Psalm 145. Psalm 145. I've been titling the message
from this psalm. I'm calling it the crowning jewel
of praise. God bless David with a special,
special word of adoration and praise unto our great God. David's psalm of praise. You
see that? David's psalm of praise. It's
his crowning jewel his crowning jewel of praise now we're going
to see in the remaining Psalms that This is the theme praising
the Lord in these last Psalms every Psalm begins with praising
the Lord It's a good thing. Look at Psalm 147 verse 1 Praise
ye the Lord for it is good to sing praises unto our God. It is pleasant to And praise
is comely. That is, praise is right. That's
what we ought to do. Praising the Lord, which in essence
is what? It's worship, isn't it? It's
worship. Praising the Lord is worship.
Believers cannot live without praying, can we? We pray all
the time, and I think I think even we pray when we're not conscious
in our heart or mind that we are praying. Believers cannot
live without praying. We've seen that many times in
this study of the Psalms. David repeatedly cries unto the
Lord, hear my prayer, hear my prayer, oh Lord, hear my prayer.
But believers cannot live without honoring, exalting, and praising
the Lord, can we? A believer can't. We're quick,
ready, willing to give Him all the honor, all the glory, for
He is worthy of it. We cannot live without honoring
and praising the Lord for all that He is, holy, sovereign,
almighty, All that He has done, for He has accomplished salvation
for us. And all that He has freely given
unto us by His sovereign grace and mercy through Christ Jesus.
God who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all,
how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? How
can we I mean, it's a spontaneous act, an adoration of the heart,
to pray unto Him, to call upon the Lord, to honor Him, to worship
Him, and to praise Him. It's not a mechanical, rigid
thing. It's life. It's the breath of
life. It's the evidence of life, praising
the Lord. And that's what we see in this
Psalm. Let's consider verse 1 and 2
and try to use a little bit of wisdom trying to get through
these 21 verses. I will extol thee. Now, right
away we know when he says, I will, it's because we have been made
willing in the day of his power. I will exalt thee, extol thee,
exalt thee, my God. He's my king, my God. I will
bless thy name. That name, which is above every
name, forever and ever, every day, every day, yesterday, today,
forever, forever and ever, every day, will I, I will, will I bless
thee and I'll praise thy name forever and ever. Now, this is
not this The thing we see going on in religious circles where
folks wave the hand and they belong to the PTL club and all
that, you know, praise the Lord club and you remember that nonsense
that went back years ago, the PTL club. This is not that showy
outward religious facade, veneer. This is real worship. The Father seeketh such to worship
Him in spirit and in truth. David as God's anointed king
adores and exalts God as his king every day forever and ever. You see it's our occupation now
and it will be forever and ever. Worthy is a lamb that was slain
to receive all honor, glory, blessing both now and forever.
Notice it says here Every day, every day, not just Sunday, but
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Every day will
I bless thee, praise thee, honor thee. Whatever the character
of the day, whatever the circumstance or condition of the day, every
believer is determined in his heart to honor worship, celebrate,
magnify our God and our Savior. He is the absolute sovereign
of the universe. We're going to see in the study
of the book of Hebrews, He is called the King of Peace, He's
a King of Righteousness, and He is King in Salvation. Now hold your place there and
turn back to Psalm You remember Psalm 47? Psalm 47. God, I like this scripture here.
Psalm 47, verse 6 and 7. Sing praises to God. Psalm 47. Sing praises. Sing praises unto
our King. Sing praises. He's King of Kings.
For God is the King of all the earth. Sing ye praises with understanding. understanding who He is. Sing
praises unto our God. He's King in salvation. He's King of all the earth. He
will have mercy on whom He will have mercy. I'll praise His name. His name declares who He is.
