Psa 111:3-6 “Great Are the Lord’s Works” Part 2

Psa 111:3  His work is honourable and glorious: and his righteousness endureth for ever.
Psa 111:4  He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion. 
Psa 111:5  He hath given meat unto them that fear him: he will ever be mindful of his covenant. 
Psa 111:6  He hath shewed his people the power of his works, that he may give them the heritage of the heathen. 

God’s elect are that “honourable and glorious” work of his hand (Eph 2:10) that is witnessing that “his righteousness endureth forever”. God gives us power for that reason (Rev 11:3) to witness of His greatness, and it is through the “wonderful works” (Psa 107:31) that we are remembered or are used as a memorial to the rest of the world. That memorial of both Christ and His Christ is expressed in the wave sheaf offerings, the first one that represents Christ and the second one that represents His body, the elect (Christ Lev 23:10-15; The Elect Lev 23:16-18, Jas 1:18; Christ Col 1:15-18, Act 26:23; The Elect Exo 16:32, 1Co 10:16, Col 1:24, Gen 37:7).

Lev 23:10  Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: 
Lev 23:11  And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. 
Lev 23:12  And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD. 
Lev 23:13  And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin. 
Lev 23:14  And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 
Lev 23:15  And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: 
Lev 23:16  Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD. 
Lev 23:17  Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD. 
Lev 23:18  And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the LORD, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the LORD.

This month of November has been one of remembering the soldiers who have died and the sacrifices that were made for many of the liberties which we experience in our lives today, and yet God says that was all a type and shadow, a perishing crown regardless of what side of any war you were on (2Co 4:15, 1Co 9:25), in contrast to our dying daily experience that is creating a memorial or a crown which does not perish and that will witness to all the world of what His righteousness, his workmanship can produce through Christ. No sacrifice made on the battle field to gain physical land is comparable to the sacrifice which God has made through Christ’s flesh and through the body of Christ and the order of God’s plan and the meaning behind the sacrifice of Christ and His body revealed in these wave sheafs that we just read (1Pe 1:19, Heb 10:29, Php 3:8).

1Pe 1:19  But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 

Heb 10:29  Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

Php 3:8  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,

It is comforting to remember this promise “The LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:” after looking at those verses (1Pe 1:19, Heb 10:29, Php 3:8).

This promise of God tells us with no uncertainty that God can and will save all of humanity. The question it poses is when and how will God save all humanity, not whether He will, which is a forgone conclusion.

Isa 59:1  Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

1Jn 2:2  And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

1Ti 4:10  For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.

God’s hand is not shortened, neither is His ear heavy in matters of saving all of His creation, and we are told in John 18:9 “That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none”.  Just prior to this verse Christ uttered these words: “Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he: if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way:” 

Joh 18:6  As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground. 
Joh 18:7  Then asked he them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. 
Joh 18:8  Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he: if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way: 
Joh 18:9  That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none. 

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

A distinction is being drawn for us between “of them which thou gavest me have I lost none” and Christ saying “let these go their way”. It is this physical moment that reveals the spiritual reality (Rom 1:20) that those who were his disciples indeed (Joh 8:31) were predestined from the foundation of the world to be “of them which thou gavest me have I lost none”.

When the disciples received the holy spirit on Pentecost, then they were equipped to lose their life by whatever means God had predetermined for them, and just as surely as they were not physically apprehended the night that Christ said “let these go their way”, so it is true that God’s elect will not be spiritually apprehended by any. “There shall not an hair of your head perish” (Luk 21:12-18) is a spiritual statement that attests to this fact along with such verses as these:

Luk 21:18  But there shall not an hair of your head perish.

Mat 24:24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

1Co 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

Mat 16:18  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Mat 20:23  And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.

Php 1:6  Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

1Pe 4:1  Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh (Col 1:24, Jer 22:29), arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
1Pe 4:2  That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God [Rev 2:10].

Col 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

Jer 22:28  Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?
Jer 22:29  O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD. [Joh 17:17, Rev 4:8]
Jer 22:30  Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.

