Psalm 111:1

Praise ye the LORD. I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(1) Praise ye the Lord.—This short doxology does not strictly form part of the psalm. The alphabetical arrangement begins with “I will praise,” &c

Assembly.—See Note on Psalm 25:14.

Benson Commentary

Psalm 111:1-2. I will praise the Lord with my whole heart — I will make my acknowledgments to him, and give him thanks for the displays which he hath made of his wisdom, power, and goodness in his wonderful works, and that not only with my lips, and with some slight affections of my mind, but with all my heart and soul: in the assembly, &c. — Hebrew, בסוד, besod, in the secret, or private society, as Bishop Patrick interprets it, of the upright — Or righteous; “of those good men with whom I am more particularly acquainted,” and in the congregation — The public congregation of the people of Israel. The works of the Lord are great — Very magnificent. They are like himself; there is nothing in them that is mean or trifling. They are the products of infinite wisdom and power, which we must acknowledge upon the first view of them, before we come to inquire into them more particularly. They astonish and strike us with awe the moment we behold them. Every one of them, whether in the natural or spiritual system, is marvellous. “Nothing cometh from the hands of the Divine Artist but what is excellent and perfect in its kind, adapted with infinite skill to its proper place, and fitted for its intended use.” Sought out of all them that take pleasure therein — Of all who take delight in observing and considering them: such highly value and regard these works: they frequently call them to mind, meditate upon, and give themselves up to the contemplation of them. And happy are they who do this with humility and diligence, with faith and devotion. “To them shall the gate of true science open; they shall understand the mysteries of creation, providence, and redemption; and they who thus seek shall find the treasures of eternal wisdom.” — Horne.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

111:1-10 The Lord is to be praised for his works. - The psalmist resolves to praise God himself. Our exhortations and our examples should agree together. He recommends the works of the Lord, as the proper subject, when we are praising him; and the dealings of his providence toward the world, the church, and particular persons. All the works of the Lord are spoken of as one, it is his work; so admirably do all the dispensations of his providence centre in one design. The works of God, humbly and diligently sought into, shall all be found just and holy. God's pardoning sin is the most wonderful of all his works, and ought to be remembered to his glory. He will ever be mindful of his covenant; he has ever been so, and he ever will be so. His works of providence were done according to the truth of the Divine promises and prophecies, and so were verity, or truth; and by him who has a right to dispose of the earth as he pleases, and so are judgment, or righteous: and this holds good of the work of grace upon the heart of man, ver. 7,8. All God's commandments are sure; all have been fulfilled by Christ, and remain with him for a rule of walk and conversation to us. He sent redemption unto his people, out of Egypt at first, and often afterwards; and these were typical of the great redemption, which in the fulness of time was to be wrought out by the Lord Jesus. Here his everlasting righteousness shines forth in union with his boundless mercy. No man is wise who does not fear the Lord; no man acts wisely except as influenced by that fear. This fear will lead to repentance, to faith in Christ, to watchfulness and obedience. Such persons are of a good understanding, however poor, unlearned, or despised.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Praise ye the Lord - Margin, "Hallelujah." See Psalm 106:1.

I will praise the Lord with my whole heart - With undivided affections; holding back nothing. I will allow nothing to be in my heart that would interfere with the fullness of praise; no coldness or dividedness of affection; no love for other things that would deaden my love for God; no suspicion respecting him that would chill my ardor; no unbelief that would drag me down to earth, while the language of my lips ascended to God. See the notes at Psalm 86:12.

In the assembly of the upright - With the righteous when they are gathered together for public worship.

And in the congregation - See Psalm 22:22, Psalm 22:25; Psalm 66:13; Psalm 89:5.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

PSALM 111

Ps 111:1-10. The Psalmist celebrates God's gracious dealings with His people, of which a summary statement is given.

1. Praise ye the Lord—or, Hallelujah (Ps 104:35). This seems to serve as a title to those of the later Psalms, which, like this, set forth God's gracious government and its blessed fruits. This praise claims the

whole heart—(Ps 86:12), and is rendered publicly.

upright—a title of the true Israel (Ps 32:11).

