Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 111:2
The works of the LORD [are] great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.
2. The ground of praise. The doings of Jehovah of which the Psalmist is thinking are those which He has wrought for His people ( Psa 111:6), but for us they will include His works in Nature (Psa 104:13; Psa 104:24; Psa 104:31) as well as in history. They are studied or to be studied (Jer. exquirenda) with loving diligence by all who delight in learning to understand His revelation of Himself (Psa 1:2; Neh 1:11). Less probable are the renderings in regard to all their desirableness (Pro 8:11); or, in regard to all their (LXX his) purposes.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The works of the Lord are great – They are great in number; great in magnitude; great in wisdom; great in goodness. This language was appropriate in the time of the psalmist, when people looked upon the heavens with the naked eye alone, and when they had very imperfect views of the real magnitude of the universe as it is now disclosed by the telescope. It is entirely appropriate now, and conveys a more solemn and sublime impression than it would in the time of the psalmist. It will still be appropriate under the larger views which may yet be obtained of the universe by more perfect instruments, by more accurate observation, and by more profound study. And it will be appropriate when people shall survey the greatness of the universe from the heights of heaven.
Sought out of all them – Studied by all such.
That have pleasure therein – More literally, Sought to all their wishes. Perhaps the meaning is, that they would find all their desires gratified in those works; they would find in them all that they would wish to find respecting the power, wisdom, goodness, and majesty of God. Still it implies that they have a desire thus to study his works, or that they do find a pleasure in examining the proofs of the being and attributes of God in his works. A man who loves God will have real pleasure in studying his works as well as his word; and it is as proper to find pleasure in the one as in the other – as proper to wish to find the knowledge which the one imparts as that which the other bestows. One great error among the friends of God is the neglect to study his works. In doing this, people need not neglect or undervalue the Bible and the knowledge which it gives, for such studies would be among the best means of illustrating the Bible.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 111:2
The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.
The greatness of the works of God
Greatness, when attributed to the works of man, is a relative term, and it is only correct in one direction. Our works can only be great in comparison with the works of other men; they can have no greatness in relation to Gad, or to His operations. Our utmost skill cannot go beyond new combinations, or new discoveries of existing things; we can neither create nor preserve. Our knowledge results from creation; when correct it agrees with its works; but with God, creation results from knowledge–the prototype of it existed in the eternal mind before He began to work (Act 15:18).
I. The greatness of the works of God.
1. Their immensity. What a wonderful incomprehensible work was it to produce the matter which forms our globe! Yet our planet is but a small part of the solar system: there are spheres many times larger than our world, revolving at immense distances round the same sun. The sun itself is but one among millions of suns, which in boundless space enlighten other worlds, and are the centres of other systems. We are at once lost in the vastness of creation, in the immensity of being God has called into existence; and are oppressed with an overpowering sense of the magnitude of His works.
2. Their variety. The water affects the land, the land affects the water, an endless diversity of influences of different substances on each other are perpetually producing specific and well-ascertained results. Beings possessed of life were created from inanimate substance: by the infinite power of God the sea and land brought forth abundantly, the vegetable and animal kingdoms were called into existence by the Creators voice, and the tribes of land and ocean proclaim the magnitude of His work.
3. The preservation and government of the world. Cause and effect is not a necessary but an ordained connection; the energy that works is not that of the instrument but that of God; substances operate upon one another in a natural way, by which we mean an habitual, ordinary manner; but it is God who causes them so to operate; whatever is the instrument its efficacy is from God.
4. His moral government over voluntary and accountable beings. What a vast work must it be to educe order out of the chaotic workings of human minds; to maintain a system of operation and government over myriads of beings, who live as they list, preserving their own schemes of aggrandizement and gratification, without any reference to the will of God: and yet the mightiest of men can accomplish nothing but what God permits, and frequently they are working out, though contrary to their own intentions, the purposes of the Eternal Mind.
