The big picture
Psalm 111 turns praise into close attention. Its Hebrew lines move through the alphabet, giving the poem an ordered completeness that English cannot reproduce exactly. The Book of Psalms celebrates works that are not merely admired but “sought out” by people who delight in them. Food, covenant, inheritance, commands, redemption, reverence, and wisdom all belong to the same account. Provision does not sit in one category while law sits in another. The God who feeds also commands, and the commands are described as trustworthy because the works of his hands are true and just. The final line makes wisdom practical: understanding belongs to those who do the commandments. The alphabet ends, but praise is said to endure.
Central truth
Psalm 111 calls the congregation to study the Lord’s works carefully, remembering that his acts, covenant, commandments, redemption, and holy name lead to wisdom that begins in reverent obedience.
The study notes have a page of their own
The movement by movement analysis, the words to trace, the verse by verse notes and where readers differ are written for someone studying alone. They are on the Deep Personal Reflections page for this chapter. This page is the lesson.
A chapter-specific teaching brief
These anchors come from this chapter itself. They help a teacher use the Level 1 overview, the Level 2 study, and the Scripture text as one lesson.
Open with the chapter’s first image
Psalms 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.”
Slow down at the turning point
Psalms 111:5: “He hath given meat unto them that fear him: he will ever be mindful of his covenant.”
Keep this word trail visible
LORD, works, praise, commandments, covenant, endureth
What to explain, in order
Teach the passage in this order. Each step names the verses it rests on, so every point can be shown in the text before it is applied.
Psalms 111:1
Praise in the assembly
Begin with the setting. “Praise ye the LORD” is the Hebrew hallelujah, and the singer praises “with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation”. Explain that this is public and wholehearted, not a private feeling. Mention that in Hebrew each line begins with the next letter of the alphabet, which made the psalm easy to memorise and suggests it was meant to be learned by heart. Start here because the whole psalm is a study of God's works carried out among his people.
Psalms 111:2-4
Works worth studying
Now the subject: the works of the Lord are great, and they are sought out by those who delight in them. Explain sought out as searched and studied with care. The works are honourable and glorious, and God has made them to be remembered. Explain that Israel remembered through feasts like Passover, and that remembering revealed character: “the LORD is gracious and full of compassion”. Teach this second so the class sees that studying what God has done is itself worship and a way of knowing him.
Psalms 111:5-6
Food, covenant and land
Make the history visible. Meat given to those who fear him recalls the manna and the quail. A covenant remembered for ever recalls Abraham and Sinai. The heritage of the nations recalls the land of Canaan. Explain that the psalm compresses Israel's history into two verses and expects the hearer to fill it in. Teach it here because it shows what kind of works are meant: not only creation, but God's acts on behalf of his people.
Psalms 111:7-9
Works, commandments and redemption
Show how the psalm joins what God does with what he says. His works are “verity and judgment”, his commandments sure, standing fast for ever. Then the climax: “He sent redemption unto his people”. Explain redemption as freedom bought at a price, first seen at the exodus, and the covenant as commanded rather than negotiated. End the step with “holy and reverend is his name”, explaining reverend as awe inspiring. This order leads straight into fear in verse 10.
Psalms 111:10
The beginning of wisdom
Close with the famous line, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom”, which also stands in Proverbs 9:10. Explain fear as reverent awe, the response of someone who has studied God's works and seen his holiness. Then insist on the second half: “a good understanding have all they that do his commandments”. Wisdom begins in reverence and grows in obedience. Point to Psalm 112, which opens exactly where this psalm ends, with the man who fears the Lord.
Where learners get stuck
The misreadings this passage tends to produce, and how to answer each from the text.
“The fear of the Lord means being terrified of God.”
In this psalm fear comes after study, memory and praise. The God who is feared is “gracious and full of compassion” (111:4) and sends redemption (111:9). The fear meant is reverent awe that takes God seriously and obeys him, as 111:10 says: understanding belongs to those who do his commandments. Terror runs away from God; this fear draws near to him in worship.
“Reverend is his name means ministers should be called Reverend.”
In 111:9 the word describes God's name: “holy and reverend is his name”, meaning awe inspiring and to be held in reverence. The verse is not about titles for ministers at all. Whatever a church's custom for addressing its clergy, this verse is not the basis for it. Keep the focus where the psalm keeps it, on the holiness of God.
“God's works means only nature.”
