Latest / Reformed Thinking / Great Are the Works of the Lord (Psalm 111) | Charles Spurgeon

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Great Are the Works of the Lord (Psalm 111) | Charles Spurgeon · Reformed Thinking

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Imagine trying to describe the sheer scale of the universe, but
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you were only allowed to use half the letters of the
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alphabet. Oh, that would be impossible,
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right? You would inevitably leave
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things out. You would lack the vocabulary to
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capture the height, the depth, and you know the intricate
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details of what you are actually seeing.
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You'd hit a wall pretty fast. Yeah, you really would.
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So today we are looking at a 3000 year old text that insists
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true, acceptable praise to the creator requires every single
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letter from A-Z, leaving absolutely no corner of reality
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untouched it. Demands the whole thing.
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Yes, welcome to reformed thinking.
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And for you listening right now, just consider yourself the third
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person at this table. Pull up a chair.
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Glad. To have you with.
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Us The mission of our deep dive today is to analyze Charles
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Spurgeon's massive multi volume work The Treasury of David.
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Specifically, we are going to look at his exposition and the
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curated commentary surrounding Psalm 111 and just.
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To set the stage for you, we're operating within a very specific
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theological framework today. Right, the reformed lens.
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Yes, the source text views the world entirely through this
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Reformed lens, so we will be looking closely at the absolute
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unchangeable decrees of God. Which is a heavy topic on its
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own. Oh, very.
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We will also look at the Covenant of Grace, which is that
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eternal agreement ensuring the salvation of the elect and then
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the necessary active obedience of the believer.
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Yeah, the application of it all. Right.
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And what makes this text so fascinating is that it frames
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all of these massive universe altering theological concepts
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through the lens of a perfectly structured alphabetical hymn of
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praise. Let us unpack that structural
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genius because it is the ideal starting point for understanding
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how to praise the Creator. It really is.
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Psalm 111 is an acrostic. It is an alphabetical pathetical
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hymn. Every sentence or half verse
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begins with a consecutive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
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From a left to Tau. Right a left to Tau.
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There is this staggering discipline to that structure.
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You do not just, you know, throw words together based on raw
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emotion. No, you subject your highest
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praises to a rigorous mathematical linguistic order.
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Yeah, and verse one gives us the mandate.
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It says praise the Lord. I will praise the Lord with my
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whole heart in the assembly of the upright and in the
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congregation. So the text is insisting that
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praise must be unanimous, eternal, and wholehearted.
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Exactly. And the commentator David Dixon
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gives us 3 phenomenal points about this specific alphabetical
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structure. Oh, I love Dixon's points.
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Here, yeah, they are brilliant. First, he says, praising God
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requires setting other things apart.
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You have to clear the decks of your mind.
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Because you can't be distracted. Right.
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You cannot construct A rigorous A-Z acrostic while you were
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distracted by the mundane details of your daily life.
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It requires immense focus. That makes sense.
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What is his second point? 2nd his praise fills all
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possible junctures of composition.
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Because it uses every letter of the Hebrew alphabet, it
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symbolically covers everything from alpha to Omega.
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So there is no letter, no concept, no breath left out.
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None. The alphabet represents the
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total parameters of human communication.
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By using all of it, the psalmist is saying that every capacity of
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the human mind must be utilized in worship.
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Wow. And the Third Point. 3rd This
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alphabetical structure acts as a mnemonic device.
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It aids the memory of the singer, ensuring the truths of
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God are not easily forgotten. That makes perfect sense.
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It is. It is like teaching a child
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their ABC's. Yeah, great analogy you.
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Know you do not just teach a child AB and C and say good
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enough you know the language now.
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Good luck out there, right? You have to give them the entire
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alphabet to unlock all the words in the world.
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The believers praise has to cover everything from A-Z,
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leaving absolutely nothing out. And Solomon Gessner adds a
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historical note from our sources that paints a really vetted
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picture of this. Oh, about the Pascal lamb, Yes.
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He points out that this hymn was likely sung by Jewish families
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during the eating of the Pascal lamb.
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For you listening, just picture that scene.
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It is night a family is gathered in an intimate private setting.
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They're eating the roasted lamb. Tasting the bitter herbs,
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remembering the Angel of death passing over their house in
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Egypt and in that weighty sensory moment, they are singing
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this perfectly ordered A-Z song. It brings a serious gravity to
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the idea of the assembly of the upright.