5. His greatest work is redemption. It unveils the whole character of God. In the natural world we behold manifestations of His power and wisdom; in His providential government we may learn something of His justice and goodness; but neither of these perfections is so gloriously exhibited as in the Gospel of His Son, where His love and mercy shine with unclouded lustre.
II. Successful inquiry is in proportion to the deep interest we take in the works of God. We must love truth, and justice, and mercy, before we can in any degree estimate the expression of Divine love and justice in saving sinners by the gift and death of the Son of God. (S. Summers.)
The worlds of God, in nature, providence, and grace
I. In nature. Every clod of earth teems with animation; every drop of water swarms with animalculae. Surely curiosity might induce us to seek out the works of God even if we had no other motive than mere inquisitiveness and curiosity. But we cannot examine these things as we ought without feelings of lively gratitude, that through the life-giving power of Jehovah everything ministers either to the necessities or to the convenience of man. But there is a still more familiar manifestation of the works of God which we should meditate upon. I wish you to turn your reflections upon yourselves. Contemplate the human body; observe the union of its several parts, and their fitness for the particular purpose for which they are designed; mark the composition and appearance of the whole; what incomparable workmanship is perceptible in the whole frame.
II. In preservation.
III. In grace. We look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Since, then, all things are yours if ye are Christs, whether the world, or life, or death, or things present or things to come, let us call to mind that we have them as the subject matter of privilege; as the subject matter of improvement here, and as the subjects of praise throughout eternity. (H. F. Fell, M.A.)
The works of the Lord
1. Consider–
(1) The variety and multiplicity of the objects that constitute theearth and the creatures that dwell on it. How varied is the form of its surface! What an alternation of enormous ridges with summits of different heights, of hills and plains, of spacious, open fields, and of impassable, impenetrable forests, of continents and seas, rivers and lakes! What diversity and what riches in various kinds of precious gems, stones, ores, minerals, lie concealed in its bowels! What a world of wonders is enclosed in its fathomless abysses!
(2) Their beauty–no less great and admirable than their variety; consider the outline, the form, the hues, the infinitely blending shades of colours, the delicate texture, the artificial structure, the arrangement and composition of the several parts of every herb, every flower, every leaf, every tree, every plant, every greater and smaller, visible, and invisible, animal.
(3) The accurate and admirable connection that subsists between the several parts and creatures of the earth, causing them all to promote one grand design, the greatest possible welfare of the living.
(4) The gradual progress of all things to higher perfection. See how the plant, the tree expands, grows, flourishes, arrives at maturity, bears fruit, propagates and multiplies, from a seed so small as to be indiscernible to thy naked eye; how the crawling maggot rises into a butterfly; how every animal gradually acquires and communicates to others his agility, his powers, his habitudes; how the infant grows into the stripling, the youth into the man, and the man into the citizen of another world.
(5) The magnitude and inexhaustibility of the energies which animate and actuate all nature; those energies which operate so uniformly and silently, and yet so powerfully and irresistibly in all and through all; those energies which are in perpetual exertion through all successive evolutions, renovations, transformations of the whole innumerable host of creatures, and through all their efforts and effects, and in such various methods; those energies which, from what appears to be confusion and strife, produce the fairest harmony–from what we term death and destruction, incessant life and action.
2. Having considered these things, ascend in thought to the original, eternal energy, from whence these powers are derived–to the original, eternal fount of life, from whence these several kinds of life and efficacy flow–to the Supreme Dispenser of all that joy which fills the capacity of thy soul–to that God who predisposed, accomplished, and called them into being, who bears, upholds, connects, enlivens, and rejoices all, who through them all reveals Himself to His intelligent creature–man–speaks to him by a thousand voices, appears to him in a thousand varied forms, and in all and by all as Author, Benefactor, Father. (G. J. Zollikofer, D.D.)