I'll declare His character, His person as He's revealed Himself
in the Word of God. His name who is holy, sovereign,
almighty, You know, only a believer can do this. If you don't know
Him, know His name, you can't praise Him if you don't know
Him. Only those who know the Lord can praise Him, honor Him. His name declares who He is. Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Sid Canoe,
the Lord our Righteousness, the Lord will provide. God has highly
exalted Him and given him a name which is above every name the
Lord Jesus Christ we honor him in his character as the Lord
Jesus Christ Look at verse 3 great Psalm 145 verse 3 great is the
Lord Talked about that in our Bible study so great salvation
Great is our God. How great is He? Beyond our imagination. Great is the Lord and greatly
to be praised and of His greatness there is no searching it out. It's infinite. It's infinite. Our worship of Him should be
great Our praise of Him should be great. Our glory in Him should
be great, because He is our great God, our great Savior. The greatness of our God and
Savior is unsearchable. Remember that scripture in Romans
11.33, O the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge
of God, past binding out. Greatness of our God indeed is
unsearchable. How about his love? Infinite,
isn't it? Infinite love. He's loved us
with everlasting love. It's unsearchable. His mercy,
unsearchable. His salvation. His redemption. Oh, the depths of the wisdom,
the riches of God. Everything about our God is great.
His great love. His so great salvation. Why the
Apostle Paul said he was determined to preach the unsearchable riches
of the Lord Jesus Christ. His person, his work, his redemption,
his salvation, everything about him is great. Beyond finding
out, beyond telling out. Look at verse 4. One generation
shall praise thy works to another. and shall declare thy mighty
act." What great mercy! God has taught sinners the gospel,
who have declared the gospel to their children, and their
children have declared the gospel to their children, and to their
children, three or four or five generations. The gospel had been
preserved by God Almighty. The message of the Lord had been
preserved. His Word had been preserved,
written down, given unto us from one generation to another. The
Lord had been pleased to raise up a gospel witness to preach
the gospel and declare it to others. We declare that salvation
is His work, His mighty act. We declare that salvation is
of the Lord. We shall praise the works of
His hand and shall declare His mighty acts. Remember this scripture,
turn back to Psalm 92 verse 4. Psalm 92 verse 4. For thou, Lord,
hast made me glad through thy work. I will triumph in the work
of thy hand. Salvation is a work that God
does for us. It's not what we do for Him.
It is what He has done for us. He finished the work for us. And that's what we declare. We
declare the Lord Jesus Christ actually accomplished salvation
for us. I will speak of the glorious
honor of thy majesty, verse 5, and of thy wondrous, wondrous
works. This is what preaching the gospel
is all about. Declaring what He has done for
us. That's what it's all about. Not saying what we've done for
God. You remember this scripture,
turn back to Psalm 66. Psalm 66. I remember the first time someone
read this publicly and I was following along reading with them, and I've never
forgotten this scripture. Psalm 66, verse 16. Preaching is declaring what God
has done for us, not what He has done for us. Come and hear
all you that fear God, and I will declare what He hath done for
my soul. God who hath begun a good work
in you, he will complete it. He will finish it. Back to the text. One generation
shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty
acts. Salvation is an act of God. Salvation is a decree of
God. Salvation is not an act of the
creature. Not an act of the sinner. It's
salvation is a decree of God. I will speak of the glorious.
I will speak, if I'm gonna speak, I'm gonna speak about His glory,
His majesty, His wondrous, wondrous works. His name's wonderful,
Counselor of the Mighty God. Men, verse 6, notice that word
has been supplied, M-E-N, in verse 6. Men shall speak of the
might of thy terrible acts. And David said, I'll declare
thy greatness. Now most think that word men,
and that's the way that's written in the original, untaught men,
unbelieving men, shall speak of the terrible acts of God.
