A Truly Devoted Life

Service Notes

Psalm 111:1 Praise ye the Lord. I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, In the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.

Hallelujah, I will praise the Lord. - Before Psalmist called others to praise God he did first.

Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament sheweth his handywork.

Stars are made to worship, so am I.

His greatness, referring to his scope, extent, grandeur.

His beauty, referring to the perfections of all his attributes and the infinite harmony of their interrelationships.

His worth, referring to the fact that he is a Treasure more precious, more valuable, more to be desired than anything or anyone else in the universe — or all the universe itself.

Psalm 111

Psalm 111 KJV 1900

1 Praise ye the Lord. I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, In the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation. 2 The works of the Lord are great, Sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. 3 His work is honourable and glorious: And his righteousness endureth for ever. 4 He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: The Lord is gracious and full of compassion. 5 He hath given meat unto them that fear him: He will ever be mindful of his covenant. 6 He hath shewed his people the power of his works, That he may give them the heritage of the heathen. 7 The works of his hands are verity and judgment; All his commandments are sure. 8 They stand fast for ever and ever, And are done in truth and uprightness. 9 He sent redemption unto his people: He hath commanded his covenant for ever: Holy and reverend is his name. 10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: A good understanding have all they that do his commandments: His praise endureth for ever.

Introduction

So much is learned by being a student of the Word. It helps you learn a wide variety of important subjects.

Example: Poetry

Psalm 111 & 112 parallel each other.

Both consist of 20 lines and are arranged in 10 verses

Psalm 111 is about greatness of God

Psalm 112 is about the greatness and blessedness of the man who has the right attitude toward God.

This psalm has twenty-two different statements that it makes about God

Hebrew poetry, unlike our poetry, is not based on rhyming, but you will find various devices in Hebrew poetry that indicate that it has an elevated sort of aesthetic style.

Why an acrostic?

artistic, beauty

help with memorization

demonstrates a comprehensiveness (a-z)

How to know where to find them?

Look for 22 verses Psalms 25; 34; 145

Memorize the fact Psalm 37; 111; 112, Lamentations 1-4, Proverbs 31:10-31

Looking for paragraph headings Psalm 119

Refer to hand out

Example in Hebrew

Exhibiting the structure of these psalms to an English reader by Albert Barnes

Stop hotdogging. Story of first game at a new school. You aren’t going anywhere.

Declaration & Description

Psalm 111:1 (KJV 1900)

1 Praise ye the Lord. I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, In the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.

Declaration

Praise ye the Lord - Hallelujah

This is how the service started.

“Before I describe how I will praise God, I will do it”

Description

Whole heart

I will praise the Lord with my whole heart / Nothing is held back

Not a divided heart.

It is no easy matter for us to avoid cold affections in worship. - William Plumber

What is whole hearted worship?

If it means running a lap to express, then we should run.

If it means standing completely still as a demonstration of reverence then let’s not move a muscle.

Actions and affections should be given to the Lord.

“Don’t go through the motions” is unhelpful. How about “pray to God as your go through the motions with no affection Psalm 51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; And uphold me with thy free spirit.

Never be content with less. God deserves our all.

Sunday morning is a Saturday night decision.

Public

Psalmist delighted in hearing others praise the Lord

Assembly (smaller) and congregation (larger) signify different size groups.

We should never make statements about our inability to worship God because a church was too big or too small. That is not what determines our ability to worship. Are we being shown the works of God.

Toward God

Praise ye the Lord. I will praise the Lord

Worship is a transitive verb; It requires a direct object.

We do not meet to worship, that is to experience worship; we meet to worship God.

Do not confuse what is central with the byproducts.

If you seek peace, you will not find it. If you seek Christ, you will find peace.

If you seek joy, you will not find it. If you seek Christ, you will find joy.

If you seek holiness, you will not find it. If you seek Christ, you will find holiness.

If you seek experiences of worship, you will not find them. If you worship the living God, you will experience something of what is reflected here in the psalms.

