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[0:00] The following message was given at a Sunday celebration at Trinity Grace Church in Athens.! For more information about Trinity Grace, please visit us at TrinityGraceAthens.com.

[0:11] ! There is not an emotion of which anyone can be conscious that is not here represented as in a mirror.

[0:36] It's in the Psalms. Most of the Psalms were written to give us words to take to God in the midst of our struggles and challenges and trials.

[0:48] And it's wonderful. As I've gotten older, I've started to memorize Psalms. And I have found them to be such a source of comfort and strength.

[0:59] Because they give you words to speak to God in times of sorrow and pain and sadness. And fear and anguish and discouragement and doubt and loneliness and weariness.

[1:12] All that's in there. All that's in the Psalms. And in those situations, the Psalms give us words to work through our struggles. And battles and defeats and wondering where God is.

[1:26] You know, a lot of times we think that to be a Christian means you have to have it together. You know, we look around this morning and we think, everybody just seems to have it together here. I'm not a pastor here, but I can assure you that people don't have it together here.

[1:41] We're a bunch of losers. Who have been redeemed by a great Savior. And we just keep pointing to Him. Because He's so glorious.

[1:51] And He's so good. But Psalm 145 is different from what I just described. There aren't any anguished cries for help. There's no humble confession of sin.

[2:04] No enemies in sight. David has no distraught questions that he's asking God. Where are you? Why have you forgotten me? It actually doesn't refer to his situation at all.

[2:18] Of the 73 Psalms attributed to David in the Psalter, this is the very last one. Just kind of stuck on there at the end. And surprisingly, this is the first and only one of the 150 Psalms that is titled, A Song of Praise.

[2:37] In spite of the fact that the very word Psalter is taken from the word that we translate as praise. So you're waiting 144 Psalms to get to one that is actually called A Song of Praise.

[2:54] It's kind of odd, don't you think? I thought that was kind of odd. It's also the last of the eight acrostic Psalms in the Bible, or alphabetical Psalms, where each line, with slight variations, begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[3:12] And among other things, acrostic Psalms help with memorization, at least in the Hebrew, and communicated that the psalmist has thought about this subject from A to Z.

[3:24] Right? He's spent a lot of time in this, and this is like everything there is to say about this. And what a great topic he chooses for this acrostic psalm.

[3:37] It's great praise for a great God. That's what we're going to hear about this morning. But what does this kind of psalm say when you find out that your friend of 48 years just died yesterday?

[3:58] Because Larry Malman, who we're referring to a number of times, I served as a pastor with him in the late 80s. And my son has served as a pastor with him for the last seven years.

[4:09] Is Psalm 145 something that we can talk about now? How does Psalm 145 comfort us in the midst of our struggles?

[4:20] Maybe you came in here this morning, and you're really burdened down. You're just struggling. It was a struggle to get here this morning. Now, I know a lot of you are doing really well because UT won yesterday.

[4:33] But setting that aside, life is still hard. That doesn't change your life. It's a nice thought, but it doesn't change your life.

[4:45] Is this a psalm we can join in to sing even when life is going really bad? I would say absolutely.

[4:58] Absolutely. And it helps to look at where Psalm 145 falls in the book of Psalms. The Psalms begin with a picture of two men.

[5:10] In Psalm 1, we read about the righteous man who delights in the authority of God's Word and the wicked man who will perish. That's Psalm 1. Psalm 2, we see the promise of a victorious king who will dash his enemies in pieces.

[5:26] So it sets us up for this conflict. And the next 142 psalms talk about God's rule and care, but it's while the psalmists are experiencing opposition and loss and discouragement and unfulfilled hopes and enemies and devastation and sin.

[5:47] So you see all these things going on, even though there's this promise. But from Psalm 145 out until Psalm 150, we find this overflow of praise.

[6:05] It's a rushing torrent of celebration and confidence and joy, and it's untainted by regret or fear or shame. There's none of it, nothing in sight.

[6:16] No what-ifs or why-nots. Just praise. Psalm 145 is a song of someone who sees God as He really is.

