To God's Praise

Seeking for the help of the Lord, I direct your prayer for attention to Psalm 145, reading from our text, verses five through to seven. I will speak of the glorious honor 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. They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness. Psalm 145 and verses 5, 6, and 7.

It is one of the privileges of the people of God to praise the Lord. It is a great mercy to be able to believe that He is, to recognise His works, and to feel in our hearts that spring forth of praise to Him. This psalm here has the title, David's Psalm of Praise. He's the only psalm that has a title like this. The following psalms don't have any title at all. And he's thought that this title belongs to all that follow. they truly do all praise the Lord. Although David here is the penman and its title is David's Psalm of Praise, yet I do love to always look for our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

David was a prophet, He spoke of the Lord, and the Lord often is speaking through the Psalms, through the Scriptures. And if we look at the way that our text is set forth, in verse five, I will speak of the glorious honor of thy majesty. In verse six, and men shall speak. Now indeed it may be, of course, in the first instance with David saying, I will speak, and men, other men, but we could also view this as our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ speaking.

I will speak of the glorious honor of thy majesty and of thy wondrous works, Because right through this psalm it is Jehovah, it is the Lord that is extolled again and again. And then going from our Lord, we have, and then, and men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts. And then back again to the Lord, I will declare thy greatness. And they, back to men again, They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness."

One thing is very important for us, that we be amongst the men, we be amongst the they, and really in a personal way, we also be able to come in and say, I will speak. is one thing to open up this word or speak of what is set forth here, but what we want is for it to come to our souls and we be included in it, to be here below in the day of grace, beginning that everlasting song of praise which is carried on in heaven above. The song of Moses, not just sung at the triumphs at the Red Sea, but sung in heaven as a conquest, as a deliverance, as salvation. And so when we look at these things, may we be able to come in with those things in our lives and what the Lord has done for us.

There are three things that I want to speak of this evening with the Lord's help. Firstly, the method of praise that is spoken of in these verses. And then secondly, praise that will not cease with the passage of time. And then thirdly, the reasons for praise. How are we to praise the Lord? We have set forth here really four ways of setting forth the praise of God. The first is speaking. Verse five, I will speak of the glorious honor of thy majesty.

You read in Romans 10 that with the heart man believeth, but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. And it's one thing to feel praise in the heart, to feel it welling up within. But the Lord will have His people to actually speak of Him. And of course, speaking needs a hearer, someone to hear what is said. Come and hear all ye that fear God, and I will tell what He hath done for my soul. And there's a desire to convey with speaking to the praise and honor and glory of God.

God has formed our mouth, and out of the abundance of the heart, man speaketh. And James, he speaks most solemnly how we can use our mouths to speak evil things and then turn and to speak good things. But it is a cause of thanksgiving If we can look back and there was a time that we never spake anything of the Lord or the things of the Lord. We may have done even the opposite and used our mouths for most ungodly things. But here is a means and a way of praise when the mouth is opened.

We think of how remarkable it was when John Baptist's father, Zacharias, his mouth had been closed all the while of John's pregnancy. And then when he was born, he was to be named, and was going to be named Zacharias after his father. His mother says, not so. His name shall be called John. They called for a writing tablet. Zacharias, he writes his name shall be John. Immediately his voice was heard. His tongue was loosed. Then he spake and he spake to the praise and glory of God.

The contrast between silence and speaking that caused those that saw what happened to marvel, to wonder what kind of child that this was. And we think of other occasions as well, when through the Lord's dealings with His people, they have been charged to speak, they have spoken, the man that was born blind, He spoke well of the Lord, while hearing is a wonderful thing that he hath made me to see. Was it ever known before that a man born blind could be made to see? And we think of those that wanted, when the Lord worked miracles in their lives, to be with the Lord, to follow Him like the mad gathering.

