Scripture Reading: Psalms 111-118

There are times when we simply need something we can count on—something steady enough to hold us when life feels uncertain or stretched thin. In those moments, God’s faithfulness becomes more than a word we hear in church or a lyric we sing; it becomes the steady thread that anchors us, the quiet strength that keeps us walking when answers feel delayed.

In Psalms 111 through 118, we are invited to trace that kind of faithfulness—not by watching for a spectacle, but by paying attention to the consistent, quiet current of a God who acts, remembers, lifts, and endures. His faithfulness does not run dry when the season shifts, and it does not pull back when our strength falters. Instead, it becomes the fountain we drink from, and the well we return to—again and again.

Psalm 111 – Faithfulness Remembered

Some praise rises from spontaneous joy, while other praise is spoken not because everything feels right, but because something deep within knows that God is still good. Psalm 111 begins with that kind of intentional praise that is rooted in reflection—anchored in the memory of God’s people who have seen His hand. The psalmist does not attempt to summon emotion but instead lifts his voice with intention, joining a company of the upright whose worship is shaped by remembrance (Psalm 111:1).

The psalm moves like a record of faithfulness, not as a mere list of past events, but as a living testimony that God’s works remain visible to those who will trace them. His deeds are described not just as powerful, but as studied and sought out—pondered by those who know that faith is not fragile sentiment, but hard-won trust. Every act of provision, every glimpse of mercy, every moment of covenant-keeping is etched not only into the scrolls of history, but into the collective memory of the redeemed (Psalm 111:2–4).

This kind of remembrance does not romanticize the past, nor does it deny present hardship; instead, it lifts the eyes to a God who has never once failed to act in righteousness, who has never once broken His word, and who has always made His nature known through His works. Even the  handing down of precepts, and the fulfilling of promises are recalled with reverence, not because they are small gestures, but because they are evidence of a faithful God attending to the needs of His people with unwavering care (Psalm 111:5–9).

There is strength in remembering rightly, especially in seasons where the path ahead feels unclear. For the one tempted to measure God’s faithfulness by current outcomes, this psalm gently redirects the heart—not toward denial, but toward a deeper perspective. What He has done is not forgotten, and what He has said still holds, even when our emotions struggle to catch up. Obedience becomes not a task we carry alone, but a response we offer in light of all He has already shown us. The fear of the Lord—the reverent awe that births wisdom—is not a cold obligation, but a fountain that keeps us flowing with hope (Psalm 111:10).

When memory becomes worship, our posture shifts. We are no longer merely reacting to life’s events—we are realigning ourselves to God’s unchanging nature. And from that place, faith begins to rise again—not on the wings of circumstance, but on the foundation of what He has already done and what He has promised to complete. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8)—and when that truth takes root in our hearts, even the quietest praise becomes a declaration that He has not changed.

Psalm 112 – Faithfulness Reflected

If Psalm 111 celebrates the unshakable faithfulness of God, then Psalm 112 holds up a mirror to show how that faithfulness is meant to be reflected in those who fear Him. This psalm is not a list of blessings randomly assigned to the morally upright, nor is it a transactional reward system for obedience; instead, it is a portrait of what happens when a life is fully oriented toward reverence—when a heart that beholds God’s constancy begins to reflect it in posture, decisions, and legacy (Psalm 112:1).

The one who fears the Lord is not defined by power or ease, but by rootedness. Though the winds may blow and shadows may fall, this person remains anchored, not because they are unmoved by difficulty, but because they are grounded in something deeper than emotion or circumstance. Scripture does not promise the absence of darkness—it acknowledges the presence of it—yet declares that light still rises for those who remain aligned with God’s justice and compassion (Psalm 112:2–4).

Faithfulness here is not abstract. It takes on form in generosity, in steadfastness, in a refusal to be shaken. The righteous person lends freely, conducts affairs with integrity, and holds fast when others falter—not as a way to earn favor, but as a natural extension of walking closely with a God who has always proven Himself faithful. Stability does not come from avoiding hardship but from having a heart that has already been settled on who God is (Psalm 112:5–8).

