March 29
Reading: Psalm 145
A Song of Praise. Of David.
1 I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless you
and praise your name forever and ever.
3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,
and his greatness is unsearchable.
4 One generation shall commend your works to another,
and shall declare your mighty acts.
5 On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
6 They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,
and I will declare your greatness.
7 They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness
and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
8 The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 The LORD is good to all,
and his mercy is over all that he has made.
10 All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD,
and all your saints shall bless you!
11 They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom
and tell of your power,
12 to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds,
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations.
The LORD is faithful in all his words
and kind in all his works.
14 The LORD upholds all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food in due season.
16 You open your hand;
you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 The LORD is righteous in all his ways
and kind in all his works.
18 The LORD is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
19 He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
he also hears their cry and saves them.
20 The LORD preserves all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.
21 My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD,
and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.
Psalm 145 is the last of David’s psalms and it is another alphabetical acrostic. Each verse begins with a subsequent letter of the Hebrew alphabet. There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet, but only 21 verses in this psalm. That is because there is a missing verse between verses 13 and 14. You will notice that a verse is added there (in italics) in one ancient Hebrew manuscript. Whether or not this was indeed the missing verse, it is certainly consistent with the whole of Scripture.
From beginning to end, this is a psalm praising the Lord. In this sense it prepares us for the Great Praise of Psalms 146-150. We find in this psalm so many of God’s attributes. It is as if we are reading all the wonderful things about God from A to Z (in Hebrew, from Aleph to Tav). As you read this psalm you should get out a page of paper and begin writing down all the different attributes, character qualities and titles of God. See how many you can find. I found 32, though there were some repetitions.
Do you ever take time to think about how amazing God is? Go for a walk sometime, in town, or better yet in a nearby park or the countryside, and just take the entire time to look at this world and think of how amazing God is. I like to think of God’s amazingness in categories.
- God is amazing in His creative work, like an artist.
- God is amazing in His power. He controls all things.
- God is amazing in His Word that is always true.
- God is amazing in His plan of salvation for people of every tribe and tongue.
- God is amazing in Jesus Christ who came into this world and showed us God.
- God is amazing in how He kicks Satan’s butt.
- God is amazing to me personally. He blesses me though I do not deserve it.
I could go on.
What are your categories for God’s amazingness? Could you write a psalm praising God from A to Z? What would you write about Him beginning with the letters Q, X, or Z?