Go home to thy house and tell what great things God hath done for thee. They had to speak and the power of speech is very important to use it in the right way and here it is in praise. It should make us, in fact coming along I felt searched in this myself, how many times do we actually use our voices in this way? When was the last time we spoke to anyone in the church, in the congregation, or our workplace in praise of God and used our voice in that way? I will speak the method of praise.

We think of Jehoshaphat, when they had been in a position which they said, neither know we what to do, but our eyes are upon them. When the Lord answered them through the prophet, and Jehoshaphat believed, but he used his voice to encourage the people to believe His prophet, to believe the Lord, and then they went forth, they went forth in praise, and the Lord worked wonderfully for them. But we have another method that is set forth here, and that is declaring. Verse 6, and I will declare thy greatness."

In a lot of ways I believe this points to the ministry of the Word. Through the ministry it is the Lord Jesus Christ speaking to the people through the minister's voice. In Old Testament times It's told in Hebrews 1 that God spoke in diverse manners and various times by the prophets to the people, but in these last days, He has spoken unto us by His Son. And preaching is a declaration, authoritative declaration of the Word of God. It is aimed at the heart, of the people of God.

It's not a lecture, it's not a Bible study, it is preaching. Something that we've been aware of recently. Today people do not know what preaching is. Solemnly there's many churches and if you look on their websites Instead of saying sermons, they would say a talk. And that is the main preaching that they're referring to, not just for the children. They reduced it to a talk. Preaching is not a talk.

Preaching is speaking on God's behalf. The command is preach the word. Authoritatively preaching the Word of God. And so, when we read here the one method of praise, it is declaring, declaring what God hath done, declaring to His honour and glory and to His praise in the Church of God, the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

There has been another thing that has crept in, perhaps to the churches, I hope not our churches, but the idea that the praise part of the worship is just the singing. They'll have a worship director or a praise director and what is meant that they are directing a band or the singing or the praise which takes up most of the servants. It is not thought that the preaching of the word is actually praise. But in this psalm here, it's a psalm of praise.

And the method of praise is declaring, and I, if I be lifted up above the earth, will draw all men unto me. And it is to the honor and glory of God to have His wonderful works declared in the house of God. But then we have a pouring forth. In verse seven, they shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness. And in the original it has got the idea that it is a pouring forth of the Word, a pouring forth of praise.

Now it's one thing to speak, another thing to declare, but when one's heart is full of what the Lord has done, full to overflowing, and then it's poured forth, It is uttered by porcines and we've only got to think of after the Red Sea or when the Lord gave Hannah Samuel and she doesn't mention Samuel but all that she's doing is pouring forth her praise to God for hearing her prayer for all that He has done. And I hope we'll be able to discern in our lives as well that there are these different times, times that we might speak to the praise of God, and others, with our hearts so full, we just pour it out to those that will hear. And other times we sit and we hear it authoritatively declared from our pulpits.

The fourth way is through singing. 7 and shall sing of thy righteousness." The Lord has chosen to use man's voice in singing to show forth His praise. Because the Old Testament, these Psalms, they were to be sung and they were sung. Some churches still exclusively use the Psalms in singing, and maybe we are at fault that we don't sing them enough.

But, I feel that if we are to obey the Scriptures, then it must be in New Testament language. We read that there's a great, great difference between the light the Old Testament saints had and the light that we have. The mystery that was hid from ages and now is revealed unto us by the Gospel. Sometimes it's hard for us to to really divest ourselves of all that is revealed in the New Testament, and to just view what the Old Testament saints had, through types and shadows, to believe, to see, like Abraham did, Christ's day, and to rejoice at it.

But it is undeniable, a greater light, tremendous greater light, And to then just restrict our praise to the language of the Psalms is not to obey, I believe as we have in Ephesians 5, speaking to yourselves in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.

Or perhaps what is more clear is Colossians 3, and verse 16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. There are three parts to that verse. The first part commands that the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom. The last part says that we are to sing with grace in our hearts to the Lord. The first part also is emphasising teaching. Teaching what? the darkness of the Old Testament or the light of the New Testament. Without doubt the light of the New Testament.

