“A Worthy Pursuit (Psalm 145:1-21)” | 1/7/24
Psalm 145:1-21 | 1/7/24 | Thad Yessa
Last week, Pastor Will called us to resolve to love God fully and love others sacrificially. “The heart cannot love what the mind does not know.” This morning we are going to look at to know God deeply is to love God truly.
Theology is made up of two root words: theos which means God and logos which means word. So theology literally means “God talk.” So when we do theology, we are talking and thinking about God and things that relate to God.
It is important for us to understand that everyone is a theologian. If you have ever thought about God, made a statement about God, or explained something about God to someone else, you have done theology. Every person (Atheist, Hindu, Muslim, Agnostic, Man, Woman, Child, etc.), really, is a theologian, provided that he or she has formed some opinion about God — who He is, what He does, and how we know about Him. So theology isn’t just for seminary students and brilliant scholars: it is a practice that you and I should be actively engaged in as you seek to learn more about the God who created you. In fact it is what I would describe as worthy pursuit for all of life.
Theology is about God. The most basic reason why theology is important is that it is about God; it is the study of our Creator, Savior, and King. In a very real sense, then, the study of theology is the best and most important study that we can ever engage in. It is not a waste of time to learn more about the God of the universe. It is, in fact, probably the most valuable thing we could be giving our time to do. The study of theology, of course, should not prevent us from helping people, sharing the gospel, and actively obeying Jesus; it should actually help us do these activities with even more knowledge of and love for God—and for human beings created by this God.
Theology affects the way we live. Many people do not realize that every decision we make is ultimately a theological decision. Everything we do is a reflection of our beliefs—especially our beliefs about God. What we say, how we think, the way we use our time—all of these ultimately reflect what we truly believe to be true about the universe and the meaning of life. What we believe about God has an impact on the choices we make—even the small ones—every single day.
Theology helps us make sense of our world. The Bible helps us make sense of the world around us. God, in his Word, reveals to us the deepest realities about our world: His role in creation, the sinfulness of humanity, His sovereign purpose and plan, and the salvation that is available only through Christ Jesus, His Son. Theology is important because we come to see our purpose as we understand God’s role in the world by listening to His word.
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PSALM 145:1-21
1I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless you and 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 commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.
5 On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
6 They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness.
7 They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
8 The Lord is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.
10 All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord, and all your saints shall bless you!
11 They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power,
12 to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations.
[The Lord is faithful in all his words
and kind in all his works.]
14 The Lord upholds all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season.
16 You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways
and kind in all his works.
18 The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
19 He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them.
20 The Lord preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.
21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.
Our God is Unfathomably Great. (1-3)
“Greatness” is a word that is very overused in our day. People use the term greatness for things like deodorant, hamburgers, cities, and athletes. Some have even used this adjective and used it as part of their name, like “Alexander the Great.” Sometimes you hear people say, after talking with a famous political leader, “I have been in the presence of greatness.” I don’t want to downplay the significance of influential and gifted people, but all human displays of greatness pale in comparison to the greatness of God. Only of God can we say as the hymnist wrote, “How great thou art!” When we commune with God, then we can truly say, “I was in the presence of greatness.”
Sometimes people wonder, “Doesn’t it get old to exalt the Lord every day?” Not if you see that His greatness is unsearchable. The best of minds from all ages, using the most advanced technology, can’t come close to capturing the glory of God. Calvin says, “We can only know Him as He chooses to make Himself known to us.” For all of eternity, we will marvel at His greatness. We can’t fully fathom the depth of His majesty (Isa 40:28).
The question is, does your praise of God honor His greatness? David says that God is “greatly to be praised” (3). He doesn’t say, “He’s worthy of half-hearted praise.” Do you get more excited about great plays on the football field or great movies than you do at the privilege you have to give praise to God? If none compares to Him, then our praise of Him should be deeper and more passionate than our praise of other things.