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It really does and. That historical context is vital
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because it bridges the two distinct spheres mentioned in
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the first verse. The private assembly and the
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public congregation, right? True religion spans both the
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private circle of pious friendship around the dinner
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table and the Great Hall of public meeting.
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Spurgeon says the best way to enforce an exhortation is to set
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an example right. Yeah, David brought his zeal,
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his skill and his ardor to both the private and the public
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spheres. So if the common sort of people
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will not join the song in the public square, the wholehearted
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example of the believer functions as a needed rebuke to
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them. Absolutely.
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But hold on, let me push back a bit here.
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You are saying saying God demands our whole heart or his
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nature is dishonored? Yes.
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According to the text. To a modern ear that does not
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sound holy, it sounds, well, somewhat egomaniacal.
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I. Can see how people might view it
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that way, right? Because, Barton Bouchier says,
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men are always trying to unite what cannot be united, giving
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half their heart to the world and half to God.
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But is partial praise really that offensive?
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I mean, we are flawed humans. Why is God's demand for our
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entire heart a proper response to reality rather than just a
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deity demanding constant attention?
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That is a highly relevant critique from a modern
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perspective, for sure, but it misunderstands the fundamental
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nature of the Creator. How so?
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Well, if we look at Spurgeon's logic in the text, Jehovah is
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the one undivided God. OK, because his nature is
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perfectly unified. He cannot be acceptably praised
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with a divided heart. A divided heart actually
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dishonors his nature. Oh.
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I see. Think about the mechanics of
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respect. If you give half your attention
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to someone speaking to you, you are signaling that the object of
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your attention is only worthy of a fraction of your respect it.
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Is an insult to their worth. Exactly when dealing with the
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Architect of the cosmos, offering a fraction of your
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heart implies that He is 1 competing interest among many.
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Our whole heart is the bare minimum response to His infinite
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glory. Wow, bare minimum.
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So if the believer is commanded to praise God comprehensively
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from A-Z, they need material, they need a canvas.
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Right. Where do they look?
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Where? Does the psalmist tell them to
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look first, not inward, but outward, at the sheer scale of
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physical creation? Yes, the physical universe.
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This brings us to a shift in the text.
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Verse 2 says the works of the Lord are great sought out of all
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them that have pleasure therein. The text sets up a sharp
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contrast here between God's works and men's works.
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The commentator Martin Guyer, points out that human works die
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and perish quickly. And Spurgeon makes a brilliant
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observation about scale and scrutiny here, doesn't he?
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Yes, he notes that men's works look noble from a distance, but
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they show massive flaws up close.
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God's works, however, grow infinitely greater upon close
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inspection. I have the perfect analogy for
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this. Let's hear it.
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Think about zooming in on a digital photograph.
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You see a beautiful high resolution landscape on your
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phone. From a distance, it looks like a
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flawless piece of art. Right, crisp and clear.
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But the more you pinch the screen and zoom in, the more the
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illusion breaks down. It pixelates.
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Eventually it just falls apart into blocky squares of color it.
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Loses its integrity completely. Exactly.
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Human engineering is the same. A beautifully polished sword
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looks perfect to the naked eye, but under a microscope the metal
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is jagged, scratched and rough. Oh, for sure.
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But if you take a literal work of God, like a leaf from a tree,
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and put it under a microscope, it does not fall apart.
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It reveals stunning microscopic engineering you.
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See the cellular walls? The Stamata opening and closing
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to breathe, the chloroplasts, converting sunlight into energy.
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You zoom in closer and you see molecular machines.
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It gets vastly more impressive the closer you look.
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That perfectly captures the essence of the Hebrew word used
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here for great, which is Godel. Godel, right?
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Benjamin Vice points out that Godel denotes augmentation in
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number, character, dignity, beauty, and riches.
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So. It actually expands, yes.
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The works of Jehovah are augmented in their effects on
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the minds of those who behold them.
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The closer you look, the larger they become in your estimation.
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That is fascinating. And because of this, the text
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gets quite sharp regarding human academics and science.
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Richard Baxter offers a stinging critique.
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Baxter doesn't hold back. Not at all.
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He says that physics and other sciences are not worth a rush if
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they do not seek God. He argues that to see, admire
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and reverence God appearing in his works is the true and only
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philosophy, and the contrary is mere foolery.
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And Thomas Dick adds to that sentiment, right?
