12. Why Do We Praise Our God?

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Hymns: RHC 387 I Need Thee Every Hour, 388 O For a Closer Walk, 284 Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

PSALM 145

1 David’sPsalmof praise. 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 isthe Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness isunsearchable. 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 menshall 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 isgracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. 9 The Lord isgood to all: and his tender mercies areover 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. 13 Thy kingdom isan everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureththroughout all generations. 14 The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that bebowed 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 isrighteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. 18 The Lord isnigh 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. Psalm 145:1-21 (KJV)

WHY DO WE PRAISE OUR GOD?

  • He is our Great God (v1-13)
    • Attested by His Works (v1-6)
    • Attested by His Goodness (7-13)
  • He is our Ready Helper (v14-21)
    • For the Afflicted (v14)
    • For the Seeker (v15-18)
    • For the God-Fearer (v19)
    • For the Devoted Follower (v20-21)

INTRODUCTION

Psalm 145 is an acrostic psalm. It begins with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet to facilitate learning. This psalm, the last attributed to David, has a most fitting theme – it is the praise of God! It is a good summary of life with God. It begins with praise and ends with praise.

  • He is our Great God (v1-13)
    • Attested by His Works (v1-6)

1 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. 

God is King of the psalmist’s life, his best Master. He serves by Him and blesses His name. He does this everyday of his life and experiences why He is most worthy of praise! He tells us that God is great he had the privilege to witness the mighty acts of God. The mighty deeds of our heavenly Father were tokens of His love towards His children. To the unbelieving and the scorner, these acts are terrible acts. They could not see the good hand of God for their lives. But for the psalmist, the good pleasure of God blessing His children is experienced daily so much so that his cup runs over and he cannot but declare the greatness of his God. The psalmist experienced God’s answer to prayer over and over again. 

Remember the time when God sent ten plagues throughout the land of Egypt free them from the bondage of slavery, the magicians of Pharaoh saw the finger of God. But for Pharaoh, he became more rebellious.

Exodus 8:19 Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.

Every generation of God’s people experiences fresh mercies from God that cause them to testify, it is indeed the good hand of God. For the psalmist, it is no exception. What about for us? 

(b) Attested by His Compassion (v7-13)

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. 13 Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations. 

The capital “L O R D” is the same word JEHOVAH. God reminded the psalmist who He is. I am the LORD; in the Hebrew, I am Jehovah. This is the first time that God introduced Himself as, “I am Jehovah” to Moses in the book of Exodus. The first time it occurs in the Bible in this form. What is the significance?

Remember at the Burning Bush encounter in Exodus 3:13-15 “And Moses said unto God, Behold,whenI come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What ishis name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: (the Self-Existent and Everlasting, all things are created but I am not created, I exist from eternity past and exist now to eternity future, – I AM WHO I AM fountain of all being) and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The “LORD – JEHOVAH” God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this ismy name for ever, and this ismy memorial unto all generations.”

I am the LORD, I am Jehovah. 3 And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name ofGod Almighty (El Shaddai), but by my name JEHOVAH was I not knownto them.

But it is by the name Almighty (Shaddai, the All-Sufficient and All-Powerful God) was God known to Abraham, Issac and Jacob, alluding to His power. This was the attribute of God that was known and emphasized in the lives of the Patriarchs.

The LORD is our personal God with knows and feels the burdens of His people and is working to help them in their time of suffering and trouble. He is a personal loving God. When we are in trouble, we can call upon Him for help. This personal relation is so wonderful it has to be experienced yourself. It speaks of the tears of God’s people how they poured them out to the LORD. There is that intimate relationship that we can have with our God that is cultivated and nurtured and that gives hope in moments of despair.

(2) He is our Ready Helper (v14-21)

  1. For the Afflicted (v14)
  2. For the Seeker (v15-18)
  3. For the God-Fearer (v19)
  4. For the Devoted Follower (v20-21)

14 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. 

The LORD supports those that fall by His everlasting arms – Psalm 37:24-26 “Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand. I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.”

Our Lord does help His people as they sought after Him. He will not condone their sins by He is gracious to forgive them as they bring them before Him.

The Lord is nigh unto them that call upon Him as Jeremiah attested – Jeremiah 29:11-13 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”

The God-fearer will seek to walk in God’s ways, obey His holy commandments for his blessing and protection.

The devoted follower will not be forsaken as Jesus said, “John 10:27-29 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”

CONCLUSION

The psalmist testifies to us why he praises his God. He testifies who God is to him and how He only is his true Helper. May we too call upon him who are troubled and heavy laden. Amen.