There is quiet strength in this reflection—not loud, not boastful, not self-assured, but steady. And that steadiness becomes a witness in itself. The one who fears the Lord leaves a legacy, not just in material things, but in a reputation of mercy, righteousness, and trust. What flows from that life is not driven by ego or preservation, but by the same faithfulness that was first received. “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19)—and we reflect His faithfulness only because we’ve been flooded by it.

Psalm 112 does not separate the worshiper from the worship; it unites the two. A God who is gracious, merciful, and righteous does not simply call His people to admire those traits—He empowers them to embody them. 

Psalm 113 – Faithfulness Lifts

There are psalms that begin in the dust of sorrow, and others that rise immediately into praise—Psalm 113 does the latter, yet its flight is not careless or detached from pain; instead, it soars from a grounded place, inviting all who hear to lift their eyes not because life is light, but because God is exalted. The psalmist does not command praise without context—he names the Lord’s majesty, but also reveals His nearness, drawing the heart to a God who is not merely enthroned above the heavens, but also bends low enough to raise the broken from the ground (Psalm 113:1–3).

The movement of this psalm is both upward and downward—God is lifted high, yet He leans low, not in pity but in power. His greatness does not make Him distant; it makes His involvement all the more astonishing. The same God who sits above nations and time is the One who notices the poor in their poverty and the childless woman in her loneliness. His gaze does not scan for worthiness but rests on the overlooked, and from that posture of divine attention flows elevation, dignity, and transformation (Psalm 113:4–7).

This is not sentimentality—it is Scripture’s pattern. God lifts the humble, seats the barren in places of joy, and exchanges ashes for garments of praise. His faithfulness is not seen only in what He governs but in whom He chooses to raise. The lifted do not climb their way into wholeness; they are carried by mercy, held by grace, and repositioned by the hand that sees deeper than the surface. In a world that often rewards the visible and celebrates the already established, this kind of lifting feels upside-down, yet in the kingdom of God, it is the very definition of right side up (Psalm 113:8–9).

For those who have felt unseen, discarded, or forgotten, this psalm offers more than comfort—it offers an important truth: the God we worship does not stay at a distance, nor does He measure our value by what we offer Him. He moves toward the places others avoid; He listens in the silence others ignore. His lifting is not always immediate, but it is always deliberate, and it always begins with His eyes remaining on the ones others overlook. “He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate” (Luke 1:52).

Psalm 114 – Faithfulness Moves

Some moments in history are so charged with God’s presence that creation itself cannot remain still. Psalm 114 looks back on one such moment—the exodus from Egypt—and it tells the story not through human eyes, but through the trembling and shifting of the earth. The psalmist does not recount Israel’s deliverance with speeches or battle cries; instead, he narrates the exodus through the language of mountains skipping, seas fleeing, and rocks gushing with water (Psalm 114:1–2). It is as if the very elements of the created world recognized their Creator’s movement and responded accordingly.

What sets this psalm apart is not only its poetic power but its theological clarity. The Red Sea did not part because of Moses’ staff or Pharaoh’s fear; it parted because God moved. The Jordan River did not heap itself up because of ritual precision but because the Holy One of Israel was near. The mountains did not quake because of earthquakes but because the presence of God had entered the story again, not silently, but with power, and the earth could not pretend otherwise (Psalm 114:3–4).

Here, faithfulness is not passive or abstract—it is forceful, active, and unmistakably alive. God’s covenant love did not simply guide Israel through quiet seasons of waiting; it disrupted systems, defied nature, and dismantled obstacles. His presence became the shaking beneath their feet, the passage through impossible places, and the provision that poured from stone. He did not remain neutral in their oppression, nor was He absent in their need—He moved, and everything else moved with Him (Psalm 114:5–8).

For us, the temptation may be to interpret divine movement by outward signs alone—to wait for mountains to quake or seas to split before we acknowledge that God is near. Yet Scripture tells another story. The same God who moved the waters in Exodus is the One who now dwells in hearts through His Spirit, and strengthens believers to walk by faith and not by sight. “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us…” (Ephesians 3:20).

Psalm 115 – Faithfulness Trusted

Trust is often tested in silence—when outcomes delay, when promises seem distant, and when surrounding voices grow louder than the stillness of faith. Psalm 115 rises from that tension, not with defiance or denial, but with clarity: while the world places its trust in what can be touched and measured, the people of God are called to anchor themselves in a faithfulness that is not sculpted by human hands but established by divine covenant (Psalm 115:1–2).