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He argues that ignoring the sidereal heavens, the vast
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staggering expanse of the stardy skies, the nebulae, the
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galaxies, is an actual violation of Christian duty.
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A. Violation of duty, That's a
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strong phrase. It is, he says.
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It implies A disregard for the character of the deity.
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It is our absolute obligation to look up and consider the
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immensity of these orbs. We cannot claim to worship the
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Creator while willfully ignoring the sheer scale of what he has
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created to. Take that idea of rigorous
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investigation further. Herman Venema provides a
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fascinating translation of the phrase sought out.
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Oh, I was wondering about that phrase.
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He translates the Hebrew verb as rubbing, beating, or thrashing
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out the kernel of truth. Wait, like an agricultural
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metaphor? Exactly.
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Threshing wheat is intense physical labor.
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You beat the harvested stalks against a hard floor to separate
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the valuable grain from the worthless chaff.
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It takes time, sweat and persistence.
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So. Venima is saying that uncovering
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the greatness of God's works requires that same level of
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intellectual and spiritual exertion.
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Yes. You have to thrash the subject
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to get the grain of truth for the profit of others.
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But how does a modern believer synthesize this intense
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scientific study of nature with the study of scripture without
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slipping into secular philosophy?
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Our culture usually places science and religion at opposite
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ends of the spectrum. The text answers that by citing
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the mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal.
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Oh. Pascal's brilliant on this it.
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Really is, Pascal states philosophy seeks truth, theology
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finds it, but religion possesses it that.
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Is a great quote. So the devout naturalist
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ransacking nature with a microscope, the historian prying
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into hidden facts of human civilizations, and the Bible
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student digging into the minds of Scripture, they are all
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engaged in the exact same holy investigation.
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They're all looking below the surface.
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Right to uncover the hidden wisdom of God's designs, Thomas
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Goodwin notes that there is an infinite pleasure that
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accompanies this study, a joy in discovering the new
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circumstances of mercy that render his work glorious.
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So there is no conflict between studying a cell and studying a
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Psalm. Both are the handiwork of the
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same author. None.
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Whatsoever we. Have this vast array of plural
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works to investigate in creation, but then in verse 3
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the psalmists focus grammatically narrows it.
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Zooms way in, yeah. We go from the plural works of
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the physical universe to 1 singular staggering work in the
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moral universe. Verse 3 says His work is
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honorable and glorious, and his righteousness endureth forever.
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James H Vidal catches this crucial grammatical shift.
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He knows that the text moves from makings the plural things
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made in physical creation to. A singular doing or deed, Yes.
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This singular work eclipses all the other great physical works
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of the cosmos. It is the great mystery of
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redemption here. We hit the absolute core of
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Reformed theology, the doctrine of penal substitutionary
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atonement, the. Cornerstone.
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Spurgeon lays this out with 0 ambiguity.
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He says the bruising of God's dear Son satisfies the demands
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of the law. But let us pause on the
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mechanics of this theology, because it can be jarring for
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some. Definitely to a modern ear, the
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idea of a bruised son paying a blood debt sounds incredibly
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harsh. People constantly ask how a
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loving God could require such a brutal satisfaction of justice.
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Right. It feels incompatible with
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modern concepts of forgiveness, where you simply decide to let
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an offense go. Exactly.
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Just forgive and forget, people say.
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But. It sounds harsh to ears that do
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not grasp the absolute severity of breaking an eternal law.
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In the Reformed view, God is not a frustrated individual deciding
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whether to hold a grudge. He is the righteous judge of the
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universe. That is a crucial distinction.
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If a human judge repeatedly let murderers go free simply because
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he felt loving, we would call that judge corrupt.
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We'd say he wasn't doing his job.
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Right the law must be satisfied the text dismantles the cultural
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critique by explaining the double deed of the substitute,
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the. Double deed, yes.
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Christ did not just endure the negative vengeance due to sin on
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the cross, He also rendered the positive, perfect obedience to
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the Law throughout His entire life.
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Let us break down that double deed for the listener, because
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it is vital to understanding the Westminster Confessions view of
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justification. It is not just about wiping the
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slate clean, is it? Precisely if you owe $1,000,000
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and someone pays your debt, your bank account is now at 0.
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You are no longer in debt, but. You are still impoverished.
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You have nothing. The first part of the double
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deed, enduring the vengeance, wipes the dead of sin.
