Psalm 145
1 A psalm of praise. Of David.
I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. 2 Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever.
3 Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no-one can fathom. 4 One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts. 5 They will speak of the glorious splendour of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works. 6 They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds. 7 They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.
8 The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. 9 The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. 10 All you have made will praise you, O LORD; your saints will extol you. 11 They will tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might, 12 so that all men may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendour of your kingdom. 13a Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations.
13b The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving towards all he has made. 14 The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. 15 The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. 16 You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
17 The LORD is righteous in all his ways and loving towards all he has made. 18 The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. 19 He fulfils the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them. 20 The LORD watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.
21 My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD. Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever.
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Psalm 145 – Praise God because…
(Verses 1-2) David’s ‘psalm of praise’ paves the way for the next and last five praise psalms in the book of Psalms. It is ‘acrostic’, meaning that each verse (verse 13 consisting of two combined verses) begins with a new letter of the Hebrew alphabet, all in Hebrew alphabetical order.
David expresses his intention to exalt ‘my God the King’, and to ‘praise’ and ‘extol’ God’s ‘name’ both ‘every day ‘and ‘for ever and ever.’ If you know Jesus as the Saviour who bled and died for you to bear your sins and penalty for your sins, and as the Lord who rose up from the grave, you will have no problem in praising Him for eternity in Heaven. No sin will be there to hinder you and you will be with the glorified Lord Jesus Christ for ever. To discipline yourself to praise Him every day before death is not easy at times, especially if you are going through hard times. But real praise comes from a willing heart, not from emotion. With God’s help you can praise Him daily for who He is and all He has done. This can occur only if you repent of sin and receive Jesus in your heart by faith. David teaches we ought to praise our loving Lord because of His following qualities…
(Verses 3-7) …unfathomed and ongoing greatness; ‘mighty’, ‘wonderful’, ‘awesome’, and ‘great’ ‘acts’; majestic and ‘glorious splendour’; ‘abundant goodness’ and ‘righteousness’…
(Verses 8-13a) …‘glorious’ compassion; greatness; slowness to anger; rich love; goodness ‘to all’; His praising ‘saints’ (saved and separated people); glorious, ‘everlasting kingdom’ of ‘splendour’; enduring ‘dominion’ over and through all generations…
(Verses 13b-16) … ‘loving’ faithfulness to keep His ‘promises’ to all He has made; upholding and uplifting help to all who fall and are bowed down; generous supplying and satisfying the needs and ‘desires of every living thing’, including food…
(Verses 17-20) …‘loving’ righteousness shown to all; nearness to ‘all who call on Him in truth’; fulfilling of desires and hearing the cries of God-fearing people; saving those who do cry to Him; watching over all His loved ones; holiness even though it means He rejects sinners who do not repent (‘the wicked’) to trust in Him. God is the God of amazing love and grace. But He is also holy and hates sin. His love caused Him to send Jesus into the world to save sinners. (John 3:16, 1 Timothy 1:15). But unrepentant sinners remain lost. Their unforgiven sin excludes them from Heaven, because ‘Nothing impure will enter it’ (Revelation 21:17). John 3:36 says, ‘God’s wrath remains’ on unforgiven sinners. They must turn from sin and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
(Verse 21) David ends by promising to ‘speak in praise of the LORD’. He wants every creature to praise God ‘for ever and ever’. That includes you!