[6:29] The veil's been taken away. And what comes out is a view that is staggering and joy-filled and ever-expanding.

[6:43] Something we want to get in on. It's a perspective we're desperately need of as we journey through a world of sin and sorrow and sickness, isn't it?

[6:57] And I believe we're going to learn from this psalm this truth. Those who know God's greatness and grace will always have reasons to praise Him and want others to join in.

[7:09] Those who know God's greatness and grace will always have reason to praise Him and want others to join in. This psalm has been one of my favorites for a while, so much so that I wrote a song based on a couple years ago, and I've always been moved by the picture of praise it presents to us.

[7:29] So we are going to read it. I'm going to read it for us, and then we're going to talk about it. This is God's Word. Isn't it wonderful? We can gather together and hear God Himself speak to us.

[7:44] Psalm 145, a song of praise of David. I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever.

[7:56] Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable.

[8:11] One generation shall commend your works to another and shall declare your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of your majesty and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.

[8:25] They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

[8:41] The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.

[8:52] The Lord is good to all, and His mercy is over all that He has made. All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord, and all your saints shall bless you.

[9:06] They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

[9:18] Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. And then some manuscripts contain the Lord is faithful in all His words and kind in all His works.

[9:35] The Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you.

[9:49] We're just singing about that. And you give them their food in due season. You open your hand. You satisfy the desire of every living thing.

[10:04] The Lord is righteous in all His ways. And kind in all His works. The Lord is near to all who call on Him.

[10:14] To all who call on Him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear Him. He also hears their cry and saves them.

[10:26] The Lord preserves all who love Him. But all the wicked He will destroy.

[10:39] My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord. And let all flesh bless His holy name forever and ever.

[10:55] Oh! We can just stop right there. But we're not going to. We're going to look at the psalm in three sections. Great praise. Great God.

[11:07] Great grace. And as we go through the psalm, you notice there's some overlap in the themes in each section. These aren't hard divisions. God won't be confined to our neat and tidy boxes.

[11:18] It's almost as if David couldn't keep himself confined to a linear progression of thought. He just spills over into the other sections. But we're going to look at it in those three sections. First, great praise.

[11:30] Verses 1 through 7. Verse 3 says, Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. And His greatness is unsearchable.

[11:42] And in these first seven verses, we see a model of what that great praise looks like. We see some of the characteristics of what great praise is. First, it's personal.

[11:54] Great praise is personal. David is the king. Right? He deserves honor. He deserves honor. But he recognizes that God is an infinitely greater king. So he's going to praise him.

[12:05] I will extol you, my God and king. Not the peoples. Not you need to. I'm going to extol you, my God and king.

[12:16] He's not going to delegate the praise of God to others. He's not going to sit by and watch others be a spectator as others praise God. He says, I'm going to get in this. I want to be right in the middle of it. He's not content to let others praise God for him.

[12:31] Not that we've ever had that thought. I will exalt. I will bless. I will meditate. I will praise. I will sing.

[12:42] I, I, I. This is one of those times when talking about I is a really good thing. I'm going to make this mine. The greatness of God's praise isn't determined merely by the size of a crowd, but by the hearts of the individuals making up that praise.

[12:59] And David intends to be one of them. He's not going to let the people around him do it for him. Great praise is passionate. Sorry if I get a little excited about this.

[13:13] This is not a formal, dignified, external response offered by a disinterested church member on Sunday. You get that impression? And some of us have grown up in churches that are that, where the, the right way to act on a Sunday morning is just don't draw attention to yourself.

[13:31] Just be quiet. Just be dignified. Don't make too much noise. That's not what's happening here. Great praise isn't half-hearted.

[13:44] It's not lazy. It's not quiet. Verse 7. They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

[13:56] I've been to one UT game. It was enough. I'm just kidding. The sound of that stadium, though, was unbelievable.

[14:10] I think someone said it was 108 decibels, which is painful. That's a painful volume. This is, this is louder. Should be louder. They pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness.

[14:23] They sing aloud of your righteousness. It's passionate. Great praise is passionate. It's also passed on. One generation shall commend your works to another and shall declare your mighty acts.