For example, even the insurance industry calls tornadoes and
earthquakes the act of God. Untaught and unbelievers shall
speak of the terrible acts of God. However, the believer rejoices
in the greatness of our God who acts. Known unto God are all his works
from the beginning. Don't you rejoice in our great
God who is almighty, who shakes the earth? When we had that earthquake
a few a few months ago. What kind of power and greatness
does it take to shake the earth? God will have his way in the
whirlwind. You see, men talk about the terrible
acts of God. Believers rejoice in the greatness
of our God who acts in sovereign power and sovereign will. We rejoice in God. who works all things after the
counsel of His own will, known unto God are all His acts, all
His doings from the beginning. Whatsoever the Lord please, that's
what He does in heaven, earth, sea, and all deep places. Now,
look at verse 7. David said, I will declare Thy
greatness. I'll declare the greatness of
Thy decrees, His acts, will, His purpose. They shall abundantly
utter the memory, the memory of Thy great goodness. Now here
he's talking again about believers. Believers shall abundantly praise
Him and they shall abundantly utter the memory of Thy great
goodness and sing. Notice what they sing about.
They sing of righteousness but not ours, His. You see that? They talk about God's great goodness. We don't talk about, would you
dare talk about your great goodness? I don't have any. There is none
good, no not one. Thy great goodness. Underscore
that. Thy great goodness. God is good. We're gonna see that in a minute.
They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness
and sing of thy righteousness." Believers do delight in remembering
the great goodness of our God. He had delivered us from the
pit of sin. from the ruin of sin, from the
curse of the law, the great mercy of our Lord revealed unto us
in salvation, oh, it's great, it's abundant, it's of the Lord's
mercy that we're not consumed. Believers delight in that mercy,
His goodness, and we delight in that righteousness that's
provided for us. Believers are no longer going
about to establish a righteousness of their own, are they? We rejoice in that righteousness
that's freely given unto us in Christ Jesus. You remember back
in Psalm 71? Turn over there. Back in Psalm
71 we saw this. And in Psalm 32, Blessed is the
man whom the Lord imputeth righteousness without works. We talk of His
great goodness. And we talk of His righteousness
that He has wrought out for us. Psalm 71. Verse 15, My mouth
shall show forth thy righteousness, thy salvation all the day, for
I know not the numbers thereof. I'll go in the strength of the
Lord, and I'll make mention of thy righteousness, even thine
only. We only talk about Him, His goodness,
His great goodness. What do we say about our righteousness?
Filthy rags. What do we say about our goodness?
None good, no, not one. You see why we talk about His
great goodness and His righteousness? Because we don't have any of
our own do we to talk about. And it's a sad thing that in
religious circles today that they're all taken up about the
great goodness of the sinner And the righteousness that they
must produce to be accepted or at least a righteousness they
must produce to maintain their salvation. Look at verse 8. The Lord is gracious. The Lord
is gracious. The Lord is gracious. He's full
of grace. Oh, His grace is sovereign because
He is the Lord. He will have mercy on whom He
will have mercy. But the Lord is gracious, and
He's full. The Lord is full of compassion. Of His fullness have we all received
grace for grace. The Lord is gracious, and the
Lord is full. He's full of love. God is love. And not only that, He's slow
to anger. You know what that means? He's long-suffering. And
He is of great mercy. Great mercy. What a description.
The Lord is gracious in all of His ways. The Lord is full of
love. He is long-suffering and of great
mercy. The Lord is long-suffering to
us-ward, not willing that any should perish His elect, but
all should come to repentance. The Lord our God is most holy
and yet He is merciful. He is a just God and Savior. The Lord is gracious. He's full
of compassion. He's slow to anger. And He is
of great mercy. Look at verse 9. All this goodness and all this
grace and all this love and all this mercy, where is it revealed? in the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn
over here to Psalm 86 for just a minute. Psalm 86, Psalm 86
verse 5, For thou, Lord, art good, ready to
forgive, plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.
