Ps 145

With some Bible passages, we need to dig hard and dig deep to get to the treasure. With Psalm 145, the treasure just lies there on the surface, ready to be picked up and enjoyed. It’s absolutely full of the goodness of God, and tells us so much about him. David draws us in to his own worship of the Lord, and invites us to praise, exalt and extol his name for ever and ever (v1, 2, 21). He gives us a wonderfully rich answer to the question, ‘What is God like?’
The Lord is the King (v1), whose kingdom is everlasting, and whose dominion endures through all generations (v13). David speaks of the glorious splendour of his majesty and of his kingdom (v5, 12). He is a King whose acts are mighty; his works are wonderful and awesome, and his deeds are great (v4, 5, 6). In fact, he is unfathomably great, and most worthy of praise (v3). He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love (v8). He is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does (v13). He has compassion on all he has made, satisfying the desires of every living thing, which includes us (v9, 16)
These are not simply abstract theological facts, wonderful though they are; the Lord shows these qualities in relationship with us as his people: he upholds us when we fall, and lifts us up when we are bowed down (v14); he comes near when we call on him (v18); he fulfils our desires, hears our cries, and watches over us (v18-20).
Our response is a wonderfully rich expression of worship: we exalt and extol him (raise him up, lift up his name); we praise his name; we celebrate his abundant goodness and joyfully sing of his righteousness (v7).
There is so much here to encourage and inspire us in worship, but there is also plenty that reminds us of our responsibilities in speaking out to others of the goodness, greatness and glory of God. We are to commend his works to other generations, and tell them of his mighty acts (v4); we should speak out the glorious splendour of his majesty as we meditate on his wonderful works (v5); we should tell others of the power of his awesome works and proclaim to them his great deeds (v6). We are to tell of the glory of his kingdom and speak of his might, so that all people may know of his mighty acts and the glorious splendour of his kingdom.
God is so good, so gracious, so wonderful, and that’s why we worship him. He is most worthy of praise; he towers above everything else that we might consider worthy of praise. He is so good, and we shouldn’t keep that to ourselves; we need to take every opportunity of speaking out his goodness to others!

Graham Maddison