These words of Christ in John 18:8 explain to us how God’s ways our not our ways of, and how our Father had planned to “redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons”. The whole lump is holy (Rom 11:16) however there is a process and order to how God’s kingdom is going to fill all the earth (Mat 13:31-32, Heb 2:16, Gal 3:16, Mat 13:33, 1Co 15:23, Deu 16:16).

Joh 18:8  Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he: if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way: 

Isa 55:7  Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Isa 55:8  For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
Isa 55:9  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Gal 4:4  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
Gal 4:5  To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

Mat 13:31  Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:
Mat 13:32  Which indeed is the least of all seeds [1Co 1:26]: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.

Heb 2:16  For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

Gal 3:16  Now to Abraham [Christ] and his seed [his Christ] were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many [Mat 22:14]; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

Mat 13:33  Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven [Gal 3:16], which a woman took [the church], and hid in three measures of meal [O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.”Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”], till the whole was leavened [process of knowledge increasing in the church Col 1:24, Eph 3:10].

1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

Deu 16:16  Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:

God must grant His people to “seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near” and we are given his spirit which will enable us to be faithful as Christ our true Shepherd was when he said “Jesus answered, I told you that I am he: if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way:”

Peter wanted to be that man with all his heart who sought the Lord with all his heart “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near”, but alas, without God’s spirit he remained a hireling as we all would be except for the grace and faith of God that is saving us and giving us the power to lay down our lives as we die daily and put sin out of our lives little and by little.

Mat 26:33  Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.
Mat 26:34  Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.
Mat 26:35  Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples.

Joh 10:12  But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
Joh 10:13  The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.
Joh 10:14 I am the good shepherd, [Col 1:27, Amo 3:7, Rom 5:5] and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

Exo 23:30  By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.   By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.

“Great are the Lord’s works” which are saving His people today, and as we will see in these four verses which we will look at in our study today, God has purposed that greatness to witness to the world of His power and love towards us as His very precious kind of “firstfruits”  who are experiencing true discipleship as we grow in love and power and soundness of mind through the increase that He alone can give (Joh 13:35).

Jas 1:18  Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Mat 7:21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?  [those who did not enter into the kingdom in this age [Luk 17:21, Rom 8:9] will speak those words of Matthew 7:22 in the second resurrection]

What will it take to mature those first fruits who are called out of Babylon to endure unto the end? [2Co 6:17, Mat 24:13]

Peter gives us the clear inspired answer to that question for God’s elect that is as relevant today as it was then, and so we are told, “But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.”

1Pe 4:1  Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
1Pe 4:2  That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
1Pe 4:3  For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:
1Pe 4:4  Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:
1Pe 4:5  Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick [Rom 6:11, 1Pe 4:17] and the dead [the rest of the dead 1Pe 4:18].
1Pe 4:6  For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh [Mat 24:14, Col 1:28], but live according to God in the spirit [this verse explains the timing of when all those who have been preached to will then be alive in the great white throne judgement, lake of fire, living according to God in the spirit Mat 12:36, Isa 55:11]. We cannot “live according to God in the spirit” until we have his spirit within us (Rom 8:9).

Now speaking to God’s elect:

1Pe 4:7  But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
1Pe 4:8  And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.
1Pe 4:9  Use hospitality one to another without grudging.
1Pe 4:10  As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
1Pe 4:11  If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange [2Co 11:13-14] concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings [in the flesh Heb 4:15, 1Pe 4:1-2]; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. [Mat 24:13]
1Pe 4:14  If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.
1Pe 4:15  But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters.
1Pe 4:16  Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. [Don’t be ashamed of your suffering but rather rejoice because “the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you” making it possible for you to be an overcomer in Christ]
1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
1Pe 4:18  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? [this verse (1Pe 4:18) gives us the right perspective we need as we see God’s sovereignty working all the details, the light and the darkness, the good and the evil, all according to the counsel of His will (Isa 45:7, Eph 1:11)]
1Pe 4:19  Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God [in the flesh (1Pe 4:1-2)] commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator [Pro 3:5-8, Rom 12:1].

Psa 111:3  His work is honourable and glorious: and his righteousness endureth for ever.

As we’ve been seeing all along, our flesh does not initially understand that “His work is honourable and glorious” and we would rather say to God “why have you made me thus” (Rom 9:20) or (Isa 5:20-23).

