Are you a thankful person? More specifically, would others describe you as a thankful person? If you think on that, would you desire to grow in your thankfulness? I ask that because really regardless of how you would answer each of those three questions, Psalm 111 has something to say to us. Maybe not directly how you would think immediately, but most certainly in the context of what is here before us. But since we are really just parachuting into this psalm, it would probably be good to get the lay of the land, as it were, before we go marching off in any one particular direction. As you look down at this particular psalm and the context in which it is, you'll notice that it is one of those that it is an acrostic psalm, meaning that the first letters of each successive line are the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. I mention that because we should expect then that really the flow of this psalm will be carried along by that artistic pattern, done so for the aid in memorization. done so for the aid in recalling to mind, as you would work through in our vernacular, the ABCs. In the Hebrew, you could work through the alphabet, recalling to mind this particular psalm. If you look down at your Bibles, you'll also notice that this is the first, really, of a triad of psalms that begin with the declaration, praise the Lord. 111, 112, and 113, all grouped together in this way. Each really stands upon its own particular theme, but I would encourage you to read all three together, perhaps this Lord's Day afternoon, as there is some continuity when you group all three together. But thirdly, and most importantly, there is a dominant theme. Before we jump into the particulars of this psalm, step back for a second and survey the psalm in its entirety, recognizing that there is this repeated phrase, which is the works of God. Notice the numerous descriptors as you just run your eyes over the text that the psalmist uses to speak of the works of God. He calls them great, full of splendor and majesty. He says that they're wondrous and powerful. He mentions that they're a testimony of faithfulness and justice. So really this exaltation of praise in verse one, praise the Lord, specifically the giving of thanks to God, what we see here is that it flows forth from a consideration of the wonderful works of God. And what we see, or what we are meant to see in the reading and the meditation upon this Psalm is this. Thankfulness is a by-product of the very fruit of considering the works of God. Or to put it another way, for the Christian, growing in their wholehearted thankfulness, it stems from our meditation upon God's works. And so as you think back to your answers of those first three questions, if you want to grow, if you want your heart to overflow with thankfulness, we must not give ourselves to just merely a determination to be thankful, but to a meditation upon God and His works. A helpful corrective as we begin considering this psalm that we so often seek the fruit, but evade the actual means by which the fruit comes to bear. Thankfulness. is a result of the meditation upon God and His works. And this is precisely what the psalmist does and how we will spend the remainder of our time this morning simply meditating upon the wonderful works of God as it's given to us here in Psalm 111. If it's helpful for you, the way that we'll make our way through this Psalm is really through three headings, three pegs that we can hang some thoughts upon. And that would be, first of all, the resolve to praise God for His works. And then we'll see the remembrance of His works. And then lastly, verse 10, the response of His works. There's a resolve, a remembrance, and then lastly, a response. Let's consider first, as we noticed the first four verses, this resolve of the psalmist to praise Him for His works. What sort of praise does the psalmist have in mind here? Just how does he resolve to give thanks to God? We'll notice in verse one, he's resolved to give wholehearted praise. With my whole heart. This would be in contrast to the hypocrite. who can mouth the treasured praise of God with hearts that are far from him. This would be in contrast to the one with a divided heart that attempts to simultaneously praise God and bow down to the idols of his own heart. This would be in contrast to the one with a cold heart who barely raises a murmur of praise. No, the psalmist is resolved here to give thanks to God with a whole heart. The declaration of praise here is an expression, not only of zeal, but of knowledge. For he knows something of God that demands not just passion, but conviction. Because when we encounter the true and the living God, we too become convinced that he is worthy of all that we have and that the image of the whole heart is really the only fitting image that we can offer up to describe what it is that we are offering to God. This is why Calvin was famously and often attributed to saying, I offer my heart to thee, oh Lord, promptly and sincerely. Much of the artwork or some of the symbolic pictures that we have of Calvin are that open hand with the heart. I offer my whole heart promptly and sincerely. The resolve of praise is wholehearted praise, but notice also in verse one, his resolve is to give public praise. The sort of praise, the sort of thanksgiving that the psalmist has in mind here, notice it takes place where? In the assembly. in the midst of the congregation. What he's saying is that I'm not content to just give thanks to God by myself, though I appreciate being out in general revelation and all of the greatness of God's creation. The sort of praise that I have in mind is not there in isolation. The sort of praise that I long to give is in the assembly. It's within the congregation. I am not content to give