Great are the works of the LORD;
They are studied by all who delight in them.
— Psalm 111:2
The psalmist gives us two things in this short verse — an absolute truth, and the natural implication that flows from it.
The Works of the LORD Are Great
The absolute truth is simply this: the works of God are great. They are great because He is a great God. They are amazing because He is an amazing God. The works always reflect the One who performed them.
Scripture is consistent and overwhelming on this point. The heavens themselves declare the works of His hands:
The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
— Psalm 19:1
Genesis 1 opens with the foundational declaration that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And the psalmist captures the sheer power behind that creative act:
By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host. He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deeps in storehouses.
— Psalm 33:6-7
Perhaps nowhere in Scripture is the greatness of God’s works more dramatically expressed than in His conversation with Job. Out of the whirlwind, God responds to Job’s questions by presenting His own resume:
Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding, who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it? On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
— Job 38:4-7
And as human civilisation has grown in its understanding of the universe — the scale of the cosmos, the intricacy of the natural world, the complexity of living things — the response has only been deeper wonder. The more we learn, the more we are confronted with how magnificent these works truly are.
Delight Leads to Study
This brings us to the second and equally important part of the verse — its implication. Those who delight in God will naturally study His works. This is not a commanded duty reluctantly carried out. It is the spontaneous and joyful outflow of genuine delight.
When someone truly encounters the greatness of God and finds their delight in Him, the natural response is to want to know more — to go deeper, to study, to learn. The psalmist expresses this beautifully in Psalm 119:
O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.
— Psalm 119:97
This delight drives the believer back to the Word of God — to study what God has said, to understand what God has done, and to know more of who God is. It is the mark of a genuine encounter with the living God.
It is therefore quite telling when someone claims to believe in God but shows very little interest in what God has said or done. The absence of that hunger is worth examining honestly.
But for those who have truly encountered God, we see this pattern clearly in Scripture. Jesus Himself extends the invitation:
Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me.
— Matthew 11:28-29
Notice that embedded in the invitation to rest is an invitation to learn. Coming to Jesus and learning from Jesus are inseparable.
Knowing God as Our Greatest Delight
May it be our greatest delight to contemplate the works of God — His works of creation, His works of providence, and above all His works of redemption in bringing a people from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. May that delight drive us back continually to His Word, to know Him more.
For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
— Hosea 6:6
Amen.
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