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OK, that gets us to 0. But the law also demands
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positive righteousness. It demands that you actually
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live perfectly. So the second part of the double
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deed is Christ's perfect flawless obedience being
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credited or imputed to the believer.
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He deposits his infinite righteousness into your empty
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account, Yes. Arthur Pritam adds a beautiful
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insight here. He says Jesus held the law
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within his heart to keep it there forever, rendering perfect
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obedience. That is incredible.
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In Caprice or sudden, unpredictable changes in mood
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has no place in God's government.
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Because the law's demands are met.
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By this double deed, believers can find their assurance of
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eternal peace. So grace is actually magnified
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here because righteousness is fully satisfied, not swept under
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the rug. It is dealt with entirely.
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This singular masterpiece of salvation is accomplished.
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The legal transaction is finished.
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The debt is paid. The righteousness is deposited.
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Gone. And done.
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But human beings are notoriously forgetful creatures.
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Once a crisis is over, we move on.
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How does God ensure his people never lose sight of this
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finished work? That brings us to verses 4:00
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and 5:00. He hath made His wonderful works
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to be remembered. The Lord is gracious and full of
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compassion. He have given meat unto them
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that fear him. He will ever be mindful of His
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covenant Abraham. Wright has a brilliant analogy
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for human forgetfulness in the text the.
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Stone in the water. Yes, he says, human memory of
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God's judgments is often like a stone thrown into water.
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Think about standing by a perfectly still lake and
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throwing a heavy rock into it it.
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Makes a massive splash. A loud splash, right?
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It creates a massive disturbance with concentric ripples
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spreading out in every direction.
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It seems like the water will never be the same.
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But very quickly. Exactly.
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The stone sinks into oblivion, the ripples fade, and the water
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returns to its former smooth, glassy state.
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That is painfully accurate. We talk about a major life
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event, a judgement or a sudden mercy for a few days and then
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our minds just smooth over again.
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You pray desperately during a storm, but a week later you are
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back to complaining about your Wi-Fi.
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That is the smooth water memory. Because man's memory is so
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deeply flawed, God Institute's perpetual physical signs.
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We see physical memorials in the Old Testament, like the Passover
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remembering the bringing out of Egypt.
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And spiritual memorials in the New Testament, like the Lord's
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Supper. William S Klemmer has a
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fantastic quote in the text about this dynamic.
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He states that the most amazing perverseness in man is proven by
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the fact that he does not remember what God has so
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arranged that it would seem impossible to forget.
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Man will inevitably forget yet unless God forces the
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remembrance through physical habits and covenant signs.
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It is just our nature. Look at the word meat in verse
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5. He have given meat unto them
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that fear him. The commentators AR Fawcett and
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Kimchi point out that the literal Hebrew translates to
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booty or spoil. Like wartime spoil.
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Yeah, it refers to the spoil brought by Israel out of Egypt.
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The manna from the sky, the quails.
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It was like wartime booty thrown in their way to feed them in a
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barren wilderness. And.
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Naturally it points forward to the spiritual nourishment of
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Christ. The finest of the wheat.
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This connects. Directly to the covenant of
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grace, which is a compact of eternal love.
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God treats his people with the pity of a Father, not the
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coldness of a distant transactional deity.
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John. Calvin comments on this idea of
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meat, referring to it as God giving his household their
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portion, much like the father of a family provides everything
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necessary for the subsistence of his children.
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So by feeding them daily, God provides a physical pledge of an
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eternal spiritual covenant. William.
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Cooper adds A phenomenal thought about this provision.
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He says carnal men only care that they get the mercies.
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They do not mind where they come from.
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A worldly person is just happy to have food on the table,
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right? But a child of God knows that
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mercy's coming through the Redeemer's hands upon a covenant
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account tastes far sweeter than common mercies.
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It is the difference between finding a $20 bill on the street
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and receiving a $20 bill inside a birthday card from your
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father. That is a perfect way to put it.
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The money is the same, but the relational context changes the
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value entirely. James H Vidal makes a linguistic
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observation about verse 5 that reinforces this eternal context
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too, doesn't he? Yes.
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He notes the parenthetical future tense he will ever be
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mindful of his covenant. Oh, because the rest of it is
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past tense. Exactly.
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Every other clause around it is in the past tense.
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He have made, he has given. But here the psalmist bursts
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into the future tense, celebrating that the past
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favors, the past. Deliveries are just partial
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fulfillments of a promise that remains active forever.
