Worthy To Be Praised

March 21, 2010 Preacher: Randy Smith Series: Miscellaneous

Transcript

Worthy To Be Praised

Psalm 145:1-21
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Pastor Randy Smith



It seems as if it never presents the same face.

At times it is ferocious, screaming like a restless giant having been disturbed by an unwelcomed intruder. Whitecaps as far as the eye can see. Waves breaking out of harmony and symmetry, smashing into the rock jetties and casting white foam like exploding fireworks. Unpredictable. Powerful. Greatness. Enough to make us tremble. Enough to make us walk to the approaching monster but venture no further as we watch each wave recede back into the boiling cauldron.

Yet at times it is placid, calm as a small pond on a warm summer's day. The sound of the surf so faint that the jingling of the debris on the tide lines almost appears to dominate. The foam is nonexistent. The water is clear. The sun glistens off the surface. Tranquility. Peacefulness. Inviting us to enter, rest, surrender all fear.

The ocean presents many faces, but whatever the face, our hearts are always mesmerized by its presence. It is mysterious and fascinating. It invites contemplation and wonder. It excites a response. It results in praise.

The Bible says the heavens declare the glory of God (Psm. 19:1). In every aspect of creation God has chosen to reveal Himself. He is not the ocean, but the ocean is a reflection of His character. The ocean was created by Him whereby we might contemplate and meditate on its greatness and in turn allow the Creator of that ocean to be the ultimate subject of our praise and admiration. A great ocean points to an even greater God.

Over the inspired words of Psalm 145 reads the subtitle: "A Psalm of Praise, of David." This is the final Psalm attributed to King David. The man with a heart after God's who experienced more than most - the peaks and valleys of walking with the Lord - saved for the end his crown jewel of praise. These words come from one who personally experienced God, from one who knew the living God intimately like the ocean, both in His greatness and in His gentleness, and throughout it all found abundant reasons to praise Him.

This morning I would like to study this biblical revelation of David's God. And while we study God's character, we remind ourselves that David's God is our God as well. The God that revealed Himself to David is the same God today. His character is unchanging. He invites you to know Him better. He wants you to not simply know about Him, but to know Him personally. And as your understanding of Him increases so will your praise.

1. GOD'S GREATNESS

I have three sections to this sermon as I approach this Psalm in a thematic fashion.

Let's first begin with a look at God's greatness. And there is no better place to begin than verse 3. "Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable."

We have used that word to describe many aspects of our world. In biblical times the Mediterranean was known as "The Great Sea." We have great restaurants, great vacation spots and even great people. Hockey player, Wayne Gretzky is affectionately known as "the Great One." But the only One who is truly great is the Lord. Let me prove it to you.

In Him there are no imperfections. He never shows up too late, misses an appointment or has a mental lapse of judgment. He is present everywhere at all times. He is aware of the past as well as the future. He is able to accomplish all that He desires. He is self-sufficient. He has no needs that He alone is unable to provide for Himself. He created the world, owns the world and sustains the world by His sovereign grace. No part of the universe extends beyond His knowledge and no atom can move without His permission. Everything has meaning and purpose foreordained according to His wise and loving intentions.

We attempt to put God in a box, but as the Psalmist says in verse 3, "His greatness is unsearchable." Even if we were to memorize and comprehend every piece of information in the Bible, we would still be scratching at the surface of God's character. Even an eternity in heaven as we gaze in the face of God and exist apart from the curse will not be long enough to master His presence. God is infinite. And even with the revelation of Himself in creation and Scripture He is always incomprehensible to the finite.

And the fact that God is beyond our comprehension accents His greatness. He is mysterious. He is complex. He moves in ways that are often different from our expectations and narrow views. And just when we think we have Him figured out, He surprises us, but always in a good way. His greatness probes us to be ever learning about Him and ever trusting in Him when things don't make sense. He meets with us (which is another aspect of His greatness), but always remains beyond our grasp of complete understanding. As one author said, "When it comes to heavenly euphoria, words such as termination and cessation and expiration and finality are utterly inappropriate and inapplicable" (Sam Storms).

No wonder David says in verse 6, "I will tell of your greatness."

