Our sermon text tonight is Psalm 145.
So again, these are on the screens,
and you can have a look at the Bibles at the back
! If you want to follow along there.
Okay.
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.
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.
They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,
and I will declare your greatness.
They shall pour forth in the fame
of your abundant goodness,
and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
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.
All your works shall give thanks to you,
O Lord,
and all your saints shall bless you.
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.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations.
The Lord is faithful in all his words,
and kind in all his works.
The Lord upholds all who are falling,
and raises up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food in due season.
You open your hand,
you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
The Lord is righteous in all his ways,
and kind in all his works.
The Lord is near to all who call on him,
and to all who call on him in truth.
He fulfills the desires of those who fear him.
He also hears their cry,
and saves them.
The Lord preserves all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.
My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord,
and let all flesh bless his holy name
forever and ever.
So we're looking at Psalm 145.
This is David's last psalm in the book,
and I think maybe even as we heard it read,
we're seeing that David is pulling out all the stops.
He gives us 21 verses of extolling,
and praising, and blessing God,
and he lists reason after reason
for why he is going to praise God.
And I think maybe this is perhaps not the David
that we give much time to.
We think of David's psalms,
and what do we think about?
We think about the valley in Psalm 23.
We think about him reckoning with his sin,
and the awful mistakes he's made in Psalm 51.
A couple of weeks ago,
we were looking at Psalm 61,
and there, what do we see?
He's crying from the ends of the earth.
That's the David, I think perhaps,
we most often resonate with.
And then we come to something like Psalm 145,
and we say, okay David,
I don't really feel like this right now.
This praising and extolling and blessing is great,
but being in the valley,
dealing with sin and shame,
struggling along,
that is what I'm doing right now.
When I was little,
I used to get very carsick when I was really young,
and especially sitting in the back,
and on longer journeys,
I wouldn't really help myself.
We didn't have phones.
We had Lego magazines and Action Man magazines,
so I was sitting in the back,
reading my magazine,
feeling iller and iller.
And my mom would always say to me,
Lewis, you need to look up and look out of that window
before you throw up,
or before you make yourself any sicker,
because it's in raising your eyes
and looking out the window
that you'll feel much better.
This Psalm, in many ways,
is about changing our focus,
shifting our focus,
and looking out of the window.
It's about having the discipline
of doing something
that perhaps we don't feel like doing.
So, we can say,
look,
adoring God,
praising God,
looking to Him
is just not what I feel like doing right now.
That's not what my circumstances make me want to do.
I need God to act.
I need Him to lift me up.
I need Him to save me from this pain
that I am experiencing.
And David comes in Psalm 145,
and he says,
no, no, this is not about your circumstances changing.
This is about shifting your focus
from your circumstances
and praising God still.
So, just two things from this Psalm.
What is praise?
In Psalm 145,
what is it that David is describing?
And then secondly,
why praise?
When we don't feel like it,
when we don't want to do it,
when it's the last thing on our minds,
why?
Why praise God even still?
So, firstly,
what is praise?
In Psalm 145,
you'll see at the top of the Psalm,
it's titled,
A Song of Praise.
And that word praise
comes up again and again and again
in the Psalms
all the way throughout the Bible.
This is the only time
that that word is used
in the title for a Psalm.
And so,
that's worth thinking about
just because,
firstly,
it sets up the end of this book,
150 chapters,
and we are nearing the crescendo
of praising God,
the Hallelujah Psalms.
with this title,
it also separates itself
from many of the other Psalms
that we are familiar with,
which describe praise
in many ways
as a response
or as an overflow
of our feelings.
very often praise
is reactive.
So,
in Psalm 40,
we sing it a lot.
What do we have?
He's in the pit
and God lifts him up.
And what does he say?
He put a new song
in my mouth,
a song,
a hymn of praise.
It's reactive.
God has lifted him up
and he responds in praise.
Psalm 126,
the people are freed from exile,
they are released from Babylon,
and what do they do?
What do they sing?
Songs of joy,
it says.
