Psalm 145: God is Great, God is Good

Introduction

Last words - man reflecting on his ambulance ride home - “I wish I would have done more...”

What you say in the last days of your life will likely be determined by what you believe to be most important to you in your present days.

Psalm 145 - the last words of David - probably not written while he was on his deathbed, these are the last recorded words we have from David - end of the Psalms, the last psalm of David.

Psalm 145 is transitional - transitioning to the final 5 psalms - “Hallelujah” psalms - the Book of Psalms ends with praise.

Think about David - through the psalms, we see him in seasons of anxiety, worry, depression, and overwhelming sadness. We’ve heard David cry out to God.

BUT, Psalm is not only David’s story, it’s the story of Israel as they are taken into captivity because of their sin and then delivered.

Psalms - a book of emotional highs and lows - because life is full of emotional highs and lows - but the book ends with praise.

That’s how I want my days to end - not regret of “I wish I would have...” But, “Praise God because I saw Him at work in every season of my life...”

How do we do it? How do we get to the end of our days and look back with no regrets praising God? If you are going to praise God at the end of your life, then you must settle two foundational truths right now: 1. God’s greatness is unsearchable. 2. God’s goodness is abundant. Sounds like a prayer we used to pray around the table as children, but the prayer you said as a child is foundational if you’re going to end your life with praise.

God’s greatness is unsearchable.

Book 5 - God is on His throne and HE will bring a King into the world from the lineage of David - last 6 psalms are hopeful - Praise God for what HE will do.

vs. 1 - MY God and King. David was a powerful king, but he knew who the real king was.

vs. 2 - Every day I will bless you - We’ve been through the range of emotions with David. Fleeing from Absalom (Ps. 3), overwhelming sadness, depression, etc. BUT, at the end of his psalms, David always acknowledges his trust in God even when life doesn’t make sense. (e.g., Psalm 3:8: “Salvation belongs to the Lord.”)

Now - his final psalm - “I will bless you every day” - good days and bad. Great is the Lord - His greatness is unsearchable.

Great? Great people are people you hold in high regard - people who excel, who accomplish something. At funerals: “He was a great man.” Or, “Larry Bird was the greatest basketball player to ever play the game.” Skills unsurpassed. “She’s a great musician, a great mom, etc.” Greatness = someone who excels.

Every great person has moments of failure. Michael Jordan didn’t even make the varsity high school basketball team his sophomore year of high school. Every great person is internally flawed. Every person is human.

God sets the standard for greatness.

He is GREAT in character. He is the PINNACLE of every admirable quality - loving, compassionate, merciful, gracious, etc.

He is GREAT in authority - creator of all - over His creation - ruling and reigning. No human authority can stand against Him.

He’s GREAT in power - miracles of OT - power to redeem sinners like us and bring us into eternity with Him.

God’s greatness is unsearchable. God is so great, that I can’t comprehend His greatness.

How do I get to the point in my life where I bless God every day? How do I get to the end of my life praising God every day because of His greatness?

Instead of fighting for greatness, I need to acknowledge true greatness.

I have to stop thinking I’m great. You might not have that exact thought, but if you fight God for authority and power, you are ascribing greatness to yourself. I fight for authority over my life. “I don’t need God.” I fight for power over my life. “I can do all things in my strength.”

OR ascribing greatness to things of this world - idolatry.

I have to stop wanting people to acknowledge my greatness. I need to acknowledge that I want to be praised more than I want to give praise.

This fight for greatness is what might get me to the end of life saying, “I wish I would have...”

Instead of panicking, I need to do my job.

Psalms - anxiety, worry, overwhelmed. You’ve had those moments when you’ve said, “I don’t know if I can make it.” What often leads to moments of panic and worry is you thinking more of your power and authority than God’s power and authority. Often, your worry and despair is a result of misplaced greatness.

“I can handle it...” Then you realize you can’t and you begin to panic, instead of, “I can’t handle it, but God can.” Learning to rest in God’s work in my life and focusing on what I know God has called me to:

Blessing Him every day (vs. 1-3) - God created you to worship Him.

Talking about Him every day (vs. 4-7, 11-13) - generation to generation - at home - talk about what God is doing in your life, what you’re learning, etc. Praying together, reflecting on His Word, talking about God as if He’s personal, because He is.