The order and beauty of the visible creation
I the grandeur and simplicity of the works of God. How low and contemptible are all the proudest works of men compared to those of God! Could we suppose a person in full maturity of sense and understanding, but who had never seen the light of the sun and the face of nature, presented on a sudden with an ample prospect of the sublime canopy of heaven, the blazing sun, the illumined atmosphere, and the florid earth diversified with its various landscapes; how would the appearance astonish and transport him, stamp at once on his mind the new ideas of grandeur and beauty, and excite his veneration of the wisdom and power of God!
II. The uniformity and variety which appear in the works of creation. The heavens above, and the earth beneath, continue the same from age to age; yet afford a diversity of successive spectacles: the clouded, the clear, the parti-coloured sky; the nocturnal darkness, the meridian light. If we examine carefully the minuter productions of nature, the smallest insects, or the leaves, flowers, and fruits of plants, we find a wonderful mixture of the various and the uniform, that strikes the mind with a pleasing idea of order and beauty.
III. The perpetual circulations discernible in the world. The sun, moon, and stars perform their appointed courses with a stated unerring motion. What is it that unholds and directs them? How come they to know their seasons and courses? What enables them to travel incessantly with the same unremitting force? Why they never fall to the earth? Or wander through the pathless desert of the sky? In a word, why they never err?–These questions will necessarily turn our attention to the unerring wisdom of the Creator.
IV. The regular proportions observable in the several parts of the world, are a further evidence of creative wisdom in the structure of the whole. For as in the fabric of every plant and animal, the several parts bear a due proportion to each other and to the whole, so it is of the world in general: the parts were all formed by rule and measure, proportionate to each other and to the whole system.
V. The multiplicity of effects in nature flowing from the same cause; and the combination of a multitude of causes to the same effect. The single principle of gravitation, pervading the universe, at the same time gives solidity to the land, stability to the mountains, and fluency to the rivers; binds the ocean to its bed, and the whole earth to its orbit; maintains the due distance of the heavenly bodies; and retains everything through universal nature in its proper situation. Similar to this is the single principle of benevolence in the moral world: which in like manner is diffused through human nature, and produces, according to its different modifications, various beneficial effects: hence parental care; relative union; combination of friends; public spirit; good government of superiors; fidelity of inferiors; and it is this which retains every individual in his proper sphere, cements human society, and contributes to all virtuous actions, honourable pursuits, and innocent delights. How should it excite the inquisitive understanding, and affect the religious temper, of every considerate person, to find the whole world framed and disposed, and all the elemental parts of it contending and co-operating in a perpetual motion, to please and benefit the human race! (S. Bourn.)
On seeking out the worlds of the Lord and praising Him
The works of the Lord are great; yet, great as they are, they cannot be understood nor perceived by those who are absorbed in earthly ideas and pursuits. The works of the Lord must be sought out; that is, they must be mindfully and diligently observed, in order to their being adequately understood: nay, if we would know anything of their vastness or their excellency. We must be in the constant habit of connecting the ordinary operations and occurrences of life with a higher power, with the counsel and government of heaven; a gracious promise is given, that all things shall work together for good to them that love God; and we must be always endeavouring to trace this working, and observe the striking manner in which this effect is produced. Nor can any, but the pious and faithful servant of God, find delight in this holy and profitable exercise; and the longer he lives, the more clearly he perceives the hand of the Almighty in everything; in discomforting the evil and blessing the good: he sees and admires the wonders of grace, as well as the wonders of providence, vouchsafed to others as well as himself; to the Church in all ages. In all the good he receives or does, and all the evil he escapes or prevents, he traces the power and mercy of his God: Not unto me, O Lord, not unto me, but unto Thy name be the glory and the praise. Thus he imitates the conduct of the psalmist, recorded in the text, I will give thanks unto the Lord with my whole heart: all the power of his understanding and all the affections of his soul are employed in magnifying the majesty and loving-kindness of the Author and giver of every good gift. And the grateful Christian imitates the psalmist yet farther; he does not hide the sense of Gods goodness within his own bosom; but declares it openly as opportunity serves. (J. Slade, M. A.)
