Let us turn to God's Word in
the 145th Psalm. Psalm 145 and directing you this
morning to words that we find here at verse 3. Great is the Lord's and greatly
to be praised and His greatness is unsearchable. Great is the
Lord's and greatly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable. The title of the psalm tells
us that this is David's psalm of praise, and really that's
the theme that I want to try to address this morning. David's
psalm of praise, and how really here in the text in verse 3,
He is celebrating the greatness of God. Great is the Lord, and
greatly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable. David, of course, is the author
of so many of the Psalms, and he is referred to as the Sweet
Psalmist of Israel, there in 2 Samuel 23. And as we come to consider these
words for a short while this morning, I want to divide the
subject matter into some three sections. First of all, to say
something with regards to the greatness of God. Secondly, the
unsearchableness of God. And then thirdly and finally,
the praises of God. that simple threefold division
then as we come with the Lord's help to look at these words here
in Psalm 145 and the third verse. Great is the Lord, and greatly
to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable. God then is declared to be great. And so we're reminded of at least
two things here, something of the majesty of God and also something
of the mystery, which is the only living and true God. We can think of the majesty of
God in terms of his sovereignty. In another psalm we're told our
God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he pleased. He is accountable to no one else. He is God alone. Though that
mighty ancient emperor Nebuchadnezzar who built that great city of
Babylon with its hanging gardens, one of the seven wonders of the
ancient world was brought to the place of humility before
the God of Israel and has to confess all the inhabitants of
the earth are as nothing. and he doeth according to his
will among the armies of heaven, and the inhabitants of the world,
and none can stay his hand, or say to him, What doest thou? God is great and majestic then
when we think in terms of his absolute sovereignty. But then
also God is great when we think of the mystery of the being of
God. when we think of the Great Doctrine
of the Trinity, that of which we were just singing in that
lovely hymn of Joseph Hartz. Our God is One. And now that
truth is said constantly before the children of Israel in the
Old Testament Scriptures. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our
God is one Lord. there were a multitude of many
gods so called in that ancient world but there is but one living
and true God that is the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of
Jacob and yet as God reveals himself through the Old Testament
into the New Testament so we ultimately see that this Great
God, the one living and true God, is in fact three persons,
the great mystery of the being of God. There are three that
bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost,
and the three are one, says John in that first general epistle. All great is the Lord, and how
This theme of God's greatness comes out constantly as we read
in the book of Psalms. Later in the 147th Psalm, for
example, and there at verse 5, Great is our Lord, and of great
power, and His understanding is infinite. If we go back to
the language that we find in the opening words of Psalm 48,
great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of
our God. And then, if we might refer to
at least one other of the Psalms, Psalm 96 and verse 4, for the
Lord is great. and greatly to be praised, he
is to be feared above all gods." This is that then that is so
emphasized in the book of praises, in the book of Psalms. This is
David's psalm of praise, and so David is celebrating here
the greatness that belongs unto God. But see how as he speaks
of God's greatness so he also makes mention of his goodness
and of his mercy. In the language that follows
at verse 6 it says, Men shall speak of the might of thy terrible
acts and I will declare thy greatness. They shall abundantly utter the
memory of thy great goodness. and shall sing of thy righteousness.
