A general sign that someone has fallen in love is the incessant mentioning of their name, telling those closest to you about every encounter with the one you love, the unceasing desire, the need to talk about him or her to anyone who will listen. You naturally long to make them great in other’s eyes, to help everyone see the exquisite value of the one you love. You rejoice with them, and in them. David was a man after God’s own heart, a man in love with his Lord.
Psalm 145 is a psalm expressing the highest praise for a God that David both knows intimately and loves deeply. It is my prayer that we would all cultivate hearts that are enthralled with our Maker and that worship would become a natural and constant outpouring in our lives.
a right understanding
You will not worship what you do not know. Just as in a relationship you grow in depth of love as you grow in understanding of that person, so it is with God. The more intimately you know Him, the greater your love for Him will be. David paints a picture of the Lord as an object worthy of ALL of our praise and adoration in Psalm 145. He proclaims in verse 3, “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.” This is his theme, his thesis, to be maintained and proved through the course of this psalm.
Verses 8 and 9 speak directly of God’s character; “The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.” Merciful here is the word “rachuwm”, full of compassion, it is used in reference to God alone (albeit one possible instance). He is slow to anger - always patient with His creation, not willing that any should perish (2nd Peter 3:9). Verse 13 speaks of the Lord’s unbreakable, eternal rule over His kingdom - it magnifies His power, His greatness over all things, His superiority. This is the God that is worthy of our praise and adoration, this is the God we are to fear, to revere, to awe.
But following a glimpse of His glory, David speaks of His great care for His creation. Those who are falling, those who are bowed down - these He raises up, He supports, sustains, refreshes, comforts (verse 14). The Lord, who is so great, so glorious, so BIG - the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. When we lift our eyes from ourselves, and from our circumstances, when we focus on Him, who He is and His great love for us, we cannot help but be overwhelmed by this love. Verses 15-20 continue to expound on who God is and on His immeasurable greatness. He provides perfectly in His time (verse 15). He satisfies our desires (verse 16). He is BOTH righteous in what He does, and kind (verse 17). His actions are always just, always right, and always driven with a heart of love. God is near to those who call on Him, He hears their cries, and He saves; not only is He in tune with our lives, our hearts, and our needs, but He also acts on our behalf (verses 18-19).
Verse 20 looks again at His righteousness - He both preserves (keeps, guards) the lives of those who love Him, but He destroys the wicked, those whose hearts never submit to and are changed by His love. At first glance, this may seem harsh or “intolerant”; how can a loving God exterminate His creation? But in truth, this is one of His most glorious traits, this is part of what makes Him worthy of our praise. A good person cannot allow evil to knowingly continue and dismissively state “that’s ok”. He would cease to be good, rather he would be a silent accomplice to the evil. Were God to turn a blind eye to sin, to let it go unpunished, our God would not be just, He would not be righteous. He would not be holy. And for this reason, Christ died. He took on our very much deserved punishment, that we might have peace with God. God could never compromise Himself, and so He sacrificed Himself.
a right response
Knowing this drives David to praise, forever and ever, everyday (verses 1-2). Understanding this drives others to share about the goodness of God with another generation (verse 4). Their praises pour forth and they sing aloud (verse 7), they give thanks and bless His name (bless here implies deep gratitude and thanksgiving, not that you have endowed God with anything) (verese 10). The idea here is that understanding and knowing, experiencing God, drives one to worship Him. You naturally and joyfully long to make Him known. David concludes this psalm of high praise with a resolution: My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.
digging deeper
When you think of God, what first comes to your mind? How can you know Him on a deeper level?
Knowing someone comes from both learning them, and experiencing life with them. We experience life with God by taking steps of faith, by choosing to obey. What are some steps of faith that the Lord has been challenging you to trust Him in?
Look at the verses where God interacts with man in this psalm. What is man’s state? What type of heart is God moved by?
my prayer for our church
Father, may we be people who do not move and act blindly and choose to live on the surface. May we seek to know You. May our hearts be soft in your hands. May we obey, even when it is hard, and in doing so, may we know you more. Open our eyes to the truth of who you are in your word. Lift up our eyes to the heavens and may we rejoice in your glory. May we stand in awe of you. Make us people who know you so intimately that our mouths pour forth your praise day after day, unceasingly. Make us a people who know you.