The Fear of the LORD: An Exposition of the 111th Psalm
Times are difficult all over the world. And in such times, Christians try to find refuge in God’s Word. This is especially true of the Book of Psalms. All kinds of psalms can be found there, such as laments, prayers for deliverance, and thanksgiving. God has recorded all of these for our instruction, encouragement, and correction. The psalm we are studying this morning is a praise psalm. Please turn your Bibles to the 111th Psalm, and let us read the text together.
One of the interesting facts about this psalm is that it is arranged as an acrostic. This means that the first line begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, which is “aleph”. The second line begins with “bet”, the third “gimel”, and so on through the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. There are other acrostic psalms such as 112 and the long 119th psalm in which the first eight verses begin with aleph, the second eight with bet, and so on. This shows that considerable thought was taken to structure the psalm. Just think how hard it would be for us to construct an acrostic hymn in English. For example, there are not many words which begin with the letter “x”, for example. I guess one could say “Xylophones praise Him.” It would be very difficult to even attempt to make an English acrostic translation from the Hebrew. For one thing, English has 26 letters. So we just need to appreciate that the structure of the Hebrew cannot be reproduced. But we need to at least appreciate the structured poetry of the psalm in Hebrew and used structured English poetry in translating it. The translators of the Authorized (King James) Version understood it.
Another thing to appreciate in the structure is the inductive means that the psalmist uses to get to the main point which is in verse 10: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. This is the opposite of the deductive method in which “The fear of the LORD would be stated up front and then demonstrated in the following verses. So what this psalm does is to demonstrate what the fear of the LORD looks like and then state the main point. As it is more common in the West to use deduction, I am starting this exposition with verse 10.
So what does the “fear of the LORD mean? Most commonly, we think of fear as being afraid of something. There are terrors everywhere in the world. Is God then the chief terrorist? For those who do not know God, this is the type of fear a person should have. The Bible says it is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God. God will one day judge the living and the dead. Those who have rejected Him will be cast into eternal hellfire. So for those who are without Christ, this is the fear of the LORD which one should have.
But in this psalm, this is not the fear which we are meant to understand. Just before the 10th verse, we read: “Holy and reverend is His name.” This name to which “His NAME” refers is Yahweh. It does not refer to “God” in general. God is God over all, but Yahweh is a covenantal name by which He reveals himself to believers. There is a special relationship between Yahweh and the believer. We use the personal “Father, Son, and Holy Ghost to refer to this Triune God. This psalm is written to us. So the fear here is one of reverence and awe, and not of terror. There is an element of fear in the sense that the LORD corrects us. We do fear the rod of correction. But correction is but for a short time. Having been chastised, we feel the warmth of His presence again.
“The fear of the LORDis the beginning of wisdom.” This is not the only place we read these words. We find them also in the first chapter of Proverbs as well. In proverbs, the meaning of this has the context of being willing to accept this correction. The opposite statement there is that fools despise this correction. If we were to look at Proverbs, we would see many proverbs in which very similar proverbs occur in Egyptian and Babylonian wisdom texts. A lot of it is common sense. So what makes these proverbs inspired in the Bible and not in these other sources? The difference is the “fear of Yahweh.” Even though the world has its wisdom, if it does not lead from the source of all wisdom, it will end in futility. Worldly people like to quote (misquote) the Bible when it suits their purposes. But since they have not grounded these words with faith, nothing good will happen in the end.
In the 111th Psalm, the same “fear of Yahweh” is used somewhat differently. It is not addressing the unbeliever, but the faithful. It begins as many psalms do with “Praise the LORD” (Hallelujah). How many times have we used the word when something good happens to us and how rarely when bad things happen. We sometimes use “Hallelujah” lightly. We should remember what were just read” “Holy and reverend is His name.” This is why the psalmist follows these words with: “I will praise the LORD with all my heart.” The one who is wise and fears the LORD gives wholehearted praise to the LORD in every circumstance. Then he tells us where we are to praise Him. We are to praise Him in the “assembly of the upright and (even?) in the congregation.” The Name of the LORD is holy. It is not to be cast among the swine. We must be careful how we use the Name outside the context of the church. The world does NOT share in this covenantal relationship, and this needs to be made plain. This is also true of “Christian.” Too many people who are outside the congregation assume they are “Christians.” The name of Jesus is also to revered as it is “the name above all names.” We must not take the name of the LORD lightly or in jest, either in the congregation or in front of the world. How many times have we made silly jokes using “Lord” lightly. It seems as though us preachers are the most guilty of this. It is time to regain our sense of reverence or face the fear of the rod of correction.
We have now answered how and where we are to praise the LORD. Now we will see what we praise the LORD for. We praise Him for his great works. Those who reverently fear the LORD will seek them out and have pleasure in them. His works are honorable and glorious. How much better it would be for our attitude if we thought upon the LORD’s mighty works than to get bogged down listening to the six o’clock news of man’s degradation? It is so much better to contemplate the works of God than the sins of men. All of his works are done in righteousness. The best works of men have mixed motives and ultimately will all be burned up. The history of mankind is coming to an end. God will erase all of their monuments and idols. When His Kingdom comes, only the story of God will remain. Only His works cannot be shaken. So found your life on His promises.
“The LORD is gracious and full of compassion.” When we reflect upon the truth that the LORD is creator of all as well as being all-powerful (omnipotent), what danger we would all be in if God was not willing to hold out the means of reconciliation. The mercy of God gives us hope. There is redemption and forgiveness because He is gracious and compassionate. Just compare this to the gracelessness we find in this world. If one transgresses the least of the new commandments of “wokeness”, one could not grovel enough before the gods of culture and language to be fully restored. How good it is that the potentates of this world do not determine the final destiny of all things. Their ways will burn up in the judgment. They will be remembered no more. Eternal punishment is reserved for them unless they repent and receive Jesus. If they do repent, they will see how graciously and wonderfully they have been plucked from the fire, even as we have discovered. We must tell others the good news. If they will come, they too will be transformed.
The LORD is faithful to the covenant He has made with His people. This is demonstrated by his sustenance. He feeds us both earthly and spiritual bread. He nurtures hope within us. Even when we prove ourselves unfaithful, which we all too often do, God remains faithful. Our salvation is secured in His faithfulness. We remember that he has given us an inheritance among the nations, one which is eternal. His works are works of both truth and power. He has sent redemption to His people. This tells us that one must be one of “His people” to appreciate and appropriate this redemption which we have in Jesus Christ.
This is what the fear of the LORD looks like for the believer. The one who contemplates these things and acts accordingly is one who has a good understanding. Ultimately, it is the only wisdom that matters. Not only is the fear of the LORD the beginning of wisdom, in the end it will be the wisdom that remains.