The Treasury of David

1 Praise ye the Lord. I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.

"Praise ye the Lord," or, Hallelujah! All ye his saints unite in adoring Jehovah, who worketh so gloriously. Do it now, do it always: do it heartily, do it unanimously, do it eternally. Even if others refuse, take care that ye have always a song for your God. Put away all doubt, question, murmuring, and rebellion, and give yourselves up to the praising of Jehovah, both with your lips and in your lives. "I will praise the Lord with my whole heart." The sweet singer commences the song, for his heart is all on flame: whether others will follow him or not, he will at once begin and long continue. What we preach we should practise. The best way to enforce an exhortation is to set an example; but we must let that example be of the best kind, or we may lead others to do the work in a limping manner. David brought nothing less than his whole heart to the duty; all his love went out towards God, and all his zeal, his skill, and his ardour went with it. Jehovah the one and undivided God cannot be acceptably praised with a divided heart, neither should we attempt so to dishonour him; for our whole heart is little enough for his glory, and there can be no reason why it should not all be lifted up in his praise. All his works are praiseworthy, and therefore all our nature should adore him. "In the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation"; - whether with few or with many he would pour forth his whole heart and soul in praise, and whether the company was made up of select spirits or of the general mass of the people he would continue in the same exercise. For the choicest society there can be no better engagement than praise, and for the general assembly nothing can be more fitting. For the church and for the congregation, for the family or the community, for the private chamber of pious friendship, or the great hall of popular meeting, the praise of the Lord is suitable; and at the very least the true heart should sing hallelujah in any and every place. Why should we fear the presence of men? The best of men will join us in our song, and if the common sort, will not do so, our example will be a needed rebuke to them. In any case let us praise God, whether the hearers be a little band of saints or a mixed multitude. Come, dear reader, he who pens this comment is in his heart magnifying the Lord: will you not pause for a moment and join in the delightful exercise? THE ARGUMENT

The excellency of this Psalm appears, as from other things, so from the psalmist’s care to digest the several parcels of it into an exact order, according to the order of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, that it might be better fixed in the memories of those who read it. It is a short, yet full, commemoration of God’s works.

The psalmist by his own example exhorteth all men to praise God, Psalm 111:1; rehearseth his glorious and wonderful works, Psalm 111:2-4; his keeping covenant with them that fear him, Psalm 111:5-9; whose fear is the beginning of wisdom, Psalm 111:10.

Of the upright; of the sincere worshippers of God, of the Israel of God, as this very word is explained, Numbers 23:10; where they who are called Israel in one clause, are called righteous or upright in the next. And this title he gives to the assembly or congregation of Israelites, partly, because many of them were such, and he was obliged in charity to judge all of them to be so, of whom he had no evidence to the contrary; partly, because upright persons do most exercise and delight themselves in this duty of praising God; and hypocrites, though sometimes they give themselves to prayer, yet are very apt to neglect the duty of thanksgiving; partly, because this duty of praise is most comely for the upright, Psalm 33:1; and partly, because David’s heart was most united to the sincere Israelites, and his desire was, as far as he could, to associate himself with such in the worship and service of God.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Praise ye the Lord,.... Or "hallelujah"; this is the title of the psalm, and is expressive of the subject matter of it; and so it stands in the Targum, Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Ethiopic, and Arabic versions; as it should, as appears from the psalm being alphabetical; for the first letter of this word is the fifth and not the first of the alphabet; it is wanting in the Syriac version, which gives the title in this manner, without a name, concerning the glorious virtues of

"the works of God; but it exhorts us to give thanks to Christ; and it is said in the person of the apostles.''

I will praise the Lord with my whole heart; the psalmist excites to praise God by his own example; the object of his praise is Jehovah, the self-existent Being, the Being of beings, the author of his Being, and in whom all men live and move, and have their being; the God of their mercies, temporal and spiritual, and therefore should praise him, even Jehovah, Father, Son, and Spirit; especially Jehovah the Messiah may be here intended, whose work of redemption is particularly attended to: the manner in which he determines to perform this service is, "with his whole heart": which ought to be engaged in every religious exercise, even the whole of it, all the powers and faculties of the soul, without being divided between other objects, and distracted or drawn off from the Lord by them; the phrase is not expressive of perfection, which is not to be expected in any duty, but of sincerity and cordial affection. The place where follows,

in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation: which may signify one and the same; even the place where upright persons assemble and gather together for divine worship, the tabernacle in David's time, and the temple afterwards; and may point at any place of worship in Gospel times, and the people that meet there; who being for the most part upright persons, or in a judgment of charity so accounted, though every individual among them may not be such, are thus called; and that because they have the uprightness, righteousness, and holiness of Christ imputed to them; and have right spirits renewed in them, and so are upright in heart; and, in consequence of this, walk uprightly according to the rules of the Gospel. It may be rendered, as it is by the Targum,

"in the secret (e) of the upright, and the congregation;''

because here the secret of the Lord is made known to his people; the mysteries of his grace are revealed; and his ordinances, which are his counsel, are administered: or it may design some particular friends and acquaintance of the psalmist's, who privately met and took sweet counsel together, and communicated their secrets to one another, as the other word "congregation" may intend the public assembly of the people; and then the sense is, that he would sincerely praise the Lord both in private and public, and that because of his works; as follows.

(e) "in secreto", Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator; so Ainsworth.

Geneva Study Bible

{a} Praise ye the LORD. I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.

(a) The prophet declares that he will praise God both privately and openly, and that from the heart, as he who consecrates himself wholly and only to God.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

1. Praise ye the Lord] Heb. Hallelujah. This liturgical call to praise forms no part of the structure of the Psalm. See note on Psalm 104:35.

I will give thanks unto Jehovah with a whole heart,

In the council of the upright and in the congregation.