The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion, slow to anger,
and of great mercy." Well, what do we have here in these verses? Well, we see again the greatness
of God in verse 6, and the goodness of God in verse 7, and the graciousness
of God in verse 8. And how is it that God reveals
Himself? How does God reveal to us really is His greatness? Well, we see His greatness ultimately
in His grace. In His grace. And we're reminded
of that, are we not, in the experience of Moses. Remember the language that we
have there in the 33rd chapter of the book of Exodus where Moses
requested God would reveal to him something of his glory at
the end of Exodus chapter 33. What does he say in verse 18. He said, I beseech thee, show
me thy glory. This is a request of this man. He wants to be reassured. It's
the context of the children of Israel committing a great sin
in the matter of the golden calf. They've been commanded not to
make graven images. Moses was away from them in the
mount receiving instructions and directions concerning God's
worship and they've grown weary and they want Joshua who has
been left there in the camp to make them a god and he makes
the golden calf and they fall down and they worship the calf
and God is angry and God sends Moses down from the mount and
he has the tables of the Ten Commandments in his hand and
he breaks them at the foot of the mount they transgress the
covenant God will disinherit them And he says he will take
of Moses and make a people. But Moses stands in the breach
and prays and pleads with God that he would yet have mercy
and pardon them. And God hears his prayer. And
here is Moses now. He wants the assurance that God
will go forth with him and with the people of Israel. And he
asks God, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. And how does God
answer? Verse 19 I will make all my goodness
pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord
before thee, and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and
will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. This is the glory
of God. This is the glory of God, His
goodness, His grace, His mercy. This is how God reveals himself. And then again, how God is true
to his word. There in Exodus 34, 6, the Lord
passed by before him and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord God, merciful
and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and
truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression
and sin, And that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting
the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's
children unto the third and the fourth generation. Yes, he is
a holy and righteous and just God. But all this proclamation,
as God proclaims his own name, the Lord. The Lord, we read there
in verse 6, twice. And it's the covenant name, it's
Lord in capitals, it's Jehovah. It's the great I am that I am,
merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and
in truth. Oh, it's ultimately in the Gospel
that we have that fullest revelation of God, that final revelation
of God. And remember how in 2 Corinthians
chapter 3 the apostle draws a contrast between the glories that belong
under the law and there was a glory in the law the law is holy, the
commandment is holy and just and good, it's God's law that
is a revelation of God but out there in that third chapter of
2nd Corinthians as Paul draws a contrast between the glories
of the law and the glories of the gospel, what does he say?
2 Corinthians 3.9, he says that the Gospel exceeds in glory. The Gospel exceeds in glory. And we sang it in our opening
praise, in His highest work, redemption. See His glory in
a blaze, nor can angels ever mention, or that more of God's
displays. How the angels delight to look
into these things. as Peter says. They're in the
very presence of God in the heavens. They're about the throne of God
as we see in Isaiah chapter 6. And yet, how they did like to
look into these things. That revelation that God has
given of himself in the salvation of the sinful sons of men. Oh God is great. And God is great
in his goodness. Those words that we have in the
119th Psalm at verse 68, David says, Thou art good and
Thou doest good. That's God. God is good. And God does that that is good. Oh, isn't that such a comfort
to us as we come to worship Him? This is David's Psalm of pride. And he says, Great is the Lord,
and great it will be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable. All the riches of His goodness
and of His grace to the sinful sons of men. Again, in another
of the Psalms, Psalm 86 5, Thou art good, They do us good. That's what
we have in the 119th Psalm. But there, in the 86th Psalm,
Thou, Lord, art good and ready to forgive, and plenteous in
mercy to all them that call upon Thee. Ready to forgive. Plenteous
in mercy. This is the God, you see, with
whom we have to do as we come together in this familiar fashion,
Lord's Day by Lord's Day. He is such a gracious God. Or
what do we have here in the psalm before us, verse 12, to make
known to the sons of men His mighty acts and the glorious
majesty of His kingdom. Or when we come and pray for
the coming of that kingdom of God. those mighty acts of God,
that He would come and work mightily and effectually in our souls. That's what we desire, is it
not? That He might establish, even in our poor hearts, that
blessed reign of grace, the subduing of all our sins and all our iniquities,
delivering us from all our wicked unbelief and all our doubts and
all our fears. The greatness of God then, the
goodness of God. But then, Here, in the text,
David also acknowledges that God is unsearchable. That God
is unsearchable. Great is the Lord, and greatly
to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable. You all remember
those words? We've quoted them many a time
back in Job 11. The verse 7 following, Canst
thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty
unto perfection? It is high as heaven, what canst
thou do? Broader than the earth, what
canst thou know? Deeper than hell. The vastness of God. God is not
in one place. God is in every place. God is
a Spirit. Not like us, our physical bodies,
we can only be in one place at any time. But God fills heaven
and earth. He is a Spirit. And here, what
do we read in the text? The margin gives an alternative
reading at the end of the verse. His greatness is unsearchable
in the margin, it says. Of His greatness there is no
search. Canst thou by searching find out God? We cannot. We cannot
really begin to understand, to explain these things. He is that
One who, as I've said, is everywhere. He's the Omniscient God. And
remember how David speaks of that in the 139th Psalm in particular. O Lord, thou hast searched me,
he says, and known me. Thou knowest my down-sitting
and my not-rising, Thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compest
my path and my lying down, And art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my
tongue, but, Lord, Thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset
me behind and before, and laid Thine hand upon me. Such knowledge
is too wonderful for me. It is high. I cannot attain unto
it. All God is that One who is omnipresent. He's in all places. He's omniscient.