David during the time when writing this could have had on his mind the creation of the world, the miraculous birth of Isaac to Abraham, the rescue from Egypt, God causing the Sun to stand still in the days of Joshua, the power God gave to Samson, the defeat of Goliath, etc. The bottom line is that God is unfathomably great!
These verses declare the Psalmists’ intention to exalt and praise the name of God every day. How long will he proclaim the name of the Lord every day? He will do it forever. Why? Because God is great! So great that this passage declares His greatness to be unsearchable. The word translated unsearchable is a word that means to be beyond comprehension or explanation.
The NIV translates this phrase…
…his greatness no one can fathom (NIV)
Our God is great beyond what we can understand or fathom.
Our God is Abundantly Gracious. (4-9)
Here’s the good news. This infinitely great and majestic and powerful God is also gracious. Imagine if this great/powerful God were also merciless/bad!
David had no idea when he wrote this Psalm how many millions would declare God’s praise in the coming generations! John says that no one will be able to number the people – a people from every tribe and tongue – that will sing praise unto the Savior (Rev 7:9).
Verse 4 shows us the need to pass on the story of redemption to the next generation which is a continual command from God to His people. John Piper reminds us of our responsibility:
It is the Biblical duty of every generation of Christians to see to it that the next generation hears about the mighty acts of God. God does not drop a new Bible from heaven on every generation. He intends that the older generation will teach the newer generation to read and think and trust and obey and rejoice. It's true that God draws near personally to every new generation of believers, but he does so through the Biblical truth that they learn from the preceding generations.
Further, David tells us what to pass on, namely, the saving activity of God. In the Old Testament, these “mighty acts” (4) remind us of the Exodus event, the great display of God delivering His people from bondage. In the New Testament, we have an even greater display of God’s mighty act in the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection. We must continue to teach the coming generations about the gospel of Jesus. John Piper states:
He doesn’t merely say, “Impart truth to the next generation,” though that’s part of it. He says, ‘One generation shall “commend” your works to another.’ This involves not just a commitment to the truth but a love for the truth. It involves not merely transferring information but demonstrating adoration. In other words, the next generation needs to see their parents and teachers praise God with passion. We need to say, “Taste and see that the Lord is good,” as people who have found the satisfying pleasure of knowing God personally.
So we must cherish the gospel. We won’t commend what we don’t cherish. So verse 5 reminds us that we need to meditate on the gospel. We must ponder daily what God in His graciousness has done in redemptive history so that hearts may overflow with public acts of praise and proclamation. The gospel is the good news that the triune God has done something about our helpless estate in the person and work of Jesus Christ, that sinners may be redeemed back into triune love if they are united to him by faith. The reason the gospel doesn’t get passed on to the next generation is largely due to this fact – God’s people fail to fill their affections with the good news. They fail to meditate on it. Remember, we are always one generation away from losing the gospel. Meditate on it that you may know it, be edified by it, and that you may teach it to the next generation.
In verse 6, the responsibility of passing on the story of God’s mighty acts continues, as David says, “I will declare Your greatness.” He also includes a great vision for the coming generation, “They shall speak of the mighty of your awesome deeds.” David shows us the way multiplication works. One declares, and others follow.
In verse 8, David’s words of praise about God’s grace and compassion echo God’s self-revelation at Sinai in Exodus 34:6, which God provided to Moses in response to his prayer: “The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and great in faithful love” (Ps 145:8). It’s one of the most quoted statements in the Old Testament. Jonah cited it in anger when the Ninevites repented because the reluctant missionary didn’t think the Ninevites deserved God’s salvation. Jonah wanted to preach to his own people, not “those people.” But God’s saving grace extends to all sinners who repent.
We should never imagine that we have been saved by our own goodness. We have been saved because God is gracious. Titus says:
For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:3-7)
For all eternity, we will be singing of the God’s goodness, mercy, and grace, which He has shown to us in Christ Jesus. Cherish God’s goodness.
