Psalms 145:1

The Bible says in Psalm 145:1-11, “ I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.[2] Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.[3] Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.[4] One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.[5] I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.[6] And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness.[7] They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.[8] The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.[9] The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.[10] All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee.[11] They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power;[12] To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.” To bless and praise God means that you recognize and you remember and you think about all the great things that God has done. In verse three the Word of God tells us, “his greatness is unsearchable.” There certainly is a lot of material about which to praise the Lord. How about all the things recorded in the Bible that God has done. How about everything that was done in your life from the day you were born? How about all the things that God has done in the lives of every other person on the earth? How about the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus on the cross because of His great love for you? How about the Bible and all the promises of God that are recorded for us to enjoy? It is true, “his greatness is unsearchable.”

Verse four says that “One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.” We need to tell others the great things that God has done, and remind them too, especially the next generation. Any generation of Christianity will die out if that generation stops spreading the good news. The children (the next generation) need to hear often what the Lord has done. Stay out of the public schools. They are not going to help.

The above verses from Psalm 145 give us an excellent list of things for which to praise the Lord: His greatness, the glorious honor of His Majesty, His wondrous works, His great goodness, His righteousness, He is gracious, He is full of compassion, He is slow to anger, He has great mercy, He is good to all, His glorious kingdom, and His power. Of course, we have access to know these wonderful things about God because of Jesus our Savior. It is a good thing that God is gracious. That means that He is a Giver. He freely gives us salvation through Christ. We cannot earn it or deserve it, and so God gives it to us freely. We need the grace of God every day because we cannot earn or deserve any of the good things that we get from the Lord. Every true Christian knows that God has “great mercy.” That is because we know that we are sinners and when we turned to Jesus, He forgave every one of our sins. Instead of punishing us, He forgave us. We see every day that “The LORD is good to all.” He loves everyone. He gives the blessings of life on earth to everyone, both the good and the evil. The rain falls on the just and the unjust. He loves the whole world. He loves you. “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

The Bible says in Psalm 145:13, “Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.” If the Kingdom of Christ was not an everlasting kingdom, it would be little different than any of the other kingdoms. Everything in this life ends eventually. The greatest kingdoms fall, if not from without, then from within. Of course, life also ends with death. A wise person will consider his or her eternal destiny after this life is over. A wise person will fall at the feet of the Lord Jesus, confess his sins, and call upon the name of the Lord Jesus. That person will instantly become part of the kingdom and will live forever.

The Bible says in Psalm 145:14-21, “The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down.[15] The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season.[16] Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.[17] The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.[18] The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.[19] He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.[20] The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.[21] My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.” Verse fourteen references the great mercy and compassion. He does not want us to fall, but when we do, He has great love and mercy for us. He cares. He wants to help us get back on our feet and back in fellowship with Him. Verses fifteen and sixteen tell us that the Lord supplies sustenance to every living creature on the earth and to every person. That is why we bow our heads and thank the Lord before we eat.

How does a human being get close to such a loving and caring God? Verse eighteen gives the answer: call upon Him. Romans 10:13 puts it this way, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” In the New Testament the name of the Lord is Jesus. Everyone needs to be saved because we are all sinners. Therefore, it is extremely important to say this prayer to Jesus. Notice at the end of Psalm 145:18 that it says to “call upon him in truth.” You must be honest about yourself with the Lord, and about your sins. Do not justify yourself. Be honest and ask for forgiveness. Admit the truth about yourself and you will come to know the truth about the Savior.

Psalm 145:19 gives some more detail about being saved. It says, “He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.” Sometimes it is good to have a healthy fear of God’s judgment. You will stand before God one day to be judged. It will not end well for you if you do not have Jesus as your Savior. You just might want to cry out to Jesus for salvation while there is time. If you do cry out to the Lord Jesus, He will save your soul. And He will preserve you. That means that you will live forever. And so it says in verse twenty, “The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.” Once you get saved through faith in Christ, you become one of the ones who love God because you now appreciate His great salvation. Those who are not saved, “the wicked,” have a terrible destiny. If they reject Christ, they will be destroyed. That is why we need to keep praying for them. Do not doubt the power of Christ. He can save anyone.

For those of us who are saved and who have been born again, we can only add our voices to what the Psalmist said in verse twenty-one because of what Jesus has done for us on the cross. “My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.”

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