This is what we naturally do in our flesh before we are judged, because the way that seems right to us leads to death (Pro 14:12), and it is not in the heart of man to direct his steps (Jer 10:23), which again explains why the Lord says “my ways are not your ways” (Isa 55:7-9), and why we can now easily contrast these two verses (Isa 45:7, Isa 5:20-22) to see where all our problems come from when we try to understand God while not yet being able to consider his goodness and severity, the light and the darkness, the peace and the evil, that he works for the overall good of all of his creation (Rom 11:22).

We are God’s workmanship that He is giving “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2Co 4:6) and His word tells us that the latter end is more blessed than the beginning (Job 42:12), and although we can’t fully fathom all the suffering that has to transpire until that good end, against the back drop of eternity God says this is the best way to do things and declares from the beginning that “his righteousness endureth for ever”.

Psa 111:4  He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion. 

There are many verses throughout the bible that demonstrate this principle of how God “made his wonderful works to be remembered” and we might think that the creation week is perhaps the greatest of all of those works, but it is merely laid out for our benefit to see the greater spiritual creation that God is forming within us through Christ. 

Although God “made his wonderful works to be remembered”, he also made mankind to have a very short-term memory in regard to those works that we so often take for granted, just as we can easily take the spiritual creation that He is forming within us for granted.

Exo 6:6  Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: 

Psa 106:21  They forgat God their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt; 

Mal 3:8  Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
Mal 3:9  Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
Mal 3:10  Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
Mal 3:11  And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.

While we are in these marred vessels of clay “the LORD is gracious and full of compassion” to His people, and He has predestined us to fall a complete seven times in this initial light coming out of darkness process to which we are called unto, and it is because He changes not that we are not destroyed as He continues to prepare our hearts and work with us to the end that none will be lost.

Pro 24:16  For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.
Pro 24:17  Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth:

Mal 3:6  For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
Mal 3:7  Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return? [another variation of Rom 9:20].

Psa 111:5  He hath given meat unto them that fear him [Pro 9:10, Ecc 12:13]: he will ever be mindful of his covenant. 

Let us go “without the camp”, where we will find that “meat” to sustain us through this life as we bear “his reproach”.

Heb 13:13  Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.
Heb 13:14  For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.
Heb 13:15  By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

Gal 6:2  Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
Gal 6:3  For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.
Gal 6:4  But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.
Gal 6:5  For every man shall bear his own burden.

Perfect love has no fear, and growing in this love of God is a gift and process that takes a lifetime of overcoming and of being faithful in the little things as God forms within us the mind of Christ that will be faithful in much. God’s faithfulness toward us in this process of growing in grace and knowledge is reflected in this verse’s statement “he will ever be mindful of his covenant“.

Luk 16:10  He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.
Luk 16:11  If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
Luk 16:12  And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own?
Luk 16:13  No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

1Th 5:24  Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. 

Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. 

Psa 111:6  He hath shewed his people the power of his works, that he may give them the heritage of the heathen. 

Without Christ working in us both to will and to do of our Father’s good pleasure, we would never be able to endure until the end of our age. 

Mat 24:13  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Php 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

But “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? ” (Heb 1:1-5).

1Jn 3:1  Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
1Jn 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
1Jn 3:3  And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Amo 3:6  Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it? 
Amo 3:7  Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. 
Amo 3:8  The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy? 

It is this hope within us, this pearl of great price, our hope of glory within that is making it possible for us to be overcomers in Him [overcoming the heathen within], and God is doing this for His elect “that he may give them the heritage of the heathen“.

“Great are the work’s of the Lord” and mighty are the hands of our God that are not shortened that they cannot save, not his ears heavy that he cannot hear.

Deu 26:8  And the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders:

Isa 59:1  Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:

Next week, Lord willing, we will look at part three of our study entitled “Great are the works of the Lord” where we will look at the last four verses of Psalm 111 where we are reminded again of the process of judgment which God’s people go through first, the redemption which He sends to His people first, in the church where “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom”. We are a living testimony of His faithfulness as He sends redemption to His kind of first fruits who are learning the “fear of the Lord” (Ecc 12:13).

Psa 111:7  The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure.
Psa 111:8  They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.
Psa 111:9  He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name.
Psa 111:10  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.