Consider God’s graciousness in creation (9). God’s goodness extends in “common grace” to all creation. David says, “The LORD is good to everyone; His compassion rests on all He has made” (Ps 145:9). God in His common grace even allows wicked evil individuals to enjoy the beauty of His creation. “For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Jam 1:17). Sadly every unrepentant person only gets to enjoy God’s goodness for a moment. This life is a vapor. But for all who have entered into Christ, all who have become new creations in Christ Jesus, they will enjoy God’s goodness for all eternity.
Our God is Sovereignly Glorious. (10-13a)
The world is full of ancient ruins that proclaim the might of bygone kingdoms, the pyramids of Egypt, the Taj Mahal in India, the Heidelberg Castle in Germany, the Imperial City in Beijing, and so many others. These awesome architectural achievements show us that in the distant past kingdoms of wealth, efficiency, power, and glory ruled the land. None of them, though, can claim the power, wisdom, and glory revealed by the making of the whole world, which stands as a monument to the glory of God's kingdom.
The people, moreover, who lived under the reign of those bygone kingdoms are long dead. No subject of the king(s) who inhabited the Heidelberg Castle lives to proclaim his lord's greatness. But Yahweh's redeemed continue to embrace his reign and rule from generation to generation. God’s architectural achievements and redeemed people, verse 11 says, tell out the glory of his kingdom and might.
The testimony of the created world and the redeemed people communicates God’s mighty deeds, and David uses language already seen in verse 5, speaking of "the glory of the splendor of his kingdom."
The term "kingdom" appears four times in three verses, with reference to God's dominion complementing it. In verse 13 David anticipates Daniel's declarations about God's everlasting dominion and kingdom enduring from generation to generation (Dan 2:44; 4:3, 34; 7:14, 27). God has never been and will never be dethroned. His kingdom will not be overthrown. His reign and rule never cease, and the affirmation that his dominion holds sway "in the whole of generation and generation" at the end of Ps 145:13.
The Bible indicates again and again that nothing happens apart from God’s complete and sovereignly in control of decisions and directions for nations and individuals.
We see this truth in those who put Jesus on the cross.
Acts 4:27-28 - for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.
God planned and predestined the actions of these wicked people that would put His Son on the cross.
Another example can be seen in Genesis 50 as Joseph speaks to his brothers who sold him into slavery.
Genesis 50:20 - As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
When Joseph was sold into slavery was that the wicked plan of Joseph’s brothers or was it God’s plan to save lives and provide for the chosen line in Egypt? The answer is yes! The brothers made a genuine choice for which they are fully responsible, and it accomplished precisely what God chose to have happen.
We could go on with examples like this. We could look at how God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and Pharaoh hardened his own heart. Or we could read in Romans 11:8 about how God hardened Israel’s hearts and then read in Romans 11:20 how Israel was cut off because of their disobedient and faithless choices.
How does God do this? How does God sovereignly govern while people are making choices for which they are responsible?
When writing about these things, Paul concluded in Romans 11:33,
“ Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!”
Our God is Delightfully Good. (13b-21)
God is not only the sovereign King; He is also the good King. The last section of verses shows how the Lord sustains the world. As the sovereign King, His rule extends throughout the entire creation. As the good King, He sustains His creation with kind provisions. This good King cares for creation in general. And this good King has special care for those who are in a relationship with Him.
Verses 13 and 17 show us the character of God from which these works of grace flow:
[The LORD is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works.] (145:13)
The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. (145:17)
God’s provisions flow from His faithful and righteous, and kind character. In the King’s kindness, He preserves His creatures, especially His people.
The Lord helps the weak (14). David says, “The Lord helps all who fall; He raises up all who are oppressed” (14). The Lord’s kindness is displayed in the way he restores the fallen. He “upholds” all who are falling (14a). He “raises up” the “bowed down” (14b). The Lord is mindful of the oppressed. He’s mindful of those who are crushed in spirit. David says elsewhere, “The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Ps 34:18). The weary believer can say with David, “But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head” (Ps 3:3, ESV).
