The Alphabet of Adoration Text: Psalm 111
Introduction: Structured Spontaneity
We live in an age that prizes raw, unfiltered emotion as the hallmark of authenticity. In our worship, this often translates into a suspicion of form, a distrust of liturgy, and a preference for what feels spontaneous over what is structured. The assumption is that true praise must be a sort of spiritual firefly, beautiful but fleeting, and that to capture it in a jar of doctrinal or poetic structure is to kill it. But this is a profound misunderstanding, not only of worship, but of reality itself.
The God who made the cosmos is a God of breathtaking order. The laws of physics, the spiral of a galaxy, the genetic code, the seasons in their turn, all testify to a divine mind that loves structure. And when His Spirit inspires His people to praise Him, He does not suddenly become an advocate for chaos. Psalm 111 is a powerful rebuke to our modern sensibilities. It is an acrostic psalm, meaning each line begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet, from Aleph to Tav. This is not the work of a man overcome by a sudden, inarticulate burst of feeling. This is the careful, deliberate, thoughtful construction of a spiritual architect. It is praise built with bricks and mortar. It is a declaration that the highest worship involves the whole man, mind included, using the very building blocks of language, the alphabet, to construct a durable monument to the glory of God.
This psalm is a systematic recital of God's resume. It moves from the personal resolve to praise, to the public declaration of that praise, to the reasons for that praise, which are the mighty works of God in creation and redemption. It is a catechism in poetic form, designed to be learned, memorized, and sung by the congregation, so that the foundational truths about God's character would be woven into the very fabric of their minds and hearts. It teaches us that true worship is not less passionate for being structured; rather, the structure provides the riverbanks that allow the river of praise to flow with power and depth.
The Text
Praise Yah! I will give thanks to Yahweh with all my heart, In the council of the upright and in the congregation. Great are the works of Yahweh; They are sought by all who delight in them. Splendid and majestic is His work, And His righteousness stands forever. He has made His wondrous deeds to be remembered; Yahweh is gracious and compassionate. He has given food to those who fear Him; He will remember His covenant forever. He has declared to His people the power of His works, In giving them an inheritance of the nations. The works of His hands are truth and justice; All His precepts are faithful. They are upheld forever and ever; They are done in truth and uprightness. He has sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever; Holy and fearsome is His name. The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom; Good insight belongs to all those who do His commandments; His praise stands forever.
(Psalm 111 LSB)
The Resolve for Public Praise (vv. 1-3)
The psalm begins with a command and a commitment.
"Praise Yah! I will give thanks to Yahweh with all my heart, In the council of the upright and in the congregation. Great are the works of Yahweh; They are sought by all who delight in them. Splendid and majestic is His work, And His righteousness stands forever." (Psalm 111:1-3)
The opening shot is "Hallelujah!" Praise Yahweh. This is not a suggestion, but a summons. Following this, the psalmist makes it personal: "I will give thanks." But notice the totality of the commitment. It is "with all my heart." This is not half-hearted, distracted, going-through-the-motions religion. This is total engagement. But this internal, whole-hearted praise is not meant to stay private. It must find its voice "in the council of the upright and in the congregation." Christianity is not a religion for hermits. Your private devotion is the fuel for your public worship. We are saved individually, but we are saved into a body, a congregation, an assembly. The faith is corporate from start to finish.
And what is the substance of this praise? "Great are the works of Yahweh." God is known by what He does. We do not worship a vague, abstract principle, but the God who acts in history. His works are not small or trivial; they are great. And because they are great, they invite inspection. They are "sought by all who delight in them." This is a divine mandate for study. If you delight in an artist, you will study his paintings. If you delight in God, you will study His works of creation (science), His works of providence (history), and His works of redemption (theology). Apathy toward theology is a failure to delight in God.
His work is not just great in scale, but in quality. It is "splendid and majestic." There is an aesthetic glory to what God does. It is beautiful. And unlike the fleeting achievements of men, "His righteousness stands forever." His character, expressed in His work, is the one permanent, unchanging reality in the universe. Everything else is flux; His righteousness is bedrock.
The Remembered Covenant (vv. 4-6)
The psalmist now moves to the specific character of God's works, focusing on His covenant faithfulness.
"He has made His wondrous deeds to be remembered; Yahweh is gracious and compassionate. He has given food to those who fear Him; He will remember His covenant forever. He has declared to His people the power of His works, In giving them an inheritance of the nations." (Psalm 111:4-6)
God does not want His people to have short memories. He builds memorials into the life of His people. The Passover, the Sabbath, the stones taken from the Jordan, all were designed to make His deeds "to be remembered." And what is the headline of these memorials? It is the character of God Himself: "Yahweh is gracious and compassionate." This is the central revelation of God's name to Moses in Exodus 34. His grace (giving us what we do not deserve) and His compassion (not giving us what we do deserve) are the engine of His relationship with His people.
