INSIGHTS FROM PSALM 145

Psalm 145:1-2 “I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.  Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.”

This psalm is identified as a psalm of David.  David was proud to acknowledge God as “his God,” the supreme authority in his life.  Whether others recognized Him as such or not, David acknowledged God as King of His creation.  David declared his desire to praise God daily “forever and ever.”  This should be the mindset of every true believer today!

David expected to live for eternity; he expected to have life after death.  The Hebrew for the word bless made reference to kneeling and adoration and reveals David’s humbleness before God.

Psalm 145:3-4 “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.  One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.”

According to Webster the word great is an acknowledgement of many things.  It acknowledges YHWH, the LORD, the self-existent eternal God, as the Supreme Being, a being of the greatest strength and power, and a being of supernatural ability.  In David’s consideration, YHWH is worthy of great praise and His greatness beyond our ability to understand, as the prophet Isaiah so clearly states.

Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

And the Apostle Paul…

Romans 11:33 “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”

David was confident that each generation would proudly share with their children the mighty acts of God on behalf of Israel.  The scripture is full of those mighty acts, including:

·      Delivering them from Egypt through ten supernatural plagues and parting the Red Sea in the process.

·      Providing manna during the wilderness wanderings.

·      Providing water from a rock.

·      Parting the Jordan River.

·      Causing the walls of Jericho to fall.

·      Causing the sun and moon to stand still so the Israelites could defeat the Amorites.

·      Sending fire from heaven to light the sacrifice offered by Elijah to expose the false god Baal.

·      Blinding the Syrian army in answer to Elisha’s prayer.

Psalm 145:5-7 “I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.  And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness.  They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.”

This is basically another expression of the truth already expressed in the form of Hebrew poetry.  “Glorious honor” and “majesty” are references to excellence in goodness, beauty, magnificence and grandeur.  It’s like David can’t think of enough words to convey the praise he wants to shower on “his God.”

How often do we overflow with such awe, love and gratitude to do the same?

It’s interesting that David describes the mighty acts of a good God to be terrible (inspiring awe, fear and reverence); but it’s true.   How else would you describe turning water into blood, dust into gnats, causing ash thrown into the air to produce boils on all the Egyptians, sending locusts to destroy the crops, sending a plague of death that affected only firstborn sons, causing the earth to open up and swallow Korah and his followers, and sending a plague of fiery serpents in judgment on His own people.  These were all acts of righteous judgment by a holy, righteous God of love and mercy.

When God very boldly and publicly proves His authority and power, His people can’t help but talk about it.  The Jewish people have every reason to relish the memories of God’s goodness on their behalf. 

Psalm 145:8 “The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.

After speaking of God’s mighty “terrible acts,” David balances that with declarations of God’s…

·      Goodness – virtue, strength and potent power

·      righteousness - moral and just

·      graciousness - disposed to show kindness or favor.  This is actually grace in action—the desire to bless us when we don’t deserve it.

·      compassion - I liked Webster’s definition for compassion, “literally, suffering with another.”  I really wasn’t thinking about it in that way, but as a parent I can certainly identify with feeling pain with your child when they are in pain and feeling disappointment when they are disappointed, etc.  And we know that God is the most loving and caring of Fathers.

·      slow to anger – patient - I think we don’t truly appreciate God’s character trait of being “slow to anger.”  He doesn’t lose His temper and act without thoughtful purpose.  He recognizes our human limitations and our sin nature and gives us every opportunity to repent and obey before judging.

·      mercy – Webster defines it well:  “Forbearance to inflict harm under circumstances of provocation, when one has the power to inflict it; compassionate treatment of an offender or adversary.”  This is the other side of the coin with grace—withholding punishment when we deserve it.

As I think about these characteristics of God and His heart toward us, it is truly shameful that He is generally treated with more dishonor than honor, more rejection than acceptance, and more rebellion than obedience.

Psalm 145:9 “The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.”

I think that in the first part of this song David has been thinking more in terms of the nation of Israel.  At this point I think his thoughts are embracing all of mankind.  YHWH is good to all.  He makes the sun to shine, the rain to fall, and the earth to produce for both those that accept Him as Lord and those that reject Him.  He blesses every individual with natural talents and abilities.  Why?  Scripture tells us that it is God’s goodness that draws one to faith and repentance. 

Romans 2:4 “Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?”

In Hebrew the phrase “tender mercies” is a reference to the way a mother cherishes the child in her womb.  God cherishes all His creation, but scripture is clear that man is the special treasure of His creation that He created in His own image.

Genesis 1:26 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”

Psalm 8:4-6 “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?  For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.  Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet….”

(to be continued…)