Down to verse 15, Psalm 86, But thou, O Lord, art a God full
of compassion, gracious, long-suffering, Plenteous in mercy and in truth
This message has been echoed all through the Psalms The Lord
is gracious. The Lord is full of compassion
look at verse 9 The Lord is good The Lord is good He's great in
goodness the Lord is good to all Now we know specifically
he is good to all of his covenant children But you know the Lord
sends rain on the just and the unjust. The Lord is good, especially
good to His people, savingly good to His people, and His tender
mercies, tender mercies, not just mercies, but tender mercies,
are over all His works. The Lord is good. His tender
mercies are displayed over all of His works of creation, providence,
but especially in salvation. The rule of God's sovereign mercy
is extended over all things. His dominion is from sea to sea,
from everlasting to everlasting. Thou art God. The Lord is good at His tender
mercies. or over all his doing, over all
his work, his work of creation, his work of providence, and most
especially over his work of salvation. Look at verse 10. Verse 10 down
through verse 13, we'll consider these together. All thy works,
now notice, all thy works shall praise thee. We are his workmanship
created in Christ Jesus. If any man be in Christ, he is
a new creation. All thy works, they praise thee. O Lord, and all thy saints, thy
works and thy saints, we're saints by his work, they shall bless
thee. They shall speak of the glory
of thy kingdom. They shall speak of the glory
of thy power, to make known to the sons of men his mighty doing. and the glorious majesty of his
kingdom." The kingdom, thy kingdom, is an everlasting kingdom. Thy
dominion. He keeps talking about everything
that belongs to him, doesn't he? Thy righteousness, thy goodness,
thy kingdom, thy works, thy doings. Thy dominion endure throughout
all generations. Thy kingdom, thy doing. Not only
do all the works of the Lord praise Him, but certainly all
the saints do. They shall bless, honor, extol,
worship, magnify the Lord. Who are these saints? Who are
these saints? Every sinner saved by the grace
of God is a saint. Is a saint. We are sanctified
in Christ Jesus. We are set apart in that covenant
of grace. And by the one offering He has
perfected forever them that are sanctified. You know the sanctified,
who they like to talk about? The saints, the sanctified, those
who are sanctified in Christ, you know who they like to talk
about? They shall speak of the glory of His kingdom. We're going
to see in John chapter 12, when Isaiah saw Him high and lifted
up, he spake about Him. When Isaiah saw His glory, he
spake about the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who were sanctified, I
guess you can really tell who's sanctified and who's not. Those
who are sanctified, they glory in the Lord. They shall speak
to the glory of thy kingdom, and they talk of thy power. They
talk about the glory of Christ. The glory of His kingdom. Now
this is not an earthly kingdom. Our Lord said that in John chapter
15 or 16 somewhere along in there. He said, My kingdom is not of
this world or my servants would fight. His kingdom is not an
earthly kingdom. His kingdom is a spiritual kingdom. The glory of His gospel kingdom. That's what we're talking about.
bought with His blood, chosen by His grace, sanctified
in Christ Jesus. They shall speak of the glory
of Thy kingdom, the kingdom of His grace, kingdom of the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ, bought with His blood. And they talk
of Thy power, Thy power. thy righteousness, thy goodness,
thy long-suffering." You see, the gospel's all about Him. It's
all about Him. His kingdom. His power. The Father hath given Him power
over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many
as the Father hath given to Him. They talk of His power, the glory
of the gospel power, the power of the gospel. And Paul said,
I'm not ashamed of it. I'm not ashamed, but the gospel
of Christ is the power of God and the salvation to everyone
that believes it. Our gospel came not into you
in word only, but in power, the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance. You see, the saints talk about
the saint to bless him. They talk about him, the glory
of his kingdom. And they talk about the glory
of his power. And they do so to make known, to make known
to the sons of men. It pleased God through the preaching
of the gospel to call out His people, to make known to the
sons of men His mighty doings and the glorious majesty of His
kingdom. That's why God has sent us forth
to preach the gospel that others The Lord be pleased to use the
preaching of the gospel to call out his covenant people. The
kingdoms of men, look at verse 13, thy kingdom, thy kingdom,
talking about the gospel kingdom, the gospel church, is an everlasting
kingdom. And the dominion, here it is
again, thy kingdom and thy dominion. endure throughout all generations. The kingdoms of men, the kingdoms
of men come and go, don't they? They come and go like a shadow
on the wall. They're here for a while and
they're gone. Not so the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is
an everlasting kingdom. The kingdom of God endures forever
and ever and ever. The gospel kingdom of Christ
shall never end. An everlasting kingdom. Everlasting kingdom. Look right
across the page, Psalm 146 verse 10. The Lord shall reign forever
and ever. Even thy God, O Zion, unto all
generations. Praise ye the Lord. Gospel kingdom
of the Lord Jesus Christ is without beginning and without end without
break without bound and it will never end The Lord says King
you reckon how long? Forever and ever and he never
will vacate his Throne thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and
his dominion He has dominion from sea to sea His dominion
is over all, endures all, and it's an everlasting dominion.
