His Greatness!
His Greatness!
Psalms 145
This Psalm is rich and overflowing with praise and worship. David exclaims God’s attributes: His greatness, splendor, goodness, righteousness, His acts of grace and mercy, slow to anger, full of lovingkindness and power. Very moving.
Great for meditating on who God is and who He is to you.
Not only is it majestic in its content but it is beautifully poetic. It is written as an acrostic with the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Unfortunately, we can’t appreciate it in English, but know that it is there.
Another note of interest of this Psalm is that it is David’s last Psalm in the book creating a crescendo of the 73 Psalms that he authored. In his younger days, he wrote of his sufferings, his enemies, his sins and failures. Now, in his old age, he writes about His God. A Psalm that is completely focused on the greatness of His acts, the depth of His mercy and grace and the faithfulness of His righteousness. Old age has a way of crystallizing what’s important; the folly of our youthful pursuits and visions of personal greatness fade into deeper realizations of eternal matters.
The themes emerge as four-fold:
- David’s commitment to praise! David says ‘I will bless you forever and ever.’
- God’s mighty acts! David says everyone should consistently speak of His mighty deeds.
- God’s grace and mercy! Withholding what we deserve and giving what we don’t deserve.
- God’s consistent care for His loved ones! All that He is, He is toward you.
I previously wrote that Psalms and Proverbs provides us a clear path to blessing. It lays out a predictable pattern of actions on our part that results in God’s abundant blessings upon our lives. Not just eternal blessings (which are more than enough) but earthly blessings in the here and now as well.
The pattern of our life that we should follow, what David is speaking of, includes a commitment to praise and to bless the Lord in thought and spoken word. Do it often and do it always. It takes our minds off ourselves and the events around us and places our mind upon Him.
I will extol You, my God, O King, and I will bless your name forever and ever. Everyday I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever.
This Psalms also calls us to a lifestyle of speaking about God’s mighty acts. We are to declare His mighty acts, speak of the power of His wonderful works and tell of His greatness. So, there is vertical praise directed upward toward God AND engaging in the horizontal praise of telling others of His greatness.
One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your might acts. Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts, and I will tell of Your greatness. They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness and will shout joyfully of Your righteousness.
Do these things and you will be blessed! The end of the psalm outlines the blessings.
The Lord sustains all who fall, and raises up all who are bowed down. The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him. The Lord keeps all who love Him.
Folks, test the Lord and see that His promises of blessings are true. Renew your commitment to praise. Praise the Lord and tell of His greatness to others. Do it because it is what His loving children do. But realize as well, His blessings will come your way as you follow and obey His Word.
Lord, all that You are, You are to me! Not only are you kind, but You are kind to me. Not only are You mighty, but You are mighty to me and over me. Not only do You love, but you love me, personally and intimately. I will meditate upon Your mighty works and praise You for Your greatness. Amen!