Psalm 111
Thank God
God is honest and fair
1 Thank you, LORD.[1]I thank the good LORD with all my heart,
Right here in front of all the God-loving people.
2 The LORD does great work.
Many who benefit from it
Enjoy studying what he does.
3 What he does is wonderful and marvelous.
He’s got goodness covered from here to forever.
4 He’s famous for his jaw-dropping wonders.
But the LORD is also kind and compassionate.
5 He feeds those who respect him.
And he’s never going to forget
His contract agreement[2] with his people.
6 He showed his people his power
When he gave them land from other nations.
God’s law is always relevant
7 The LORD is always honest and fair.We can count on the laws he gave us.
8 His laws will remain relevant forever.
So, we should observe them faithfully and honorably.
9 He saved his people.
He made an everlasting contract agreement with them.
He is uniquely sacred and wonderfully awesome.
10 Wisdom starts with respect[3] for the LORD.
It shows good sense to observe his laws.
He will always deserve our praise.
Notes
The Hebrew word is hallelujah, which is often translated as “praise the LORD.”
Literally “covenant.” This refers to his promise to Abraham and repeated to Moses: he would give Abraham’s descendants peace and prosperity in return for them obeying the rules he gave them about how to behave.
The more literal phrase is “fear of the LORD.” This phrase shows up in Proverbs more than any other book in the Bible. “Fear,” most scholars say, doesn’t mean terror or fright. It refers more to the awe and respect felt in the presence of a great and powerful figure. In Proverbs, it means reverence for God—devotion expressed in obedient behavior. Someone who fears the LORD is someone who lives in a way they believe pleases God. They know the rules, they value the rules, and they live by the rules. If they do this, sages promise God will give them a long and successful life (Proverbs 10:27). Sages didn’t always get it right, not literally. But we should probably recognize their poetic license since they are expressing their ideas in the form of Hebrew poems. In which case, exaggeration is allowed.
Discussion Questions
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