Seeing Jesus in Psalm 111

 Psalm 111

Psalms 110 through 117 are relatively short in comparison with the chapters that came before and will come after. So I will include the text of the Psalm in my lesson so we all can make sure to read it and refer to it while considering if we can see Jesus in the Psalm. As always the Psalm reference in the PDF and blog are linked to YouVersion Bible’s web page, and often I link to the comparison page in YouVersion, so you can compare different versions of the Bibles if you are logged in. I believe this is a foundational method to good Bible study.

Main Point: Jesus is our redeemer and you can’t even begin to imagine what He will do for you.

1. 'Praise the Lord ! I will thank the Lord with all my heart as I meet with his godly people. 

2. How amazing are the deeds of the Lord ! All who delight in him should ponder them. 

3. Everything he does reveals his glory and majesty. His righteousness never fails. 

4. He causes us to remember his wonderful works. How gracious and merciful is our Lord ! 

5. He gives food to those who fear him; he always remembers his covenant. 

6. He has shown his great power to his people by giving them the lands of other nations. 

7. All he does is just and good, and all his commandments are trustworthy. 

8. They are forever true, to be obeyed faithfully and with integrity. 

9. He has paid a full ransom for his people. He has guaranteed his covenant with them forever. What a holy, awe-inspiring name he has! 

10. Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom. All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom. Praise him forever!'

Psalms 111:1-10

I am sitting in my usual location at the end of the dining room table with my laptop listening to Zeno play Mighty to Save in my earphones. It is a little bit late by my normal standards these past 111 days of reading through the Psalms. But I’m not too worried about getting done on time since it is a Monday. I have been reflecting on my thoughts yesterday in the church gathering of CLC (City Life Church) Leuven. I saw so much love between people of such diverse backgrounds. I saw so much joy and fellowship. It was so much like a family. I happened to sit at the table in the “cafe time” after worship and message in the hall with the young African woman, Hawa, who shared God’s Word with us. So many people came up to her and thanked her for the teaching. Hawa is an extraordinary, humble, servant-hearted person who, with her husband Jerry, takes the Word of God very seriously. Her insights about the woman who had been healed of bleeding for 12 years was filling everyone in the church with joy and expectation. Why did I take so much time to tell you this? Because I saw praise of the Lord Jesus yesterday before the meeting as we gathered when I spoke to Ronny, during the meeting in the singing and prayer and while I typed a translation of the message in my phone for Eghosasere and her husband Maxwell. There was so much love and hope in the house of God as we gathered. Lyssa spent time sitting at another table at first in the “cafe” and her report of the blessing was even as inspiring as my experience. 

“'Praise the Lord! I will thank the Lord with all my heart as I meet with his godly people.”

Psalm 111:1

I have tears in my eyes as I consider how privileged I am to meet with Godly people every day in my work and to sit and pray and read the Bible every day with those whom I serve. 

What unites God’s people?

JESUS! Please friend join me in giving thanks for the wonderful way God has brought you into contact with His people. We are family, and the psalmist knows exactly how we are bound together in praise of our great God. It is through redemption. 

“He has paid a full ransom for his people. He has guaranteed his covenant with them forever. What a holy, awe-inspiring name he has! “

Psalm 111:9

Most of the English versions of the Bible use the word redemption in this passage in place of the phrase “paid a full ransom” (NLT). The word redemption is charged with 400 million volts of meaning and excitement for anyone who has read the New Testament.

“67 Then his father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and gave this prophecy: 68 "Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited and redeemed his people. 69 He has sent us a mighty Savior from the royal line of his servant David,”

Luke 1:67-69 NLT

Jesus isn’t even born yet, and His uncle knows through the Holy Spirit exactly what the Psalmist was talking about in Psalm 111: none other than Jesus. Please, dear reader, join me in considering Jesus as Zachariah and the psalmist both encourage us to do. Jesus has the greatest name. So many songs are written through the centuries that say just that. 

Worship Jesus as you recognise that the psalmist's words are so much more than hyperbole or clever literary devices. 

“Everything he does reveals his glory and majesty. 

His righteousness never fails.”

Psalm 111:3

Ask yourself, did Jesus ever fail to act righteously? Can anyone bring an accusation of unrighteousness against Jesus that would stick? Jesus accomplished His purpose of being King, revealing the Father and all the majesty of God. No one else in all of history can be this person. No one else shows us the Father.

Listen to the words of Jesus himself and pick out how it resonates perfectly with Psalm 111.

“8 Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied." 9 Jesus replied, "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don't know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you? 10 Don't you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me. 11 Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do. 12 "I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.”

John 14:8-12 NLT

Need I remind you of the works of Jesus? He feeds the people. He made more than enough food for thousands of people from what would have probably not satisfied my own hunger. Astonishing. He came to be with His people, He is coming again and He is still with His people. No one who wants to be with Jesus is left out in the cold. He completely and far beyond the words of the Psalm meets the expectations of the reader now and for all time. I experienced that yesterday and nearly every Sunday of my life, and especially the past 6 months in a place of rest and joy and hope among God’s people. Are there problems? Yes. But are we all hoping in Jesus? Yes! We have no other hope, we have no other saviour, we have no other feeder of our souls and our bodies. I and Lyssa have not worked for a paying employer since 2017. But we are well-fed and housed. We have not endlessly sought jobs or tried to make ends meet by the sweat of our brows to eat. We have worked extremely hard. We have not always known how we are going to pay the bills. But God has provided. We do not work for money or to pay the bills. We work hard. But we trust God to provide literally as this Psalm says, and not just in heaven but now.

As far as giving His people lands, you could see that in so many ways but let's start by having three nationalities. I have three lands. And I am most excited about the fourth, eternal one. But I am continually surrounded by the richness of so many lands. The world comes to my door and to my church. I have been given the wealthiest Ethiopians for friends, the richest Nigerians, the wisest Luxenbourgians, I have the lands of this world at my disposal. They pay my bills, make my soup and cheer my heart. I have been given the world. Do you know what real wealth is now? Love! I am loved beyond imagination by Jesus and His family. You can’t even imagine what it is like to be loved by His people and by Him. There may be conflicts and wobbles and struggles every day, but when I see Jesus in my life and in His word, I am beyond rich. I am invincible. You can’t kill me, you can’t harm me, you can’t steal from me, you can’t trick or deceive me and get away with it. I am protected by Jesus. If you know my Jesus, you will know I have grown in wisdom far beyond what anyone would ever think possible; even I in my wildest imaginations could not believe it. But I know it is true. He is with me. I am seeking Him, and so the words of this wonderful Psalm are true in my life and I promise you, the Psalmist says they will be for you too.

Conclusion:

I see Jesus in everything and believe His word. I can explain it to you if you want to hear. I can go on about it for a long time.

I’m chauffeured around when needed.I’m fed from other people’s gardens.

I have enough to give to many others.

I give joyfully.

I have any work I want.

I have no lack of any good thing.

I see Him in the flowers.

I see Him in the people.

I see Him in His Word.

I see Him in His Church.

I see Him in my family.

I see Him in history.

Why? Because I am owned by Jesus.

I hear His name often as a blessing and as curse. But He is known far and wide.

His deeds are great. They are great in the Bible, but they are great in my heart and in my wife, Lyssa’s heart and in my friends’ and family’s hearts. I have seen the life-changing power of the gospel over and over again. I have seen redemption.

Handwritten  Psalm 111