New interest in Gods works
An American poet tells us, in one of his letters, how he once met an aged French priest on the Pacific Railway. The priest told him that he was on a journey round the world, and that he had been put up to that by a dream. He dreamed that he had died, and he met the good God, who asked him how he liked the world he had come from. He was obliged to confess that he had not looked at it very much: for the whole time he was there he had been busy getting himself ready to die, and getting other people ready to die–as if getting ready to die were the chief end of man here below. When he awoke he resolved that, old as he was, if the good God would only let him stay on in this world a little while longer, he would take a good look at it before he was summoned to pass another such examination. So he had furnished himself with some little books in physical geography and the like, and was reading, and looking, and thus preparing for the other world by trying to get all the real and Divine good he could out of this earth. (John Hunter, D.D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 2. The works of the Lord are great] gedolim, vast in magnitude; as rabbim signifies their multitude and variety.
Sought out] Investigated, carefully examined.
Of all them that have pleasure therein.] By all that delight in them: by every genuine philosopher; every lover of nature; he who traces out the great First Cause by means of his works. And the man that does so will be astonished at the perfections of the Creator, and admire all the operations of his hands.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The works of the Lord; either,
1. The works of creation; or rather,
2. The works of his providence in the world, and especially in and for his church and people, of which he speaks in the rest of the Psalm.
Are great, for the infinite power, and wisdom, and goodness manifested in them. Sought out; highly valued and regarded, as this very word and phrase is used, Deu 11:12; Isa 62:12; or frequently called to mind, and diligently meditated upon, when others either never regarded them, or instantly forget them: or, found out, as this word is taken, Isa 65:1; the antecedent being put for the consequent, which is frequent in Scripture, as Rom 12:2, where proving or trying (for so the Greek word there signifies) is put for approving, which follows after it. And found out, i.e. truly and thoroughly understood, both as to the nature of them, and Gods counsels and ends in them; whereas the works of God are ofttimes not apprehended or minded, or are mistaken and misconstrued, by ungodly men.
Of all them that have pleasure therein; of all them who take delight in observing and considering the works of God.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2. His works, that is, ofprovidence and grace are
soughtor, carefullystudied, by all desiring to know them.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The works of the Lord are great,…. His works of creation are great, being made out of nothing, are the effects of great power, and the produce of great wisdom, and which greatly display the glory of their Maker; the works of providence are great, which are daily wrought, especially such as concern the church and people of God, for whom he does great things, whereof they have reason to be glad and praise his name; the miracles of Christ he wrought here on earth were surprisingly great, some of them such as had not keen known from the creation of the world; and yet greater things were shown him, and done by him, particularly the work of redemption, a work which angels and men were unequal to, a work which none but the great God and our Saviour could effect, and is truly called the great salvation; the work of grace upon the heart is a great work, and requires the exceeding greatness of the divine power, and which is exerted in the beginning, carrying on, and finishing that work; and for all which the Lord is to be praised: and the rather since they are such as are
sought out of all them that have pleasure therein; or “sought out because of all the pleasures of them, or that are in them” f, which comes to much the same sense: there is a pleasure in the contemplation of the works of nature and providence; to behold the power, wisdom, and goodness of God in them, and his care over all his creatures; and particularly how he makes all things to work together for the good of his people; and especially it is delightful to observe the works of grace, how the glory of all the divine perfections is displayed in them; angels themselves take pleasure in looking into them: now these are sought and found out by those who delight in them; the works of creation are to be sought and found in the book of nature, the works of providence in the book of experience, and the works of grace in the book of God; and indeed all of them are recorded there, which are searched with pleasure by those that are inquisitive after them.
