His praise endures forever...

Psalm 111 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Praise the Lord!
I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart,
In the company of the upright and in the assembly.
² Great are the works of the Lord;
They are studied by all who delight in them.
³ Splendid and majestic is His work,
And His righteousness endures forever.
⁴ He has made His wonders to be remembered;
The Lord is gracious and compassionate.
⁵ He has given food to those who fear Him;
He will remember His covenant forever.
⁶ He has made known to His people the power of His works,
In giving them the heritage of the nations.

⁷ The works of His hands are truth and justice;
All His precepts are sure.
⁸ They are upheld forever and ever;
They are performed in truth and uprightness.
⁹ He has sent redemption to His people;
He has ordained His covenant forever;
Holy and awesome is His name.
¹⁰ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
A good understanding have all those who do His commandments;
His praise endures forever.

It hardly seems necessary to comment on the psalmist’s words, though I will a little. The answer too much of the distress, despair and division, currently affecting our nation, can be found in simply repeating and following the psalmist declaration and exhortation.  

Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart, (In Matthew 22:37 Jesus says, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind is the first and greatest commandment. If we fail in doing what is first and foremost how can we expect that anything else will be okay?)   
In the company of the upright and in the assembly.  Great are the works of the Lord; They are studied by all who delight in them. Splendid and majestic is His work, (If we will look around and see the splendor of creation, the majesty of mountains, oceans and the skies, the detailed beauty of birds and butterflies and then consider the intricacies we cannot see, we too will be in awe of the one who has created all things. To deny Him would be foolishness.)
And His righteousness endures forever. He has made His wonders to be remembered;
The Lord is gracious and compassionate. (Lamentations 3:22-23 God’s mercies are new every morning. May our mercy, grace and compassion toward others begin to be a response and a reflection of His mercy and grace toward us.)
He has given food to those who fear Him; (Jesus taught us to pray. Give us this day our daily bread. Indeed the Lord will sustain us daily, providing for us as He did for the nation of Israel with manna from heaven. It may not always satisfy our greed, but my God shall supply your need.)    He will remember His covenant forever.  (His promises are yes and amen, they are sure and unchanging.)    He has made known to His people the power of His works, In giving them the heritage of the nations.

The works of His hands are truth and justice;   (With God truth and justice are absolutes. Not like we have come to understand, that everything is relative and subject to our changing whims.)
All His precepts are sure.  They are upheld forever and ever;     (God’s precepts, His commandments are sure, certain, unchanging. When we adjust God’s word to our own preferences and liking, it is no longer His justice and righteous, but rather an ever moving and changing set of rules, fashioned by each individual as they please, and so dividing people by differences rather than uniting them around truth and what is good for all.)    
They are performed in truth and uprightness.  He has sent redemption to His people; He has ordained His covenant forever;     (Redemption and the covenant of God is through the Son of God, Jesus Christ. He alone redeems us from sin. He alone fulfills the covenant of God with all mankind.)
Holy and awesome is His name.    (There is power in the very name of Jesus. Demons fear Him. Simply declaring the name of Jesus, changes the atmosphere. If you don’t believe me, try it. JESUS, the name above all names. The name to which every knee shall bow, the name every tongue will confess is Lord, JESUS.)    
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;     (In our society and culture we place a high value on education and on knowledge. That is one of the primary ways people are being divided right now in this country, put in a “basket”- educated or uneducated. No amount of learning, education or knowledge can help a person if they don’t have wisdom/common sense. Wisdom is not learned from a book or in a college lecture hall. It begins with acknowledging God. Without the acknowledgement of God, man’s education and knowledge is foolishness. 1Corinthians 1:25 the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.)

 A good understanding have all those who do His commandments;    (understanding is more than knowing, the very word denotes that it is foundational. We cannot stand if we do not do God’s commandments.)     His praise endures forever.    (Indeed God’s praise endures forever. In heaven, as it says in Revelation 4:8-11 the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy is theLord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.”  And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever,  the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying,  “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”    And on earth, as in Luke 19:37-40  As soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, shouting: “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.” But Jesus answered, “I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!”)

Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart, His praise endures forever…Amen