Psalm 111:2-4

"The works of the LORD are great, sought out of all them who have pleasure therein. His work is honorable and glorious, and his righteousness endureth forever. He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered; the LORD is gracious and full of compassion."

The LORD God Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, is a great God, and there is no other (so says He). Being great, the things that He does, His works, are great. He is neither halfway nor slipshod. One need only to look at the creation around us to perceive this. No matter the view, whether outward to the expanses of space, or inward to the minute details of the atom, His greatness is seen. The account in Genesis tells us that the things that He made He made by the words of His mouth. He said, "Let there be..." and there was. The only thing that we see Him creating in any other way was Adam and Eve. Them He fashioned with His hands.

Those who love Him look for His hand in creation. It is there for viewing. Many try to discount His hand in all things by saying that the great creation around us is a huge coincidence. It all just happened to work out the way it did. We are told elsewhere in His Word that God's glory is seen in His creation, even His mighty power. For those who look there is pleasure in that which He has done. It is wonderful to see His workings. They are a source of real joy.

His work is honorable and glorious. Mankind is incapable of these qualities in most of what they do. There may be an occasional flash, but His work is always so. The LORD of all the earth will do right. Again, His creation speaks of these things. The intricacies of the human body, for example, are glorious. Every detail works together as it should. This is testimony to Him and His greatness. He is honorbale in all He does. There is never a question of His veracity. He does not "pull fast ones." He is altogehter honorable.

His righteousness endures forever. We are told that among men there are none that righteous. But God is altogether righteous. We have become so accustomed to dealing with unrighteousness around us that the idea of righteousness almost always meets a cynical response. But the LORD God Almighty is totally, unfathomably, righteous. Scripture tells us it is impossible for Him to lie. Is this not evidence of great, complete righteousness?

He hath made His wonderful works to be remembered. We have a great capacity for forgetting. Sometimes we are guilty of asking, "What have you done for me lately?" Among humans past actions are not always an indicator of the future. But, as we have seen, God is only righteous. And how He has been in the past is a sure, certain indicator of how He is now, and will be in the future. He never changes. Remembering His kindness shown to us in the past should be a benchmark of His dealings with us in the future. And notice that it is not our working to remember. He has made His works to be remembered. Recalling His hand in our lives at one point or another is His gentle working in us to trust Him more. For as He has been, so shall He always be.

The LORD is gracious and full of compassion. He is not a stern taskmaster looking for the slightest opportunity to smack us around. God is graciosus. Grace is being given that which is not deserved. He so wants to be compassionate that He gives. And like all of His works, He gives greatly. Mankind, in their unrighteous state, is rightly under His judgment. All have sinned and come short of His glory. Even before He made the worlds, He determined to send Jesus Christ to this earth, God in the flesh, so that He could judge Him for our sin. Jesus died in the place of sinful man for sin that sinful man had, and would, commit. This is the greatness of God. By faith in Him, by taking the death of Jesus as being for each of us individually, we give God the opportunity to show how He is gracious and compassionate. For in Christ, the thing that separated us from God, our sin, has been judged. His justice satisfied, God can be gracious. We do not deserve His blessings, but through Christ we are blessed indeed.

This also shows His compassion. He saw erring humanity in their sin. His perfect justice demanded that judgment be carried out. But His compassions also welled up in Him. Only He could manage both. By judging Christ He made the way for His compassions to pour forth. The very act of judging Jesus for our sin was one of great compassion. Great is God. His works are great. There is none greater than His judgement poured out on Jesus for our sin. The way into His presence is now clear and open to anyone who will come to Him. For all who do, "The works of the LORD are great, sought out of all them who have pleasure therein. His work is honorable and glorious, and his righteousness endureth forever. He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered; the LORD is gracious and full of compassion."

HJK