The contrast drawn in this psalm is sharp yet instructive. Idols may have mouths, but they do not speak; they may have eyes, but they do not see. They are shaped by the imagination of people and dependent on those who made them to stand. Yet the God of Israel is not made—He is Maker, and His faithfulness is not fashioned by need but formed from eternal character. Unlike the gods of the nations, He does not depend on worship to retain power; He is sovereign with or without recognition, and His mercy endures not because He is bound by ritual, but because He delights in compassion (Psalm 115:3–8).

This kind of faithfulness invites a different kind of trust based on relationship. The psalm does not pretend that the righteous are untouched by hardship, nor does it suggest that trust will always yield immediate deliverance. Instead, it calls every house—priests, laypeople, and even those who fear the Lord without title—to place their hope in a God who shields, remembers, and blesses. His protection is not reserved for the mighty, and His increase is not hoarded for the influential. All who fear Him are included in His provision, because He is faithful to the covenant He began (Psalm 115:9–13).

Faithfulness like this must be remembered not only in the sanctuary but in the silence, not only in prosperity but in waiting. His remembrance of us is not a fleeting thought but a covenantal reality, one sealed not by our worthiness but by His own unchanging love. “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23). 

Psalm 116 – Faithfulness Returned

There are moments in life when gratitude becomes more than polite acknowledgment—it becomes the language of survival. Psalm 116 flows from that kind of place, where the psalmist is not theorizing about God’s kindness but testifying from the other side of desperation. This is not the praise of a distant observer but the declaration of someone who has been near death, held by mercy, and brought back into the land of the living. The tone is intimate yet reverent, deeply personal yet universally resonant (Psalm 116:1–2).

The psalmist does not recount deliverance as something owed or expected but as something marvelously undeserved. He had been entangled by cords of sorrow, pulled toward despair, and then met by a God who does not ignore the cries of the desperate. The deliverance he experienced was not only physical—it was spiritual, emotional, and deeply relational. He was heard, not because he was eloquent, but because God is attentive; he was saved, not because he earned it, but because God is gracious and righteous. The response is not pride or distance—it is love, returned with humility and expressed in service (Psalm 116:3–7).

What follows is a quiet but weighty vow—a decision to walk before the Lord in the land of the living, to offer what he can in light of what he has received. The psalmist lifts a cup of salvation not as a gesture of performance but as a symbol of participation—he has been rescued, and now he will live like someone who remembers. There is no repayment for grace, yet there should be a  response, and that response is seen in words spoken, in sacrifices offered, and in a life reordered around gratitude (Psalm 116:8–14).

For those who have known rescue—whether from physical danger, emotional ruin, or spiritual emptiness—this psalm provides a framework for response. God does not save us only to comfort us; He saves us to bring us into communion with Him. He listens so that we may walk with Him, not out of obligation, but out of love returned. “We love because He first loved us”(1 John 4:19)—and our offering back to Him is never about balancing scales but about surrendering hearts.

Psalm 117 – Faithfulness Extended

Although Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter in all of Scripture, it bursts with breadth and scope, declaring not only who God is but who He is faithful to. The call to praise is not  directed to a select few; it is an invitation flung wide, meant for every nation, every tribe, and every people group under heaven (Psalm 117:1).

This psalm holds together two deeply linked truths: the steadfast love of God and the endurance of His faithfulness. These are not abstract doctrines or poetic flourishes; they are living realities that stretch far beyond the boundaries of Israel and into the hearts of all who would receive them. The psalmist does not limit God’s loyalty to a covenant people alone, but instead speaks of it in terms of reach—of arms long enough to gather the nations and love deep enough to draw in the outsider (Psalm 117:2).

For the believer today, this psalm reads like a seed of what the gospel would fully reveal. The same faithfulness that brought Israel through the wilderness now calls out to Gentile and Jew alike. This mercy is not reserved for the familiar, nor is it hoarded by those with spiritual pedigree. It is extended, as a fountain overflows, spilling beyond original borders, saturating the ground of every heart willing to be filled. This is not a shift in God’s character—it is the fulfillment of His heart from the beginning, now made visible in Christ.