So many more Psalms
and places in the Bible
that we read about this.
Praise can absolutely be reactive
and it can be feelings-based.
You know,
perhaps tonight,
you look back
on this past week
and you say,
God has worked
in this situation
that I've been dealing with
in a way
that I never thought
he would.
You can think about
your health,
your finances,
your work fears.
And when those things
are relaxed
and you feel
these things are lifting,
praising God
is absolutely
the right response.
And we see that
over and over again
in the Bible.
But Psalm 145
gives us no hint whatsoever
at what David is experiencing
or what David is going through.
It's likely that he did write
this later in his life,
maybe towards the end
of his reign.
And some commentators,
you know,
they'll look at this
and they'll say,
David appears
much more mature
in this Psalm
than perhaps
his earlier ones.
And if David is,
if he is nearing
the end
of his reign,
as he thinks of Saul
chasing him
into the wilderness
to kill him,
as he thinks
of his affair
with Bathsheba
and having her husband killed
so he doesn't find out,
as he thinks
about his own son,
Absalom,
trying to seize
the throne from him,
in spite of all of that,
his reaction,
his discipline,
his attitude
is to praise God.
In reflection,
looking at a life
with many highs
but many,
many, many lows,
he says,
his attitude
has to be one of praise.
Great is the Lord,
he says,
and greatly
to be praised.
You can see,
we're just going to
push this a bit more,
you can see that the Psalm
has 21 verses.
The end of verse 13
is in brackets
because some question
over whether this is
original or not.
This is one of the few cases
where a lot of the scholars
would say
it most likely
is original.
So you have
22 lines
in this Psalm.
There are
20,
we're getting
into the rabbit hole here
and I don't want to lose you
but we'll be quick.
There are 22 letters
in the Hebrew alphabet.
Each line
follows the next
letter in the alphabet.
It's an acrostic.
So David,
David frames this poem
in this way
using every letter
of the alphabet
for every line
to say that
there is a structure,
there is a completeness,
there is an actual discipline
in praising God.
So just as this poem
takes up all of the alphabet,
praise is a discipline
which should surround,
which should take up
all of life.
So yes,
praise is often a response
to changes in our circumstances
but David,
you know,
he doesn't mention any of that.
He doesn't point out
any particular area
in his life
that would lead him
to praise God.
If anything,
he's reflecting
on the whole of it
and he shifts his focus
and he says,
whether I feel like it or not,
my attitude
has to be one of praise.
Look at verses 1 to 3,
what does he say?
He says,
I will extol God.
Every day,
I will bless God
and praise Him
forever and ever.
he's speaking
about discipline here.
Primarily praise
needs to be a discipline,
a part of life.
David says,
whether we feel like it or not,
it's firstly
a continual act of the will,
a choice,
not a feeling.
Okay,
a bit more specific.
When David says
that he will extol,
he will bless
and he will praise,
praise carries this meaning
of celebrating God.
The word bless
follows that
and it just means
in a way
to speak well
about God
and extolling
means to lift
Him up.
And so,
what is praise
in Psalm 145?
We could define it
really simply like this.
Praising God
is not first a feeling,
but it is
your regular discipline
in celebrating God
and speaking well
of Him
and in lifting Him high
and acknowledging
that He knows
far better
than us
in all ways.
Now,
what do we do
on a Sunday
when we come together?
We come together
for worship
and a part of that
is praise.
We've sung tonight.
We're singing
in celebration
of who God is.
it's an outward expression
of celebrating God.
What do we do
in the middle of the week
when we pray
not my will
but yours?
We are praising God
and acknowledging
that He knows
far better than us
in all ways.
His understanding
is far beyond us.
See just one point
that David makes here.
He mentions
speaking well of God
in verse 4
and he says
that one generation
commends your works
to another.
One reason
that we have tonight
for being sure
that God is faithful
all the time
is because
David's generation
still speaks to us.
The prophets
still speak to us.
The writers
of the Gospels
and the New Testament
liars
still speak to us.