[14:35] I love hearing the sound of kids here. It's just so great. What is it? What is it? What is it? Why is it so great? One generation is passing on God's praise to the next generation.

[14:46] David is describing a godly desire to pass on what is true and praiseworthy about God to our children and our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren.

[14:58] And I hope to live by God's grace to see my great-grandchildren. We're expecting number 22, grandchild, so I think my chances are good. You will see that. David's desire has made its way down through thousands of years to reach to us today.

[15:13] They just kept passing it on, passing it on, passing it on. And it's important that we realize they weren't—he's not talking about commending our practices or our preferences, the way we do things.

[15:26] Just make sure you do it just like we do. Just do everything that we're doing. We're not commending our traditions as time-proven as they may be.

[15:39] We are passing on praise for God's works. Praise for God's character. We're talking about Him. And we're not just repeating what others have said, although that can be a very good thing.

[15:56] It's adding our own testimonies of God's works and mighty acts in our generation. Because those who know God's greatness and grace will always have specific reasons to praise Him and want others to join Him.

[16:12] Speaking of specific, that's another mark of great praise. It's specific. Great praise isn't saying things like, Hallelujah! Glory to God! Amen!

[16:24] Hallelujah! Glory to God! Amen! It's a little more specific than that. We're not praising a God of our imagination or a God that's been voted on by the majority.

[16:35] We are praising the God. The true God. So in verse 5, We read, On the glorious splendor of your majesty and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.

[16:53] Literally, on the word of your wonders, I will meditate. The words that talk about how wonderful you are, that's what's going to fill my mind.

[17:05] Great praise isn't rooted in emotional displays and expressions. It's rooted in words of truth, specific qualities, specific actions. So David just piles up these descriptions of this great God.

[17:20] And it can be a little overwhelming as we're first reading it. Works, mighty acts, the glorious splendor, majesty, wondrous works, awesome deeds, greatness, abundant goodness, righteousness.

[17:33] All that's right there. It's like, wow. Wow. Derek Kidner, who has written a fantastic two-volume commentary on the Psalms.

[17:45] It's not very long, but it's amazing. He says that these descriptions aren't like many of the other names David uses for God that relate more to personal experiences.

[17:56] Whereas like rock or fortress or deliverer or salvation. It's because David's point isn't to tell us how he feels about God right now.

[18:11] He's pointing to the reality and the immensity of God. And he's going to get into even more specific references later on in the Psalm. But right now, he just wants us to get this, that God's greatness is unsearchable.

[18:25] It's one of the reasons that the words we sing in our songs are so important. Because it matters who we're singing to. We don't want to leave people with vague impressions of God.

[18:37] It's why in Sovereign Grace Music, I lead Sovereign Grace Music. It's why we're committed to producing songs and resources that are theologically driven, Christ-exalting, and oftentimes have a lot of words.

[18:51] We don't want to be vague about the God we're worshiping. We're not worshiping our worship. We're worshiping God. Here's another mark of great praise. There's so many things we can say about it.

[19:03] Great praise is eternal. In the first two verses, David assures us that he's going to bless and praise God's name forever and ever. He says it twice. Bless your name forever and ever.

[19:15] Verse 2, praise your name forever and ever. God's praise can't be contained to a meeting. It can't be contained to a calendar year. It can't be contained to a century.

[19:27] It can't be contained to our lives. How often do we struggle to pay attention when we're praising God? This is so embarrassing.

[19:43] How often are we singing or, you know, someone's talking, like right now, and our minds are just going, Like, well, God, you're not that interesting.

[20:01] David would challenge us. He would say, look, this is going to go on forever. So you better start coming up with things to say now. Have you ever found it difficult to come up with things to say about the Lord?

[20:17] Like when you're praying, God, you're so good. You're so good. Lord, you're glorious. Lord, you're majestic. Lord, you're just so good and good. You're a good God. You're, you know, we just kind of stumble over our words.

[20:31] How often do we fail to be moved by what God has done? Do we hear of what he's done? Who he is? None of that affects God's greatness.

