Studying God’s Works and Submitting to God’s Will (Psalms 111–114)

Awe begins where attention lives. We open Psalms 111–114 and follow a path from studying God’s works in creation to trusting his hand in history and obeying his word in the present. From electric eels to the Cavendish Laboratory, we connect scientific wonder with the psalmist’s claim: Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them. That study does not stop at atoms and galaxies; it moves into redemption, memory, and song.

We then shift to Psalm 112 to ask what kind of person thrives when headlines turn hard. The picture is not of a perfect saint but a steady heart: one who fears the Lord, delights in his commands, and refuses to let bad news define ultimate reality. Faith does not pretend pain is good; it trusts that God is good in the middle of it. Think shipwrecked yet safe—surrounded by trouble but on the solid ground of God’s sovereign plan.

Psalm 113 lifts our gaze to a God who reigns above the nations and still stoops to raise the lowly. We talk about praise that runs from sunrise to nightfall and the comfort of being seen in both longing and fulfillment, with Hannah’s story as a template for hope without cliché. Finally, Psalm 114 compresses the exodus and reminds us that seas, rivers, and mountains obey the voice of their Maker. If creation responds, should we not respond with obedience, trust, and praise? Come reflect with us, steady your heart, and renew your yes to God’s wise will.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Power And Character In Psalms 111–114
• 2:34 Creation As A Classroom Of Wonder
• 4:19 Cavendish Lab And Psalm 111
• 5:32 Beyond Nature: Grace And Redemption
• 7:02 Psalm 112 And The Fear Of The Lord
• 8:42 Firm Hearts Amid Bad News
• 11:00 Festival Praise In Psalms 113–114
• 13:12 God Sees, Cares, And Lifts The Lowly

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 1:37

Today on our wisdom journey, we arrive in Psalms 111 through 114. We're reminded that both God's power and his character are demonstrated through his works. Of course, God is at work in you. His work in you includes aligning your character with his character as you learn to be consistently obedient to his word. Stephen Davy will help you understand this better in a lesson he's called studying God's Word and Submitting to God's will.

