Psalms 111:4
in Psalms 111He has caused His wonders to be remembered; the LORD is gracious and compassionate.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: Jehovah is gracious and merciful.
KJV
He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the Lord is gracious and full of compassion.
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This verse in Psalms 111
Commentary
10 notes on this verseHe hath made his wonderful works to be remembered. He meant them to remain in the recollection of his people, and they do so: partly because they are in themselves memorable, and because also he has taken care to record them by the pen of inspiration, and has written them upon the hearts of his people by his Holy Spirit.
This site's exposition
His wonders to be remembered
on Psalms 111:4-6
Gracious and compassionate is what the LORD called Himself at Exodus 34:6. The same words stand over what He does: food for those who fear Him, a covenant He keeps forever, and the land of the nations. Both the food and the land came from one hand.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"He has made His wonderful works to be remembered" [Psalm 111:4]: by abasing this man, exalting that. Reserving unusual miracles for a fit season, that thus human weakness, intent upon novelty, may remember them, although His daily miracles be greater. He created so many trees throughout the whole earth, and no one wonders: He dried up one with a word, and the hearts of mortals were thunderstruck. [Matthew 21:19-20] For that miracle, which has not through its frequency become common, will cling most firmly to the heart. But of what use were the miracles, save that He might be feared?
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
God's pardoning sin is the most wonderful of all his works and which ought to be remembered to his glory. It is a further instance of his grace and compassion that he has given meat to those that fear him,
He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered. He meant them to remain in the recollection of his people, and they do so: partly because they are in themselves memorable, and because also he has taken care to record them by the pen of inspiration, and has written them upon the hearts of his people by his Holy Spirit. By the ordinances of the Mosaic law, the coming out of Egypt, the sojourn in the wilderness, and other memorabilia of Israel's history were constantly brought before the minds of the people, and their children were by such means instructed in the wonders which God had wrought in old time. Deeds such as God has wrought are not to be admired for an hour and then forgotten, they are meant to be perpetual signs and instructive tokens to all coming generations; and especially are they designed to confirm the faith of his people in the divine love, and to make them know that the Lord is gracious and full of compassion. They need not fear to trust his grace for the future, for they remember it in the past. Grace is as conspicuous as righteousness in the great work of God, yea, a fulness of tender love is seen in all that he has done. He treats his people with great consideration for their weakness and infirmity; having the same pity for them as a father hath towards his children. Should we not praise him for this? A silver thread of lovingkindness runs through the entire fabric of God's work of salvation and providence, and never once is it left out in the whole piece. Let the memories of his saints bear witness to this fact with grateful joy.
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2849: “Remembering God's Works” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
GOD'S works are, of course, wonderful because they are His works, but they are not "a nine days' wonder." They are not intended to be admired for a little while and then to be forgotten. The Psalmist says, "He has made His wonderful works to be remembered." I fear that we too often fail to keep in our memory the recollection of God's exceeding goodness and that we allow the works of the Lord, as well as His mercies, to lie "forgotten in unthankfulness."
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2849: “Remembering God's Works” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
GOD'S works are, of course, wonderful because they are His works, but they are not "a nine days' wonder." They are not intended to be admired for a little while and then to be forgotten. The Psalmist says, "He has made His wonderful works to be remembered." I fear that we too often fail to keep in our memory the recollection of God's exceeding goodness and that we allow the works of the Lord, as well as His mercies, to lie "forgotten in unthankfulness." If it has been so in the past with any of us, let us, at the outset of our meditation, begin to chide ourselves for our forgetfulness and ask the Holy Spirit to strengthen our memories that we may remember the wonderful works of the Lord more than we have done. Our subject is twofold. First, it is God's design that His wonderful works should be remembered. And, secondly, it is our wisdom constantly to have those wonderful works in remembrance. I. First then, I learn from our text that IT IS GOD'S DESIGN THAT HIS WONDERFUL WORKS SHOULD BE REMEMBERED. He has ensured the carrying out of this design, for, first, the very greatness ofHis works prevents them from being forgotten. When God has come forth out of His secret places to work Redemption for His people with a high hand and an outstretched arm, He has worked such mighty marvels that all history has been made to ring with the tidings of them.
He hath made his wonderful works - He who seeks them out will never forget them; and every thing of God’s framing is done in such a way, as to strike the imagination, interest the senses, and charm and edify the intellect. But the psalmist may here intend principally the works of God in behalf of the Jewish people; and particularly in their deliverance from the Babylonish captivity, which this Psalm is supposed to celebrate.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
He hath made his wonderful works - In heaven and in earth. To be remembered - literally, “Memory hath he made for his wonderful works.” “They” are so made, that man may remember them; the memory of man, also, is so made, that it may retain them. The highest and most appropriate exercise of memory is to retain the lessons which the works of God inculcate; to treasure up for gratitude and for use what he teaches his intelligent creation through those works. Memory can never be better employed than in treasuring up the truths which the Creator teaches in his providential dealings with us, and in his word. How much better would it be for man if he labored more to “remember” these things; if he sought to forget many of those things which he is so careful now to retain in his recollection. The Lord is gracious ... - See the notes at Psa 86:5. This is stated here as the result of the careful study of the doings of God; as the conclusion to which all will come who carefully study his works. “Illustrations” of what God has done that deserves to be remembered occupy the remainder of the psalm, except the last verse.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
He made a memorial He set down for Israel Sabbaths and festivals and commandments, of which was stated (Deut.:15): “And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt,” because He is gracious and merciful to His children, and He wishes to make them righteous.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| זֵ֣כֶר | zekher | remembrance | H2143 → | 23 times |
| עָ֭שָׂה | ʾasah | he has appointed | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לְנִפְלְאֹתָ֑יו | lenifleotav | of wonders his | H6381 → | 71 times |
| חַנּ֖וּן | chanun | [is] gracious | H2587 → | 13 times |
| וְרַח֣וּם | verachum | and compassionate | H7349 → | 13 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
זֵ֣כֶרremembrance
zekherH2143 →23 times
עָ֭שָׂהhe has appointed
ʾasahH6213 →2628 times
לְנִפְלְאֹתָ֑יוof wonders his
lenifleotavH6381 →71 times
חַנּ֖וּן[is] gracious
chanunH2587 →13 times
וְרַח֣וּםand compassionate
verachumH7349 →13 times
יְהוָֽה׃Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 103:8The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion.
it leads to
- Psalms 86:15
But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Joel 2:13
So rend your hearts and not your garments, and return to the LORD your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion. And He relents from sending disaster.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 34:6–7
Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,
- Psalms 145:8
The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion.
- Nahum 1:3
The LORD is slow to anger and great in power; the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. His path is in the whirlwind and storm, and clouds are the dust beneath…
- Psalms 86:15
Through
Psalms 145:8The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion.
it leads to
- Psalms 103:8
The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 86:5
For You, O Lord, are kind and forgiving, rich in loving devotion to all who call on You.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Numbers 14:18
‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion, forgiving iniquity and transgression. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon…
- Psalms 103:8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Psalms
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 111; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 5; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2849: “Remembering God's Works” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.