The psalm's examples are mostly history: food given to those who fear him, covenant kept, land given, redemption sent (111:5-9). Creation is God's work too, but here the great works are his acts for his people. Teach the class to look for God's works in what he has done in history and in their own lives, as well as in the world around them.
“Studying the Bible is for experts.”
111:2 says God's works are “sought out of all them that have pleasure therein”. The qualification is delight, not training. The alphabetic shape of the psalm in Hebrew suggests it was made to be memorised by ordinary worshipers. Encourage every learner to study God's works because they enjoy them, with whatever tools they have, and to bring what they find back to the group.
Learning objectives
- Trace the repeated language of God’s works.
- Explain what it means to seek out those works.
- Connect remembrance with grace and compassion.
- Identify covenant and redemption in verses 5–9.
- Interpret the fear of the Lord in verse 10.
- Show why wisdom is linked with doing.
Teacher preparation
- Mark every occurrence of work, works, covenant, commandments, remembrance, and praise.
- Notice the psalm’s alphabetic structure in Hebrew, even though that pattern is not visible in English.
- Prepare to distinguish “reverend” in verse 9 as describing God’s name, not as a title being assigned to a minister.
- Read Psalm 112 afterward because the two psalms are deliberately close companions.
- Keep verse 10 tied to the previous nine verses; wisdom begins after sustained attention to what God has done and commanded.
Evidence and interpretation checks
Explicit
Verses 2–4 explicitly call God’s works great, worthy of being sought out, honorable, glorious, enduring, and memorable.
Scripture-supported
Verses 5–9 support covenant confidence through provision, inheritance, trustworthy commandments, redemption, and an enduring covenant.
Strong inference
Verse 10 strongly links understanding with obedience because good understanding belongs to those who do his commandments.
Possible or traditional reading
Some readers treat the acrostic form as the main message. It is better seen as crafted order serving a psalm already focused on careful remembrance.
Limit
Psalm 111 does not praise curiosity detached from obedience; study, reverence, covenant memory, and doing are joined.
Discussion with answer guidance
1. What does verse 2 mean by works being “sought out”?
What a good answer contains
“The works of the LORD are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein” (111:2). Sought out means studied, searched into, the way a person explores something they love. A good answer sees that delight drives the study: people who take pleasure in God's works look into them. It may link this to 111:4, where God has made his works to be remembered. A weak answer takes it as something everyone notices without effort.
Show teacher guidance
The verse pictures delighted attention, not accidental noticing. God’s works deserve investigation and remembrance.
2. How does verse 4 connect memory with God’s character?
What a good answer contains
“He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion” (111:4). God's acts are not one off displays; he means them to be recalled, as Israel recalled the exodus at Passover. And the same verse says what the remembering shows, his grace and compassion. A good answer ties memory to character: we remember what he did in order to know who he is. A weak answer separates the two halves of the verse.
Show teacher guidance
God makes wonderful works remembered, and the same verse names him gracious and compassionate.
3. What covenant actions appear in verses 5–6?
What a good answer contains
“He hath given meat unto them that fear him: he will ever be mindful of his covenant” (111:5), and “He hath shewed his people the power of his works, that he may give them the heritage of the heathen” (111:6). Food in the wilderness, faithfulness to the covenant, and the gift of the land. A good answer recognises the exodus and the entry into Canaan behind these lines. A weak answer treats them as general statements about kindness with no history behind them.
Show teacher guidance
He gives food, remembers covenant, shows powerful works, and gives his people the heritage of nations.
4. Why can the commandments be trusted in verses 7–8?
What a good answer contains
Because they come from the same hands as his works. “The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure. They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness” (111:7-8). Verity means truth. A good answer sees that the psalm makes no division between what God does and what he commands: both are true and just. A weak answer treats the commandments as a separate subject that has wandered into a psalm about works.
Show teacher guidance
They arise from hands characterized by truth and judgment and are themselves sure, established, true, and upright.
5. What does redemption add in verse 9?
What a good answer contains
The centre of all the works: “He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name” (111:9). Redemption is setting free at a price, as from Egypt. The covenant is commanded, established by God's authority, not bargained over. A good answer sees the works leading to redemption and redemption to God's holy name. A weak answer reads reverend as a title for a minister.
Show teacher guidance
The psalm moves from works in general to God sending redemption and commanding his covenant forever.