thanks to God myself. I must do this, he says, really in unison with my people. The sort of praise that I long to give demands to be in the assembly of God's people. This is congregational praise. I want to hear the grovelly baritone of the old man behind me. I want to hear the young girl sing at the top of her lungs in front of me. I want the harmony of the fullness of God's people gathered together, singing of God's fame. That is the sort of praise that I want to give. That is the resolve that this psalmist has. But notice thirdly, he is resolved to give, in verses two and three, God-centered praise. Verse two and three, the psalmist really sets before us here the theme of his praise. It is the works of God that have captured his heart. He says that it is specifically the greatness of the works of God that draw us in, that stir our affections, that point to which we long to study them. It is the splendor, it is the majesty of God's works that have really cultivated these shouts of praise and this desire or resolve. What this means then, brothers and sisters, is it is not the sort of thing that begins with man and his feelings, but God and his works. This is a man who has spent time considering Yahweh, considering his wonderful works, and he is resolved to praise God as a result. How much we need to hear that as we swim in a culture that our first thought is ourselves and how we feel. And we bring that to our praise and how often we are slow to praise or what comes out of our mouth is merely a self-reflective response, not of God and his worth, but us and our feelings, how often in our culture we need to be reminded of the sort of praise, the sort of resolve that God's people are to bring. It's God-centered praise. It begins with God and his worth. And yes, it most definitely penetrates into me and my soul and my need. But the inception point is God. So what do we have here? We have a determined desire to give wholehearted, congregationally celebrated, God-centered praise. Now this is certainly the goal of this very morning, isn't it? This is the goal of every time God's people gather together. And probably for many of us, it's the ideal that we long for in our lives. But if we're honest, the ideal is often a far cry from the reality, isn't it? So how do we cultivate this sort of praise? Because we can say amen to the very resolve that this psalmist has. But if I don't have that in my life, what do I do? How do we cultivate such praise? What drives this sort of resolve within the psalmist? Well, that leads us to the next section. Not only from the resolve to praise, but then he goes on to speak of the remembrance of his works. Because in verses four through nine, what we have here is the recounting really of the various works of God. But notice that they're set off by the statement in verse four, that says God has caused his wondrous works to be remembered. Now in our own lives, some works are just honestly rather forgetful. You try and remember where you went for vacation in 2008. You may have to think a little bit. You try and remember who won the World Series in 1987. Doesn't much matter, but what matters more who won it in 1988. Sometimes you may have to think, or you try and recall things that seem so important in the moment, so monumental as you're experiencing them. But given enough time and enough years, you struggle to remember, what was it that we did? Where were we? What was it that happened then? When you think this is an experience we're going to remember forever, but eventually it fades into oblivion, but not so the works of God. God works in such a way that he causes his wondrous works to be remembered. For they are such strokes of grace and of mercy that the observer is struck by them. They're constantly reminded of them. And so specifically, the psalmist turns his attention to God's work amongst his people, specifically being brought out of Egypt, his provision for them in their wilderness wandering, the giving of the law, and the eventual inheritance into the promised land. Everything that the psalmist goes to has to do with God's dealings with his people, bringing them out of bondage and into the land. Let me just pause to ask you at this point, do you make a practice of calling to mind to remember the wonderful works of God? Do you take time just to pause, to be still, to write them down, to even just turn them over in your mind? Because as God's people, we are to cultivate wholehearted thanksgiving, hearts that overflow with praise, that we offer up to God promptly and sincerely. And in order to do so, we often need to take up this practice of remembrance. Not because the works themselves are forgetful, but because we are forgetful people. The remaining residue of sin causes us so quickly to forget how great God is. And so a part of our worship to him is that spiritual discipline of calling to mind and remembering just what is it that God has done? Just who is this Yahweh that we worship? And so this could be the very structure of our prayers as we give thanks by just recounting and thinking and meditating upon what has he done? Maybe it could be the focus of our scripture reading, where we take time just to recount the works of God as they've been given to us in the scriptures. But here the psalmist just gives us some direction in the matter, because we could go 1,000 different ways when we think of the wonderful works of God. But here, in a sense, is a liturgy for us to think through, to give thanks. What does he list here in remembering? and remembering his works. He says, number one in verse five, we're to remember his provision. We remember his provision. Thematically, it would seem that the sort of food the psalmist has in mind here would be the provision of God for his people as they wandered