Through God's word
they speak
to the world today
about God
and they say
what David says
in verse 8.
The Lord is gracious
and merciful.
Now
just to end this point
we can apply this
really specifically.
Do we
make it
a regular practice
in our lives
to speak well
about God
to one another?
we spend time
together
praying for one another
caring for one another.
Do we make it
a practice
to speak well
about what God
has done
in our lives?
One thing
that's really
encouraged me
in my time
in St.
C's
one thing
that's really
encouraged me
has been
meeting up
with some
of the people
here
some of the guys
over the weeks
and
some of these
guys are
beyond me
by a few decades.
I don't know
how to word that
politely
I don't think
that was it
but
getting to know
them
and spending
time with them
and hearing
about what's
brought them
to where they
are
and hearing
about how
God has
worked
over the years
in so many
situations
in their lives
hearing that
I've come away
being encouraged
in my faith
and encouraged
in how I
think about
God
and David
says speaking
like that
to one another
is a form
of praise
what is praise
it's the regular
conscious
effort and
discipline
of celebrating
God
of speaking
well of him
and acknowledging
that he is higher
than us
in all his ways
and doing that
still
in light
of how
we feel
so secondly
why
why would we
do it
why praise God
maybe we want
to say
in light
of all this
I can't
do it
the pain
and the
doubt
that we
experience
we have
we experience
these things
to different
degrees
some of us
you know
some of us
tonight
might have
more questions
about why
life is
the way
that it is
tonight
we talk
you know
we talk
about these
acts
prayers
adoration
confession
thanksgiving
supplication
we jump
right to the
end
sometimes
and we
get straight
to sing
Lord
I need
you to
do this
for me
right now
I need
you to
help me
we jump
right past
praise
how do I
celebrate God
right now
and speak
well of him
and acknowledge
that he knows
better than me
when this week
or this month
or this year
is far
from what I
think is best
for me
if that's the
place you're at
and you know
we all say
that at times
to different
degrees
in our
hearts
if that's
the place
you're at
I think
David
gives a
great answer
in verse
three
he says
great
is Lord
and greatly
to be praised
and his
greatness
is unsearchable
David's
reason
for extolling
and praising
and blessing
God
is
the fact
that we
will never
fully understand
how great
God actually
is
this word
greater
greatness
is so common
we see it
in the Bible
and we just
skim over it
and yet
David is making
a huge claim
he's saying
God's greatness
is unsearchable
in other words
he goes beyond
every limitation
that we live
with
God's
unsearchable
greatness
is the reason
for praise
so
what is it
that makes
God great
that's what
we have
in the rest
of the psalm
and we're not
going to do it
verse by verse
but
the rest
of the psalm
answers that
question
in two big
ways
I think
God is
great
in his
cosmic
rule
on one
end
and he is
great
on the other
end
in the fact
that he is
near to us
at the same
time
he's near
to his
people
why praise
why be
disciplined
in celebrating
God
because he is
great
in his
cosmic
rule
and because
he is
great
in how near
at the same
time
how near
he is
to his
people
a lot
of commentators
they would
say
they would
note
that there's
not really
a clear
structure
in this
psalm
if you're
looking at
a bible
or a
bulletin
you'll just
see that
David
talks about
God's
love
his power
his care
his kingdom
his common
grace
he lists
all these
things
the roughest
or simplest
outline
that some
writers
give the
psalm
is to
say
David
is moving
from a
wide
lens
view
of God
and he's
taking us
down to
the end
to a
narrow
lens
view
it's
almost
a contrast
he brings
out
from being
distant
to being
near
at the
same
time
so he
talks
amongst
other
things
about
his
rule
which
