Psalm 111 Summary - 5 Minute Bible Study

Psalm 111 Short Summary:

Psalm 111 is all about the great works of God. The psalmist worships the Lords for all the wonderous things He has done through the centuries. God’s works were and forever will be wonderous, faithful, trustworthy, and admirable.

Psalm 111 Summary

AUTHOR:

• The author of Psalm 111 is unknown.

NEW TESTAMENT REFERENCES:

• No Known New Testament References.

THEMES:

• God is to be worshipped because of all His praiseworthy and wonderous deeds.

DEFINITIONS:

• Fear of God (111:10) - In modern vernacular, we use the word “fear” to talk about things that terrify us, often things that we perceive want to do us harm. However, when the Scriptures talk about the “fear of God” it carries a richer meaning. Yes, we should be terrified of what will happen to us if we live in rebellion to God, but the “fear of God” is also to affect those who love Him. In the Bible, fearing the Lord means showing God the respect due to Him for how great He is. It is holding Him in appropriate reverence as a God of love and as a consuming fire (Deuteronomy 4:24).

OUTLINE:

• THE WORKS OF GOD ARE TO BE ADMIRED (111:1-10):

  • This chapter is all about admiring God’s deeds and worshiping Him for His great works.

  • The psalmist recounts some of God’s works, including His grace, His faithfulness, how God gives food to those who respect Him, how He gave the Israelites the Promised Land, how He redeems His people, and how He always keeps His covenants (promises).

  • The psalmist described God’s works with adjectives like majestic, wonderous, powerful, trustworthy, faithful, upright, awesome, and holy.

  • He wrote that God’s works were studied by all who loved Him.

  • He concluded the psalm with a statement about wisdom, writing, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (111:10).

APPLICATION:

• Do you want to be wise?

• How do you get started on the path to wisdom?

• This psalm tells us…

• Wisdom begins with the fear (respect) of the Lord.

• How do we learn about God? How do we grow to respect Him?

• We learn about His works, His deeds throughout the centuries.

• Where can we read about those?

• In the Bible! If you want to become wise, learning about God from the Bible is a good place to start.