“I will praise the Lord and may everyone on earth bless His holy name forever
and ever.” Psalm 145:21 [NLT]
Psalm 145 is a praise psalm by David. In this, if we just
look at it peripherally, most of us will only see David praising God. Yet, if
we dive into this psalm upon which people wrote hymns and contemporary songs,
we will find David had several reasons for writing this psalm. Yes, most of
all, he wrote it to sing praises to God. But Davidic psalms usually explain why
he cried out or sang to the LORD. This psalm is no exception in that regard.
There are two more things David did in this psalm. He commanded people to praise
God, and he explained to every person who read, heard, or sang this psalm who
the LORD God is and why we should praise and exalt Him..
David began this this psalm and ended it twenty-one verses
later with the purpose of this psalm. He said, “I will exalt You, my God and
King, and praise Your name forever and ever. I will praise You every day; yes,
I will praise You forever.” [NLT] He meant, “God, I will lift up Your name with
my heart, mouth, and spirit. I will magnify You and not me.” David then said
twice for emphasis that he would praise God now, every day, and forever. He knew
Who is greater than him and he knew of his salvation. God anointed David for an
eternity with Him. David’s hope, love, thanks, and awe reverberated throughout
this psalm and his being.
David didn’t end this psalm with this basic statement of
praise. He continued by explaining why he would always exalt and praise God. David
said twice in verse three, “God is great.” Though no exclamation points note
David’s declaration, we can understand he was very excited in his praise and
exaltation because he commanded people of the next generations to tell about God
and proclaim Him, too (vs. 4). David wanted a resounding, rolling proclamation
of praise and exaltation to occur over the centuries and millennia by all people.
David then explained what he did with his understanding of
God. He said in verse five he meditated on who God is and what He had done. He
then declared he would proclaim about these and God’s goodness. David taught
everyone who read, heard, or sang this song, we should exalt and praise God
with our hearts and lips and then carry it into our every day lives with meditation
and proclamation. By meditating, we keep God, His covenant with us, and our
resultant obedience to Him forefront in our minds and hearts.
Understand this next part; this is important. David said he
exalted, praised, meditated on, and proclaimed God so everyone will share the
story of His wonderful goodness and sing with joy about His righteousness (vs.
7). He understood each person is a sinner and separated from God, but God loves
all of us and wants us to know about Him so we can come to know Him personally
and accept the salvation He offers. David was evangelistic in this psalm. When
a person is in a personal relationship with God, that person, too, will want to
exalt, praise, meditate on, and proclaim God and His greatness and goodness.
After this point, in verses eight to seventeen, David taught
later hearers, readers, and singers about God-who He is and what He has done
and will do. Interspersed between each set of statements about God, he told the
response of people upon learning about each aspect and act of God.
·
Vs. 8-9 – The LORD is merciful, compassionate,
slow to anger, loves faithfully, is good to everyone, and showers compassion on
all His creation.
o
Vs. 10-12 – All creation will thank the LORD and
His faithful followers will praise Him. They will speak of His glorious
kingdom, give examples of His power, tell of his mighty deeds, and about the
majesty and glory of His reign.
·
Vs. 13a – David ended this section by explaining
God’s kingdom is eternal and He will rule/reign forever, through the lives of
anyone who ever lived and would ever live.
Ø
Vs. 13b-14 – The Lord keeps His promises, is
gracious in all He does, and helps the fallen, weak, and weary.
o
Vs. 15a – Every person who looks to God in hope will
receive all they need.
Ø
Vs. 15b-16 – God will provide for all needs of
those who hope in Him. He will satisfy their need for food and drink.
v
Vs. 17 – God is righteous in everything He does.
o
We can trust in Him taking care of us, loving
us, being kind, and being faithful.
§
Vs. 18 – Because of God’s righteousness and
kindness, He is close to those who call on Him in truth, those who are genuine
in their desire to know Him.
§
Vs. 19 – Because of God’s righteousness and
kindness, He grants the desires (about what one speaks to Him) of those who
fear Him. He hears their cries for help and rescues them.
§ Vs. 20 - Because of God’s righteousness and
kindness, the Lord protects those who love Him, and destroys the wicked.
In this psalm, David stated why
God is great and why he praises Him. He said he wanted everyone to realize what
God’s actions and attributes are. David said in Psalm 145 God is:
Majestic Glorious Splendid Merciful
Righteous Compassionate Slow to anger Faithfully
loving
Powerful Faithful Gracious Good
Provider Kind Fearful/Awesome
Did
awe-inspiring deeds Did mighty deeds Helps the fallen Has an everlasting kingdom Rules over all generations
Lifts
the weary Is close to those
who call on Him in truth
Answers the prayers of those who fear/revere
Him
For these, David said in verse one he would exalt God and
praise His name forever. Because of who God is and what He’s done, is doing,
and would do, he wanted everyone to know about Him in truth and to have a
personal relationship with Him. To emphasize David’s stance and commitment, he
restated in verse twenty-one what he said in verse one, “I will praise the
LORD.” He added his own desire, his prayer to God and plea to all who heard,
read, or sang this psalm, that everyone on earth over all millennia would
desire to praise God, too, because they know Him in truth through having a
personal relationship with Him.
What may have seemed only a song in your mind when you read
Psalm 145, hopefully has more meaning. It does for me. What is your response to
this psalm? Do you desire to praise and exalt God, and proclaim Him to other
people so they can come to know your faithful, loving, almighty God? We sing
praises to God to recall who He is and what He’s done, to teach others how and
why to praise God, and to proclaim about God and His greatness and goodness to non-Christians
so they can have a relationship with Him, too.
Have you praised and exalted God today?
Have you led and/or taught others how to praise God?
Have you used your praise of God to tell someone who doesn’t
know Him personally about Him so they would desire to be in a relationship with
Him?
Each of these come from love in our heart – love of God and love of
other people.
What will you do now?
Lord, You are great
and I am not. I may have fooled myself to think I had everything under control,
but really, it’s all Your doing. Lord, forgive me for walking in my strength
with my plans. Help me to always take the time to praise You. By doing this, I
remember what You have done and are doing in my life. By doing this, my voice
will resound with praise of who You are and Your goodness, then others will hear,
remember to praise You, and/or come to know You personally for themselves.
Lord, whatever I have You have given me. Whatever I’ve done, You’ve taught me
and made it possible. Lord, You are great, loving, faithful, and righteous; I
bow to You and Your plans. Help me remember to take time to come to You, meditate
on You, Your word, and Your actions, and to praise You. Stay first place in my
life. Amen.