includes
his
power
and
kingdom
and
towards
the
end
about
his
nearness
his
presence
with
his
people
so
David
calls
God
his
king
verse
13
he
says
your
kingdom
is
an
everlasting
kingdom
and
your
dominion
endures
throughout
all
generations
you
think
about
David
at the
end
of his
reign
Saul
before
him
has
caused
so much
confusion
and upset
in his
reign
David
in many
ways
has
done
the
same
we
know
after
that
we
meet
these
kings
in the
Old
Testament
who
are
never
the
kings
that
we
want
or
expect
them
to
be
David
turns
and
he
says
God
is
king
and
his
kingdom
is
everlasting
in
other
words
this
isn't
about
area
or
land
or
political
order
or
political
power
he's
referring
to
God's
he's
referring
to
God's
rule
and
power
over
all
creation
and
every
single
thing
that
happens
we
live
today
in a
world
which
praises
self
sufficiency
we walk
out there
and what
does the world
tell us
it tells us
to be
self
dependent
it tells us
to be
self
reliant
if we're
going to
survive
if life
is going to
be the
beautiful
true thing
that we
want it
to be
then that's
down to
us
psalm
145
comes
to
that
and
says
no
that's
not
how
it
works
at
all
actually
there
is
a
higher
wisdom
and
authority
which
governs
without
fail
verse
17
the
Lord
is
righteous
in
all
his
ways
and
kind
in
all
his
works
God
knows
what
he's
doing
all
of
the
time
he
is
kind
in
all
that
he
does
above
the
universe
God
does
all
things
well
and
he
is
kind
in
every
single
thing
that
he
does
we
might
not
feel
that
and
we
might
say
that
we
would
do
things
a
bit
differently
to
how
they've
been
done
how
they've
been
worked
out
in
our
works
is
not
crippled
in
any
way
by
the
limitations
that
we
face
when
you
get up
in
the
morning
if
you
have
trusted
in
Christ
when
you
get up
in
the
morning
you
wake
up
with
one
who's
commanding
the
universe
out
of
kindness
for
your
sake
he
has
done
it
for
generations
and
nothing
will
stop
that
and
when
we
look
at
our
lives
and
we
say
why
I
think
it's
a
huge
comfort
to
know
that
there
is
one
who
knows
what
he
is
doing
all
of
the
time
we
get
worn
down
by
upset
and
things
not
going
the way
we
want
them
to
go
and
not
being
as
strong
or
as
reliant
as
we
think
we
should
be
David
simply
invites
us
to
look
up
to
shift
our
focus
and
see
that
there
is
one
who
cannot
be
distracted
or
hurt
or
confused
by
any
circumstances
that we
face
but
one
who
works
kindness
into
the
most
out
of
control
areas
of
your
life
why
praise
God
why
be
persistent
in
praising
him
when
we
say
life
is
not
what
we
want
it
to
be
because
the
Lord
reigns
and
all
of
his
works
are
kind
he
knows
what
he
is
doing
all
of
the
time
and
nothing
can
stop
that
his
rule
his
kingdom
endures
forever
does
knowing
that
does
believing
that
bring
us
to
praise
what
about
the
other
side
then
and
distantly
God
rules
over
all
things
that's
the
picture
that
David
is
painting
for
us
on
the
other
side
of
that
look
at
verse
18
the
Lord
is
near
to
all
who
call
on
him
in
truth
he
fulfills
the
desire
of
those
who
fear
him
he
also
hears
the
and
saves
him
so
praising
God
for his
distance
and his
absolute
control
is one
thing
at the
same
time
David
says
he
is
very
present
it's
not
that
he
does
works
of
kindness
but
at the
same
time
he's
somehow
far
from
you
leaving
you
still
alone
in
your
fear
and
in
your
doubt
no
God
is
with
his
people
wholly
other
and yet
so
involved
in
your
life
that
he
would
stoop
down
like
a
father
to
his
child
and
hears
every
single
cry
now
what does
he
mean
what does
David
mean
calling
on him
in
truth
David
is
saying
that
God
is near
to all
who are
genuine
in
faith
tonight
you might
be asking
questions
about
Christianity
you
might
read
a part
of the
Bible
like
this
and
wonder
is
this
just
a
case
of
me
calling
out
for
help
when
I
need
it
and
the
maker
of
the
whole
universe
bends
over
backwards
and
comes
and
helps
me
out
not
at
all
David
is
saying
calling
on
him
has
to
be
done
in
truth
!
