Psalm 111: Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord. It’s what God’s people are invited to do. Not as an act of power as say president Putin seeks praise, but as a response of reverence. Hence the psalm concludes with those famous words ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom’ said here and in other scriptures. The fear of the Lord does not mean be afraid of Him. We are often told: Do not be afraid. Rather it is a call to reverence God.

We do that for what He has done, is doing and will do for us. So the psalmist declares he will extol the Lord – that is raise Him up, lift His name high in joyful praise - hallelujah. In His actions we see His character and being.

We celebrate glory and majesty of God for His creation.

We rejoice in His graciousness and compassion:

He made a covenant with us which He will never forget

He fed Israel in the wilderness.

He gave Israel the promised land

He gave Israel teachings for true living as His people

He redeemed Israel, especially by the Exodus from a living death in Egypt.

Most Christians are not Messianic Jews, the Covenant works of Exodus, manna, land and Law were not done for our biological ancestors but by faith we believe in the Lord and belong to His children of Israel; by our faith these works are our heritage. And the Lord our God redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to us through Jesus Christ [as Paul writes in Galatians 3] for those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham.

The psalm writer celebrates what he knows of God in his day. He remembers what God has done in history – that is God’s story – for Israel. A remembrance that is not an archive of God’s great actions but a living expression of His present life with His present people. We are God’s New Testament people. And, as Martin Luther said in reflecting on this psalm, we publicly praise, preach & confess the unspeakable wonders that God has done for us through Christ.

Luther had a street direct style of speaking. No softening of the sharpness of words to attract hardened hearts; softenings that lack clear comfort for believers. He used front-on expressions to challenge and to encourage.

Before Christ came into our lives we were damned in our sins, lost in death, imprisoned under the devil.But we are God’s Easter people: through Christ’s blood and death on the cross, we are rescued from sin to righteousness, from death to life, from being under ownership of the devil to being children of God.

That’s why we celebrate our redemption singing Amazing Grace. That’s why we extol God in the words of: To God be the glory. That’s why we invite all the earth to sing as we will do later: Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer! Sing, O earth—His wonderful love proclaim! Amen.