[20:45] He continues to be great and deserving of great praise. Because his greatness is unsearchable. And we will never comprehend, even in a million years, how great his praise should be.

[21:00] We'll never be able to express it fully or adequately. But that doesn't mean that we don't try. Because, point two, we are praising a great God.

[21:13] We haven't really talked about God yet. We've talked about the praise of God. Now David starts to lead us more into, okay, this is what I mean by his greatness is unsearchable. He's a great God.

[21:24] Verses 8 to 13. He gives us at least three reasons why God is so great. First, his name. First, his name. He's great because of his name. Verse 8.

[21:35] The Lord is gracious and merciful. Slow to anger and abounding and steadfast love. These are the very words that God proclaimed to Moses in Exodus 34.

[21:50] When God, remember that story in Exodus 33, God says, would you show me your glory? And God says, I will cause my goodness to pass before your eyes and I will proclaim my name.

[22:04] The Lord. The readers of this psalm would have remembered God making a covenant with his people at Mount Sinai to be their God.

[22:14] And for them to be his people, they would have been reminded that God didn't destroy him after they had worshipped a golden calf. Which he could have. But he didn't.

[22:25] He is gracious and merciful. He's slow to anger. He's abounding in steadfast love. This is the great name we are called to bless and praise.

[22:41] Second, he's a great God because he's good. Verse 9. The Lord is good to all. And his mercy is over all that he has made.

[22:54] David is saying God is great because his goodness is seen everywhere. All over the world, God provides vistas and views that astound and delight and propel us to amazement and wonder.

[23:07] Rivers and oceans team with creatures that are not only beautiful to look at but delicious to eat. Fruits, vegetables, grains grow in abundance.

[23:18] Medicines that heal or discover. Technology makes many aspects of our lives easier. We enjoy colors and tastes and smells and textures because God gave us bodies.

[23:28] Do you know what it is to do? Do you know what the world would be like if there was no dark chocolate, for instance? For me, that would be a shame.

[23:41] Because I like dark chocolate so much. Or whatever it is that you enjoy the taste and texture and smell of. God did that. For everybody. He didn't say, I'm just going to do it for the people who like know I'm here.

[23:57] Oh no. He did it for everybody. He's good to all. Most of all, you know how he's good? You know why he's good? He doesn't destroy us every time we sin.

[24:07] The Lord is good to all. His mercy is over all that he has made. So in verse 10, all God's works give thanks to him and all his saints bless him for his goodness.

[24:24] All God's works give thanks to him, even if they're unwilling or unaware, simply by fulfilling their purpose. Simply by doing what they were created to do. Lightning thunders, trees bear fruit, flowers bloom.

[24:38] Creatures, great and small, they act in accordance with the way God designed them. So his works thank him through that. But his saints bless him.

[24:52] To bless God goes a step further. Not just thanking him. Thanking is important. But it means to think of him with love in our hearts. To go beyond gratefulness to an intentional desire to see his name glorified and praised.

[25:09] The saints are committed to thanking and blessing God. That's because we have more to bless God for than even creation. We are the pinnacle of all he has made, Psalm 8 verse 6 says.

[25:22] We're the apple of his eye. We're his treasured possession. We've been redeemed. His saints. We've been redeemed through the blood of the Lamb. And are no longer objects of his wrath, but objects of his great affection.

[25:38] And so we are the ones who can most accurately and passionately speak of this great God. Those who know God's greatness and grace will always have reasons to praise him and want others to join in.

[25:56] And that leads to the third thing that makes God so great, his reign. So his name, his goodness, his reign. Verse 11. They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

[26:16] The glory of God's kingdom doesn't increase inherently because we're talking about it. But it is more widely acknowledged than known.

[26:29] And why do we persist in talking about God's kingdom, God's rule, God's authority? Because verse 13, your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

[26:43] God's authority is absolute and eternal. He rules over everything forever. He doesn't have term limits. He's not preparing for the next election.