But those of our dear brethren that would say for exclusive psalmody would say, but psalms and hymns and spiritual songs all refer to psalms. They refer to the divisions of the psalms. the types of psalms that they are. If Paul had wanted to say, to sing psalms, he would have said to, like he does in other places, admonishing one another in psalms. But he doesn't.

He uses the division in the psalms and then says, singing with grace in your hearts. all the different aspects of the seeing is to be used in praise, instruction and teaching. And yes, it's rightly many times in the scriptures we have three words that mean very similar, like seeing, transgression and iniquity. Or we have other ways which something is described and they mean different things but very similar.

And so that is what's set forth here. That is not by the very context and very purpose of using singing to teach and to praise confined to Old Testament language of the Psalms. I agree then we have that very clear, not only scriptural warrant, but scriptural command to praise God using singing. So that means the method of praise specifically as set forth here, speaking and declaring and uttering abundantly or pouring forth, and singing. May the Lord help us to do all four, and when we gather for worship, our hearts and minds are on the words that we actually sing, and that we're singing them in praise unto God.

Unto Luke then, secondly, add praise that will not cease with the passage of time. In verse four, prior to our text, we have one generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. So that means that what was done in one generation is still praiseworthy in the next generation. Some will say today, well, we're in the 21st century and what happened 2,000 years ago is not relevant to us today. Well, the scriptures are very clear, you've only got to go back to Psalm 100, and verse 5, this is also a psalm of praise, but not a daily psalm of praise. For the Lord is good, his mercy is everlasting, and his truth endureth to all generations. and His praise to all generations. It's good for us to remember this, that just because something was done in the generation before us, and that we've been told it by our parents or grandparents, doesn't mean to say that that is not a subject of our prayers.

Because we have here, one generation shall praise thy works to another. So it's not just telling the works to another. Again, it's a challenge to us that grandparents, parents, do we tell our children and grandchildren what the Lord has done in our hearts and in our lives, or do we praise the works of the Lord to them?

We could tell those things done without giving praise and honour and glory to God. But those things that are done in another's lifetime are still a cause of praise to God for another generation. And how many books that we've read are the testimony of the Lord's people, and instead of having read the accounts of the Lord's dealings, just marvelling at it, that we've actually praised the Lord for it. for the record of his goodness. And of course this especially applies to what the Lord himself has done for us at Calvary, and we'll look at those works in a moment. But the important thing in this second point is that this does not cease with the passage of time. And so we have in verse seven, they shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness.

Now the Lord said regarding the Holy Spirit that he was the Spirit of truth, that he also is the remembrancer. He shall bring to your remembrance all things whatsoever I have said unto you. we might have a blessing and truly be thankful for it. I can think of a blessing from Psalm 146 and verse 5 in South Charge Chapel. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God. My dear one and I were blessed under that verse there in that chapel.

I don't think we'll ever forget it whenever we read that psalm. But it's good for us to have those times as brought back to remembrance and it is turned into praise just because it was given some over 20 years ago. It doesn't lose its praiseworthiness. And so, in a way, it's a double blessing when things are brought by the Spirit back to our remembrance. And while we think on that, when the Lord gave promise that He would not destroy the world anymore by a flood, He said, I do set my bow in the cloud and I will look upon it. I will remember my covenant. to not cause the earth to be destroyed again by flood. But we can see it.

It's a help to us, it's a reminder to us, the Lord remembers. The Lord has given that help to remembrance. The Lord's Supper. Ye do show forth the Lord's death till he come. This do in remembrance of me. and the Lord has given it to the Church of God so that they do not forget the great cause of praise and thanksgiving to God for what Christ has done for the Church of God. The memory is an important way that praise is to be continued. I know that Hems speaks of it, Let not our blessings lie forgotten in unthankfulness and without praises die.