William Still wrote to his congregation on the occasion of the opening of one of the terms at the University of Aberdeen. And in that letter he says to his congregation that every year when the new students are coming to the University of Aberdeen he gets panicked phone calls and letters from parents whose children are going off to school, begging for him to track them down and to make sure that they don't get into trouble and to try to minister to their souls. And Mr. Still writes to his congregation and he said, “You know what? I've found over the years that all that tracking down doesn't do a whole lot of good because what's most important in rearing children in the knowledge of the Lord is what is done before they go off to college for their first semester.” And he then proceeds to say — and it's interesting because Mr. Still was an old bachelor. He says, “Here's how you rear children” — and he used this outline —“Prayer, example, and precept. That is how you rear children — prayer, example, and precept.”

Works of the Lord are great & worthy of study

Psalm 111:2 “The works of the Lord are great, Sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.

Works of the Lord

The works of the Lord are great,

Yes His deed, but also all that he has made

All the things of God are great. Even the little things of God are great! - Spurgeon

Worthy of study

Sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.

Invitation to study

“There is a science laboratory in Cambridge, England, called the Cavendish Laboratory, named after the eighteenth-century English chemist and physicist Sir Henry Cavendish (1731-1810). It is distinguished by having the words of Psalm 111:2 inscribed over the entrance to its building as a charter for every believing scientist: Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them.” (Boice)

His work is honorable

Psalm 111:3 His work is honourable and glorious: And his righteousness endureth for ever.

His dealings and providence in this world.

The pleasure of studying about the greatness of God is ours forever; endureth forever.

We are called upon to remember His works

Psalm 111:4 He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: The Lord is gracious and full of compassion.

It is a shame when we forget His works.

“It is the great miracle of this world that God saves and changes sinful men.” Sam Rotman

How could we forget His works when we think of our gracious and compassionate God.

God never forgets His promises to us. Psalm 111:5 He hath given meat unto them that fear him: He will ever be mindful of his covenant.

God does not hide His great works

Psalm 111:6 He hath shewed his people the power of his works, That he may give them the heritage of the heathen.

God works are truthful and sure

Psalm 111:7 The works of his hands are verity and judgment; All his commandments are sure.

“He is no fickle despot, commanding one thing one day and another [on a different day], but his commands remain absolutely unaltered, their necessity equally unquestionable, their excellence permanently proven, and their reward eternally secure.” (Spurgeon)

Psalm 111:8 “8 They stand fast for ever and ever, And are done in truth and uprightness.”

God great work brought redemption

Psalm 111:9 He sent redemption unto his people: He hath commanded his covenant for ever: Holy and reverend is his name.

What should be learned from God’s great works.

Psalm 111:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: A good understanding have all they that do his commandments: His praise endureth for ever.

People are most interested in entertainment and pleasure, little interest in wisdom

Studying God’s we should end with a fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom

The fear of the Lord that brings to live everything in the Christian life.

For next week.

Psalm 111:10–112:1 (KJV 1900)

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: A good understanding have all they that do his commandments: His praise endureth for ever.

1 Praise ye the Lord. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, That delighteth greatly in his commandments.

Conclusion

We started and ended this Psalm with praise to the Lord. So should our days.

How should we be moved to the praise by the Psalm?

We have the opportunity to understand it in the context of the original audience.

We also have the opportunity to see it lived out by Jesus.

What if we cannot remember all 22 statements?

Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Perfectly fulfilled by Jesus

1. Jesus is the one who praises in the midst of the assembly. Psalm 22 quoted Hebrews 2:12 Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.

2. Jesus does all the work of God in all of its aspects

Gods work of Creation .v2

Work among His people v.3

Work of salvation for all people. v.4

3. Jesus never forgets His promises to us. Psalm 111:5 He hath given meat unto them that fear him: He will ever be mindful of his covenant.

Prayer of the Psalm - expressing our praise to God we can rest trusting in His work and not our own.