We are doing a double song today.
Psalm 1 was this morning, and I think the rest of you were there for that.
But let me say a little bit about it again.
I mentioned it's the gateway to the psalm.
So if we're going to look at any other psalm, then we might as well look back at that.
The first psalm orients us to all the psalms.
Puts us on one of two paths in life, with God and without God.
And it says the source of life are the instructions of God, the law of the Lord.
What we receive as the scriptures from God.
Precepts.
One form of that instruction, then, is the psalms.
And so it sort of has to win our appetite for the rest of the psalms.
Prepare us for reading and singing the psalms themselves.
They were originally sung.
It is Israel's hymn book.
It has been called correctly.
As we meditate on them, like Psalm 145, we can expect to grow in Christian maturity.
And to benefit those around us.
Right?
So the tree, the person, the blessed person, like this tree, bears fruit.
That benefits the community may provide shade, comfort, stability.
This is why the letters of the Colossians again can say, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.
Teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom.
Singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.
With thankfulness in your hearts to God.
It seems strange.
How am I teaching and admonishing other people and then I break into song and help them out?
But the idea is really that we sing songs properly together.
And it is a way of ministering to one another.
We might know someone across the room who's going through a hard time.
And we think, wow, those words and that was in life.
Must really be something special today.
And so on.
And we rejoice with those who rejoice.
And we mourn with those who mourn.
This is the fundamental perspective on living life together.
We have these two ways.
We feed on God's instruction.
And with God, we proceed to life.
Life everlasting.
It's perspective.
As we see in Psalm 145 tonight,
a lot of what the Psalms wish to do is put our life in perspective.
Put our life in perspective.
One group of people that I think has a good perspective on life,
at least in a certain way, are soldiers.
I actually have a lot of admiration for military veterans.
I'm not just talking about or necessarily talking about the fighting part.
But I'm talking about everyday life.
How a soldier lives his or her life.
Because once they've left the military and reentered civilian life,
they have a particular perspective on the world.
They've dealt with extreme situations.
By that I mean they've signed up for a profession
that requires you to live, one, without a lot of life's comforts,
where you're treated harshly,
where discipline is among probably the top three virtues.
And many of these people have seen combat or life and death scenarios.
A mission, for example, may be important than some of the very life or survival.
And there's a lot of tough love in the military.
It's thanks to all of these things that soldiers and veterans
have a particular perspective on life.
A heavy workload.
Angry colleagues.
Take these as a few examples.
An anxious partner.
Difficult students.
These are just not so serious or difficult for soldiers,
in my experience at least.
They're abnormally calm, unfazed by difficulties.
I don't know if that's your experience,
but this is the perspective that I'm referring to.
The threshold for what bothers military people
is much higher than the average person's.
I think this is by and large because of what they've dealt with
and experienced and how they've been trained.
Most of the psalms, and certainly Psalm 145,
are trying to put your life in perspective.
And the psalms do so by orienting us towards the greatest thing in life.
Psalm 1 declares it a blessed thing to delight in the law of the Lord
and meditate it on it day and night.
Psalm 4 expresses confidence in the fact that God will answer those who call to him.
Psalm 8 puts humankind in the perspective of God's majesty.
Psalm 13 proclaims trust in God despite and in the midst of his apparent absence.
You get the idea that psalms are life in perspective.
Particularly in God's perspective.
What Psalm 145 wants us to see and to believe and to feel,
the psalms are all about feeling, orienting our desires towards godly emotion,
is this, great is the Lord.
That's the psalm, great is the Lord.
Let's have a look at the first few verses.
I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever.
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.
The psalmist is crazy about God.
He not only believes that the Lord is great,
he is impressed by God,
awed by God,
commends him daily,
thinks about him daily,
values God endlessly,
tells others about him,
promotes God,
and passes God on to his children.
If you read the whole of the psalm,
that's what the psalmist is doing.
Unrestrained admiration and full satisfaction.
The idea of God as king,
the first verse says,
I will extol you, my God and King.
This is a familiar idea,
but the exact word,
likening God to a king,
I think only occurs twice in the psalms.
Now God, of course,
governs and rules and acts like a king,
but to call him a king
doesn't happen that often.
The other place is Psalm 98,
with trumpets and the sound of the horn
that make a joyful noise
before the king, the Lord.