What kind of King is mindful of the brokenhearted, beaten, and bruised? Our God is. Are you weak? Are you falling? Has sin overwhelmed you? Has someone oppressed you? Look to this God for help. This is not naïve optimism; this is God-centered truth.
The Lord provides food for all creatures (15-16). David describes how all creation looks to God for provisions, “All eyes look to You, and You give them their food at the proper time” (145:15). A similar expression is found in Psalm 104 where the Psalmist describes how the eyes of every donkey, bird, cow, rock badger, lion, sea creature, and more depend on the Creator (104:27). The Lord’s royal love for His creatures is expressed in intimate terms, as David goes on to say: “You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing” (145:16). The Lord opens His hand like a person feeding animals, giving them as much as they desire. The King is generous, not dispensing in small measured amounts but providing abundantly.
The Lord answers prayer (18-19).
The LORD is near all who call out to Him,
all who call out to Him with integrity.
He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him;
He hears their cry for help and saves them. (145:18-19)
In whatever situation, one may call out to the Lord. Whether one is in danger, hunger, in sickness, in panic, in fear – simply call out to the Lord “with integrity” (18b) or “in truth” . Because God is sovereign, He’s able to carry your burden. Because God is good, He’s willing to carry your burden.
The Lord is near to those who are sincerely seeking Him alone as one’s ultimate help. Don’t worry about impressing God with big words and eloquence. Some think, “My prayers are not worth writing home about.” To that, Jared Wilson reminds us, “That’s okay because you’re not writing home, but heaven.” Speak sincerely to God OUR Father.
The people who call upon the Lord “with integrity” (18b) are the people who “fear Him” (19a). Those who submit to God, and walk in His ways are His people. And they can cry out to God for help, knowing that God is faithful to respond. How does one enter a relationship with God, and continue an intimate relationship with God? They humble themselves before the Lord and look to Jesus as their Savior.
The Lord protects His people (20). David then adds this line about our King: “The LORD guards all those who love Him, but He destroys all the wicked” (145:20). Notice that those who receive God’s protection are the people who “love Him.” Those who love King Jesus belong to Him forever. Jesus will protect, guard, preserve, and sustain them – until the God of all grace brings them into His eternal Kingdom (1 Pet 5:10). This doesn’t mean His people will have an easy life, but they will have an eternally secure life. The wicked share no such assurance (20b). All who fail to submit to the King in repentance in faith will perish.
Therefore, look to King Jesus. He saves sinners from the wrath to come. He graciously attends to the needs of all who look to Him. Martin Luther said of Psalm 145, “Christ is the King of the poor, afflicted, and fallen.” It’s true. To enter into a saving and satisfying relationship all you need is need. Those who admit their need find rest for their souls – not only rest in this life but eternal rest in the coming Kingdom. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 5:3). Do you feel too afflicted to cry out for help? Too sinful? Too poor? Think again. You’re a great candidate for the King’s grace.
David concludes with the only logical response to God’s goodness and greatness, to His sovereignty and sustaining grace: praise. He writes, “My mouth will declare Yahweh’s praise; let every living thing praise His holy name forever and ever” (145:21). David thus ends where he began (145:1-2), with a commitment to praise the Lord forever.
“One of the most practical things you can do in your life — counter to the idea that theology is an irrelevant ivory-tower pastime — is to catch an eyeful of God’s grandeur and grace. We should not forget that there is immense wisdom in simply beholding this great God of ours. When we behold him, we begin to look like him, as we are transformed from one degree of glory to another.” - Ronni Kurtz
So let us join in this song of praise to our God, the King, whose goodness is abundant, and whose greatness is unsearchable and who is worthy of our pursuit to know him more deeply.