Studying God’s Works and Submitting to God’s Will (Psalms 111–114)

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Awe begins where attention lives. We open Psalms 111–114 and follow a path from studying God’s works in creation to trusting his hand in history and obeying his word in the present. From electric eels to the Cavendish Laboratory, we connect scientific wonder with the psalmist’s claim: Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them. That study does not stop at atoms and galaxies; it moves into redemption, memory, and song.

We then shift to Psalm 112 to ask what kind of person thrives when headlines turn hard. The picture is not of a perfect saint but a steady heart: one who fears the Lord, delights in his commands, and refuses to let bad news define ultimate reality. Faith does not pretend pain is good; it trusts that God is good in the middle of it. Think shipwrecked yet safe—surrounded by trouble but on the solid ground of God’s sovereign plan.

Psalm 113 lifts our gaze to a God who reigns above the nations and still stoops to raise the lowly. We talk about praise that runs from sunrise to nightfall and the comfort of being seen in both longing and fulfillment, with Hannah’s story as a template for hope without cliché. Finally, Psalm 114 compresses the exodus and reminds us that seas, rivers, and mountains obey the voice of their Maker. If creation responds, should we not respond with obedience, trust, and praise? Come reflect with us, steady your heart, and renew your yes to God’s wise will.

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_01 (00:54):
Today on our wisdom journey, we arrive in Psalms 111
through 114.
We're reminded that both God'spower and his character are
demonstrated through his works.
Of course, God is at work inyou.
His work in you includesaligning your character with his

(01:16):
character as you learn to beconsistently obedient to his
word.
Stephen Davy will help youunderstand this better in a
lesson he's called studyingGod's Word and Submitting to
God's will.

SPEAKER_00 (01:32):
In my study, I have learned that before mankind
discovered electricity, theelectric eel was generating 700
volts of electricity all byhimself.
Before we learned to navigatethe seven seas, birds were
flying from the Arctic to theAntarctic, landing at exactly

(01:53):
the same nesting site year afteryear.
Before mankind ever designedsuspension bridges, spiders were
demonstrating engineeringbrilliance.
Before we ever developed systemsof paper production, wasps were
manufacturing their own type ofpaper.

(02:14):
He can't help but marvel andagree with the psalmist here in
Psalm 111, verse two.
Great are the works of the Lordstudied by all who delight in
them.
Sounds like an invitation to meto study the creative works of
God.
I think of the CavendishLaboratory over in Cambridge,

(02:36):
England.
It was established back in 1874,renowned for many discoveries
made there in various scientificfields.
Nobel Prize-winning scientistshave worked in that laboratory.
That's where the electron andthe neutron were discovered.
This laboratory was instrumentalin the discovery of quantum

(02:57):
mechanics, things like the cloudchamber, the double helix
structure of DNA.
Amazing, amazing discoveries.
But I found it interesting tolearn that over the doorway into
that original Cavendishlaboratory was carved this verse
I just read from Psalm 111.

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Great are the works of the Lordstudied by all who delight in
them.

(03:44):
Now God's creative handiworkgoes way beyond the physical
creation.
It will include his acts ofgrace and mercy and deliverance
and blessing.
In fact, the psalmist seems tobe thinking about that here in
verse four, where he writes, Hehas caused his wondrous works to
be remembered.

(04:05):
The Lord is gracious andmerciful.
Verse 9 highlights the fact thatGod sent redemption to his
people.
So this psalm is teaching usthat in many ways our hearts
need to become laboratories.
We need to meditate on andcatalog, if you will, our

(04:28):
observations of the world aroundus.
They're going to point us to themarvel of our Creator God.
These acts of God's grace showus the wonder of our redeeming
God.
In fact, the more we learn aboutGod, the more reason we have to
sing right here with thispsalmist.
Great are the works of the Lordstudied by all who delight in

(04:52):
them.
Well now, Psalm 112 is theperfect companion to Psalm 111.
Psalm 111 highlights the work ofGod.
What kind of person worshipsGod?
Well, verse 1 begins to answerthat question.