through the wilderness. wandering through a desert land with finding no home to dwell in God did what he provided bread from heaven each day of their journey as a faithful father he greeted his children each morning with faithful supply. Think of the provision of God. His people were enriched each day, not as a toil of their own labor, but simply by the blessing of a gracious God who provided everything that they needed for their care and for their nourishment. In the following clause of this verse there, the psalmist gives the very reason for this. He says that he provides food for them in verse five. Why? He remembers his covenant with his people. God's unrelenting desire to uphold his covenant with his people, meaning he did not forget his promises that he made to them. And what would that promise be? Well, we're helped here if we recall to mine Exodus chapter 2, the introduction really to God's redemption of his people out of bondage. In Exodus 2, verse 23, we're told, during those many days, the king of Egypt died. The people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. and their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God, and God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob, and God saw the people of Israel, and God knew. God looked upon the affliction of His people, and He remembered His covenant, the promise that He made. And this old covenant example is carried over and unfolds in even greater wonder as we consider the new covenant. For Christ himself, he teaches us to pray, reminding us that God is our father and we are his children. So we pray with great confidence, give us this day our daily bread. Brothers and sisters, think back on your life for just a moment and remember the wonderful works of God and his provision for you and daily bread. Has he ever failed you? Has he ever withheld good from you? Has he not shown himself to be the faithful provider for your life each day, even in the moments when you thought he would not, that you can now look back and say, even there, he has been faithful. What are we exhorted to do? Look to the birds of the air. They sow, they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? We give him thanks, and our hearts are filled with praise when we remember his provision. But what else ought we to remember? Well, in verse six, the psalmist says, we're to remember his power. How good it is for our souls to meditate upon the very power of God. And the specific example that the psalmist calls to mind here is God's powerful working to give his people an inheritance among the nations. Again, think of the theme of God delivering his people, brought out of Egypt, providing for him the wilderness, then brought into the promised land. Think upon his work specifically in his power, his power to bring his people out and in. Just consider for a minute the tremendous displays of God's power that were wrought to bring out his people from Egypt into the promised land. What are we told in the scriptures? I think first of all, just of the parting of the Red Sea and the power of God. Think of that demonstration of the power of God in which God caused the waters to retreat, causing the sea to become dry land. Imagine being one of those families being brought out of Egypt, and through that, as you walk by and see these massive walls of water held up, and you say, Yahweh did this. Yahweh and His power has caused water to stand up vertically, wet ground to be dry, to bring us out. Yahweh has done this. Think also of the parting of the Jordan River. The people of God are attempting to cross the Jordan River. We're told it was during the harvest time when the banks of the Jordan would have been at their highest. If you've grown up in the area around certain rivers, you know how dangerous rivers can be. Our family lived for many years in Nevada County and the American River and the Yuba River. And every year, some uneducated swimmer gets in there and gets in over their head. because of the flowing water. And imagine all of these families coming up to the Jordan River at its highest point and the absolute danger that that would be. But as the priests begin to dip their toe into the waters, the waters upstream begin to be held back. They rise and they say that it stood up in a heap and the people passed over. Yahweh did this. By his great power, he did this. and the conquest of Canaan, the inheritance given to them, it really became this testimony of the powers of God. These were the very stories that went before the people of God that testified of the God that they worshiped. Sihon, the king of Heshbon, Og, the king of Bashan, came out against them in battle, but the power of the Lord defeated them all. These are the very acts of God that went before the people of God that proclaimed the power of God. They literally became the testimony to the nations of who is the God of Israel? Well, they call him Yahweh. Well, what has he done? Well, have you heard of the Red Sea? Have you heard of the Jordan? Have you heard what happened to the kings of Sihon and Bashan? This is literally the testimony that came from Rahab's mouth in Joshua chapter two. Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof and said to them, I know that the Lord has given you the land. and that the fear of you has fallen on us. And all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you, for we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings and the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted. and there is no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. Brothers and sisters, remember the power of his works. Is there anything too difficult for the Lord? Consider the power of his might and then lay them alongside the plight of your particular circumstances. Is there anything too difficult for the Lord? We give him thanks and we find that our hearts are filled with praise when we remember the power of his works. But he says thirdly, in verses seven and eight, we're to remember his precepts. Because not only did God give his people his inheritance, he also, he gave them his word. The wonderful works of God include his precepts. And I believe when we read this in context with the others examples, it would seem to be the psalmist is thinking of or alluding to that moment in Israel's history where God met with Moses on Mount Sinai and gave them his law. And throughout the prophet Moses and his life, then further reveals God's faithfulness and his justice and his trustworthiness through his revelation. Now we know because God's word is really the expression of who he is, we can expect then that his word is just another testimony or reflection of his faithfulness and his trustworthiness and his justice. And so how good it is for us to think upon the wonderful work of God and giving us his word. Do you have a pause to meditate on the fact that the graciousness of God just revealing himself in word, that God condescends in such a way that he gives to us communication of himself that we can comprehend, and that it is not just information, but it is his very breath, meaning that it actually transforms, it creates, it shapes, it causes things to sprout forth that were not there. The precepts of God are yet another reflection of the wonderful work of God. And so we ought to think often about the wonderful treasure that is in God's word. And we read a portion of it this morning in our liturgy in Psalm 19, didn't we? The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. Go read Psalm 19 this afternoon. Just meditate upon the wonderful work of God in giving us his word. We have to think about how God's word is unlike any other human speech. Of course, 2 Timothy 3.16 reminds us that all scripture is actually breathed out by God. Therefore, because that is its source, we know that his word then is profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. We also ought to think upon how God's word is always effectual. How many times throughout the week do you declare something, give instruction to someone, say something and nothing comes to pass? That's much of parenting. How often do you speak? And it seems as if no one is listening. You can walk out right now and say, I demand that it be 90 degrees. It probably won't happen. But think about the effective working of God's word. that every time he speaks, it accomplishes his purpose. That not once in all of eternity has God word gone forth and it not accomplished what he intended. So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth. It shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose it. And it shall succeed for the thing which I sent it. Friends, when we read the scriptures, or we hear them read by someone else, what we are experiencing afresh and anew is the wonderful work of God. The scriptures are the very breath of God given to us in a form that we can lay hold of directly and be transformed by, by the working of his spirit. But number four, we, verse nine, what else should we remember? Well, he says we ought to remember his plan of redemption. says there in verse nine, he sent redemption to his people. How do we fuel our praise? How do we continue to fuel our thanksgiving? We spend time remembering his plan of redemption. So here we look back to the first Exodus and we are reminded of the redemption of God's people out of the bondage of slavery in Egypt. Really the story of redemption is the testimony of salvation through judgment. Think about what happened there on that Passover night. The blood of the innocent lamb provided the covering from God's wrath, and God's people are brought out in the midst of God's judgment. God sent redemption to His people. They are the rescued ones. He is the rescuer. What we see is that Redemption then is not a story of man somehow ascending to self-betterment through moral improvement or through education or through greater compassion for others. It is the story of God stepping into the context of slavery and evil and hopelessness and purchasing a people for himself by the blood of his own son, an innocent sacrifice. Redemption is accomplished and applied by God. And it's yet another expression of his wonderful works. But in looking back here, the redemption of Exodus, we cannot help but look beyond this particular deliverance to the covenant of redemption. The triune God. determined to redeem a people for himself as the father sends redemption to his people by his own son to become the purchase price to ransom sinners from the bondage of sin. He sent redemption to his people. In fact, this is the whole section here. You really could see as a remembrance of the covenant. It is a form of a covenant sandwich here because he began back in verse five, speaking of God, remembering his covenant forever. And then look here in verse nine, he concludes by speaking of the redemption that is ours because God commanded his covenant forever. And as we read of this, we can't help but be reminded of Zechariah's prayer in Luke chapter one. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people. He's raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant. No doubt, Zechariah the priest familiar with Psalm 111 and taking up that very language there of God sending redemption to his people. And we see the ultimate and final fulfillment in God sending his son to be the deliverer. Yes, if we are to remember the wonderful works of God, we must think often upon the redemption that God sends his people. Think often on the grace and the mercy of God. who set his love upon a chosen people for himself. Think often upon the person of Christ, that he is the one who breaks the power of canceled sin. He sets the prisoner free, that it is his blood that makes the foulest clean. And then we say, his blood availed for me. Think often upon the ministry of the Spirit in this redemption. It is the Spirit effectually applying all that Christ has purchased to the credit of His people. It is the Spirit that is working in us all the benefits and all the assurance of being united to God in Christ. Friend, if you're here and if you are wrestling with your own sense of guilt, If you are struggling to find hope in the midst of life, this right here is the most important thing you could ever hear because it is the assurance and the announcement of scripture. The hope for this world and the cure for a guilty conscience is found right here in the promise of the gospel. The promise that life, death, and the resurrection of Christ is the sufficient payment for our sin and the secured assurance and acceptance with God. What we have right here is the very reason why we look to Christ, why we turn from sin, and why we turn to Christ, not because of what we see in ourselves, but because what comes from outside of us, what we hear that God has done and what He has sent. the resolve to praise him for his works, the remembrance of his works. Let's close by looking at verse 10, where we hear of the response, the actual response to his works, where he says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. After looking and laying out all the remembrance of his works, the response to the psalmist is to take up this often repeated phrase of scripture, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. This means that the very center point, the very ground zero, the source and foundation of all of this wisdom is the fear of God. Why? Because when we actually do this, when we actually give ourselves to sufficiently meditate upon the wonderful works of God, our vision then becomes clarified. Our affections then, they're rightly ordered. Our will is galvanized by this one refrain. I fear God. We fear God and not men. For what can man do to me? My God is in the heavens. My God has displayed the power of his works and no one can stand against him. I fear God, not man, because God does all that he pleases. He has given us his word, his counsel stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations. So we look at man, we say, no, I fear God. We fear God and not circumstances. Why? Well, have you seen the power of his works? Have you seen how he rules over the winds and the waves, how he rules over kings and nations? He rules over sickness and health. I fear God, not circumstances, because our God, he's also our heavenly father, and he delights to fulfill and to provide for all the needs of his children. Therefore, we don't fear the unknown of tomorrow. We don't fear our inability to sustain ourselves beyond our next breath, because we fear God. We fear God and not self. How important is this? Because our emotions come and go, our moods rise and fall like the tides, and our opinions are often flawed. Our perspectives are often limited, short-sighted, unable to see the grand horizon of God's working. So we fear God, and we hold fast to his word and his working. Yes, brothers and sisters, a diligent consideration here of the works of God, not only fuels our praise, it convinces us of the wonderful goodness of being those who just, who fear God. The worshipers of God, they're not detached from this world with our heads in the clouds. No, we're firmly grounded. We are walking in wisdom and trusting in Yahweh every season of life. In fact, the only way to walk wisely in a world that has gone mad is to fear God. A Christian is someone who knows something of God, and because they see of God's great grace, then they rightly see themselves as sojourners, as pilgrims, as citizens of heaven. who seek to order their ways and their lives according then to the wisdom of God. And the last stanza of this psalm sums up all this perfectly, doesn't it? His praise endures forever. How greatly we need to attach ourselves to that which will endure forever. Because I don't know about you, but my life is surrounded by the temporal And the temporal can invade and overwhelm and tempt us to believe that the right now, the here, the what I can see and touch is really all that matters. Every day we are faced with this, we consider our health, our homes, Our jobs, our possessions, our news cycle, all testifies to the passing nature of this temporal world. But there is one who endures forever and his name is Yahweh. And he has no beginning, he has no end. He is not subject to the shifting sands of circumstance because he is the sovereign ruler over all creation. His praise endures forever. And because he endures forever, The fame of his name and the song of his praise will endure forever. So when we gather together on the Lord's day, we are intentionally laying down that which will pass away and we're taking up our eternal vocation, the praise of God. We are one day closer to this great eternity when we will be gathered together with the full congregation, the upright from every generation, and dwelling together in our resurrected bodies, we will continue to revel in and to speak of the wonderful works of God. And think about it. This praise will never diminish. We will never come to a last verse with nothing more to sing of his worth. There will never come a moment when our conversation will stop and we'll just stare blankly at one another with nothing else to say about God and his great grace. His praise will endure forever. So may God continue to press upon us the immensity of his worth and cause us to be a people who are resolved to give him thanks and praise that he is due.