We are not standing outside this song—we are living inside it. For those who once were far off, the welcome is not tentative; it is secure. “Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh… were separated from Christ… but now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:11–13). 

Psalm 118 – Faithfulness Endures

There are songs that rise in celebration and others that rise in battle, yet Psalm 118 holds both in tension—a praise that is born not from ease but from endurance. It is the song of someone who has known both pressure and protection, someone who has been surrounded by enemies and yet found refuge in the constancy of God. This is not a psalm sung from a distance, nor is it a theoretical anthem; it is the declaration of someone who has stood at the edge of ruin and found, beneath their feet, a Rock that would not give way (Psalm 118:1–5).

The faithful love of God is not mentioned here in passing—it is repeated, almost insistent, as if the psalmist must remind himself with every breath that covenant love is not circumstantial, nor is it seasonal. It is enduring, not because suffering is absent, but because God’s commitment remains unbroken through it. Though surrounded, pressed, and even struck, the psalmist speaks of deliverance not as something delayed indefinitely but as something already unfolding. He is not standing in denial—he is standing in defiance of despair, grounded in the memory of a God who has acted, who still acts, and who will always act on behalf of those who trust Him (Psalm 118:6–13).

It is here that the metaphor of the rejected stone and chosen cornerstone emerges—words that would be fulfilled in Christ and preached by the apostles. What had been rejected by the builders becomes central in the plan of God. What the world overlooks or discards, heaven often elevates. Deliverance in this psalm is not limited to escape—it is also the great reversal, where what was rejected becomes foundational. And that reversal is not random; it is rooted in the enduring faithfulness of the One who sees, saves, and secures (Psalm 118:22–24).

Final Reflection

Faithfulness, in the eyes of Scripture, is never static—it flows. It is not a dry concept to be studied but a living current that moves through history, reshapes legacies, and anchors hearts. In Psalms 111 through 118, we are not merely invited to observe this faithfulness from a distance; we are called to step into it, to drink from its stream, and to reflect it with our lives. What begins as praise rooted in memory becomes a movement of trust, surrender, and response.

These psalms do not isolate God’s faithfulness to the past—they trace its ripple through every generation, showing how it lifts the lowly, steadies the righteous, and even causes creation itself to tremble. From the works remembered in Psalm 111 to the praise that spans the nations in Psalm 117, and the victory declared in Psalm 118, this portion of Scripture teaches us that divine faithfulness is enduring, and expansive. It pours out to the humble, flows through the faithful, and draws in the forgotten.

But what makes this fountain truly astonishing is that it does not merely run toward us—it runs through us. Faithfulness is not only something we receive; it becomes something we return. We reflect it when we give generously in seasons of lack, when we remain steady in quiet obedience, and when we trust God’s character even as we wait for His timing. “It is required of stewards that they be found faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:2). This is the offering that honors the One whose love never runs dry.

So if your cup feels empty, or your strength feels uncertain, return to the Source. Let these psalms remind you that the God who split seas and lifted the poor still pours out mercy today—and His fountain never ceases to flow for those who fear Him, follow Him, and faithfully reflect Him.

Prayer

Lord,

Thank You for being faithful in ways we see and in countless ways we do not. Teach us to remember what You’ve done, to trust what You’re doing, and to reflect who You are. Let Your steadfast love shape our responses, steady our steps, and strengthen our praise. May we live as those who have been filled by the fountain of Your faithfulness and poured out for the good of others and the glory of Your Name.

In Jesus’ Name, 

Amen.

Journaling Prompt

Where in your life has God’s faithfulness flowed quietly—beneath the surface, beyond the spotlight, or behind the scenes—and how might you begin to reflect that same faithfulness in your response, your posture, or your worship?

Our Scripture reading schedule for the days ahead:

Day	Date	Scripture Reading
Thursday	May 29	1 Kings 1-2; Psalms 37, 71, 94
Friday	May 30	Psalms 119
Saturday	May 31	1 Kings 3-4
Sunday	June 1	2 Chronicles 1; Psalms 72

In Christ,

Mrs. O 🤍