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Delivering his people from Egypt and feeding them in the desert
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requires immense divine energy. But this divine might is not
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just applied to physical liberation, like parting a sea
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or getting people out of slavery.
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No, it goes further it. Is applied to the hardest, most
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resistant task of all, conquering the hostile human
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heart. Verse 6 says He hath showed his
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people the might of his works, that he may give them the
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heritage of the heathen. The text draws A fascinating,
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direct parallel between physical miracles and spiritual wonders.
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Here Wolfgang Musculus talks about how God had to show his
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invincible might against the unbelief of the Jews who were
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terrified of the walled cities in Canaan.
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When the spies came back, they reported seeing giants right?
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Yes, they saw massive impenetrable stone walls and
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they murmured in fear. God had to demonstrate immense
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physical force to drive out the Canaanites and establish his
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people. Think about a walled city like
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Jericho in antiquity. It is sealed off, heavily
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defended, completely hostile to any outside force.
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The gates are barred tight. No one comes in and no one goes
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out. Is locked down.
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And John Gill takes that physical conquest of the walled
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city and applies it spiritually. He says we see the matchless
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energy of the Holy Ghost in regenerating dead souls.
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It's not just about knocking down stone walls in the Middle
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East. No, it is about breaking down
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the hardened, walled off, hostile human mind.
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John Trap brings up a chilling point about judicial blindness
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here. He says sight is a gift given to
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the elect, while others are left to their own native blindness.
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And the commentator Richter adds that the heathen themselves are
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bequeathed to God's people as an inheritance to.
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Draw them in right. The Church takes possession of
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this inheritance to draw them to themselves in the name of Jesus.
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But the mechanism of this drawing is entirely reliant on
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divine force. Now this brings up a massive
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friction point in theology. Is autonomy question exactly?
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Does this idea of divine force overwriting the human will
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contradict the concept of a loving, open invitation?
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If the human mind is a walled off city and God uses matchless
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energy to breach the walls, isn't that a violation of human
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autonomy? If we.
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Lean into the Reformed doctrines of total depravity and effectual
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calling. The answer becomes quite clear.
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Walk us through that. Total depravity means the human
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will is so bound by sin that it is physically and spiritually
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incapable of choosing God on its own.
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It is not merely sick, it is spiritually dead.
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Dead people can't choose a doctor.
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Exactly. Therefore, nothing short of
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matchless divine energy can rescue that soul.
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This is not framed as coercion. It is framed as the ultimate act
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of compassion. Consider a person who is
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drowning and has fallen unconscious under the water.
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If a lifeguard dives in and drags them to the surface by
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source, the lifeguard is not violating their bodily autonomy
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in a malicious way. They're.
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Saving their life. Right, the lifeguard is saving
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their life when they could not save themselves.
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God gives life to those who could not choose it themselves.
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The certainty of this divine rescue operation naturally
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connects to the absolute stability of God's written laws
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and decrees. If God acts with such definitive
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force, we must be absolutely certain that His decrees are
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flawless and trustworthy. Which brings us to verses 7 and
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8. The works of His hands are
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Verity and judgement. All His commandments are sure.
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They stand fast forever and ever, and are done in truth and
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uprightness. Joseph Carroll has a staggering
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insight here regarding how we interpret the events of the
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world. He says when we cannot find the
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meaning of God in His Word, we may find it in His works.
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His works are an infallible comment upon His Word.
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He argues that God acts out his own truths in the theater of
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human history. Providence is a living
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commentary on Scripture. Adam Clark points out that the
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Hebrew word for stand fast is simochim, which means propped up
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or buttressed. Like the flying buttresses
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holding up a massive Gothic cathedral?
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Yes. They can never fail because
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God's Providence preserves the record of what He has done,
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holding up the promises so they never collapse under the weight
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of history. Abraham Wright makes a brilliant
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linguistic observation about the Hebrew word for truth, which is
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emmeth. He notes that emmeth consists of
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elif, mem and Tau, the. First, middle, and last letters
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of the Hebrew alphabet. Exactly.
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This shows that as God is Alpha and Omega, the truth of God is
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the All in all. It encompasses the beginning,
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the middle, and the end of history.
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Right also states that every change God makes in the world,
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every single act of Providence, hits one of three targets.
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What are they? It fulfills A prophecy, it
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executes A threatening, or it delivers on a promise.