He knows all things. He dwells in eternity. And He
sees all of time at a moment. He knows the end from the beginning.
How can we begin to comprehend the wonders that belong unto
such a God as this? There is a mistruth. There is
a mystery when it comes to the doctrine of God. There's a mystery,
of course, in the ways of God, in the dealings of God. And that's the truth that we
have to acknowledge. Thy way is in the sea. Thy path
in the deep waters. Thy footsteps are not known. And when we think of God's dealing
with us as individuals, we can't always fathom what the Lord is
doing, what the Lord is saying to us in the providential dealings
that we experience from day to day. Though this was ever the
case, it was so with those in the days of the Prophet Isaiah. Look at the language that we
have there in Isaiah 47, Isaiah chapter 14. and verse 27, Why
sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest thou Israel, My way is his from
the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God? Hast thou not known, hast thou
not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of
the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his
understanding. You see, here are the children
of Israel asking these questions, mystified by the way in which
the Lord is dealing with them as a people. My way is hid from
the Lord. My judgment is passed over from
my God. And now the Lord, through his
servant Isaiah, answers their question. or they've not really
understood. They cannot understand. The wise
of the Lord, there's no searching of His understanding. And we
have to bow to that. The mystery of God's wise, the
mystery of His providences. And how the Lord so dealt with
Job. Oh, what a mystery is the book
of Job. And though his friends are such poor comforters, they
cannot understand him. And what does he say? Well, he
speaks of that God which doeth great things and unsearchable,
marvellous things without number. He has to acknowledge that God's
ways are truly unsearchable. and we cannot really search out
the mystery, can we, of the the doctrine of God himself as
I've already referred to the great mystery of the Trinity
it is unsearchable but we thank God that we see it revealed in
Holy Scripture and no, we don't have the name Trinity anywhere
in the Bible but we see that doctrine, that there is a unity in the Godhead. There
is one God, and yet the one God is three persons. It's a tri-unity. It's three in one. It's one in
three. And I think in some ways we have
a remarkable revelation of it there in the opening chapter
of the epistle to the Ephesians. We have the father's electing
love spoken of there in Ephesians 1 from verse 3 through to verse
6 and I'm always taken with the way in which the Authorized Version
has marked the punctuation in that chapter because verses 3
to 6 form a single sentence and the subject matter of that sentence
is very much the father and that eternal election that the Father
has made He has chosen a people from eternity in His Son and
then the next sentence runs from verse 7 to verse 12 and speaks
of the Son and that work that the Son was given to do the great
work of redemption when He comes into this world to pay the ransom
price that was demanded by the Holy Lord of God He must He must
satisfy that law. The soul that sinneth it shall
die, he must die for the unjust to bring the sinner to God. And
then we have a shorter sentence in verses 13 and 14 and he speaks
of the blessed work of the Holy Spirit who comes and seals that
great purpose of the Father And that purchase that the Son has
made, He seals the work. And so, our rites are the words
of the hymn that we sang just now on the Trinity to comprehend
the great reward. It's more than the highest angels
can or what the Trinity has done from death and how to rescue
man. But all true Christians, this
may boast a truth from nature never learned that Father, Son
and Holy Ghost to save our souls are all concerned. And we see
it. We see it so clearly there. Read it. That passage in Ephesians
1 from verse 3, right through to verse 14. It's a Trinitarian
salvation, and it's beyond our comprehension. It's a revelation
of the doctrine of God. And God is unsearchable. Yet God himself is to be sought.