f “ob omnes amabilitates eorum”, Cocceius; “secundum omnia desideria eorum”, Gejerus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
2 The works of Jehovah are great He now proceeds to inform us that there are abundant materials for praising God, supplied by his works, to which at present he makes only a general reference, and which he, subsequently, defines more explicitly in relation to the government of the Church. The magnitude of God’s works is a subject which, generally, eludes the observation of men, and, therefore, few of them are acquainted with it. This ignorance the prophet ascribes to the indifference and ingratitude of men, comparatively few of whom condescend to notice the great wisdom, goodness, justice, and power, which shine forth in these works. Expositors are divided in their sentiments about the second clause of the verse. Some translate it, sought out for all their delights; and, indeed, the Hebrew term חפף, chaphets, signifies good pleasure; but as this is too harsh an interpretation of the word, it is better to understand it as an adjective, expressing the idea of loving or desiring. As to the participle, sought out, which, according to the Hebrew verb, דרש, darash, properly denotes, to search with diligence, we yet find that the works of Jehovah are, in this place, called דרושים, derushim, that is, perceived or found out. Hence, in Isa 65:1, it is said, “I was found of them who sought, me not.” I must, however, not lose sight of the prophet’s design, namely, that in consequence of so few applying themselves to the study of the works of God, he teaches us that that is the reason why so many are blind amidst a flood of light; for, when he says that the excellency of the works of God is known to all who desire it, he means that none are ignorant of it, except such as are wilfully blind, or rather, malignantly and contemptuously quench the light which is offered to them. We must, however, attend to the means which we possess for arriving at the knowledge of these words because we know, that as long as the faithful are on earth, their understandings are dull and weak, so that they cannot penetrate the mysteries, or comprehend the height of the works of God. But, incomprehensible as is the immensity of the wisdom, equity, justice, power, and mercy of God, in his works, the faithful nevertheless acquire as much knowledge of these as qualifies them for manifesting the glory of God; only it becomes us to begin the study of his works with reverence, that we may take delight in them, contemptible though they be in the estimation of the reprobate, who treat them with impious scorn. The LXX. having rendered it, sought out in all his wills, Augustine has therefore taken occasion, with philosophic finesse, to ask, How can there be, or, at least, appear to be, a plurality of wills in God? And it is indeed a pleasing consideration, that though God manifest his will in his law, nevertheless there is another secret purpose by which he is guided in the wonderful management of human affairs. This doctrine, however, is, foreign to the exposition of this passage.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(2) Sought outi.e., they are the object of meditation and enquiry. (See Note, Psa. 105:4.) The psalmist was no doubt thinking of historical proofs of Jehovahs goodness to the chosen race, but his words are capable of a wide range. The best illustration of them may be found in the writings in which Mr. Ruskin warns this generation against the danger of insensibility to natural beauty.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2. Works of the Lord This is the theme of the psalm, and might include all God’s works in nature, providence, moral government, and redemption; but the psalm celebrates specially his moral acts in government and redemption, particularly that wonderful chain of providences by which his people had been saved and his covenant confirmed.
Sought out Diligently studied, searched into; and which are, by implication, excellent and satisfying to the earnest inquirer who is attracted by their merit and takes delight in their teachings: but they must be studied not only for doctrine and history, but for practical living.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 111:2. Sought out of all them that have pleasure therein Studied, or inquired into by all those who have pleasure therein. Houbigant and Green. Mudge renders it, Exquisitely contrived for all their purposes. This is a reflection, says he, arising from a view of the divine wisdom, which unerringly directs all its doings to their proper ends. This appeared by God’s whole miraculous dealing with the Jewish nation, which at length safely instated them in the promised land.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 685
THE GREAT WORK OF REDEMPTION
Psa 111:2. The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.
THIS psalm is one of those appointed by our Church for Easter Day: for which it is sufficiently appropriate, in that it celebrates that redemption of Gods people from Egypt, which was typical of the redemption wrought out for us by Christ upon the cross, and perfected by his resurrection from the dead. The structure of it is very peculiar. Every sentence begins with the different letters of the Hebrew alphabet in their order; the eight first verses consisting each of two sentences, and the two last of three sentences. This artificial mode of writing it seems to have been with a view to its being more easily remembered. The first word of it, Hallelujah, was, in fact, no part of the psalm itself, but only the title of it; and it shews us with what disposition of mind the subject should be contemplated, and with what feelings it was recorded. O that our souls might rise to the occasion, whilst we consider,
I.
