To Know And Love God

Psalm 111

Do you remember falling in love with someone?  One thing that a person in love does is try and find out all they can about that one they love.  They want to know about where their loved one lives, all about their job, their likes and dislikes.  They want to know what foods they enjoy, their taste in music, hobbies, etc. It is almost as if the one is studying the person they love.  The same should hold true for those who have accepted the Lord Jesus as their Savior, as our psalm reading for this week tells us. Let’s look into this short psalm and see what it can teach us.

The psalmist begins by proclaiming his praise of the Lord, saying that he will praise the Lord with his whole heart (vs. 1).  This isn’t just a small love, or little praise, but one with the whole heart.  This is reminiscent of what Jesus said in Matthew 22:37-38.  We are to love and praise God with all of our heart, completely, totally, and fully devoted.

When we love someone deeply we often tell others all the many things that we love about our loved one.  We will tell them that he or she did this or that wonderful thing for us. We tell others how smart we think our loved one is, how talented they are, what wonderful wavy hair they have, what beautiful blue eyes, etc.  Our psalmist spends most of this psalm telling many of the things about God that he loves (vs. 2-9). He begins saying how those who love God, and find pleasure in Him, will study all He has done. They will try to find out all they can about Him, and spend time in learning and studying all of His works (vs. 2).  This is done by reading and studying the Scriptures

God’s works are mentioned five times throughout these verses.  First, the psalmist tells us that all God does is honorable, glorious, and righteous (vs. 3).  The things He does are not evil, wicked, or harmful to us. That would be the realm of the devil, not God.  He is gracious to us, and full of compassion (vs. 4). He reminds us that God provides for our needs, giving us food, and remembers all of His promises to us (vs. 5).  All He does is done in truth and justice, and His work will last forever (vs. 7-8).

The psalmist saves the mention of God’s greatest work for last, and that is the redemption of mankind (vs. 9).   Scripture provides for us a solution for this great need, that of rescue from sin and eternal separation from God.  He has an eternal plan for rescuing us from our sin and allowing us to enjoy fellowship with Him. That was accomplished by the shed Blood of His only begotten son, Jesus Christ.  Jesus paid the price to free us from slavery to sin. He gave His life as a perfect sacrifice. Now all believers can freely approach God through prayer, and have Him in their lives through the Holy Spirit.

The final verse of this brief psalm tells us how we can obtain wisdom (vs. 10).  Everyone wants to have wisdom, and not go through life bumbling around, making mistakes, and amounting to nothing.  The only way to become truly wise is to fear God - to show Him due reverence and worship (Proverbs 1:7). It is not through life experiences or academic knowledge.  Our true wisdom depends upon our relationship with God. If we do not acknowledge God as the source of wisdom, our ability to make wise decisions will be faulty. We will make mistakes and foolish choices.  The more we obey God, the more insight and understanding He will give us. The more we know His Word, the more wisdom He will give.

Having a fear of God is having a healthy respect for God’s power and authority.  Having a reverence for Him, a combination of love, awe, and dependence built on an accurate knowledge of His power.  Genuine believers have a healthy fear of the Lord, which leads to respect for His commands, precepts, and principles.  Genuine faith in Jesus always results in learning what pleases Him, and then, very importantly, doing that.