Now look at verse 14. The Lord upholdeth all that fall. The Lord does. He raises up those that be bowed
down. I tell you what this is right
here. His people who were fallen in sin, those people who were
fallen in Adam, dead in sin, the Lord raises them up, those
who are fallen. The Lord raises the beggar from
the dunghill. When we were yet without strength,
Christ died for the ungodly. Salvation. You know who it's
for? Those who were fallen. Salvation's
for sinners. The Lord raises up those that
be bowed down. Now, how are they bowed down? He's nigh them of a broken heart,
save as such as be of a contrite spirit. He raises up those who
have been bowed down by His grace. And he raises them up. He raises
them up by his grace. Turn back a few pages. Psalm
138. You remember this one? Verse 6, though the Lord be high,
yet he hath respect unto the lowly. Psalm 138, verse 6. But the proud he knows afar off. The Lord does raise up his fallen
people, and he upholds them. Look at verse 15 back in our
text. The eyes of all, all of His covenant people, all those
who have been raised up, they all look. That word wait,
the marginal reference is look. They have eyes of faith that
look unto the Lord. And the Lord gives them their
meat in due time. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not want. He shall feed me." Those who
are fallen, who are raised from the grave of sin, have eyes of
faith to look to Christ, don't they? We look to the Lord to
supply our every need, and you know what? He does abundantly.
Abundantly. He is Jehovah Jireh. He does
supply all our needs according to His riches in glory through
Christ Jesus. We wait upon Him. You remember
Psalm 27? where it talks about David said
wait upon the Lord and again I say wait upon the Lord his
blessings are worth waiting for aren't they the eyes of those
who have been lifted from a cesspool of sin they look to him and they
wait upon them and God does bless them in due time in his time
and when he does verse 16 when he opens his hand now how much
comes from the open hand of God. God's not closed-fisted. Stingy. He deals with us with an open
hand. With an open hand. When He opens
His hand, and He gives His meat in due season, and when He opens
His hand, He satisfies the desire of everyone made alive, the living
thing. He's made us alive. you had the
quickened who were dead he's with his open hand you see he
creates a desire and he satisfies that desire he gives us the thirst
for the water of life and then he quenches that thirst with
himself the rivers of living water verse 17 the Lord is the
Lord is now righteous We sing, the Lord is gracious, the Lord
is good, His kingdom is everlasting, the Lord is righteous in all
of His ways, and He's holy. He's holy in all His work. The Lord is righteous. Now this,
this is the glorious mystery and the glory of the Gospel. How God Almighty does not compromise
his holy character, does not set aside his righteousness to
save the sinner. He doesn't shove his holiness
aside to save the sinner, does he? He honors his holiness, magnifies
his righteousness through the Lord Jesus Christ in his obedience
and in his death that God might be both a just God and Savior
in Christ Jesus. He saves us in such a way that
magnifies His holiness, that magnifies His righteousness.