That sometimes it may be we only go back a few months or a year and we don't go back right through our lives and even to those things that have happened in our parents' or grandparents' lives that have profoundly affected our lives. Without the Lord appearing then, we would not be where we are now, probably wouldn't even have been born.

Then there's another reason why praise will not cease with the passage of time. And that is because we have the holy, inspired, infallible Word of God. word of God that sets forth all of God's mighty acts and his works. And our Lord says that heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. And because of that, then the praise shall not cease with the passage of time.

And dear saints, two thousand years ago, or when the Scriptures were completed, read the same words, had the same book, from the Old Testament, of course, going back another 1,500 years. The Word of God endures forever. And those things that are set forth, that bring forth Christ, that endures forever. as well.

We think of course in heaven, in heaven there shall be that prize and honor and glory to God eternally for all that he has done. It is not something that the Lord does once and then that prize only lasts for a certain period of time. But the words of the Lord God is eternal. He is eternal. We are made with a soul that is eternal as well. And so that which the Lord does, it furnishes eternal praise.

Under this second point, there's another thought that I would introduce here. And sometimes I've found it very special to think of it. It's a good thing as the Lord's people to have practice in the morning, our own personal private devotions, and then a family devotion to a husband and wife, and then in the evening the same. But when we think of the world rotating round, and the time zones as they change from nation to nation, The Lord is getting unceasing praise all the time from the earth because my time's devotion time is different than the next country and the next time zone and the next time zone and all the time. The Lord is getting that praise and glory morning and at night throughout the earth. No, it's not a praise that will cease with passage of time, but is actually ordered by the Lord and by His creation to be a never ceasing, a constant Praise, a constant speaking and pouring forth and singing and declaring to the praise and glory of God.

I want to look then in the third place of the reason for praise. There are six reasons that are given in these verses. In one sense I've grouped them into three groups of two. The first in verse five, which if we ascribe this unto our Lord Jesus Christ, the two reasons that are given are God's glorious majesty and God's wondrous works. And when we think of these two things, this is, and it begins before the world was.

Our Lord is part of the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. speaks of the glory that he had with his father before the world was. We read of them saying, let us make man in our own image. But the glory of God in himself as God, as a self-existent eternal being, a spirit, that has no dimensions, that fills eternity, that is in every place. We cannot comprehend or understand such greatness and such glory, but our Lord does, and our Lord has declared the glory of the Father, the glory of the Trinity, and the creation forever, man was formed, we have it set forth before us in the Word of God, and that wondrous work of creating all that we see now and all that is formed, this best, you might say, can be declared by our Lord Jesus Christ. But even further than that, David says, although my house be not so with God, yet hath he made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure. This is all my salvation and all my desire, though I make it not to grow. A covenant made between the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, with man being the subject of it. before time, chosen in Christ before the world began.

Thine they were, thou gavest them they. When we think of praise that is timeless, we might say, where did that begin? When did those praiseworthy acts of God begin? They begun before time, begun in eternity, begun where only our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ can truly declare them to the honour and glory of God. Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, chosen in Christ.

These two things then in verse 5, reason for praise. glorious majesty of God, a triune God, Jehovah, for through this Son it's set forth as Lord. And then his wondrous works. The second one is his acts and His greatness. Verse 6, Men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts, and I will declare thy greatness. Again, if this is our Lord speaking, declaring the greatness of God. But this is now something that men are beholding and men are able to speak of by personal experience.

There's something to really be noted throughout this psalm, and that is how many times the word ALL is set forth. In verse 9, the Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works. Verse 10, all thy works shall praise thee. Verse 13, thy kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.

Verse 14, there's two in that verse. The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down. Verse 15, the eyes of all wait upon thee. Thou givest them their meat in due season. Verse 17, the Lord is righteous in all His works, or all His ways, and holy in all His works. And verse 18, the Lord is known to all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth. And here's a word that is used again and again. is worthy of the praise of the Lord, that he does to all, he opens his hand, he satisfies the desire of every living thing. And the blessings are so great, so universal, so wonderful.