[26:55] God doesn't get elected. In every nation of the world, rulers change either by election, appointment, or death. Throughout history, we have these rulers that go by the names of Cyrus the Great, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Constantine the Great, Charlemagne the Great, Catherine the Great.

[27:17] They're not so great. Not as great as God. Other people are sitting on their thrones where they don't even exist. No one else will ever sit on God's throne.

[27:29] God has always ruled and he will always rule. So it is always right to say with joy, God reigns. He's in authority.

[27:40] He's sovereign. He's the king. It's one of the first things I said to Devin when he told me that Larry had died yesterday. God's sovereign. He knows what he's doing.

[27:51] And we aren't meant to say it with resignation, but with confidence and trust. So after spending time, a few minutes here, magnifying and praising God for his rule, for his dominion, for his kingship, for his authority, one might expect David to move into talking more about his power, his might.

[28:17] But he doesn't do that. To show us how great God really is, and to fill out what he's only given us the headlines for, he helps us see that this great God who deserves great praise, he deserves great praise because of his great grace.

[28:39] Verses 14 through 21. He kind of hinted at it in verses 8 and 9 that this is coming, but now he goes full bore ahead. This great God is a God of great grace.

[28:53] And there are two kinds of grace that God shows. One is a common grace, a universal grace. Verse 14. The Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down.

[29:08] He begins to speak of God's grace revealed in his providence to all. You know, some would say that God set the world in motion and they just kind of stood back and kind of let things roll as they might.

[29:22] The Bible doesn't say that. The Bible says that God is still involved. He holds up all who are falling, raises up all who are bowed down. He's not unaware and uninvolved in the lives of those he created.

[29:36] You're falling, you're stumbling, finding hard the strength to go on. He will uphold you. You're bowed down under the weight of responsibilities and pressures and sins.

[29:47] He will raise you up. That's what he does. That's what God does. When someone has a turnaround in their life, God did that. Regardless of who they're saying gets the credit, God did that.

[29:59] Verse 15. The eyes of all look to you. You know how many times they use the word all? David uses the word all. All, all. He's making a point. The eyes of all look to you. You give them their food in due season.

[30:12] You open your hand. You satisfy the desire of every living thing. These two verses tell us that everything in creation is absolutely dependent on God for their existence.

[30:26] It doesn't matter if we acknowledge our need or not. If God didn't open his hand, we would have nothing. We would be nothing.

[30:38] We wouldn't be here. He's lavish in his generosity. This is the God we worship. He is open-handed in his blessings. He's free in his giving.

[30:51] As we were raising our kids, we were often overwhelmed by the amount of time, energy, effort, sweat, wisdom, money, and thought it takes to provide for our children.

[31:03] And the more you have, the more that increases. And it seems to increase exponentially, not added. I remember we would go out for meals. And as the number of kids grew, the number of things they could order off the menu decreased.

[31:21] I realized at some point, just water is good. Everybody waters. Water is great. This was a low point in my parenting when I think Jordan was about 10. He's my oldest son.

[31:32] And we were going out with Julie's dad and his wife. And I said to the family, just kind of off to the side, guys, you can order off the menu whatever you want. Because they were going to pay for it.

[31:46] But Jordan said to me, he looked at me right in the eye and said, you're not paying for this, are you? I was tempted to lie and say, yes, I am.

[32:00] But I wasn't. So it really didn't matter. Governments spend countless hours, organize countless committees, make countless laws to make sure that their people are provided for.

[32:13] Often with little success. God opens his hand and satisfies the desires of every living thing.

[32:27] He doesn't have any lack. He's not checking his bank account. That's who he is. He gives us everything we need to truly, everything we truly need to live a fulfilled life in this world.

[32:42] He's a great God of great grace. But in the final verses, David points us to what brings satisfaction above all else. And that is God's grace shown to his people.

[32:54] So we talk about common or universal grace. This is covenant grace. He ends the psalm with it. Verse 17, the Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works.

[33:06] The word for kindness here could be translated as loyal or unchanging. He doesn't go back on his word. God doesn't break a promise.

