Week 38: Psalms 112-114

Published September 11, 2025

Questions: Psalms 112-114

  • Psalm 112: Look at all of the benefits those who fear the Lord and delight in His commandments get! How about you? Do you feel like you are receiving benefits from the Lord? Are you delighting in His commands?
  • Psalm 113: Verse 3 says, “From the rising of the sun to the setting of the same, the name of the Lord is to be praised!” I definitely feel convicted that I am not praising the Lord all day as I should. Join me in asking the Lord to change your heart and make you more aware of ways to praise. 
  • Psalm 114: When was the last time you trembled at the thought of God?   

    • Devotion

    How should we approach praise? As people scared of punishment who want to obey God’s commands? As people in awe of His power? As people grateful for God’s provision? As people full of the spirit and emotional passion for God?

    Psalm 114 suggests that we should praise Him out of fear in recognition of God’s sovereignty and authority. He has the power to liberate a people of slaves from one of the greatest empires of their time. (114:1) He destroyed an entire army with just a sea. He is so glorious that even creation flees. (114:3-4) In this Psalm the Psalmist asks God’s creation why they flee, (114:5-6) and the response is beautiful. “Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the God of Jacob.” (114:7) His presence alone radiates glory so intense that even creation runs. This glory is so great that it helped Stephen take joy in being stoned, (Acts 7:55) and would kill even the most righteous men, like Moses, if they saw too much. (Exodus 33:20) This glory is deserving of praise.

    Psalm 113 suggests that we should praise Him because He is good. The Lord is great and is to be praised. His glory is further emphasized in the beginning of this Psalm, but the end suggests that we praise Him because of His good deeds and character. It speaks of how He looks down on us, (113:6) how He helps the poor and needy, (113:7) how He exalts them to be princes, (113:8) and how He gives barren women homes and children (113:9). We forget the significance of any of this. God has every right to cast us aside and forget about us. Even our greatest accomplishments and deeds are like a dirty rag, (Isaiah 64:6) but God chooses to look down on us. How glorious is it that not only does he look down on us but He chooses to give us good and perfect gifts, (James 1:17) and to exalt us to be princes in his kingdom. (113:8) One day we will praise Him eternally, but until then, we should praise Him without end. (113:3) I think about the 7th verse of Amazing Grace, and I marvel that we have eternity to sing God’s praise.  

    “When we've been there ten thousand years, Bright shining as the sun, We've no less days to sing God's praise, Than when we'd first begun.” 

     Psalm 112 brings both of these ideas together. It starts by saying “Blessed is the man who fears the LORD.” (112:1) It then talks about His good gifts such as the inheritance the righteous’ offspring will receive. (112:2-3) It then rounds out the idea nicely by saying, “Light dawns in the darkness for the upright; he is gracious, merciful, and righteous… He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm trusting in the LORD. His heart is steady; he will not be afraid.” (112:4,7) We are blessed to have a God that doesn’t give us easy lives, but He gives us His light in the darkness. John Calvin says,  

    “With God as the defender of their righteousness, they yet do not escape from being assailed by the slanders of the ungodly, but it is enough for them that their name is blessed before God, the angels, and the whole assembly of the godly.” 

    We don’t have to be afraid because we can trust in Him. He is a God to be feared, and we should have respect and awe for Him, and because of His power, we are not alone in our struggles. We should praise God because we fear Him, and also because He is good.  

    - Caleb Stites