Greatness is a general category, yet specific elements of God's greatness are seen in certain aspects of His character. In verses 6 and 11 David speaks of His "power." Scripture testifies to the God who spoke the world into existence and delivered the Israelites from their Egyptian captivity with mighty wonders. We saw in Matthew how Jesus Christ calmed the sea and cast out demons and healed the sick. Most significantly in just a couple weeks we will celebrate the power of God as He brought our Lord triumphantly back from the grave.

And God's power is not only witnessed on the pages of Scripture. We see His power in the thunderstorm and the earthquake and the tornado. When God breaks us of our pride and allows us to be empty of self, only then do we become vessels for His power. As God said, "[My] power is perfected in weakness" (2 Cor. 12:9). Grace is power operative in our lives both for the miracle of salvation and the repenting from sin. As we read in Titus, "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age" (Tit. 2:11-12). For us to make those changes takes God's power!

God's power should incite fear - absolute terror for those not shielded from His wrath by the blood of Jesus Christ. And even among those who know Him and love Him there is a reverence and awe we must always hold lest our intimacy somehow demote God from His rightful place of supremacy and omnipotence. Proverbs says fearing God is the beginning of wisdom (Pr. 9:10). God is honored when we fear Him. He also promises to bless such a spirit. He will respect the will of those who respect Him. As David said in verse 19, "He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him."

In verses 7 and 17 we are informed that God is "righteousness." David says he will "shout joyfully of [God's] righteousness" (verse 7). Only a true lover of God will praise Him for His righteousness.

God is righteous. He is light (1 Jn. 1:5). He is without sin. He is morally perfect and as David said in verse 18, all who call upon Him call upon Him in truth. Because He is righteous He must punish sin. Verse 20, "All the wicked He will destroy." Because God is righteousness no works or efforts on our part can ever make us as sinners right before Him. As Spurgeon said, "Mercy is never manifested at the expense of justice, but rather [God] has manifested His righteousness by the death of His Son" (Treasury, Psalm 145).

We know how God needed to act in sending Jesus Christ to the cross to bear the penalty for our sin. And through believing upon His sacrifice we can be forgiven. We can be declared righteous through the blood of Christ. As Christians, Jesus becomes our righteousness who covers us from the wrath to come. Loving the Father is loving the Son He sent to save us. And as verse 20 declares, "The Lord keeps all who love Him."

Beyond God's intrinsic greatness, His greatness is also seen in what He has accomplished. In verses 4 and 12 David speaks of His "mighty acts," verse 5 His "wonderful works" and in verse 6 His "awesome acts." If you are in Christ Jesus you are a personal trophy of His greatness. You are God's work in progress. He is making you more beautiful every day as He conforms you into the likeness of His Son. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit. God's kingdom dwells within you and one day God's kingdom will be seen and recognized by all. Verses 12 and 13 focus on the greatness of that kingdom: "To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts and the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations."

No wonder David after contemplating the greatness of God in verse 5 spoke of "the glorious splendor of [His] majesty." David was a king, but even he in all his glory recognized the true King of kings. God is majestic. God is, verses 11 and 12, glorious.

These attributes of God's greatness are enough to make the sinner tremble. Yet they made David sing. They filled David's heart with wonder and beauty and security. David took great delight in praising God's greatness. One commentator said, "When man thinks of his greatness, God dwindles. Big men have a little God. Yet a big God does not despise little men" (W. Graham Scroggie, A Guide to the Psalms, Psalm 145). God extends grace to the humble (Jas. 4:6; 1 Pet. 5:5), so while David could praise God for His greatness, He could also praise Him for His gentleness - our second point. David had a balanced view of God.

2. GOD'S GENTLENESS

Look at verse 8, "The LORD is gracious and merciful; slow to anger and great in lovingkindness."

God's sheep experience that every day. We sin and God delights in forgiving. We are faithless and He remains faithful. We run from His will and He always sticks close to our side and lovingly disciplines us to keep us on the best path. We blow it and He redeems even our mistakes for good. We forget Him, but He writes our name on His heart like Aaron's Ephod. He is sympathetic. He welcomes our concerns. He receives our prayers. Verse 9, "His mercies are over all His works." Verse 17, "[He is] kind in all His deeds." Thanks to the atonement of Jesus Christ we receive "grace…multiplied" (2 Pet. 1:2), "peace…in the fullest measure" (1 Pet. 1:2), "exceeding joy" (Psm. 43:4) and God's covenant love throughout eternity.