The idea here is that God is great,
and that he does great things,
and that he's deserving of great praise,
and a king would or should be.
I'm going to say something
that I think I remember correctly.
I read a book,
but I haven't been able to find it.
And so I think this is what the author was saying.
The part of this book was about
what it meant to bow before a king,
a symbolization of bowing,
a special falling on your face before a king,
which would have been done
all over the ancient world,
but it is still done in some places today.
Egyptian kings, Assyrian kings,
Greek kings, biblical kings,
any senior figure really
would have people bow down before them.
This shows respect and deference, obviously.
But this author thought that it could symbolize
something else.
Death.
He said the person would bow and fall before
the king,
who would then tell them to stand,
or rise.
And that was showing that the king
granted life.
that the king had been ruled
over life itself.
And that it was symbolically
dying before this person
and coming up to life.
Even if, and the author is very awful,
even if it's not entirely correct,
that the idea could even be
put forward and passed around
as a real possibility,
so it's just how much it meant to be king.
I will praise you,
I will extol you,
my lord and king.
The very life of those
in the king's presence
was sustained by the king.
And that's just an earthly king
he was talking about.
Surely King David's greatness
was searchable,
quantifiable,
understandable.
But the greatness of the lord
who made the heavens and the earth
who formed many complex
and wonderful things
in creation.
His greatness is
unsurginal,
as the psalmist puts it.
The psalm leans into this.
It's a recognition of greatness.
One way this happens,
to extol God as king like that,
to recognize His greatness,
is by imbibing God.
There's really no other way
to put it,
kind of feasting on the lord.
If we have a look at verse 5,
on the glorious splendor
of your majesty
and on your wondrous works,
I will meditate.
This is that word again
from this morning,
to meditate.
The psalmist is in that verse
and the surrounding notes.
He's taken in God's works.
He's taken in the splendor
of God's majesty.
And he's taken in the lord's kindness
and goodness.
And as much as he takes
all of this in,
the whole point really
is that he gives it back out.
It's input and output.
Things that come in about God,
we must give out.
Or almost have to give out.
Teenage boys,
particularly,
love new phrases.
Multiply month,
week by week,
year by year.
The teenage population
is regularly processing
catchphrases and slang.
I was recently walking
with a young guy
who had recently
taken his theology GCSE exams.
How was it?
I asked.
Sir,
it was large.
It was large,
he said.
I said,
the theology exam
was large.
I took it to mean
that it was daunting,
that it was exhilarating.
Perhaps it was impressive.
I'm still not quite sure,
but I get the sense
that slang for things
excellent and superior
is really never in me.
Now,
the boy,
this boy had done well
on the exam
and proceeded to tell me
his score.
And I might say
that he was then flexing.
He was showing off.
He didn't know
how to celebrate
by eating pizza,
but we wouldn't eat pizza,
we would smash it.
We didn't smash it.
We're going to smash
that pizza tonight.
It's probably enough of that,
but I should say
that the adults
actually enjoy new phrases too.
Last week,
I was in Los Angeles
visiting a family
where we were actually
and heard some new phrases
like chill vibes,
which was familiar,
but the slang
that's really going now
is talking about energy.
That's positive energy
or even college guy energy
or Polish energy.
I'm not sure
if I'll
reuse that.
Right,
we might not
be into these
sorts of things,
but we do repeat jokes,
we repeat mannerisms,
we repeat these things,
but they come in
and they come out.
Double to the law of life.
We take air in
and it has to come out.
We drink coffee
and find his way
and we speak
about those we love
to future generations
and the deceased,
we tell stories about them.
We even bring it back
to life
by expressing our memories.
Many of the things
in life that we take in,
we also give out.
You give the idea.
The question that
the psalmist has for us
is whether or not
we speak of God.
And if we don't,
then it seems that
we haven't really
taken God in.
As we saw in Psalm 1,
to meditate means
to turn over
in one's thoughts,
to ponder,
using the memory
and considering
all kinds of material
or experiences.
It requires focus
and it expects
an outcome.
The first five says,
on your wondrous works,
I will meditate.
And I'll read Psalm 143
again as I did this morning.
I remember the days of old.
I meditate
on all that you have done.
I ponder
the work of your hands.