The word ṣôd denotes (1) the confidential intercourse of intimate friends, Psalm 25:14, &c., (2) a gathering or council of such persons (Psalm 89:7); and it has been thought by some that it is here contrasted with the congregation. Hence Coverdale (P.B.V.), secretly among the faithful and in the congregation. But the grammatical construction does not support the distinction. The congregation assembled for worship is termed council as being united by the sense of common fellowship, and its members are described as the upright, for it is presumed that they are actuated by true devotion. Cp. Psalm 33:1; Psalm 1:5.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 1. - Praise ye the Lord. Scarcely a part of the psalm - rather a heading or introduction. I will praise the Lord with my whole heart (comp. Psalm 9:1; Psalm 119:34, 58, 69). "With my whole heart" replaces the "greatly" of Psalm 109:30. In the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation. Professor Cheyne translates, "in the council and assembly of the upright;" and it seems to be generally allowed that two distinct assemblies are not spoken of, but that the one congregation of the faithful is designated by two names. Thus the Prayer-book translation is wrong. Psalm 111:1

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

That which the poet purposes doing in Psalm 111:1, he puts into execution from Psalm 111:2 onwards. ועדה, according to Psalm 64:7; Psalm 118:14, is equivalent to ועדתם. According to Psalm 111:10, הפציהם in Psalm 111:2 apparently signifies those who find pleasure in them (the works of God); but חפצי equals חפצי (like שׂמחי, Isaiah 24:7 equals שׂמחי) is less natural than that it should be the construct form of the plural of חפץ, that occurs in three instances, and there was no need for saying that those who make the works of God the object of their research are such as interest themselves in them. We are led to the right meaning by לכל־חפצו in 1 Kings 9:11 in comparison with Isaiah 44:28; Isaiah 46:10, cf. Isaiah 53:10, where חפץ signifies God's purpose in accordance with His counsel: constantly searched into, and therefore a worthy object of research (דרשׁ, root דר, to seek to know by rubbing, and in general experimentally, cf. Arab. drâ of knowledge empirically acquired) according to all their aims, i.e., in all phases of that which they have in view. In Psalm 111:4 זכר points to the festival which propagates the remembrance of the deeds of God in the Mosaic age; טרף, Psalm 111:5, therefore points to the food provided for the Exodus, and to the Passover meal, together with the feast of unleavened bread, this memorial (זכּרון, Exodus 12:14) of the exemption in faithfulness to the covenant which was experienced in Egypt. This Psalm, says Luther, looks to me as though it had been composed for the festival of Easter. Even from the time of Theodoret and Augustine the thought of the Eucharist has been connected with Psalm 111:5 in the New Testament mind; and it is not without good reason that Psalm 111:1-10 has become the Psalm of the church at the celebration of the Lord's Supper. In connection with הגּיד one is reminded of the Pesach-Haggada. The deed of redemption which it relates has a power that continues in operation; for to the church of Jahve is assigned the victory not only over the peoples of Canaan, but over the whole world. The power of Jahve's deeds, which He has made known to His people, and which they tell over again among themselves, aims at giving them the inheritance of the peoples. The works of His hands are truth and right, for they are the realization of that which is true and which lasts and verifies itself, and of that which is right, that triumphantly maintains its ground. His ordinances are נאמנים (occasionally pointed נאמנים), established, attested, in themselves and in their results authorizing a firm confidence in their salutariness (cf. Psalm 19:8). סמוּכים, supported, stayed, viz., not outwardly, but in themselves, therefore imperturbable (cf. סמוּך used of the state of mind, Psalm 112:8; Isaiah 26:3). עשׂוּים, moulded, arranged, viz., on the part of God, "in truth, and upright;" ישׂר is accusative of the predicate (cf. Psalm 119:37), but without its being clear why it is not pointed וישׁר. If we have understood Psalm 111:4-6 correctly, then פּדוּת glances back at the deliverance out of Egypt. Upon this followed the ratification of the covenant on Sinai, which still remains inviolable down to the present time of the poet, and has the holiness and terribleness of the divine Name for a guarantee of its inviolability. The fear of Jahve, this holy and terrible God, is the beginning of wisdom - the motto of the Chokma in Job (Job 28:28) and Proverbs (Proverbs 1:7; Proverbs 9:10), the Books of the Chokma. Psalm 111:10 goes on in this Proverbs-like strain: the fear of God, which manifests itself in obedience, is to those who practise them (the divine precepts, פקודים) שׂכל טּוב (Proverbs 13:15; Proverbs 3:4, cf. 2 Chronicles 30:22), a fine sagacity, praiseworthy discernment - such a (dutiful) one partakes of everlasting praise. It is true, in glancing back to Psalm 111:3, תּהלּתו seems to refer to God, but a glance forward to Psalm 112:3 shows that the praise of him who fears God is meant. The old observation therefore holds good: ubi haec ode desinit, sequens incipit (Bakius).