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Every act of Providence fulfills A prophecy, executes a threat,
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or delivers on a promise. That is a tight framework.
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Very tight, but how do you read the commentary of God's
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Providence without projecting your own bias onto it?
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If a massive storm hits a city, how do we know if it is a
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threatening or just a weather pattern?
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People are notoriously quick to claim a natural disaster is
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God's specific judgement on a political group they dislike.
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Oh, that is a very real danger. Yeah, but the text grounds the
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answer in the assertion that God is no fickle despot.
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He is not swayed by transient human motives or the political
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circumstances of the hour. Right.
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He isn't acting to the Daily News cycle exactly.
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The commentator Malarious notes the beautiful harmony between
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what God has spoken in the Bible and what He has done in the
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world. Because His works are like gold
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and silver compared to the wood, hay, and stubble of men's
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transient motives, we evaluate Providence strictly through the
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lens of His established written covenant.
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So we use the text to read the world.
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God acts in eternity and for eternity.
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We do not read Providence to guess God's secret will or to
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punish our enemies. We read it to confirm His
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revealed word. If an event does not align with
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the clear character of God revealed in Scripture, we do not
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presume to assign it a specific prophetic meaning.
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That is a vital distinction for you listening to grasp.
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We use the scripture to interpret the event, not the
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event to rewrite the scripture. All these immutable buttressed
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decrees point toward one finished historical reality, the
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redemption of a chosen people and the subsequent awe it
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demands. Let.
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Us move to verse 9. He sent redemption unto his
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people. He has commanded his covenant
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forever holy and Reverend is his name.
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The absolute finality of this act is paramount.
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When God sent redemption to his people in Egypt, he sent not
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just a deliverer like Moses, but an actual tangible deliverance.
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John Trapp says once out of Egypt, ever out of Satan's
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thralled him. The covenant is ratified by
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blood and placed beyond all recall.
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It cannot be undone by human failure.
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Isaac Saunders has a majestic quote in the sources about the
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sheer weight of this concept. He calls redemption a word big
25:04
with weight holding the destinies of the church.
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That is a beautiful way to phrase it.
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He. Says we have never taken the
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wings of the morning to measure the length and breadth of it,
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and that the topic of redemption shall form the chorus of the
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song of the redeemed throughout all eternity.
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It is the one topic that will never be exhausted and.
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Then the verse shifts abruptly to the title of God.
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Holy and Reverend is His name. Oh, this is where Spurgeon gets
25:26
fiery. Spurgeon offers a very sharp,
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almost humorous critique here regarding human ministers
25:32
adopting the title Reverend or Right Reverend he.
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Really goes after them, he. States that he is unable to
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discover any reason why fellow men should reverence us, and
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suspects there is very little in other men to entitle them to
25:44
such a label. He urges that the foolish custom
25:47
should fall into disuse. It is.
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Pretty heavy shade thrown at clergy titles.
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Jon Trapp and George Horne provide some fascinating
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historical context on this idea of reverence, noting that the
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ancient Grecians refused to even speak Jupiter's name out of awe,
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and the Jews would not pronounce the divine name, using
26:04
substitute words instead to avoid blasphemy.
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The weight of a name was taken very seriously.
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I understand the historical weight, but isn't reverend just
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a sign of polite respect today? I mean, it is a cultural
26:15
convention to to identify a pastor.
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Why does Spurgeon and the text itself guard this specific word
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so fiercely for God alone? Because the character of God is
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so completely holy that it should induce actual trembling.
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The word reverend literally means to be feared or to be held
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in awe. Not just to be respected, right?
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To apply a word meant for the terrifying, awe inspiring
26:38
perfection of the Creator to a flawed, sinful Cuban minister
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blurs the line between the Creator and the creature.
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It's not about mere etiquette. It is about an accurate
26:49
reflection of reality. So it elevates the man too high.
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Yes. The text argues that to know God
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best is to rejoice with trembling.
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If you assign that level of awe to a man, you diminish the vast,
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infinite gulf between human frailty and divine perfection.
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God alone is to be feared. If God's name alone is terrible
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and reverend, the only logical, sane human response is to build
27:12
1's entire life around the fear of Him.
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This leads us to the grand conclusion in verse 10.
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The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, a good
27:20
understanding. Have all they that do His
27:22
commandments, His praise, endureth forever?
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John Calvin defines this fear not as elementary terror, like a
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child scared of the dark right, but his comprehensive, practical
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godliness. Samuel Davies, the president of
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Princeton College back in the 1700s, calls it the test of
27:36
common sense. The.