You will always talk about what you think is great. We like to talk about greatness! Does your conversation reflect that you believe God is great?

God’s goodness is abundant.

God is great, and God is good.

Good = something we approve of. “That steak was good. That ice cream was good. The Gamecocks are not good.”

God is good - It’s His character. He never does anything that is NOT good. All He does is worthy of our approval.

vs. 8 - Ex. 34:6 - (Also Psalm 103) The Israelites had not been good - they made a golden calf. Moses not good - in anger he chunked the tablets with the 10 Commands. BUT - God was good - He forgave. God is good!

God is good to everyone (vs. 9) - Common grace - NOT everyone is saved and going to be with Christ forever, but God is GOOD to everyone. He sustains every person on the face of the planet. He lets everyone see the beauty of sunset, sunrise. He lets everyone enjoy the gift of family, etc. God is good - If you are alive there’s still a change to respond to His goodness.

His goodness is not just on all people, but also on all that God has made. (Romans 8:19-21) - All that God is made is good, but our sin broke this world. In HIS goodness God is restoring all things. (Revelation)

All HIS WORKS will thank Him - end of the age - when everything is new - even creation will sing His praise (vs. 10).

The faithful will sing His praise (vs. 10).

Four ways that God demonstrates His goodness:

God is the lifter of my head (vs. 14). Powerful people usually have no concern for the weak and lowly. Not true with God. He cares about the oppressed, the hurting, etc. God cares about the homeless population sleeping in the Walmart parking lot on Rivers Ave. this morning. He cares about the single mom who is struggling to make ends meet.

God provides my needs. (Matt 5:45 - sun and rains comes on just and unjust. Not to say that hunger is not a problem in our world, but in common grace, God provides through crops, through humanitarian organizations, etc.)

God hears my prayers. He is near ALL who call out to Him. What a wonderful truth!

God protects me. Specifically, God protects His people. Life is hard, but nothing or no one can take away what God has done in your life (John 10:28).

No wonder David praises the Lord in every season of his life, and what a way to end the psalms of David - with a loud psalm of praise.

Do you believe that God is good? You say that God is good, but subtle lies that tell you real goodness is found elsewhere. Or, it may be that you are secretly trusting in other things that are keeping you from trusting in the greatness and goodness of God.

Beware of subtle lies take your eyes off the goodness of God.

My worth is determined by how good I am. (I have to be good instead of my worth determined by God’s goodness to me.)

If I can avoid my problems instead of dealing with my problems my life will be good. (In His goodness, God exposes, calls to repentance, and brings healing.)

If God were good, He would ignore my sin. (After all, He forgave it all. Why keep talking about it? Why conviction?)

If God were good, He would accept me for who I am. (Instead of transforming me into His image. He accepts you where you are, but He doesn’t leave you where you are.)

Others are more messed up than me, so I must be pretty good. (It’s not a comparison game. The only ONE who is good is God.)

Being happy is the most important thing in life. If I can be happy, then life will be good.

Life should be easy and fair. Since it’s not, God must not be good.

Beware of secret trusts that take your eyes off the goodness of God.

I trust my feelings. (What feels good.)

I trust my opinions/thoughts. (It sounds good to me.)

I trust my abilities. (I can do a good job - I can make a good life on my own.)

I trust my possessions. (The more I gain, the more life will be good.)

The tension: You are trying to be a good and great king over your life, but you are not!

What do I do:

Step back - Psalms are written to give us PERSPECTIVE. There’s already a great and good King ruling over all, and He’s doing a good job. He doesn’t need your help. You need His help.

Look in - where are you rebelling against our great and good King?

Look up - in praise - a daily decision. Every day this week, I’m going to bless God. “Thank you.”

Look out - Talk about God with somebody this week. With my family at the dinner table, with a coworker, etc.

Psalm 2:6: “I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.” This is what psalms is all about - a king - 145 - Let’s praise the God - the King who came to this earth to die the death that I deserve, who rose from the dead, and who is coming back for me.

The King is not going to leave us in a broken, sinful world. He will return for us. (Rev. 21:1-7) This is the King we await, the King we bless every day because we know He is great and good.