Psalm 145 (2)

Introduction: We all have room to grow in our fear of the Lord. Whatever my current understanding of God is, it is too small. Whatever our current delighting in God is, its is too little. Whatever your current awareness of God is today, it is in desperate need of expansion.

Like the little boy who visited the ocean for the first time and turned to his mother and said, “I’m going to need a bigger boat.” So too when we gaze at the glory of God as he has revealed Himself in His word, we need a bigger boat to enjoy even a drop of his shore-less beauty.”

If we are going to make any kind of Christ-centered conclusions about our current existence, we need wisdom from heaven. If we are going to gain wisdom from heaven we must ask God who gives to all generously and without reproach. If we are going to ask God for wisdom, we must ask Him in faith filled fear. Fear of the Lord is the beginning point of the wisdom we need, and if we are going to fear the Lord rightly, we must know what He is like according to the truth of His self revelation. Psalm 145 offers a glimpse of God’s glorious splendor and teaches us how we ought to praise Him. It unpacks the correct doctrine of what God is like, and in doing so provides the pattern of doxology for how we out to fear Him.

Transition: Today will will begin by reading the entirety of Psalm 145.

Pray

In verses 1-6 I want to point out four key aspects of praise. Four major truths that help us fear the Lord and delight in praise. I feel like we are sitting down together at an all you can eat buffet and I’m only directing our attention to the four appetizers. Never the less, we will dive into these appetizers with help from His grace.

God is the eternal King...

Praise Him perpetually.

Elohim, sovereign eternal creator.

He is the ruler of heaven and earth. Little King David is praising the true King. Our God reigns. Even if we don't realize or want to admit it, we live in a theocentric universe. Everything revolves around God. This is the way it is in Heaven, and this is what we ought to pray for on earth. The King of the kingdom rules and as He brings about His plans for His purposes, one day He will showcase His authoritative theocracy.

Bless His name… His name is like no other. His reputation precedes Him. Total package of wonder.

How should we praise the eternal King?

(vs.1) Forever and ever. (vs.2) Every Day. (vs.4) Every generation.

Transition: What does this kind of praise look like?? Joshua 4. Example: Conversation with Ali this week.

The Lord is Great...

Praise Him with Power.

(vs. 3) Lord is the Hebrew name for God, Yahweh. It is the name God used to reveal Himself to Moses at the burning bush when he said, I am who I am. Notice that He is called great. Mean remarkable, out of ordinary in degree, magnitude, and effect. Unsearchable, without boundaries. There are no limitations in God. We, on the other hand are full of limitations.

We need food. We need rest. We loose strength. We fail to understand. We over estimate. We underestimate.

How should we praise the great Lord?

With Power. Great praise is a result of praising our great God. The quality of our praise is determined by the quality of the object of our praise. The Lord is great and worthy to be praised with all of our strength. With abundance. The Lord is to be praised absolutely. He shares His glory wit no other and we should not offer praise to any other.

What does powerful praise look like? Stephen in Acts 7, Paul & Silas in Acts 16.

Transition: When our fear of the Lord is perpetual and powerful, our afflictions are momentary and light.

God is full of Glory...

Praise Him Publicly.

Have you ever witnessed something so magnificent that you struggled to find the adequate words to describe it? Perhaps something so terrible, so awful, that you couldn't speak. Perhaps something so stunning that your mind couldn't form the words to capture the correct definition. That seems to be what is happening with David here. Certainly he is inspired by God to record the right words, but it seems like he is having trouble finding the human words to capture the essence of the God he is trying to describe. In (vs.5 ) he puts three words together to attempt the task. Glorious. Splendor. Majesty. This helps us see that God is full of glory.

The apostle Paul captures this wonder of God when he prays for the Ephesian church in Ephesians 1:17-19

Since God is full of glory, we should praise Him Publicly.

The point is that we do not just mediate on the glory of God privately, but that private praise cannot help but end up being proclaimed. In other words, as our hearts are stirred with the fear of the Lord, it will be inevitable that our mouths open to declare His glory to those around us. I think this is one of the reasons Psalm 145 has been called a missionary Psalm. When are hearts are brought in line with the truness of God’s magnificent splendor, we cannot help but make Him known. Said another way, the best missionary and evangelistic training we could ever receive is the splendor, and glory, and majesty of or great God and King. When He is big in our hearts then He will be big on our lips. The greatest way we can prepare to engage our culture that desperate needs the gospel of Christ is to have our heart sand minds stunned by the glory of God. That will cause our praise to be public.

Notice that verse 4 says “one generation will “commend” your works to another. And “declare” your mighty acts. (explain)

Verse 6 says They shall “speak” of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will “declare” your greatness. (explain)

Transition: Since God is the great king of glory, we should perpetually, powerfully, and publicly praise Him. And our final observation today is this...

God is.

Praise Him personally.

Consider the main subject of this Psalm. It is God. God, who is infinite in power, glory, and majesty. Who is the creator of everything and everyone. Who alone reigns from on High without any need of help or advice. He alone is worthy of adoration and praise. Now, consider that He has made it possible for us to relate to Him. To praise Him.

We are able to delight in God, to personally praise Him, because He condescended Himself to his creation and made it possible. Jesus Himself, delighted in the fear of the Lord and only through Christ are we able to fear the Lord. ( Is 11:3) You and I, as one created in the image of God, who has sinned against God, who has rebelled against Him as sinners who sin, who are already condemned, can have our hearts made new in Christ. You can worship Him as He deserves because Christ died in your place , suffering the death penalty in consequence for your sin. Because Christ raised from the dead and ascended to the Father, the Holy Spirit brings life to those who are spiritually dead in our trespasses and sins. He makes us able to turn from sin and trust in Christ as our personal Savior which makes us able to praise Him personally.

Isaiah 11:3 ESV

And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear,

Closing: Will you fear the Lord? He is the eternal King, He is great beyond all boundaries, He is full of glory, He alone is God… Will you praise Him?