The greatness of Gods works!
Great indeed they were, even the deliverances accomplished for Israel in Egypt. Who can read of all the plagues with which that land was visited; or of the destruction of Pharaoh and all his host in the Red Sea; or of the wonders wrought for Israel in the wilderness; or of their final establishment in the land of Canaan; and not exclaim, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty! But, however much we may be disposed, in imitation of David in this psalm, to admire the perfections of God as illustrated in that stupendous work, we are called to the consideration of infinitely greater works, of which the deliverance from Egypt was but a type and shadow. Yes: in the redemption of the world we do indeed behold the perfections of our God shining forth, as it were, in meridian splendour. That was a work beyond all parallel and all conception great,
1.
In wisdom and power
[When Moses saw what God had wrought for the people of Israel at the Red Sea, he sang, Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like unto thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders [Note: Exo 15:11.]? But St. Paul speaks of our blessed Lord as concentrating in himself all that is great and glorious, and as being, as it were in the abstract, The wisdom of God, and the power of God [Note: 1Co 1:24.]. O what unsearchable depths of wisdom were contained in that mystery, the substitution of Gods only dear Son in the place of sinners; whereby the sins of the whole world are expiated, and the kingdom of heaven opened to millions, who, without such a Saviour, must have inherited the blackness of darkness for ever! Nor was the power that effected our redemption less manifest, in forming the human nature of our Lord in the womb of a pure Virgin, free from all the taint of our original corruption; and enabling that body, so wonderfully formed, to bear the curse due to our iniquities, and to work out a righteousness adequate to the wants, and sufficient for the necessities, of a ruined world. View the triumphs of Jesus in the wilderness, and in the garden, and on the cross; in all of which he spoiled the principalities and powers of hell: view them also in his resurrection, and ascension, and in the operations of the Holy Spirit, whom he sent from heaven to complete the wonders of his grace: view these things, and say, whether his work be not indeed honourable and glorious [Note: ver. 3.], the very summit of wisdom, and the perfection of power.]
2.
In goodness and mercy
[So conspicuous were these perfections in the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, that David could behold, as it were, nothing else. In a psalm where he specifies a great variety of particulars relating to it, he repeats no less than twenty-six times in as many verses, His mercy endureth for ever [Note: Psalms 136.]. But what shall we say of his goodness and mercy to us in Christ Jesus? Eternity will be too short to enumerate the instances wherein these perfections are displayed, and to make such acknowledgments as this exhibition of them calls for at our hands. The manna from heaven, and the water from the rock, were but faint images of what we receive in and from the Lord Jesus Christ. O what supplies of grace, what rich communications of his blessed Spirit, does he impart to us from day to day! And what forbearance does he exercise towards us! Well indeed may we say with David, that goodness and mercy have followed us all our days.]
3.
In righteousness and truth
[In the whole dispensation, whether towards the Lord Jesus Christ himself, as our representative, or towards us whom he has redeemed, there has not been one single act which was not an act of justice, and an accomplishment of some preexisting declaration. Were our iniquities laid on the Lord Jesus, and punished in him? Was he, after having expiated those sins, exalted to glory, and seated on the right hand of the Majesty on high? All, as David speaks, was verity and judgment [Note: ver. 7.]. In like manner, if we are pardoned, and raised to a participation of his glory, mercy and truth meet together, and righteousness and peace kiss each other [Note: Psa 85:10.]. Every threatening denounced against sin has been executed in the person of Christ; and every thing promised to Christ, or to us, is fulfilled, when for Christs sake we are restored to Gods favour, and made heirs of his inheritance ]
Agreeable to this character of Gods works is,
II.
The respect paid to them by every true Christian.
