Psalms 111

Psalms 111:1-10

Psalms 111THIS is an alphabetical psalm, in which the Hebrew letters mark the beginning not of verses but of clauses. The first eight verses contain each two clauses; the last two consists of three. The psalm begins with an invitation to the public praise of God, Psalms 111:1, then assigns, as the ground and object of this praise, his dealings with his people, Psalms 111:2-9, and ends with the conclusion, that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, Psalms 111:10. There is nothing in the psalm itself to determine its date or its historical occasion. According to Hengstenberg, it is the first psalm of a trilogy, added to the ancient one preceding (Psalms 108-110.) after the return from exile.

1. (Psalms 111:1) Hallelujah! I will thank Jehovah with a whole heart, in the company of the upright and in the congregation. The Hallelujah (praise ye Jah) marks the designation of the latter psalms for permanent use in public worship, as the inscription to the chief musician does that of the older ones. With a whole heart, or with all (my) heart, as it is fully expressed in Psalms 86:12. Compare Psalms 119:2. The word translated company means properly a circle of confidential friends.

See above, on Psalms 25:14; Psalms 55:14; Psalms 64:2; Psalms 83:3. It is here applied to the church or chosen people, as constituting such a company or circle, in opposition to the world without. It is not, therefore, really distinct from the congregation mentioned in the last clause, but another name for it. The upright (or straight-forward) is a title given to the true Israel, from the days of Balaam downwards. See Numbers 24:10.

2. (Psalms 111:2) Great are the works of Jehovah, sought (according) to all their desires. The common version of the last phrase, all them that have pleasure therein, supposes the text to be differently pointed, as in Psalms 40:14; Psalms 70:2. The received text can only mean to (for or according to) all their wishes. The antecedent of the pronoun (their) seems to be the upright in Psalms 111:1. For a similar construction of the same pronoun, see below, on Psalms 111:10. The clause, thus construed, is obscure, but may be understood to mean, that when the works of God are sought out, investigated, or explored, their greatness fully satisfies the hopes and wishes of his people. Another possible sense is, that they are sought for, i.e. the experience or knowledge of them eagerly desired, with (literally as to) all their wishes, i.e. with avidity, or, as it is expressed in the preceding verse, with all the heart.

3. (Psalms 111:3) Honour and majesty (is) his work— and his righteousness standing for ever. In the first clause, work is the subject of the proposition, honour and majesty the predicate. His work is honour and majesty, i.e. all that he does is noble and majestic, worthy of the great King, to whom these epithets are often applied elsewhere. See above, on Psalms 104:1. His work means specifically here what he does for the protection and deliverance of his people. In the last clause, as in many other places, this work is referred to his righteousness, not his justice, in the technical and strict sense, but his rectitude, including his fidelity to his engagements, and securing the exercise of his covenanted mercy.

This seems more natural than to explain it as meaning the practical justification of his people by his providential care of them. Standing to eternity (or perpetuity), not fitful or capricious, not confined or temporary, but perpetual and constant.

4. (Psalms 111:4) A memory has he made for his wonderful works; gracious and compassionate (is) Jehovah. The first clause, though not exactly rendered, is correctly paraphrased in the English Bible, he hath made his wonderful works to be remembered, and still more freely in the Prayer-Book version. The last clause shews that the wonderful works of the first are not the wonders of creation, nor those of providence in general, but those wrought for the benefit of Israel. The terms of this clause are borrowed from Exodus 34:6. See above, on Psalms 103:8.

5. (Psalms 111:5) Prey hath he given to those fearing him; he will remember to eternity his covenant. The first word properly denotes the food of wild beasts, and may here be either a poetical equivalent to food, provision, as in Proverbs 31:15, Malachi 3:10, or intended to suggest the additional idea of food obtained at the expense of enemies. In either case there seems to be no reason for restricting the clause to the supply of Israel in the desert, although that would necessarily occur to every reader, as the great historical example of the general fact alleged, and in the last clause represented as a proof of God’s fidelity to covenant engagements.

6. (Psalms 111:6) The power of his works he has declared to his people, (so as) to give to them a heritage of nations. He has shewn them what powerful things he can do, by favouring them so far as to drive out nations from their seats, and make his people their successors and, as it were, their heirs. This refers to the conquest of Canaan, as the first in a long series of such dispos- sessions, including all the territories gained in war from the surrounding nations, till the death of David. The construction of to give as a gerund (by giving) is not a Hebrew idiom, and restricts the meaning of the clause unduly. See above, on Psalms 78:18.

7. (Psalms 111:7) The works of his hands are truth and judgment; sure (are) all his precepts. The second clause is not an iteration of the first, but an inference from it. If what God does himself is always done in faithfulness and justice to his people, then what he requires them to do must certainly be right and best, and his requisitions therefore may be trusted and confided in, the true sense of the adjective or participle here employed.

8. (Psalms 111:8) Settled for ever and ever, done in truth and right. The subjects are the same as in Psalms 111:7, but presented in an inverse order, the first clause relating to the precepts, the last to the works, of God. The former are settled, firmly supported, founded, or established, not capricious and precarious. The latter, by which they are recommended and attested (see above, on Psalms 111:9), and works of faithfulness and rectitude. The last word in Hebrew is an adjective used as a neuter or abstract noun, in which respect the English right resembles it.

9. (Psalms 111:9) Redemption he has sent to his people; he has ordained to eternity his, covenant; holy and fearful is his name. That this verse was intended to consist of three clauses, is clear from the fact that it contains three letters of the alphabet in regular succession. The same thing is true of the remaining verse. The first clause relates mainly, not exclusively, to the deliverance from Egypt. As in Psalms 111:5, the second clause affirms a general truth, attested and exemplified by the particular fact mentioned in the first. Fearful, not merely to his foes but to his people, who can never cease to worship him with holy awe.

10. (Psalms 111:10) The beginning of wisdom is the fear of Jehovah; a good understanding (is) to all (those) doing them; his praise endureth for ever. This is the conclusion drawn from all that goes before. Since all God’s dealings with his people are in faithfulness and truth, and his commands not only are but must be right, then the first step in wisdom, its first principle or element, is reverence for such a Being, proved by obedience to his will. The same sentiment occurs in Proverbs 1:7; Proverbs 9:10, Job 28:28. The intimate connection of the verse, notwithstanding its proverbial or aphoristic form, with the foregoing context, is apparent from the reference of the pronoun them to the plural nouns of the preceding verses. Endureth for ever, literally (is) standing to eternity. This is equivalent to saying that he will and must be praised for ever, corresponding to the Halleujah at the beginning of the psalm.