This grace is not just an attitude; it is practical. "He has given food to those who fear Him." This refers to the manna in the wilderness, a tangible sign of His daily provision. But this provision is not arbitrary. It is a function of His promise: "He will remember His covenant forever." God feeds His people because He has sworn an oath to be their God. His pantry is stocked by His promise.
The ultimate display of His power in the Old Testament was the conquest of Canaan. He "declared to His people the power of His works, in giving them an inheritance of the nations." God is the sovereign landlord of the planet. He evicts wicked tenants and gives the property to His people. This is a staggering claim. It establishes that God's covenant purposes are not just "spiritual"; they have teeth in the real world. He rearranges the geopolitical map to keep His promises. This is a foreshadowing of the Great Commission, where the Son is given the nations as His inheritance (Psalm 2:8).
The Foundation of Reality (vv. 7-9)
The psalmist now grounds God's works and covenant in the perfection of His eternal law.
"The works of His hands are truth and justice; All His precepts are faithful. They are upheld forever and ever; They are done in truth and uprightness. He has sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever; Holy and fearsome is His name." (Psalm 111:7-9)
There is a perfect harmony between what God does ("the works of His hands") and what God says ("all His precepts"). His actions are characterized by "truth and justice." His laws are "faithful," meaning they are reliable, trustworthy, and firm. You can build your life on them. In fact, you are building your life on them whether you acknowledge it or not. God's law is the grain of the universe. You can either go with the grain, which is wisdom, or go against it, which is folly and splinters.
Because God's precepts are reflections of His own character, they are "upheld forever and ever." They are not culturally conditioned suggestions. They are permanent fixtures of reality. They are "done in truth and uprightness." The moral law is not arbitrary; it is the transcript of God's own nature.
This God of truth and justice is also the God of salvation. "He has sent redemption to His people." The Exodus was the great type, the down payment on a greater redemption to come. And this redemption flows from His covenant, which He has "commanded forever." A covenant is not a negotiation between equals. It is a sovereignly imposed decree. And all of this, His works, His law, His redemption, reveals His character, His reputation, His name. And what is that name? It is "Holy and fearsome." He is utterly separate from sin, pure, transcendent. And because He is holy, He is fearsome. He is not safe. He is not a tame lion. He is an all-consuming fire, and to know Him is to be filled with a profound and reverent awe.
The Beginning of Everything (v. 10)
The entire psalm, this entire alphabet of adoration, builds to its great conclusion, which is the practical application for all of mankind.
"The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom; Good insight belongs to all those who do His commandments; His praise stands forever." (Psalm 111:10)
Given everything we have just recited about God, what is the only sane, rational, logical response? It is to fear Him. This is not the cowering dread of a slave before a tyrant. This is the reverent, trembling, joyful awe of a creature before his holy and fearsome Redeemer. It is the loving submission of a son to a great and good father. And this fear is not the end of knowledge; it is the "beginning of wisdom." You cannot begin to think straight about anything, whether it is biology, ethics, politics, or art, until you have first oriented yourself correctly to the God who made and defined it all. All godless philosophies are therefore doomed from the start. They are trying to start their studies in the middle of the alphabet.
And this wisdom is not an abstract, intellectual affair. "Good insight belongs to all those who do His commandments." True understanding is forged in the furnace of obedience. You don't just think your way into the truth; you live your way into it. As you walk in His ways, the lights come on. The world starts to make sense. Doctrine becomes doxology.
Which brings us full circle. The psalm began with "Praise Yah!" and it ends with the declaration that "His praise stands forever." The ultimate purpose of creation, redemption, law, and wisdom is the eternal praise of the Triune God. The universe is a great cathedral, and we were created to be the choir.
The Word Made Flesh
This entire psalm is a portrait of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one through whom the "great works of Yahweh" were made (John 1:3). He is the embodiment of God's "splendid and majestic" work, the very radiance of God's glory (Heb. 1:3). His righteousness is the righteousness that "stands forever," and is imputed to us by faith.
Jesus is God's greatest "wondrous deed," the ultimate memorial instituted in the Lord's Supper, where we remember that God is "gracious and compassionate." Jesus is the true "food" from heaven, the bread of life given to those who fear God (John 6:35). He is the fulfillment of the covenant that God "will remember forever." It is through Christ that we receive the "inheritance of the nations."
The works of Christ are "truth and justice." He is the Word made flesh; He did not just speak the precepts, He embodied them. He is the "redemption" God has sent to His people. And in Him, we see the "holy and fearsome" name of God, for He is both the Lamb of God who takes away our sin and the Lion of Judah who will judge the earth.
Therefore, to fear Yahweh is to bow the knee to Jesus Christ. To have wisdom is to follow Him. To do His commandments is to love Him and keep His word. And to offer praise that stands forever is to join the great chorus of heaven and earth, singing "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!" (Rev. 5:12). From Aleph to Tav, from beginning to end, it is all about Him.