A Song of God's Majesty and Love

Psalms 145:1-21 

A Praise of David.

1 I will extol You, my God, O King;
And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless You,
And I will praise Your name forever and ever.

3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;
And His greatness is unsearchable.

4 One generation shall praise Your works to another,
And shall declare Your mighty acts.
5 I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty,
And on Your wondrous works.

6 Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts,
And I will declare Your greatness.
7 They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness,
And shall sing of Your righteousness.

8 The LORD is gracious and full of compassion,
Slow to anger and great in mercy.
9 The LORD is good to all,
And His tender mercies are over all His works.

10 All Your works shall praise You, O LORD,
And Your saints shall bless You.
11 They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom,
And talk of Your power,
12 To make known to the sons of men His mighty acts,
And the glorious majesty of His kingdom.

13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.

14 The LORD upholds all who fall,
And raises up all who are bowed down.

15 The eyes of all look expectantly to You,
And You give them their food in due season.
16 You open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing.

17 The LORD is righteous in all His ways,
Gracious in all His works.

18 The LORD is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth.
19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He also will hear their cry and save them.

20 The LORD preserves all who love Him,
But all the wicked He will destroy.

21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD,
And all flesh shall bless His holy name
Forever and ever.

Such a song of God’s magnificent majesty and grace-filled love for His people!  The psalmist David had relied on the LORD as he succeeded and as he stumbled to fall, yet kept his heart after God’s own, as demonstrated in this psalm of honor and praise.  He started this prayer set to music by magnifying God’s name, daily blessing and praising Him for who He is and all He had done, a great and solid pattern for our own daily praise in prayer with honor to glorify Him.  That is man’s chief end, is it not?  Because His greatness is beyond our complete understanding, we confess that greatness deserves our acknowledgment in praise and thanksgiving.  Yes, we praise all He has done as well in His faithfulness of covenant promise and grace of merciful loving care.  These things must be told to our children and theirs as well, passing on the testimonies of His working and of His character in action for us.  We cannot afford to forget these things, for learning them over again is dishonoring to Him when we have the means from His word and our lives as resounding witnesses to His love and majesty.  We should also take time to meditate on His works and “the glorious splendor” of His majesty!  It is not enough to read or hear of these things and just move on, for that is a forgetful hearer (James 1:23-24).  No, we must think about who God is and His working which we read about and observe around us to fully understand such majesty and love in the work of redemption and reconciliation of men to Himself, then tell others so they may enjoy Him forever as well.  Declaring His greatness and goodness to others leads us to sing of the righteousness of God finally revealed in Christ in whom we stand as if righteous ourselves.  His wrath is required as due on the disobedience of our sin, yet the grace and compassionate love of God makes Him truly great in mercy and slow to pour out that deserved anger on sinners.  He cares for all the works of His hands!  We praise God as His works, blessing Him and honoring His name as we “speak of the glory of Your Kingdom,” of our Lord.  We tell others of His mighty hand of power over all in His sovereign rule as King of kings, and portray the glory of that kingdom, His mighty acts, and His majesty to those who will hear.  These are all elements which are the foundation of the gospel of reconciling and atoning grace.  Yes, His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His rule is eternally through all generations (Daniel 4:3, Psalm 66:7, 1 Timothy 1:17)!  Let us never forget to consider all that entails.  He picks us up (Psalm 113:7) from the dust of humiliation and defeat of our sin and nature and from our enemies, and He meets our daily needs (Matthew 6:25, 31) as we look by faith expectantly to His provision and providence.  Yes, God is entirely gracious as He is righteous.  He hears our calls for help since He is always near us, as long as we truthfully and sincerely call out to Him.  This psalm reminds us of these things.  If we fear Him and trust Him, God hears and answers with what we need, and He preserves us because we are precious to Him and hold Him precious to us.  The wicked who deny God face quite the opposite.  What the is the lesson from all this?  That we speak His praises and bless His holy name forever, teaching others who will hear to do the same.  Amen!