He doesn't ignore it. I don't like to use language
like this, but I don't know how else to say it. God cannot act
contrary to His character. Not that I'm trying to tell God
what to do or not to do, but as He's revealed Himself in the
Word of God, He is holy. He cannot act contrary to His
holiness. For example, the scripture says
that it's impossible for God to lie. Why is it impossible? He can't act contrary to His
holy character. And when He saves sinners, He
does so in such a way that He magnifies His own character,
His holiness and His goodness. You remember Psalm 85 verse 10,
Righteousness and peace hath kissed each other, mercy and
truth, have met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other
in Christ. That's the beauty of the gospel. How the Lord is righteous and
holy and yet saves sinners and magnifies, in doing so, magnifies
His holiness, magnifies His righteousness, His goodness, His mercy, His
grace. Verse 18, the Lord is nigh unto all them
that call upon Him You see, those who call upon
Him, He's nigh them of a broken heart. Those who have a broken
heart, you know what they do? Like the publican in the temple,
Lord, have mercy on me, the sinner. To all that call upon Him, now
watch this, verse 18. The Lord is nigh unto them that
call upon Him. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved to all them that call upon him
underscore these two words in truth in truth in Christ Jesus who is the truth
there's no approaching God apart from the Lord Jesus Christ verse
19 he will fulfill He will fulfill the desire of them that fear
Him." I noticed this scripture as I was reading ahead, Psalm
147, turn over there a minute. The Lord will fulfill the desire
of them that fear Him. What is the desire of them that
fear Him? I tell you, it's to honor Him,
it's to praise Him, it's to magnify Him. Psalm 147, look at verse
11. The Lord taketh pleasure in those
that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy. He delighteth not in the strength
of a horse, he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man, the power
of a creature, but he does take pleasure in them that fear him.
He does take pleasure in those that hope in his mercy. Christ
in you, the hope of glory. He will fulfill the desire of
them that fear Him. He will also hear their cry and
will save them." Now, three things he mentions there. Three things
he mentions there. He will fulfill our desire. What is our desire as a believer?
To honor Him. To worship Him. To exalt Him. To praise Him with reverential
fear. He will hear their cry, cry of
mercy, and He will save them. He will save them. He will save
them. All that the Father giveth to
me shall come to me, and those that come to me I will in no
way cast out. Christ is all our desire, and
that only so by His grace. Verse 20, the Lord preserveth
all them that love Him, kept by the power of God. We love
Him only because He first loved us. The Lord preserveth. Boy,
you know, reading over this psalm, I kind of get the idea, don't
you? Reading over this psalm that
salvation is all His doing, I kind of get the idea that salvation
is of the Lord, don't you? This is the whole theme of the
book from Genesis to the revelation that salvation, the Lord preserveth. The Lord raises up those that
be bowed down. The Lord is nigh unto them that
call upon him. The Lord preserveth all them
that love him. We love him only because he first
loved us. The scripture says this, if any
man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be damned. the Lord preserveth
all them that love him but all the wicked now when most people read all
the wicked we think of the we have the natural tendency
to think of the the most vile wicked outwardly the murderer
the molester the the outward and those things are wicked don't
get me wrong But there's nothing more wicked than to approach
God apart from the appointed mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's wicked. That's the extreme
height of wickedness. To go about to establish a righteousness
of your own and disregard the Lord Jesus Christ. All the wicked,
God will destroy them. But my mouth shall speak the praise of the
Lord." He keeps talking about what the believer is going to
speak. We speak of the glory of his kingdom. We talk of his
power. We speak of the might of his terrible acts. We declare
his greatness. You see it's all about the great
goodness of our God. The greatness of our God. My
mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord. Let all flesh. Wouldn't this be a Wouldn't this
be something? My mouth is going to speak the
praise of the Lord. Now that's what the saints are going to
talk about Him. But wouldn't it be something
if all flesh did bless His holy name? One day they will. Every knee
will bow. Every tongue will confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord. Let all flesh bless His holy
name. His holy name forever and ever. Let's close by reading this one
verse, Psalm 115. My mouth shall speak the praise
of the Lord. Let all flesh bless His name.
If we speak of our God, let it be true. And let us always praise
His holy name. Psalm 115, you remember this?
Verse 1, not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name. Give glory for thy mercy and
for thy truth's sake. We glory in Him. Believers are
determined to honor Him in their walk and in their talk, to magnify
the Lord, to praise Him, to exalt Him, to extol Him, the greatness
of his majesty, the greatness of his character.