Psalm 111:2 is one of my favorite verses in the Bible:
Great are the works of the LORD,
studied by all who delight in them.
Derek Kidner calls these lines “God’s charter for the scientist and artist” (Psalms 73–150, 432). But the scope of this charter extends far beyond the laboratory and the studio. It is the liberating banner that flies over all of Christian education. A manifesto for holy curiosity. A sovereign call to attention.
Throughout Psalm 111, the anonymous author bends all his poetic effort to awaken us to the works of God so we might be alive to the God who works. He wants to pry our eyelids open with the crowbar of poetry so we might behold what God does and tremble in awe of him. He’s cleaning our lenses so that God’s works explode with clarity and color, kindling our curiosity and inspiring us to attend and adore.
Doesn’t that sound wonderful? Don’t you ache to be quite awake, rather than asleep? Don’t you long to live with your eyes wide open to God and his works? If so, consider three questions Psalm 111 raises about why studying God’s works delights us.
Back to School
First, what does it mean to study God’s works? The word “study” (dāraš) means “to seek out, to experience, to attend to.” Its scope defies the confines of ivory towers or professional scholarship. The poet’s main thrust in this psalm is for you, dear reader, to study diligently in the schoolhouse of God’s works.
Psalm 111:2 exhorts us to practice omnivorous attentiveness. Omnivorous describes someone who devours without discrimination, like a hungry teenager ransacking a full fridge. Those who practice omnivorous attentiveness, then, are awake to everything God does; they gobble up all his works, both the big and the small, the miraculous and the mundane. The constant exclamation of omnivorous attentiveness is “Wow, Lord, look at that!” It is the exact opposite of taking anything for granted. Those who cultivate this kind of attention live with their eyes wide open. They are awake.
Wondrous Works of God
But awake to what, exactly? What does Psalm 111 teach us about the scope of God’s works?
The word for “works” in verse 2 means acts or creations. The term wraps its arms around all God does and says, all the fruit of his omnipotent labor.
If we look at Psalm 111 as a whole, the poet leaves God’s works deliciously ambiguous. His deliverance of Israel in the exodus colors the background of this psalm, but the references are vague — intentionally so. By avoiding specifics and gesturing broadly at the wondrous works of God, our poet throws the doors wide open to omnivorous attention. He invites us to step into the entire theater of creation and redemption and marvel at the Director who runs the show. He excludes nothing from our eyes-wide-open study.
Let’s follow our poet’s lead and take a brief tour through some of God’s works in this poem.
General and Special Revelation
To begin, verse 7 points to God’s general revelation: “The works of his hands are faithful and just.” In the Psalms, “the works of his hands” most often refers to God’s works of creation. Like an art connoisseur, our poet beckons us into the vast gallery of God’s glory to stop and admire the wonders within. Consider one example: trees. God loves trees; both his book and world are crowded with them. And no wonder! These magnificent creatures take a clear liquid, an invisible gas, and sunlight, and then — by green magic that remains a mystery to most of us — transform those ingredients into the largest, hardest, oldest living things on earth. Trees are star-powered wood towers. And time would fail to tell of children’s smiles and summer storms, eggs and honeybees, sunrises and starscapes, the extravagant green of grass and the large, slow oddity of cows. Indeed, great are the works of God!
But the second half of verse 7 also highlights the privilege of God’s special revelation: “All his precepts are trustworthy.” The works of God include the words of God.
General revelation, though marvelous, can only reveal a general Creator. But Scripture unveils Yahweh, the God who is “gracious and merciful” (verse 4), the God who “remembers his covenant forever” (verse 5), the God who “sent redemption to his people” (verse 9), the God who is triune and took on flesh. Indeed, great is his work in giving us his word.
Daily Provision
Consider also God’s works of daily provision: “He provides food for those who fear him” (verse 5). This probably refers to God’s miraculous provision of manna in the wilderness (Exodus 16:9–15). But do you recall how Israel reacted to this miracle bread? They got bored and fussy. They complained about eating the bread of angels. They whined for onions and cucumbers (Numbers 11:4–6). They gave God’s culinary artistry a one-star review on Yelp.
Before we condemn them, consider how often you and I follow in their footsteps. We, too, are surrounded by miracles every day, all arising from power and creativity and causality we can neither explain nor imagine. We, too, are hemmed in by the power of God. We, too, receive daily provision. If you don’t believe me, just consider milk, which we extract from convenient faucets that God placed on the underside of cows. We take this white liquid and turn it into cheese, butter, and — God be praised — ice cream. None of this is an accident; God designed it that way. He provides food.
Yet how often, like the Israelites, do God’s provisions bore us? How often do everyday miracles become mundane? How often does familiarity blind us? Open your eyes. Marvel that he provides food!
Common Grace and Covenant Grace
Our tour would be incomplete without considering God’s common grace, as Psalm 111 does in verse 3: “Full of splendor and majesty is his work.” Perhaps the brightest display of God’s common kindness is the rising of the sun, a daily mercy that shouts his glory to a deaf world. But the most stunning example of common grace is the unfathomable privilege God extends to his image-bearers to exercise fruitful dominion on his behalf. He appoints us as his underkings and subcreators to bring order and beauty to his world, which means good culture is commissioned by God. Every time we read a great book, every time beautiful music moves us, and every time technology helps us, we encounter God’s great works through the works of his subcreators.
And yet, the most glorious works of God pertain to his covenant grace, the ultimate example of which we find in verse 9:
He has sent redemption to his people;
he has commanded his covenant forever.
In the immediate context, our poet remembers the exodus and God’s provision of the promised land. But on this side of the cross, we know the exodus was an anticipation, a foretelling of the salvation offered to us in Jesus. Christ the King fulfills the redemption celebrated in Psalm 111.
Christ transfers us out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. He breaks the chains of our slavery to sin and woos us to superior delight in him. He will bring us into the promised land of a new creation. He offers us a new covenant with better promises, purchased by his blood and established forever. By his Spirit, he wakes us up and makes us fully alive. The life, death, and resurrection of King Jesus — the cosmic triumph of Christ — is the greatest of the great works of God. How could we not attend to it? How could we not study him?
Delight in the Worker
We’ve seen that God’s works are indeed delightful. This observation leads us to our third question: Why? Why is attending to God’s works so rewarding?
Psalm 111 closely connects God’s works to his character. The poet pairs God’s deeds with his righteousness (verse 3), his graciousness and mercy (verse 4), his covenant faithfulness (verse 5), and his holiness (verse 9). These pairings illustrate a biblical principle: God intends for us to know and delight in him through his works. He made us embodied; he gave us creation; he spoke his word; he wrote the epic of redemption; he surrounds us with his people; he put his Spirit in us. All of these are God-ordained means of knowing him.
Why, then, do God’s great works delight us? Because they reveal the great Worker. Psalm 111:3–9 displays God’s works as a kind of picture book of his glory. They are full of splendor and majesty because he is full of splendor and majesty. Visible creation reveals the invisible Creator (Romans 1:20). He shines in all that’s fair. And so, our delight in knowing God drives omnivorous attentiveness to his works. The pursuit of joy in God makes us studious.
So, what are you waiting for? Open your eyes. Meditate on his word. Linger over his world. Rehearse the wonders of redemption. Marinate in his grace. The works of God reveal the God who works — the God who is worthy of all our awe, adoration, and gratitude.
Are you paying attention?
Desiring God