27:37
Test of common sense. Yeah, he says pursuing
27:39
everlasting happiness in the way of holiness is the highest
27:42
rationality, and any supposed wisdom without this fear is
27:46
madness and nonsense. Lancelot Andrews makes a
27:49
fantastic distinction between types of fear here.
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He talks about a dull, lazy fear like the servant and the
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biblical parable who was given a talent of money, grew terrified
27:59
of his master and buried the money in the ground, doing
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absolutely nothing with it just. Paralyzed by it.
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Exactly, Andrews says away with that lazy fear and him into
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outer darkness. True fear actually produces
28:11
justice and action. It is an engine for obedience,
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not a paralysis. The commentator George Bowen is
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one of the most striking analogies in the entire text to
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illustrate this .0. The Niagara Falls one.
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Yes, it is amazing. He considers the genius of
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worldly men, philosophers like Voltaire, Spinoza or poets like
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Lord Byron. He says their genius is like a
28:31
man floating rapidly in a small boat toward the massive Falls of
28:34
Niagara. Heading right for the the.
28:36
Water is roaring. The drop is imminent.
28:38
Destruction is seconds away and instead of grabbing the oars and
28:41
trying to save himself, this man occupies himself by pulling out
28:45
a canvas and drawing an admirable picture of the scenery
28:47
while. He's about to go over the falls.
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He perfectly captures the spray of the water and the color of
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the rocks while completely ignoring the reality that he is
28:55
about to die. That is a devastating picture of
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secular academia. It is a perfect description of
29:01
intellect without the fear of God.
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Their reputations remain intact only because the non religious
29:07
world does not estimate things as God estimates them.
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The world praises the painting. God condemns the man for
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ignoring the waterfall. Henry Smith follows this up by
29:18
teaching that it is not those who speak, write, or preach the
29:21
commandments who have a good understanding, but those who
29:24
actually do them. The scribes and Pharisees had an
29:27
intellectual understanding, but it was a false, vain
29:30
understanding. Enough to condemn them, but not
29:33
to save them. Our.
29:34
Society equates wisdom with sheer data accumulation or
29:38
eloquence. We praise the person who can
29:41
paint the best picture of the scenery while the boat goes over
29:43
the edge. We give them awards for their
29:45
brilliant sociological observation.
29:47
I give them book deals, right? How does a believer maintain the
29:51
supplied science of obedience when the culture around them
29:54
insists they are actually the foolish ones for caring about
29:57
the waterfall? By understanding that practical
29:59
godliness is the ultimate objective test to sanity,
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speculation, orthodoxy, and profound theories without active
30:07
obedience or madness. Without the action, it's
30:10
nothing. Daniel the Superville says the
30:12
fear of God is not only the beginning of wisdom, but the
30:15
middle and the end, the alpha in Omega.
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This ties the entire Psalm together beautifully.
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It. Really.
30:21
Does we? Started with the A-Z acrostic of
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Praise and we end with the Alpha and Omega of Wisdom.
30:27
True wisdom results in a life that breathes out hallelujahs,
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securing a commendation from God that outshines any decoration or
30:33
applause from earthly kings. That brings us full circle,
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perfectly. We started looking at the
30:38
architectural blueprint, the absolute A-Z structure of this
30:42
Psalm. It Evers the vast canvas of
30:44
physical creation, the singular masterpiece of moral redemption,
30:48
the covenant memorials, the sheer might of God conquering
30:52
the human heart, and the requirement of active human
30:55
obedience. It leaves us with a crystal
30:57
clear picture of the Reformed theological framework.
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God's decrees are immutable, His grace is a matchless force, and
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our only sane response is wholehearted act of reverence.
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As we wrap up this deep dive, I want to leave you with a thought
31:12
to Mull over on your own. If Psalm 111 is the perfect
31:15
alphabetical expression of God's character, and the subsequent
31:18
Psalm 112 is meant to be the reflection of those attributes
31:21
in the believer, What does the spelling of your daily actions
31:24
reveal? If someone were to read the
31:26
alphabet of your habits from A-Z, from how you spend your
31:29
money to how you treat your family to what you do in secret,
31:32
would it spell out a hymn of praise to the Creator or a
31:34
tragic monument to yourself? Thank you for joining us, The
31:37
Table. Catch you next time.