[33:16] He doesn't contradict his righteousness. So there seems to be a little tension here. Is God kind to all? Is he good to all? Yes.

[33:27] But I came across this quote by J.I. Packer, which really defines that. He says, God is good to all in some ways and good to some in all ways.

[33:52] The some he refers to are those who know his steadfast love. Those who know his grace. God is always good to them in all ways. And these are the promises he makes to his own.

[34:04] Verse 18, the Lord is near. Notice how he starts separating out, you know, who the Lord is good to. The Lord is near, who? To all who call on him. To all who call on him in truth.

[34:19] Those who know him as he really is. That qualifier is meant to exclude those who call out to God when they're in trouble and they just go on to live however they want. That's not what he's talking about here.

[34:30] God doesn't promise to be near to those who see him as a cosmic servant. Someone they can call on to do their bidding whenever they need him. No.

[34:41] Those who call, he's near to those who call on him in truth. Those who believe his promises, seek to understand and know his word and seek to trust and follow him. And on this side of the cross and resurrection, those who call on him in truth are those who call on him who is the truth, Jesus Christ.

[35:01] That's who God's near to. They come to him through the one who has become sin for them, suffered the wrath of God in their places, and entered the holy of holies, that they might come boldly in full assurance of faith.

[35:15] You are near to me. In other words, those with whom God has made a covenant. The saints. That's who he's near to. Verse 19. He fulfills the desire of those who fear him.

[35:30] He also hears their cry and saves them. Back in verse 16, remember, we're told the Lord satisfies the desire of every living thing.

[35:43] But this is something different. This verse is talking about God fulfilling the desire of those who fear him. Because those who fear the Lord have different desires than those who don't.

[36:00] They desire God's glory. They desire to walk in God's ways. They desire the salvation of the lost. They desire to see Jesus' name exalted.

[36:13] So God hears their cry. And he saves them. And he often saves them from their situation. But ultimately, he saves them from their sins and his wrath.

[36:26] He always saves them. Verse 20. The Lord preserves. There's another definer, limiter. All who love him.

[36:36] That's who the Lord preserves. All who love him. But all the wicked, he will destroy. The Lord watches over all who love him. It's like Psalm 121 says.

[36:47] The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. He doesn't do that for everyone. You know, our culture tries to get in on this by saying, hey, it's all good.

[36:59] It's not all good. If you don't love the Lord, it's not all good. While God is good to all, there are different outcomes for those who know the fullness of God's grace and those who don't.

[37:12] Those who don't call on God in truth, those who don't fear God, those who don't love him, show that they have never known God's love for them.

[37:25] They've never renounced their sin. They've never acknowledged it. Their inadequacy, their rebellion, their insufficiency, their pride, their need for the grace of God. And there's an outcome for those who refuse the grace of God.

[37:42] It's the end of verse 20. All the wicked he will destroy. The first negative note in the psalm. But it's an important note. Because there's a consequence for not fearing him and loving him and trusting him.

[38:02] But that's an expression of God's love too. Because God protects those he loves from those who would harm them. God ensures that the kingdom of heaven will be made up exclusively of those who love the king.

[38:19] Which brings us to one final question. Are we sure that we won't be among the wicked that God destroys?

[38:31] Are you sure that you won't be among the wicked that God destroys? How faithful have we been in giving this great God the great praise that he deserves?

[38:44] How puny. How puny. How unpassionate. How inconsistent. How inadequate has our praise been?

[38:58] How well have we loved him? Surely not well enough. But Jesus did.

[39:10] Jesus did for us. Jesus praised his father perfectly. Jesus trusted his father without wavering. Not for a moment.

[39:21] Jesus depended on his father completely. And after doing that he gave up his body to Roman soldiers. So that he might hang on a cross and receive the wrath of God in our place.

[39:33] Jesus. But he wasn't destroyed. It's the good news. It's an empty tomb. Death couldn't hold him down. He rose from the dead and is now reigning and interceding for us.

[39:48] Until the day he returns for the bride he redeemed. That we might spend eternity together. Praising the one whose greatness is unsearchable. That's what he did for us. And it is in Christ.

