Context & Key Themes
Psalm 111 is an acrostic psalm — each of its twenty-two lines begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This is not ornamentation. It is a statement: from aleph to taw, from beginning to end, from A to Z, God’s works and character are worthy of praise. The psalm is paired with Psalm 112 — one an acrostic about God, the other an acrostic about the godly person shaped by God. Together they form a matched portrait: here is what God is like; here is what a life shaped by that God looks like.
Key Verse
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!”
— Psalm 111:10
Summary
The psalm opens with a wholehearted Hallelujah and the psalmist’s personal pledge to give thanks with his whole heart in the company of the upright congregation. Then the works of God are rehearsed — great, studied by those who delight in them, full of splendor and righteousness that endures forever. He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered; he is gracious and merciful. He has given food to those who fear him and remembered his covenant forever. He showed his people the power of his works in giving them the heritage of the nations. The works of his hands are faithful and just; his precepts are established forever. He sent redemption to his people and commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name. And then the closing declaration: the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom — all who practice it have a good understanding.
Reflection
Psalm 111 ends where wisdom begins: in the fear of the Lord. But the entire psalm is a demonstration of why that fear is not a cringing dread but a fitting response to something genuinely great. The psalmist has been studying the works of God — deliberately, attentively, with delight — and what he has found there is not arbitrary power but faithful, gracious, covenant-keeping character. The fear of the Lord arises naturally from an honest encounter with who God actually is. And the psalm’s acrostic form makes an additional claim: this is not a passing feeling or a single insight. From first letter to last, from beginning to end of everything that can be said, this is what is true about God. His praise endures forever.