SPEAKER_00: 2:14

In my study, I have learned that before mankind discovered electricity, the electric eel was generating 700 volts of electricity all by himself. Before we learned to navigate the seven seas, birds were flying from the Arctic to the Antarctic, landing at exactly the same nesting site year after year. Before mankind ever designed suspension bridges, spiders were demonstrating engineering brilliance. Before we ever developed systems of paper production, wasps were manufacturing their own type of paper. He can't help but marvel and agree with the psalmist here in Psalm 111, verse two. Great are the works of the Lord studied by all who delight in them. Sounds like an invitation to me to study the creative works of God. I think of the Cavendish Laboratory over in Cambridge, England. It was established back in 1874, renowned for many discoveries made there in various scientific fields. Nobel Prize-winning scientists have worked in that laboratory. That's where the electron and the neutron were discovered. This laboratory was instrumental in the discovery of quantum mechanics, things like the cloud chamber, the double helix structure of DNA. Amazing, amazing discoveries. But I found it interesting to learn that over the doorway into that original Cavendish laboratory was carved this verse I just read from Psalm 111. Great are the works of the Lord studied by all who delight in them. Now God's creative handiwork goes way beyond the physical creation. It will include his acts of grace and mercy and deliverance and blessing. In fact, the psalmist seems to be thinking about that here in verse four, where he writes, He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered. The Lord is gracious and merciful. Verse 9 highlights the fact that God sent redemption to his people. So this psalm is teaching us that in many ways our hearts need to become laboratories. We need to meditate on and catalog, if you will, our observations of the world around us. They're going to point us to the marvel of our Creator God. These acts of God's grace show us the wonder of our redeeming God. In fact, the more we learn about God, the more reason we have to sing right here with this psalmist. Great are the works of the Lord studied by all who delight in them. Well now, Psalm 112 is the perfect companion to Psalm 111. Psalm 111 highlights the work of God. What kind of person worships God? Well, verse 1 begins to answer that question. Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments. I've heard it said that the person who fears the Lord isn't afraid of anyone else, and in a sense that's true. It's impossible to be worshiping and worrying at the same time. Well, now down here in verse 7, the psalmist says this of the righteous. And by the way, the righteous isn't someone who's perfect. The righteous is someone who is right with God. He says this He is not afraid of bad news. His heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. Well, now that doesn't mean bad news isn't going to happen, and it doesn't mean that we're going to make bad news sound like good news. Now the psalmist is effectively telling us that in spite of bad news, we can have confidence that God is in control of that news. He's unfolding his will for our lives, and that's going to include good news and bad news alike. I've also heard it said that we are at our spiritual best when we are shipwrecked on the island of God's sovereignty. Shipwrecked? Yeah, that's by the way, that's bad news. That's trouble. And that that means trouble's all around you. You're on an island, you got broken pieces. Maybe right now you've got a broken heart. Beloved, let me tell you that although you might be shipwrecked, so to speak, you are shipwrecked on the island of God's faithful, sovereign plan. You're not alone either on that island, and that's good news. Well now we come to these next two psalms, Psalm 113 and Psalm 114, and they're in a grouping of songs that are sung at Jewish festivals. They would be sung at Passover and Pentecost and Tabernacles, even to this very day. Verse one tells the people, Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord. This phrase here for servants of the Lord, this is a reference to the entire nation of Israel. You know, it's possible that a copy of this psalm, this hymn, composed in exile, was carried by the people back to Jerusalem when they returned, and now they're invited to sing it. The psalmist writes here in verse three, from the rising of the sun to its setting. In other words, make this your priority for the day, worshiping, trusting, uh, following the Lord from the time you get out of bed there at the rising of the sun until you're drinking that cup of hot chamomile tea with a teaspoon of honey like I do before going to bed at night. From the rising of the sun to the setting of the sun. Sing this. Praise the name of the Lord. Now, in the next couple of verses, the psalmist is going to place God's throne above the nations. In fact, even as high as the heavens, even above the heavens. That's what he says here in verse 6. He says, Our high and exalted God looks far down on the heavens and the earth. Now, this doesn't mean that God gets curious every so often and wants to find out what's going on down here. It means that God cares about what's going on down here. This is an expression here of compassionate love for his people. Now we know that because in verses 7 to 8, the psalmist immediately brings up the kind of praise sung years earlier by Hannah, the mother of Samuel, when she praised God for that little boy's birth. The psalmist writes here that kind of lyric in verse 9. He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the Lord. You know, that's a good reminder here that God was looking down on Hannah during those years of barrenness and longing. He was looking on her just as much as he was looking down on her after she had Samuel and other children. God wasn't any less interested in Hannah without children than he was when Hannah gave birth to her first born son Samuel. You might be suffering right now. You're wanting a child. Perhaps you're not able to conceive for any number of reasons. God knows all about you. His plan for you might be children. It might not be children, but he still loves you. He hasn't abandoned you. He isn't ignoring your prayer. He isn't ignoring your plea, your longing. You can be confident that he cares about you and he considers your life right now complete in him, no matter what. You can trust him. You can trust his wisdom for the plans he has for your life. Now with that, we arrive at Psalm 114. Psalm 114 begins with the exodus of Israel from Egypt, here in verses 1 and 2, and then that's followed by the crossing of the Red Sea and later the Jordan River here in verse 3. Finally, he refers to the giving of the law at Mount Sinai, verse 4. And you can't help but wonder why this short psalm is still being sung at the most important feasts in the Jewish calendar. Down here in verse 5 and 6, the psalmist is reflecting on the obedience of the sea and the mountain and the river to the word of God. All creation recognizes and obeys the creator's will. Now, here's the point. We ought to do the same thing. Listen, if the wind and the water obey his word and his will, well, shouldn't you and I do the same thing? This should be our response to the greatness of our Creator God. His works should be studied, his word should be obeyed. So, what do you say we do that today? Let's study his creative work and let's obey. Let's trust his sovereign will. And until our next wisdom journey together, beloved, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

SPEAKER_01: 13:17

Thanks for listening to The Wisdom Journey with Stephen Davey. To learn more about us and access all of our Bible teaching resources, visit wisdomonline.org. Our phone number is 866-482-4253. And you can email us at info at wisdomonline.org. Stephen developed this daily program to help you know what the Bible says, understand what it means, and apply it to your life. So please join us next time to continue the wisdom journey.