[39:59] Always. Only. And forever. In Christ. That we are able to join in the heavenly choir. With Jesus as our choir director. That's what we're doing every Sunday. Leading us in passionate and eternal praise.

[40:13] To his father. And our father. Oh. Because ultimately. King David wasn't the one who fulfilled these words. He expressed them.

[40:23] But he didn't fulfill them. He didn't bless God's name forever. He wasn't the one who originated that. And it's not you and me. It's the king. King Jesus.

[40:36] Our savior. Our redeemer. And our lord. And that's why David confidently ends the psalm with this declaration. My mouth will speak the praise of the lord.

[40:47] And let all flesh bless his holy name. Forever. And ever. Forever. What makes God's greatness unsearchable? His grace.

[40:58] And those whose hearts have been transformed by that grace. Have been transformed by a true picture of who God is. And how he relates to us. And we know. That knowing the one true God.

[41:10] Is infinitely better than being a good moral person. A person who's nice. A person who's tolerant. A person who's a good citizen. A person who's interested in spiritual things.

[41:23] They see that such a God. As we've been hearing about from this psalm. Is worthy not only of attendance at a Sunday meeting.

[41:36] Although we're grateful you're here. But a wholehearted. Full time. Outpouring of gratefulness. Love. And obedience. And so they commit themselves to giving great praise to a great God.

[41:51] Regardless of what life brings them. Regardless of the hand they're dealt. They say. My mouth will speak the praise of the lord. And they don't stop there.

[42:02] They want to see creation joining in. To this great God. Giving praise to this great God of grace. Who treated us not as our sins deserve. But according to his steadfast love.

[42:13] And let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever. And here's the good news. More good news. There's just so much good news this morning. That prayer is going to be answered.

[42:26] And we see it played out in the book of Revelation. That prayer is going to be answered. Revelation 5. Verses 13 and 14.

[42:36] I heard every creature in heaven and on earth. And under the earth. And in the sea. And all that is in them saying. To him who sits on the throne and to the lamb.

[42:48] Be blessing and honor and glory. And might. Forever. And ever. The prayer that ends this psalm.

[43:02] Will indeed be fulfilled. Because Jesus. Jesus has ensured. Through his redeeming work. That God will have a people. Who bless his holy name. Forever and ever.

[43:13] That's why we exist. And if you are here this morning. And you don't know that's why you exist. I plead with you. To talk to someone. Here.

[43:23] Who will help you understand. How you can be among those. Who bless his name forever and ever. Because there are only two options. Those who bless his name forever and ever.

[43:34] And those who experience his wrath forever and ever. And God sent Jesus Christ. To experience that wrath. For us. A wrath we deserve.

[43:44] A punishment we are fully worthy of. But God in his mercy. Send Jesus. To take that for us. Because. Because. As those who have experienced the life transforming grace of God.

[43:56] Through the life and death and residence of Jesus Christ. We want to be among those. Whose voices are the loudest. And whose lives are the holiness. Holiest.

[44:07] All to the praise. Of his glorious grace. Great praise. For a great God. Of great grace.

[44:20] That has come to us. In Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Father we thank you. That you have shown us.

[44:31] Through your word. This morning. And always you're telling us this. That you. You are so great. Your greatness is unsearchable. For a great grace.

[44:45] Continue to open our eyes. By your spirit. To see that you are greater than our trials. Greater than our joys. Greater than our challenges.

[44:55] Greater than our successes. You are great above all. And your great grace. Means that we. Can give you great praise.

[45:08] And it's all because of Jesus. Who is the glorious one. Who has taken our place. Paid for our sins. And now enable us.

[45:19] To bless your name. For whenever. Ever and ever. May we do that. Not only here. As we gather. But each day of our lives. And we thank you. In Jesus name.

[45:30] Amen. Amen. You've been listening to a message. At a Sunday celebration. At Trinity Grace Church. In Athens. For more information. About Trinity Grace. Please visit us.

[45:40]  At TrinityGraceAthens.com At Trinity Grace Church. Bum Bum Bum