The Christian is fitly represented as one who has pleasure in these works
[The generality of mankind have, alas! no pleasure in these works, but rather put away the remembrance of them with abhorrence But not so the Christian: he regards them with far different sensations. He indeed is not insensible to pleasures of other kinds, provided they be such as may be enjoyed with a good conscience towards God. He may, as a scholar and philosopher, feel delight in intellectual pursuits; and he may, as a member of society, find pleasure in the intercourse of friendship, or the enjoyment of domestic comforts. But, though he lose not his taste for such pleasures, his delight in them is altogether subordinated to higher and more spiritual enjoyments. Whatever he once accounted gain, is now esteemed by him comparatively as dross and dung [Note: Php 3:7-8.] The wonders of redeeming love are on earth, as they will be in heaven, his constant solace, and his song.]
By him they are sought out with care and diligence
[With a view to a more enlarged knowledge of these works, he reads the Holy Scriptures, searching into them as for hid treasures He attends carefully on the ministry of the word, that he may both obtain a further insight into the Gospel, and have a richer experience of it in his soul By constant meditation also, and by fervent prayer, he dives deeper and deeper into the great mysteries of godliness; musing, as it were, day and night, and crying mightily to God, Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law! Never does he imagine that he has yet attained. The more enlarged his views become, the more he sees, that he knows nothing yet as he ought to know: and he looks forward with proportionable earnestness to the eternal world, where the veil shall be taken from before his eyes, and he will see as he is seen, and know even as he is known.]
Address
1.
Seek yet more and more this most desirable of all knowledge
[See with what persevering diligence the philosopher prosecutes the attainment of science And will not ye, for the acquiring of knowledge wherein eternal life consists, and which the angels themselves desire to look into? ]
2.
Endeavour more and more to make a suitable improvement of it
[Hallelujah stands as the introduction to the contemplations of David. Let all your contemplations lead to, and terminate in, a similar acclamation. Such will be the result of all the knowledge which we shall possess in heaven and such should be our improvement of all that we attain on earth ]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Everything which tends to display the grace and goodness of God, in nature and providence, is worthy to be well regarded. But what displays hath Jehovah made in Jesus, and his great salvation! And Reader! think what blessings open to the view of that redeemed soul, who is conscious of a personal interest in them. Oh! what pleasure, what joy unspeakable, will that soul find in the blessed study!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 111:2 The works of the LORD [are] great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.
Ver. 2. The works of the Lord are great ] Magnalia; no small things are done by so great a hand. Grandior solet esse Deus in parvulis quam in magnis; in formicis maior anima quam in elephantis, in nanis quam in gigantibus.
Sought out of all them
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
works. The great subject of this Psalm, as His ways are of the next. Compare Rev 15:3.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
works: Psa 92:5, Psa 104:24, Psa 139:14, Job 5:9, Job 9:10, Job 26:12-14, Job 38:1-41, Job 41:1-34, Isa 40:12, Jer 32:17-19, Dan 4:3, Eph 1:19, Eph 2:7-10, Rev 15:3
sought: Psa 77:11, Psa 77:12, Psa 104:24, Psa 104:34, Psa 107:43, Psa 143:5, Job 37:7, Ecc 3:11, 1Pe 1:10-12
that have: Psa 92:4, Pro 17:16, Pro 18:1, Pro 18:2, Pro 24:14, Rom 1:28, Rom 8:6
Reciprocal: Exo 3:3 – General Jos 4:9 – set up twelve Job 5:27 – we have searched Job 36:24 – magnify Job 37:14 – consider Psa 8:3 – When Psa 28:5 – Because Psa 46:8 – Come Psa 66:5 – Come Ecc 1:13 – I gave Eze 39:9 – shall go Luk 2:15 – Let Luk 8:38 – saying
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
111:2 The works of the LORD [are] {b} great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.
(b) He shows that God’s works are a sufficient reason for us to praise him, but chiefly his benefits toward his Church.