I stretch out
my hands to you.
My soul thirsts
for you like a partial lamb.
I remember,
I meditate,
I ponder
what you've done.
God,
because I need you
and I expect you
to satisfy my soul.
Meditating is like
punching one's thirst.
It's taking God in.
But again,
Psalm 145 is clear
that by taking God in,
we also are
and need to be
giving God out.
We can think about this
as breathing.
There are several
different passages
that deal with
taking God in
and giving God out.
God breathes
into Adam the breath of life
and Adam rules
on God's behalf.
Jesus says,
I am the bread of life.
And unless you eat
the flesh of a son of man
and drink his blood,
you have no life in you.
Paul says,
Be kind to one another,
tender hearted,
forgiving one another,
as God and Christ
forgave you.
We take God in
and give God out.
We find this all over
the New Testament
and it becomes imperative
for Christians.
It's not just that we
give out what we take in,
but there are certain things
we should take in
and therefore should
give out.
Let's talk a little bit
about forgiveness.
Some of you will know
Matthew 18.
Peter is talking to Jesus.
How many times
should I forgive my brother?
He's just received
Jesus' teaching
about forgiveness,
which really puts
the expectation
through the roof.
So Peter says,
How many times
do I need to do that?
Seven times?
The total number
is definitely better
than the three
that the Jews
were naming.
About three times,
seven times,
Jesus.
Jesus says,
77 times.
He then tells
a parable about
a king and two servants.
The king forgives
or hardens
the debt
of one of his servants.
Now this servant
owed
10,000 talents.
And we think
that a talent
was about
20 years wages
for a labor.
20 years wages.
So we're talking
200,000 years worth
of accumulated debt.
It's an unpayable amount.
It's meant to be
unrealistic.
And so the servant
begs the king
to let him try
to pay it off
nonetheless.
And the king says,
You know what?
The debt
is forgiven.
The debt is forgiven.
And what does
that servant do?
Well, he goes
and finds
one of his own
workers.
And this man
owes him
100 denarii.
Now a denarii
is about
a day's wage.
Right?
So he's got
a few months
of back bills.
Right?
Completely,
I'd say,
fairly realistic
for some amount
of time.
And he could say,
Let me work this off.
Okay?
And what does
the senior servant do?
He doesn't just deny it.
He chokes him.
He chokes the man
and demands
repayment.
But this servant,
too,
says,
Have patience.
He begs for forgiveness
or pardon.
Well, not even that.
He begs for a chance
to pay him back.
I'll pay.
But the servant's
thrown into jail.
There's no forgiveness.
There's no pardon.
Now if you think
that that's harsh
and unreasonable
way to treat this
man
who
owes him
100 denarii,
then you'd be right.
You'd be exactly right.
Even if
that was some sort of
within the law,
it was the custom
and so on.
What really bothers us
about that story
is that it's mean
and cruel
and ungrateful
in light of the fact
that that servant
has been forgiven
and has been forgiven
so much.
And the king
in the story
thinks
that it's also
not okay.
And he also thinks
that the senior servant
hasn't understood
forgiveness
correctly,
that he hasn't
taken it in,
that he hasn't
fully
taken it on board,
taken it apart,
and he's right.
Forgiveness may be
the greatest gift
of God,
but it shouldn't
be taken lightly.
We should take care
to absorb the blessings
and the greatness
of God
and have those
things God
in our life.
Be kind to one another,
tenderhearted,
forgiving one another
as God and Christ
forgave you.
Christ is the pattern
for our lives.
And his forgiveness
is one of the
principal parts.
The psalmist spends
a great deal of time
giving God out,
extolling God,
praising him
for his wondrous works,
naming some of his
mercies,
and so on.
He's talking about God,
he's telling us
who God is,
and so on.
But you can already
tell that something
else underlies
these words.
He's not just
saying them.
He's talking based
on something.
I think something
is an encounter.
It's an encounter
with God.
If we have a look
at verse 8,
the Lord is gracious
and merciful,
slow to anger
and abounding
in steadfast love.
The Lord is good
to all,
and his mercy
is over all
that he has made.
Note some of these words,
his mercy is over
all that he has made.
Verse 11,
the saint shall speak
of the glory
of your kingdom
and tell of your
power
to make known
to the children
of men
your mighty deeds
and the glorious
splendor
of your kingdom.
