Read Psalm 145
A psalm of praise. Of David.
1 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 commends your works to another;
they tell of your mighty acts.
5 They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty—
and I will meditate on your wonderful works.
6 They tell of the power of your awesome works—
and I will proclaim your great deeds.
7 They 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 your works praise you, Lord;
your faithful people extol you.
11 They tell of the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your might,
12 so that all people may know of your mighty acts
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures through all generations.
The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises
and faithful in all he does.
14 The Lord upholds all 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 faithful in all he does.
18 The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
19 He fulfills 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.
Go Deeper
The tone in Psalm 145 differs from the previous 5 psalms, which were full of prayers. Psalm 145 is the first of 6 psalms that are full of praises. In many ways these psalms of praise are the fulfillment of David’s promise to praise God in Psalm 144:9. David opens the psalm with a burst of gratitude and a commitment to praise and lovingly celebrate God daily (v. 2). We are invited to examine how often our hearts overflow with spontaneous gratitude for God. Do we nurture a daily habit of gratitude?
As David continues to lead us in praise, we see meditation on God’s goodness (v. 5) is another practice we are invited to cultivate. Is the goodness and faithfulness of God something we can say we habitually think about and meditate on? If we meditate on God’s goodness, then we can answer “yes” to the following questions. Are our hearts and minds aware of what good things God is doing in the world around us? Can we quickly and easily recognize when God is faithful and good?
David instructs us in his example to continually gush his gratitude and express his love for God to whomever will listen (v. 6-7). He is unashamed and uninhibited in his praising of God. He shamelessly attributes his good fortune and every good thing in his life to the grace and mercy of God, not his own strength or talent. Who or what do we attribute the grace in our lives? Are we unashamed of the proclamation that “every good and perfect gift” (James 1:17) comes from our Father?
David’s final “praise practice” is to lovingly celebrate the mightiness of God’s hand (what He does) and the goodness of God’s heart (who He is). Psalm 145 serves as a joyful reminder to celebrate what an incredible, powerful and gracious God we serve. He is worthy of nothing less than our unwavering gratitude, submissive wonder, awe-inspired reverence, and continuous, joyful praises. God is gracious, compassionate, good, near, trustworthy, fulfilling, and faithful. Like David, may our “mouths speak in praise of the Lord” (v. 21).
Questions
- How often do you take time to intentionally praise God? Would your faith benefit from a commitment to recite and pray Psalm 145?
- Is your gratitude for God and His goodness something you would say you meditate on (think deeply about) regularly? How could you develop and nurture this habit?
- How often do you share your gratitude for who God is and what He is doing in your life with others? What would it look like to create an intentional habit of sharing stories of His goodness with the people in your life?
Did You Know?
In his commentary on this psalm, Matthew Henry shares an ancient Jewish tradition. As Jews neared the end of life, the more they developed a habit of continuously praising God. They believed praise was the work of heaven and they needed to be ready for it. It was said anyone who memorized and prayed this psalm three times a day would be thoroughly prepared for heaven as they were sufficiently experienced in the practice of continuous praise of a magnificent and loving God.
5 responses to “Psalm 145”
What did I see in Psalm 145?
Praise 6x
Speak 3x
Extol 2x
Tell 2x
Proclaim 1x
Celebrate 1x
Commend 1x
Exalt 1x
Sing 1x
Based on this I need to do a better job on sharing with others how awesome our God is.
Thanks for the reminder, David. Praise God!!
Yes!
18 The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
To ALL who call upon him in truth. I need to call upon God more frequently and with a truthful heart.
Life is about knowing God’s character through both good times and bad.
When we are coming into the realization of what we know and believe about God’s steadfast love, faithfulness, mercy, how He provides for us then praise becomes more natural even in difficult times. My life is not about pretending everything is fine but about remembering who God is and what He is doing and has done.
I got BUT GOD tattooed on my arm because I want all to know my life is only because of BUT GOD! He has brought me back from the dead, literally and figuratively and I want the people to ask, see and know that it is only because of Him.
Ephesians 2:4-5
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.
My God, my Heavenly Father, I extol You, I bless Your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless You and praise Your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised and His greatness is unsearchable. I will remember and tell those around me about Your works in my life. Your creation, the trees, the birds and all are the glorious splendor of Your majesty and they speak of Your awesome deeds. Your graciousness and mercifulness are so evident. I am so thankful for You being slow to anger but instead abound in Love (hesed). God You are faithful and uphold those who are falling. You are near to those who call on You. You fulfill the desire of those who respectfully fear You. Thank You God for the minutes of this day to extol, praise, bless, declare, and speak of the glorious splendor of Your greatness in Jesus name amen.
WOOHOO!!
At this stage of my life, I deeply care about passing on a legacy of faith in Christ to the next generation. This includes lots of prayer and spiritual preparation to be ready to “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction” (2 Timothy 4:2). Last spring at the Sisterhood Study on David, my table of ladies included ages from young single and married women to grandmothers. It was delightful to see how God is pouring out his Spirit on all ages. The faith of the young women fanned/fueled my own.