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Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Psalms 111-115

Psalms 111

This is a Psalm of praise. It is not attribitued to David. It is an acrostic poem with each line beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. There are only 10 verses so it does not have enough text too include all the letters or it uses some other division format.

The text translates Praise the Lord as Hallelu Yah. The verses list characteristics of the world that God is to be praised for. The nation's territory, the works of his hands, the success of the nation. But it also reveals the failures and the cost of their disobedience.

The Psalmist praises the wisdom of the Lord and his gracious treatment of Israel. He recounts the ways God has been generous to His people. The Psallm has only 10 verses, but he manages to touch on elements of history and the success Israel enjoyed in the past. This Psalm is both poetic and inspiring. Many of the phrases are memoraable and uplisting for the reader. This Psalm is only 10 verses long, but it contains one often quoted verse:The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. A good understanding have all they that do his commandments; his praise endureth forever.


Psalms 112


This Psalm gives instructions on how to be blessed. He begins with Praise and translates "Hallelu Yah" as Praise the Lord. Psalms 112 is another acrostic. It loses some of the art and excellence when it is translated without his literary devise.

The psalmist lists the benefits of obedience to the Lord: The land, Redemption,  fellowship with Himself, deliverance, and eternity.  This is not the longest psalm, but it covers many of the elements we value. We can read it and rejoice in its truth.