No wonder David spoke so frequently in this Psalm about God's goodness. In verse 7 He called it "abundant goodness." By the way this is also the same verse where David said He would "shout joyfully of [God's] righteousness." Notice how the two cannot be separated. Righteousness without goodness is harsh. And goodness without righteousness is not truly good.

Even the greatest of kings have little time or concern for the peasants. And after understanding the greatness of the King of kings it would be easy to see how we as sinners should be the recipients of nothing more than His scorn. Yet our God demonstrates His greatness by condescending to our needs and bestowing upon us His goodness. No wonder when Moses asked to see God's glory (Ex. 33:18), God said, "I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you" (Ex. 33:19).

In verse 9 David said, "The LORD is good to all." There is a special goodness given to His children, but we cannot deny that even the biggest rebel benefits from God's goodness every day. Did not Jesus say, "He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous" (Mt. 5:45)? Even while they reject His holy law and live as if He does not exist, every breath they inhale should be a reminder of His goodness. The true theological problem is not why do bad things happen to good people, but rather why do good things happen to bad people? And the only answer appropriate is that our God is good. As Spurgeon said, "For He is greatly good [even] to the greatly guilty" (Treasury, Psalm 145).

If you have ever doubted the goodness of God allow these "bite-sized" truths to be seared upon your heart. Verse 14, "The LORD sustains all who fall and raises up all who are bowed down." Verse 15, "You give them their food in due time." Verse 16, "You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing." Verse 18, "The LORD is near to all who call upon Him." Verse 19, "He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them." Verse 20, "The LORD keeps all who love Him."

I always find it so surprising that everybody wants to claim these promises from God, but few are willing to worship God as sovereign, powerful and righteous. They want God's gentleness but not God's greatness. My friends, if God is not great and Ruler over all, how can we expect Him to come through on any of His promises? God's greatness guarantees His goodness.

3. OUR RESPONSE

So now that we have unpacked the revelation of God's character we need to move to the third point - our response. With the knowledge of who God is, how should we respond?

First we should meditate. In the ending of verse 5 David says, "On Your wonderful works, I will meditate."

Meditating is taking the knowledge of God and allowing it to ruminate in your minds. It is thinking it through. It is treasuring truth. It is allowing Scripture to flow through your spiritual veins. It is allowing the understanding of God to burn brightly deep in your hearts whereby it might transform how you think, feel and behave. In addition to time, your two greatest friends in godly meditation are the Holy Spirit and the Holy Scriptures. The goal is to get to the point where your meditation transcends into prayer.

Second, in addition to meditating, we should praise. It seems like it was impossible for David to speak about God without His theology ending in doxology. David's thoughts about God were not an academic exercise. Contemplation led to spontaneous praise throughout the Psalm.

Verse 1, "I will extol You, my God, O King, and I will bless Your name forever and ever." Verse 2, "Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever." In verse 3 David's God is "highly to be praised." In verse 10 he says, "Your godly ones shall bless You." And he ends in verse 21 by saying, "My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD, and all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever."

And third, we should declare. Meditation leads to personal praise which leads to declaration to others. The progression is only natural as we find it so easy to tell others about the things that are most important to us. What does it say if we talk about money and sports and good health more than God? Spurgeon again, "The goodness of the living God should not be buried in the cemetery of silence, in the grave of ingratitude" (Treasury, Psalm 145).

David knew the value of passing on a godly legacy to the next generation. Verse 4, "One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts." David knew the value of declaring God in an understandable way. Verse 12, "To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts." And David made the subject of God a subject in his everyday conversation. Verse 6, "Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts and I will tell of Your greatness" (cf. verse 11).

Meditation on God's character, praise of God's character, and declaration about God's character. In regard to these endeavors, I counted six "I will's" in Psalm 145 (verses 1, 2, 5, 6). David made a determined effort to do what He knew was right.

Those without Christ praise God for His gentleness and do not receive it. Those in Christ praise God for His greatness and receive God's gentleness. May we understand God as much as we can understand God. And may we find in Him power and rest, predictability and wonder, comfort and fear and greatness and gentleness.


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