in
other
words
your
prayer
for
help
a
prayer
for
help
is
a
prayer
from
an
honest
heart
a
heart
that
says
I
am
broken
and
lost
and
without
hope
on
my
own
in
every
way
but
there
is
a
God
who
is
perfect
and
who
deserves
my
all
God's
nearness
is not
a
sweeping
promise
it's
for
those
who
know
they
are
weak
broken
sinful
people
but
who
know
that
they
need
a
!
who
is
higher
and
wiser
than
them
to
come
down
and
save
them
and
give
them
freedom
Jesus
Christ
fulfilled
God's
promise
to be
near
by
coming
as
a
baby
and
spending
the
next
30
years
of
his
life
experiencing
the
tears
and
pain
and
temptation
and
rejection
that
we
all
face
and
eventually
dying
the
very
death
that
we
deserved
and
coming
near
to
us
the
son
of
God
has
given
us
life
as
it's
meant
to
be
Jesus
went
outside
the gate
we read
in Hebrews
13
and
his
blood
was
spilt
where we
wondered
looking for
self
dependency
and self
control
and authority
Christ
drew
near
and
he
died
the
Lord
is
righteous
in
all
his
ways
and
kind
in
all
his
works
if
you
ask
tonight
is
God
near
is
he
really
near
me
if
you
feel
he
is
distant
his
nearness
is
not
based
on
what
you
feel
it
is
based
on
what
you
know
!
you
and
in
faith
calling
on
him
tonight
to
stoop
down
and
comfort
why
praise
God
when
my
circumstances
don't
encourage
me
and
it
feels
so
difficult
to
why
praise
him
because
he
is
far
above
us
in
every
way
he
is
kind
in
all
that
he
does
and
he
knows
what
he
is
doing
all
the
time
and
at
the
same
time
he
is
near
and
he
is
with
his
people
always
ready
and
able
to
help
when
we
cry
out
in
genuine
faith
just
to
close
the
writer
to
the
Hebrews
says
that
we
have
no
lasting
city
but
we're
waiting
for
the
city
to
come
we're
waiting
for
life
to
be
fulfilled
and
beautiful
and
true
like
it's
meant
to
be
and
he
says
in
that
time
in
this
in
between
he
says
we
praise
God
through
him
through
Christ
praise
God
for
power
over
all
aspects
of
life
and
for
his
nearness
through
Christ
he
says
what
does
he
mean
how
do
we
praise
God
through
him
it
means
that
it
means
that
even
when
you
are
weary
and
you
feel
discouraged
in
your
faith
and
in
your
walk
and
you
don't
think
you
can
praise
it
simply
means
that
Christ
is
your
praise
leader
already
and
when
you
feel
inadequate
he
has
already
given
you
the
power
to
praise
that's
what
it
means
to
praise
through
him
praise
is
the
task
of
every
Christian
we
have
so
much
to be
thankful
for
God
God's
cosmic
rule
and
his
nearness
and
everything
in
between
that
we've
read
tonight
why
do
we
praise
God
because
he
deserves
it
because
he
deserves
to be
praised
Martin
Luther
on the
psalm
he says
Christ
is
the
king
of
the
poor
afflicted
and
fallen
the
king
went
outside
of the
gate
to
save
us
and
he
gives
us
the
power
to
praise
will
we
be
people
who
praise
God
as
we
ought
let's
pray
together
Lord
we
thank
you
for
the
ways
you
have
worked
in
the
universe
working
kindness
into
our
lives
knowing
the
end
from
the
beginning
doing
all
things
well
and
not
being
limited
by
what
limits
us
and
at
the
same
time
you're
near
and
you're
present
with
your
people
Christ
came
near
so
near
that
he
died
to
make
us
children
of
God
help
us
to
praise
you
well
in
light
of
these
things
and
to
grow
in
being
people
of
praise
we
ask
for
Jesus
sake
Amen