With all my heart I give thanks to God, and I will praise Him forever.

“Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart, in the council of the upright and in the assembly... The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts have good understanding. To Him belongs eternal praise.” (Psalm 111:1, 10)

We are holding a preaching series in celebration of the 34th anniversary of the founding of Victory Presbyterian Church. Yesterday, Friday, the message that God gave me through the guest pastor was: “Only by the saving grace of the Triune God” (Ephesians 1:3–14). I received the message that God the Father, out of His love, chose a sinner like me before the foundation of the world; God the Son, Jesus Christ, redeemed me (forgave my sins) by dying on the cross; and God the Holy Spirit sealed me and gave me the guarantee of salvation.

After receiving this message, we all sang the gospel hymn “Even If I Cannot Fully Express It” in praise to God. That night, I sat on a chair in the church’s pastor’s office, looked up the hymn on YouTube, and listened to it repeatedly (with vocals and violin performance). Especially when I heard a young girl play the song on the violin, my heart was deeply moved.

After that, in preparation for today’s early morning service—the final day of this preaching series—I began to read Psalm 119, which was the Scripture reading for this morning’s prayer meeting. But then I turned back and again meditated on Psalm 111, which we had already reflected on earlier this week. As I read Psalm 111 repeatedly, I was led to focus on the second half of verse 1 and the second half of verse 10.

Looking at verses 1 and 10 of Psalm 111, we see that the psalmist declares that we should give thanks to God with all our heart and that our praise of God must continue forever. Why is that? The reason is that the works of the Lord are great (v. 2). The psalmist delighted in the great works of God and thus studied them (v. 2). In particular, he studied the works that God performed for the people of Israel during the Exodus, which can be divided into three major stages:

The first stage is when God, through Moses, brought ten plagues upon Egypt, and ultimately delivered the people of Israel from the hand of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.

Look at Psalm 111:4 — “He has caused His wonders to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and compassionate.”
What are the wonders that the psalmist remembers here? They are the ten plagues that God brought upon Egypt during the Exodus. The psalmist not only remembered these great miracles of God but also studied them (v. 2). His confession after studying these miracles of God was this: “The Lord is gracious and compassionate” (v. 4).

Like the psalmist, we too should delight in the great works of God and study them. We must look back at our past and remember the miracles God has done for us. The miracle we must remember is how, through Jesus—the true Moses—God delivered us from the kingdom of Satan, which is like Egypt.

How did God deliver us from the kingdom of sin, where we were once slaves to Satan?
Just as in the tenth plague in Egypt, God delivered us by sending His only Son, Jesus, to die on the cross as the Passover Lamb. When we remember this great miracle of God, we must also confess, as the psalmist did:
“The Lord is gracious and compassionate” (v. 4).

The second stage is when God provided food for the Israelites in the wilderness.

Let us look at Psalm 111:5:
“He provides food for those who fear Him; He remembers His covenant forever.”
The psalmist not only remembered and studied the great work of God in delivering the Israelites from Egypt, but he also studied how God fed them in the wilderness for forty years. He remembered how God led the Israelites through the wilderness for forty years (Deut. 8:2), and how God gave them manna to eat (v. 3).

When God rained down manna like rain to feed the Israelites and gave them bread from heaven (Psalm 78:24), the psalmist confessed:
“God has established His covenant forever and remembers it eternally” (Psalm 111:5, 9).

We, too, like the psalmist, must delight in the great works of God and study them. We must look back at our past and remember how God has provided us with daily bread.

Especially, we must remember the heavenly bread that God has given us — Jesus Himself.
That is, we must remember Jesus, the Bread of Life (John 6:48).
We must remember the eternal covenant that God made with Jesus.

Although the first Adam disobeyed the covenant word of God, the second Adam — Jesus — obeyed God's word even to the point of death on the cross.

As a result, just as God promised through Jesus, He has forgiven all our sins and granted us salvation. In Jesus Christ, we have received forgiveness of sins and salvation, and we have gained eternal life.

Therefore, we who have received this eternal life must confess like the psalmist:
“Holy and awesome is His name” (Psalm 111:9).

The third stage is when God gave the promised land of Canaan to the Israelites as their inheritance.

Let us look at Psalm 111:6:
“He has shown His people the power of His works, giving them the lands of other nations.”
What is the inheritance that God gave to His people, Israel? It is “the land of other nations” (v. 6, Contemporary Version), that is, the land of Canaan.
By giving the Israelites this promised land, God revealed His power (v. 6).

God revealed His power by being with Joshua and the people of Israel, enabling them to conquer the land of Canaan (Joshua 18:1). God destroyed the seven nations in the land of Canaan and gave that land to the Israelites as their inheritance (Acts 13:19).

The true “Joshua” is Jesus (both names mean “The Lord is salvation”).
And the true “land of Canaan” is heaven.

Through Jesus’ death on the cross, God granted us forgiveness (redemption) and salvation (eternal life).
And God Himself became our inheritance (Deut. 10:9).

Because of the Lord, who is our eternal hope, we now look forward to “a better country” — heaven (Hebrews 11:16).

Having experienced this power of salvation, we must confess like the psalmist:
“The works of His hands are faithful and just; all His precepts are trustworthy. They are established forever and ever, enacted in faithfulness and uprightness.” (Psalm 111:7–8).

We must also confess:
“The works of God’s salvation are faithful and just. He has acted in truth and righteousness, and His word stands firm forever” (vv. 7–8).

When the psalmist studied the great works that God had done for the people of Israel, what was his confession?
Let us look at today’s passage, Psalm 111:3:
“Glorious and majestic are His deeds, and His righteousness endures forever.”

What are these “deeds” of God referring to?
They refer specifically to redemption (v. 9).
God redeemed the people of Israel and saved them.

Realizing that God’s saving righteousness stands forever, the psalmist confessed:
“God is glorious and majestic” (v. 3).
And he devoted himself by saying:
“Lord, I will give thanks to You with all my heart. Lord, I will praise You forever and ever” (vv. 1, 10).

May we also, like the psalmist, remember and study the great work of salvation that God has done for us, so that we may give thanks to Him with all our heart and continually praise Him forever.

By the redeeming grace of Jesus, the Passover Lamb, who was crucified to rescue a sinner like me from the kingdom of Satan,

A Sharing from Pastor James Kim
(Walking toward the heavenly city, following the guidance of the Lord, our Shepherd, through this world that is like a wilderness)