We're to seek after this God. That's what we're exhorted to
do. When God creates man, he makes him in his image, he creates
him after his likeness. Man is made to have communion
with God. And we see there at the beginning
how God would come into the garden, for there was perfect harmony
between heaven and earth, the Lord God appearing. in the midst
of all his people man is made to know God and so
man is brought to seek after God and we have the exhortation
seek ye the Lord while he may be found call ye upon him while
he is near all we are to seek him the Lord Jesus himself utters
those words ask and it shall be given you seek and you shall
find knock and it shall be opened unto you. And how the Lord gives
an assurance that that seeking of God's is not going to be in
vain. He says everyone that asketh
receiveth. He that seeketh findeth. To him
that knocketh it shall be opened. We are to seek after God. ye
shall seek me says God and find me when you shall search after
me with all your hearts but you know our seeking is not really
the cause of our finding we're not to think that we're not to
think well we we find God because we we seek after him There is a sense in which, though
we're seeking after God, God is unknowable, God is unsearchable. Again, look at the language that
we have in the book of Job. Job 37, 23, touching the Almighty,
we cannot find him out. Touching the Almighty, we cannot
find him out. And again, the language of the
preacher in the book of Ecclesiastes. No man can find out the work
that God make us from the beginning to the end. Or ever learning, you see, never
able to come to the knowledge of the truth. God is really unknowable. God is really unknowable. unsearchable how Paul speaks
of the greatness of God who only hath immortality dwelling in
light which no man can approach unto whom no man hath seen nor
can see to whom be honour and power everlasting amen this is
God great is the Lord and greatly to be praised and his greatness
is unsearchable he's unknowable and yet he is
a God to be known and if we cannot find him out by all our searchings
after him how is it that we can never know God at all? we can
only know God because he is pleased to reveal himself he has to make
himself known to us No man hath seen God at any time. The only
begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath
declared Him. He can only be known in and through
the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's no other
way. No other way in which this great God, the only true God,
can be known except in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That is the clear teaching of Holy Scripture. all the gods
of the nations and there are multitudes of religions, of course
we know that, but they're all false gods. God has to reveal himself and
God has revealed himself in the Lord Jesus Christ, the image
of the invisible God, says the Apostle. Oh, and how God, as
He has revealed Himself in the person and the work of the Lord
Jesus Christ, that's the objective revelation, as it were. God manifests
in the flesh. But how God must come and deal
with us individually, personally, subjectively. Real religion is a revelation,
is it not? God has to reveal Himself to us. God has revealed
himself to us. When Peter makes his great confession
of Christ, there in Matthew 16, Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God, And again, remember the end of John chapter
6, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life, and we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ,
the Son of the living God. He confesses Jesus of Nazareth
is the Christ, the eternal Son of God. And what does the Lord
say to him? Oh, he speaks of that man as
one who is blessed. Blessed art thou, Simon, Bar
Jonah, Simon son of Jonah, flesh and blood hath not revealed it
unto them, but my Father which is in heaven." It's a revelation. That man was blessed because
the Father revealed the Son to him. And as it was with Peter,
well, so it was with all the disciples. There is that revelation. There is a revelation. There
was a revelation to Paul. and he acknowledges that there
in Galatians chapter 1 he pleased God he says he pleased God to
reveal his Son in Mary oh what a revelation it was that came
into the soul of Saul of Tarsus how his whole world was turned
