Psalm 145-- To Glory In Greatness

A Song of Praise. Davidic.
The final six psalms of the book of Psalms are about one thing: Praising God. The other five songs are entitled “hallelu-yah” which means, “Praise Yahweh.” Every line of these psalms are either describing God, describing His great deeds or are a command to give praise to God.

I will extol You, my God the King.
And bless Your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless You
And praise Your name forever and ever.
Great is Yahweh and much praised.
And His greatness is unsearchable.
This section is stating two facts: First, God is great. This means not just that He is important, but that He is immeasurably important. No one is next to Him in greatness and power. Secondly, God deserves the honor due to His greatness. Even as an ancient king was praised for His greatness, surely the King of the Universe deserves even greater praise. All that He did, all that He is should be spoken well of without ceasing.

Generation to generation will praise your deeds
And acclaim your heroic acts.
The glorious splendor of Your majesty
And your miraculous deeds I will relate.
People will speak of your mighty awesome deeds
And I will tell of your greatness
They will spread the reputation of your abundant goodness
And celebrate your righteousness.
This section is prophetic. It is speaking toward the future, announcing that there will never be a generation that will forget Yahweh, that His deeds will be told eternally. Amazingly enough, this prophecy has been fulfilled in a very complete way. God’s deeds of the past, and His deeds today are the greater part of the stories that are told today. In every church, in every synagogue, in every mosque, God’s deeds are being spoken. Not only his acts of the past, but his miracles of the present. God’s fame continues on eternally.

Yahweh is gracious and merciful
Slow to anger and great in faithful love.
Yahweh is good to all
And His mercy is over all his deeds.
All your works will praise You, Yahweh
And your faithful will bless you.
They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom
And tell of Your might
To make known to the people your mighty deeds
And the glory of your kingship.
In the ancient times God showed himself to Moses and he spoke the first two verses of this stanza. It is not God’s power by which He wishes to be remembered. It is not His justice. Rather it is His mercy and grace and forgiveness. That is the reputation God wishes in the world. We should remember how powerful God is and how He hates oppression. But even more than that, we should remember God’s deeds of mercy, of kindness and how He turns away from judgment. He wants us to remember how He delivered the children of Israel from slavery, how He brought them across the Red Sea, how He fed the five thousand, how He healed masses from illness, how He forgave even his worst enemies, such as Ahab. God’s mercies should be praise first and foremost.

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom
And your dominion prevails through all generations.
Yahweh sustains all who fall
And raises up those who are bent down.
They eyes of all look to You expectantly
And You give them their food on time.
You open your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing.
God’s power is great. He is a king and His rule will never end. He will rule for eternity. But God does not use His authority over the world to prop himself up or to support the strong. Rather, He looks to the weak and the frail, even the smallest animal. He does not forget a one to feed them, to help them live. God’s main work in sustaining creation is to feed and populate, and this He does without ceasing, every creature on earth.

Yahweh is righteous in all His ways
And faithful in all His deeds.
Yahweh is near to all who call to Him
To all who call to Him in truth.
He fulfills the desire of those who fear Him,
And He hears their cry and delivers them.
Yahweh keeps watch over all who love Him
But the wicked He will destroy.
Finally, God wishes to be remembered for His faithfulness. This means, first of all, that His deeds are true to his merciful nature. Secondly, God is always keeping his promises. If God promises judgment, then at a single repentance He will forget it. But if God makes a promise of mercy or blessing, He never forgets it for as long as the heavens and earth remain. God will never take away a blessing He has promised for eternity. God will always have a human in charge of the earth. God will never destroy the whole of humanity again. God will always bless the children of Abraham. God will always have a king in the line of David. God will always offer people a chance at forgiveness through commitment to the Lord Jesus. These promises will never change, never be overcome in wrath.

My mouth will speak the praise of Yahweh
And all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever.
All living things praise God, whether they want to or not. They all enjoy that which He gave them, from food to sexual pleasure. They all honor Him in their living. They all follow the basic instructions he gave their bodies. And in the end, every living human will verbally confess their praise to Yahweh, the God of gods, the King of kings. It is our responsibility now to praise Him for who He is so that we might gain the blessing now.