But in these two points here, his terrible acts, his greatness, We think of the act of the flood in saving eight souls but destroying the world with water. Then we think of the Lord bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt. Those great signs and great wonders that the Lord wrought in doing that.

Egypt reduced almost to ruin. And then at the Red Sea, dividing the Red Sea, bringing his people safely through, and yet destroying the Egyptian army. These are terrible acts that the Lord has done in the history of the world. When they came to Jericho, dividing or stopping up Jordan, and then flattening the walls of that city, and then the overthrow of Canaan. We think of what the Lord did before that with Sodom, destroying Sodom and Gomorrah.

We think of what he did in Hezekiah's day, to go forth and to kill 185,000 of Sennacherib, the king of Assyria's army, who was in camp round about Judah. These are terrible acts of the Lord, judgments of the Lord, the opening of the earth, swallowing the camp of Dathan and Abiram.

Those things our cause as set forth in the psalm here of praise to God. Our hymn says, My soul stands trembling while she sings the honours of her God. And His greatness is joined here. How great the Lord is, how we would tremble before Him when we see His majesty and might and power put forth in these ways.

But then we have the last two, and that is in verse seven. They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness and shall sing of thy righteousness. If in verse 5 we're looking at the wondrous works of creation and of that done before the world, when we come to verse 7, does it not point to that greater work of redemption and what the Lord accomplished in coming to this world, in living a perfect, spotless, life, and then offering himself as a sacrifice, spotless, unto God. I lay down my life for the sheep, no man taketh my life from me. I lay it down in myself, I have power to lay it down, I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

And why was it done? for the goodness of the Lord, for His people, to save them, to deliver them. Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. He lived a perfect life. He became surety for His people, and He worked a righteousness to give to them. His goodness in calling His people by grace, separating them unto Himself, making them know themselves and know Him.

The miracle of grace that child after child of God is led to record, tell to a church, sing of in praise, in thanksgiving. These are those things that we shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness and shall sing of thy righteousness." What a picture in the Church of God, at the Lord's table, amongst our families, amongst our children, when we think of the Gospel and we think of the fruit of that and the blessing of that in our lives. His righteousness. without which we could never stand before God, without which we are black, as the spouse in Song of Solomon said, I am black but comely. That of which the apostle says that he so desired his own people to be saved that he saw them ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own. and he declares to them the righteousness of God and that which is imputed to the people of God. In all of these six points there is of course what we might look at as an overlap because what a terrible act for the Almighty God to pour out his wrath upon his beloved son that he should be crucified, delivered by the determinate counsel and full knowledge of God. And so in all of what the Lord has done, that is recorded in the word of God, it is done before our lives, but we receive the benefit of it, and that which we receive in our lives, in grace, and in providence, and in his works, in our lives.

These are all causes for praise to God. When Abraham's servant came to seek a wife for Isaac, and his prayer was answered of the world, and he rehearses to Laban and Bethuel what had happened, they said, the thing proceedeth from the Lord. It was a cause of praise, a cause of thanksgiving. And may there be many times in our lives that we identify these times not just to speak of, not just to utter or to sing about, but to be very mindful that what we're saying, it is in praise to God. It is to God's glory. It is not just saying what has happened, but exalting the Lord in it.

Solemnly there's many in this world that can see creation, they can see the wonders of creation, but they do not want to see that it was God's hand that did it. Or if they want, if they see that, they say, God doesn't want us to be obedient to Him or submissive to Him. There's a difference there than even explaining and seeing a beauty in something and then to say this is the handiwork of Almighty God and I praise Him because of His creation. I don't praise the creation, I don't praise that which has even happened to me, but the God who caused it to happen and the God in whose hand, it's not just my literal life here, but my eternal and my eternal home, then may it be that we are able to, to God's praise, roar, speak and sing and utter and declare what the Lord has done. May the Lord add His blessing. Amen.

To God's Praise

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