upside down and inside out by that revelation he was a Pharisee
he was the son of a Pharisee he lived the life of a Pharisee
and all his pharisaic religion, all his self-righteousness had
to go. It pleased God to reveal his
son in the soul of that man. And this is how God is known. Although we are to seek him,
we are not to imagine that our seeking is the cause of us finding. Ultimately, it is the sovereign
act of God. And that's what we've pleaded
with God to do, that He would come and grant to us that blessed
revelation, and make Christ real. Real in our souls, real in our
lives. Oh, the greatness of God, the
unsearchableness of God. Great is the Lord, and greatly
to be praised and His greatness is unsearchable. And then finally this morning
to say something with regards to the praises of this God. As I said in the title we're
told quite plainly it's David's psalm of praise. David's psalm
of praise. And God is to be praised for
who He is. God is to be praised for who
He is. He only is God. He is that One who is the true
God. Again, look at the language of
the Prophet Isaiah, Isaiah 45, 5. I am the Lord, and there is none else, there
is no God beside me. I girded thee, though thou hast
not known me, that they may know from the rising of the sun and
from the west that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and
there is none else. All God is to be praised simply
for who He is. And so the children of Israel,
as God brings them out of Egypt, delivers them from that awful
bondage, brings them into the wilderness of Sinai and enters
into covenant with them. Oh, remember the first of those
commandments that God utters from Mount Sinai. What is the
first commandment? Thou shalt have no other gods
before thee. Thou shalt have no other gods
before mine. There is only one God and that
one true God is alone to be worshipped. And now the Lord Jesus answers
Satan tempted there in the wilderness. He says to the devil, Thou shalt
worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve. Him
only shalt thou serve. Only God is to be worshipped
and He is worshipped because He is God. Worship belongs to
Him and to none else. It doesn't belong to the Virgin
Mary, it doesn't belong to the saints. It belongs only to that
one living and true God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. and all things are made for him.
All things are made for him. The Lord has made all things
for himself. Even the wicked for the day of
evil. There's a mystery. There's a
mystery in the ways of God. He is sovereign over all things.
Even Satan, that wicked angel, that fallen angel, is not a free
agent, is he? And yet God is not the author
of sin, he is of eyes too pure to behold iniquity, he cannot
look upon sin, but he has made all things. And what does Paul
say where that lovely doxology at the end of Romans 11, as he
has spoken of God and the ways of God of him and through him
and to him, are all things to whom be glory forever and ever. All God is to be praised simply
for who He is. He is God. And He is the object
of our worship, and the object of our praisings. I will extol
Thee, my God, O King. I will bless Thy name forever
and ever. Every day will I bless Thee.
I will praise Thy name forever and ever. Great is the Lord. and greatly to be prized, and
His greatness is unsearchable. But as God is to be prized for
who He is, so God must also be prized for what He has done and
what He does do. He is to be prized for His works. And what are the works of God?
Well, we think generally in terms of the three aspects of those
works of God. There's the great work of creation.
Oh, the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth
his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth voice,
night unto night showeth knowledge. And his line goes out into all
the world. Oh, we have that revelation all
about us. the works, the wondrous works
of God. And we read through into the
next Psalm, Psalm 146. What do we read there? Verse 6, which made heaven and
earth, the sea and all that therein is, which keepeth truth forever. All praise ye the Lord. We are
to praise Him that ever He gave us as individuals our very being. It is He who has made us, not
we ourselves. We're the creatures of His hand.
He's the one in whom we live and move and have our being.
