear.

Brothers and sisters, won't you join me.

Praise You God for Your praise endures forever!