6. Why is fear of the Lord called the beginning of wisdom?
What a good answer contains
Because wisdom starts with knowing who God is and responding to him. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments” (111:10). Fear here is awed reverence that leads to obedience. A good answer keeps both halves, reverence and doing. A weak answer either makes fear plain terror or drops the doing, as if understanding came from admiring God at a distance.
Show teacher guidance
Keep the final clause: understanding is connected with doing his commandments, not merely admiring them.
Responsible application
Study as worship
Choose one divine work named in the psalm and research its biblical setting as an act of praise rather than trivia.
Remember on purpose
Use verse 4 to create a brief written record of God’s works in Scripture that another group could revisit later.
Join knowing and doing
Use verse 10 to pair one command studied in class with a concrete, non-disclosing practice of obedience.
Session plans
Two timings of the same lesson. The shorter keeps the reading, the central discussion and one response; the longer gives the confusions and the application their own time.
45 minutes
Praise with a whole heart
Read the ten verses together. Mention the alphabet pattern and read 111:1 again.
Sought out and remembered
Read 111:2-4. Take questions one and two, and confusion four.
History in two verses
Read 111:5-6 and take question three. Ask the group to name the events behind each line.
Sure commandments and redemption
Read 111:7-9. Take questions four and five, and confusion two.
Wisdom, and the handout
Read 111:10 and take question six with confusion one. Give out the handout and read the key verse together.
90 minutes
Study for pleasure
Ask what people love to study or explore in their spare time. Then read 111:2.
Wholehearted praise
Read 111:1-3. Explain the alphabet pattern and take question one and confusion four.
Made to be remembered
Read 111:4 beside Exodus 12:14. Take question two and ask how the group remembers what God has done.
Food, covenant, land
Read 111:5-6 and take question three, with Exodus 16 and Joshua 21:43-45 briefly in view.
Works and words
Read 111:7-9 and take questions four and five, then confusion two.
Fear and wisdom
Read 111:10 beside Proverbs 9:10 and take question six with confusion one. Read Psalm 112:1 to show how the next psalm continues.
Seek out a work
Each person chooses one work of God from Scripture to study this week and says why they delight in it.
Handout
Give out the handout and read the key verse together.
Adapting the lesson
Children
Make a remembering wall. Each child draws one thing God did in the Bible, such as the manna or the sea opening, and sticks it up. Read 111:4 and say that God wants us to remember what he has done. Teach the fear of the Lord as loving God so much that you want to do what he says, and avoid making it sound like being scared of him.
Youth
Ask what they are curious about and how much time they spend exploring it. Read 111:2 and ask what being curious about God's works would look like. Let them try writing a short alphabet poem of their own about something God has done. Discuss whether fear of the Lord sounds healthy, and use verses 4 and 9 to show what kind of God is feared.
Adults
Adults can enjoy the alphabetic structure, the compressed history and the pairing with Psalm 112. Spend time on 111:7-8, the bond between God's works and his commandments, and on 111:10 as the meeting point of reverence and obedience. Ask how a congregation can make God's works memorable for the next generation.
One to one
Ask the person which work of God, in Scripture or in their own life, they most want to remember. Read 111:4 together. If they find the fear of the Lord confusing or frightening, read 111:4 and 111:9 and talk about an awe that draws near. Suggest one passage for them to study with pleasure before you meet again.
Song and video learning lab
A song or video may interpret, compress, or dramatize the text. Its value becomes clearer when its choices are compared with Scripture.
- Before the media: the exact passage and its central movement.
- During the media: the words, people, events, and emotions the artist emphasizes.
- After the media: what it clarifies, what it leaves out, and what belongs back in the biblical text.
Handout
One page for learners to take home. The print button prints this section alone.
Psalms 111:1–10
The passage in brief
Psalm 111 praises God with a whole heart for everything he has done. His works are great, and people who delight in them study them. God makes his works memorable so that we remember how gracious and kind he is. He fed his people, kept his covenant, gave them the land and set them free. His commandments are true and sure. The psalm ends by saying that wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord and grows as we do what he says.
A verse to keep
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.
Psalms 111:10 · King James Version
Questions to take home
What does 111:2 say about people who delight in God's works?
Which of the works listed in 111:5-9 do you most want to remember?
What two things does 111:10 put together?
This week
Choose one thing God has done in the Bible and spend ten minutes this week studying it with pleasure.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