(05:13):
Blessed is the man who fears theLord, who greatly delights in
his commandments.
I've heard it said that theperson who fears the Lord isn't
afraid of anyone else, and in asense that's true.
It's impossible to be worshipingand worrying at the same time.
Well, now down here in verse 7,the psalmist says this of the

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righteous.
And by the way, the righteousisn't someone who's perfect.
The righteous is someone who isright with God.
He says this He is not afraid ofbad news.
His heart is firm, trusting inthe Lord.
Well, now that doesn't mean badnews isn't going to happen, and
it doesn't mean that we're goingto make bad news sound like good

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news.
Now the psalmist is effectivelytelling us that in spite of bad
news, we can have confidencethat God is in control of that
news.
He's unfolding his will for ourlives, and that's going to
include good news and bad newsalike.
I've also heard it said that weare at our spiritual best when

(06:22):
we are shipwrecked on the islandof God's sovereignty.
Shipwrecked?
Yeah, that's by the way, that'sbad news.
That's trouble.
And that that means trouble'sall around you.
You're on an island, you gotbroken pieces.
Maybe right now you've got abroken heart.
Beloved, let me tell you thatalthough you might be

(06:43):
shipwrecked, so to speak, youare shipwrecked on the island of
God's faithful, sovereign plan.
You're not alone either on thatisland, and that's good news.
Well now we come to these nexttwo psalms, Psalm 113 and Psalm
114, and they're in a groupingof songs that are sung at Jewish

(07:06):
festivals.
They would be sung at Passoverand Pentecost and Tabernacles,
even to this very day.

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Verse one tells the people,Praise, O servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord.
This phrase here for servants ofthe Lord, this is a reference to
the entire nation of Israel.
You know, it's possible that acopy of this psalm, this hymn,
composed in exile, was carriedby the people back to Jerusalem

(08:00):
when they returned, and nowthey're invited to sing it.
The psalmist writes here inverse three, from the rising of
the sun to its setting.
In other words, make this yourpriority for the day,
worshiping, trusting, uh,following the Lord from the time
you get out of bed there at therising of the sun until you're
drinking that cup of hotchamomile tea with a teaspoon of

(08:23):
honey like I do before going tobed at night.
From the rising of the sun tothe setting of the sun.
Sing this.
Praise the name of the Lord.
Now, in the next couple ofverses, the psalmist is going to
place God's throne above thenations.
In fact, even as high as theheavens, even above the heavens.

(08:44):
That's what he says here inverse 6.
He says, Our high and exaltedGod looks far down on the
heavens and the earth.
Now, this doesn't mean that Godgets curious every so often and
wants to find out what's goingon down here.
It means that God cares aboutwhat's going on down here.
This is an expression here ofcompassionate love for his

(09:08):
people.
Now we know that because inverses 7 to 8, the psalmist
immediately brings up the kindof praise sung years earlier by
Hannah, the mother of Samuel,when she praised God for that
little boy's birth.
The psalmist writes here thatkind of lyric in verse 9.
He gives the barren woman ahome, making her the joyous

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mother of children.
Praise the Lord.
You know, that's a good reminderhere that God was looking down
on Hannah during those years ofbarrenness and longing.
He was looking on her just asmuch as he was looking down on
her after she had Samuel andother children.
God wasn't any less interestedin Hannah without children than

(09:54):
he was when Hannah gave birth toher first born son Samuel.
You might be suffering rightnow.
You're wanting a child.
Perhaps you're not able toconceive for any number of
reasons.
God knows all about you.
His plan for you might bechildren.
It might not be children, but hestill loves you.

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He hasn't abandoned you.
He isn't ignoring your prayer.
He isn't ignoring your plea,your longing.
You can be confident that hecares about you and he considers
your life right now complete inhim, no matter what.
You can trust him.
You can trust his wisdom for theplans he has for your life.

(10:40):
Now with that, we arrive atPsalm 114.
Psalm 114 begins with the exodusof Israel from Egypt, here in
verses 1 and 2, and then that'sfollowed by the crossing of the

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Red Sea and later the JordanRiver here in verse 3.
Finally, he refers to the givingof the law at Mount Sinai, verse
4.
And you can't help but wonderwhy this short psalm is still
being sung at the most importantfeasts in the Jewish calendar.
Down here in verse 5 and 6, thepsalmist is reflecting on the

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obedience of the sea and themountain and the river to the
word of God.
All creation recognizes andobeys the creator's will.
Now, here's the point.
We ought to do the same thing.
Listen, if the wind and thewater obey his word and his

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will, well, shouldn't you and Ido the same thing?
This should be our response tothe greatness of our Creator
God.
His works should be studied, hisword should be obeyed.
So, what do you say we do thattoday?
Let's study his creative workand let's obey.

(12:08):
Let's trust his sovereign will.
And until our next wisdomjourney together, beloved, may
the grace of the Lord JesusChrist and the love of God and
the fellowship of the HolySpirit be with you all.
Amen.

SPEAKER_01 (12:34):
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Stephen Davey.
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resources, visitwisdomonline.org.
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And you can email us at info atwisdomonline.org.

(12:57):
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So please join us next time tocontinue the wisdom journey.