I think the psalms
and those who
are saying this song,
and even many of us
here will have
a reference point
for these sorts
of things.
The mercy,
the glory,
the power,
the splendor,
the mighty deeds
of God.
Even,
or maybe most of all,
God's kingdom.
If you read on
through the final
third of the psalm,
the last few verses,
the list only gets
longer.
God's generosity,
his responses,
his presence,
his protection.
You satisfy the desire
of every living thing.
The Lord is near
to all who call on him,
to all who call on him
in truth.
He fulfills the desire
of those who fear him.
He also hears them cry
and saves them.
The Lord preserves
all who love him.
These words are about
an encounter with God
because words,
even words in the Bible,
are not God themselves.
Now,
I know around here
and I think we rightly
have a close identification
with the Bible,
with God's words
and with God himself.
They can't really be
separated because
they came from God.
But we can study the Bible
and not know God.
And so there's some
difference going on.
And what the Bible
should be doing
is drawing us nearer
to God,
the person,
God the Lord.
They point us to God.
They tell us about God.
They draw us nearer
and closer to him.
They even make demands
with God.
But we must encounter
the person of God.
It refers to the opposite
as the dead letter.
The dead letter.
Let me finish with a few
of the primary encounters
from the Bible.
In the Old Testament,
the main encounter
for the people of God
was the Exodus.
We cite the Ten Commandments
here right in the middle.
And they begin with this.
I am the Lord your God
who brought you out
of the land of Egypt.
It's almost like a tagline.
That's how God
names himself.
Dozens of times
this phrase occurs.
Who took you out
of the land of Egypt?
The Lord who brought you up
out of Egypt.
And so on.
It's cited in all sorts
of contexts.
In preparation for battle,
I'm the Lord who took you
out of the land of Egypt.
Now therefore,
go and fight.
It's cited as the meaning
or significance
of festivals.
Remember your time in Egypt,
out of which I brought you.
It's a justification for loss.
It's the basis of confidence
that God will act now again.
It's a definitive
historical reference point
through which people
can understand their past.
It's an identifier
for the Lord himself.
It's like an extension
of his name.
And it serves as a contrast
to the lack
of people's faithfulness.
God had been so faithful
to them,
yet they are so unfaithful.
To him.
The Exodus,
God taking the people,
delivering them out of Egypt,
is the definitive mercy
that the Lord showed
in the Old Testament,
in the Old Testament.
For the New Testament,
it's really the whole
of salvation in Christ.
That's the primary event.
But I think we can say
particularly,
and in parallel
with the Exodus,
it's a rescue from sin,
deliverance from the power
of sin.
In Matthew,
we are told that
she will bear a son,
and you shall call
his name Jesus,
for he will save
his people from their sins.
Or the words in John,
behold,
the Lamb of God,
John's looking at Jesus,
behold,
the Lamb of God
who takes away
the sin of the world.
In Hebrews,
Jesus was offered once
to bear the sins
of many.
Now this could go on
and on.
Liberated from bondage
to Egypt.
Then goes from
liberation
from sin.
This is so much
of Christ's encounters
with people,
how he deals with sin.
Sometimes the outright
forgives people.
Sometimes he
reverses the consequences
of sin.
And sometimes he just
invades people's lives
and gives them
a little taste
of what life
would be like
without all the power
of sin.
That's always pushing
on against us.
You will have
your own experience
with this.
Amen.
And we'll never know
anyone greater
than Christ
who takes away
the sin of the world.
Psalm 145
wants us to have
a bona fide encounter
with the triune God
and it does its part
by telling us
great is the Lord.
And we'll have
a collection of ways
to do so.
Mercy,
generosity,
response,
presence,
protection,
power,
and splendor.
One of the greatest
things is the forgiveness
of sin
and new life
in Christ.
God is delighted
for us to live
a life of perspective.
A life of full heart
and praise.
A life overwhelmed
with God's majesty
and goodness.
That kind of response
comes from an encounter
with God himself,
especially his mercies.
And so we take
whatever harm,
despair,
sin we bring,
even tonight,
and all the consequences
of sin.
These are opportunities
to call out
for the mercies
of God.
To behold God
and everything
is called
the perspective.
Let us pray.