He sustains our lives. Every day, every moment we draw
a breath, we're sucking in the mercies of this God. It is of
His mercies that we're not consumed, because His compassions they
fail not, they're new every morning. And great is His faithfulness. All we're to praise Him as His
creatures. And all men therefore, all men
without any exception, are under that obligation to praise God
as their Creator. And ultimately they will be called
to account if they do not ascribe to Him that honor, that glory
that is His due. But then, besides His works,
of creation. We also see His work in Providence,
how He rules and governs the earth. And He has given that promise
back at the end of Genesis chapter 8, as long as the earth remaineth,
He has said, summer and winter, seedtime, harvest, cold, heat,
day and night, shall not cease. Oh, the returning day reminds
us of the God that we're to worship, how true He is to His word, how
He preserves us by His sovereign providence. He watches over all
His creatures. And we're to observe these things.
That's what the psalmist says there at the end of the 107th
Psalm. Whoso will observe these things,
the providences of God, Even they shall understand the loving
kindness of the Lord. Ought to be an observant people,
to praise God, to reflect on His dealings with us, not dealing
with us after our sins, not rewarding us according to our iniquities,
our patience, our long-suffering. So much better to us than our
sins deserve. This is the God that we worship. And we praise Him for what He
has done and what He does do, creation, providence, and ultimately,
of course, that great work of salvation. O God, who at sunry
time and in diverse manner spake in time past unto the fathers
by the prophets, after these last days spoken unto us by His
Son, whom we appointed heir of all things, by whom also we made
the world. Oh, the Lord Jesus Christ, who
when he had made that one sacrifice for sins forever, rose and entered
into heaven itself. Oh, we praise God, and we come
together on this Lord's Day, of course, the first day of the
week, remembering the resurrection of Christ, His vindication, declared
to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness,
by the resurrection from the dead. And what does God do? He deals
with us in the ways of mercy and grace. Going there in that
146th Psalm at verse 8. The Lord openeth the eyes of
the blind. The Lord raiseth them that are
bowed down. The Lord loveth the righteous.
The Lord preserveth the strangers. He relieveth the fatherless and
widow. But the ways of the wicked he turneth upside down. all there are works of salvation
and that salvation found in the Lord Jesus Christ we worship
God for who He is we worship God for what He has done and
what He does do we worship Him as that one who hears prayers
this is the wonder of it this God who is so great and so unsearchable
He takes account of our prayers our poor prayers And so often
we feel our prayers to be so weak and so pathetic. But what does the Psalmist say
at the end of this 145th Psalm? Verse 18, The Lord is nigh unto
all them that call upon Him. To all that call upon Him in
truth. This unsearchable God. He is
nigh, He is near. them that call upon Him. He will
fulfill the desire of them that fear Him. He also will hear their
cry and save them. He will hear their cry and save
them. He hears prayers. And He doesn't
only hear prayers, He answers prayers. He hears the cry, He
saves. He saves. He answers their call. What do
we read here previously? Verse 5, I will speak of the
glorious honour of thy majesty and of thy wondrous works. And
men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts and I will
declare thy greatness. His wondrous works, his terrible
acts. Look at the language that we
have previously, Psalm 65, 5. By terrible things in righteousness
will thou answer us, O God, of our salvation. By terrible things
in righteousness God answers the prayers of his people. They
do not seek his face in vain. He's to be praised for what he
does. Oh, he hears us. He hears our
poor prayers, our groanings, our sighs, and He answers. And He does exceeding abundantly
above all that we ask or think. This is the God then, that we
come to worship, the God that is to be praised. David's psalm
of praise. Great is the Lord, and greatly
to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable. Oh, the Lord
be pleasing to help us today that we might worship Him and
come and worship Him in and through Him who is the only mediator.
Worship God then in His Son. There is love and there alone. Oh, the Lord bless His word to
us. Let us now conclude our worship
by singing the hymn 833 and the tune Saint George number 59. Thy mercy Lord we praise, of
judgment too we sing, for all the riches of thy grace our grateful
tribute bring. Mercy may justly claim a sinner's
thankful voice, and judgment Joining in the theme we tremble
and rejoice to hymn 833.