Learning from the Future (Psalm 145)

This sermon was preached on 6/10/2013

Psalm 145 is the last psalm in the psalter that has a title saying that it was composed by David. Of course, he may have written the remaining four psalms. Yet it is interesting to note the emphasis of his last referenced psalm – it is full of praise to God and of optimism about the future of his kingdom. If this was David’s outlook as he drew near the end of his life, we can see in it a model of how older people should regard their relationship with God and the prospects for his cause.

The psalm is almost a complete acrostic psalm in the Hebrew. The first verse begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the second verse begins with the second letter, and so on. There are twenty-two letters in the Hebrew alphabet, but we can see that there are only twenty-one verses in the psalm. The majority of Hebrew texts don’t have a verse beginning with the letter nun, but as we can see from the ESV footnote in verse 13 a verse beginning with this letter appears in a Masoretic text, in the Septuagint, in the Dead Sea Scrolls, and in an ancient Syriac version. If it is included, then we have a full acrostic psalm.

There is an obvious structure to the psalm: verses 1-3 are a personal expression of praise, verses 4-7 are concerned with ongoing witness to God and his kingdom, verses 8-9 focus on the character of God, verses 10-13a say more about the ongoing witness, verses 10b-20 enlarge on the character of God, and verse 21 closes with a personal expression of praise.

Determination to praise

What is praise? This section of the psalm indicates four features of biblical praise. It includes elevating thoughts, high thoughts, about God – this is the meaning of extolling and blessing. It includes eagerness, otherwise how could the psalmist continue doing it day after day. It includes expectation of eternity, because David wanted to participate in such praise for ever and ever. And it includes an awareness of the greatness of God – yet only a partial awareness because all who realise that he is great also confess that his greatness is far more than they can understand. We praise a big God, one who does nothing insignificant.

Imagine trying to estimate about whether or not God makes anything that we can regard as insignificant. I suppose we would say that a diminutive insect is insignificant compared to an angel or a human. Yet in contrast to what we can make, a diminutive insect is significant because it has life whereas we cannot give life to anything. The point I am making is that while there are degrees concerning the great things God does, even the most insignificant reveals his greatness whereas our most important achievements only reveal our limitations.

Therefore, it is important for us to praise God. There are many reasons for us to do so. After all, he gave each of us our unique traits and personalities. Moreover, he showed his grace in enabling us to respond to the gospel and to trust in Jesus.

The ongoing witness (vv. 4-7)

David is led to think about the future activities in God’s kingdom. The psalmist had little understanding of the future developments that would occur throughout history. If someone had said to him that Israel in the twenty-first century would have aeroplanes that could fire deadly weapons from thousands of feet in the air he probably would not have understood the concept. The same could be said about all other technological inventions. So there would be many things about the future that David could not grasp. The same goes for ourselves – we have no idea what will be part of normal life a century from now.

Yet there was one certainty he knew would happen, and we also can say it will happen. That certainty is that there will always be people in each generation who will praise God. It almost seems as if the psalmist is imitating what those future believers will do. He says they are going to praise God, therefore I will praise God. Although he can only see them by faith, as it were, still they are an example for him. Their enthusiastic praise that is yet to appear stimulates him to engage in enthusiastic praise even now.

The praise of the future and the praise of the present say the same truths about the God of the ages. It is striking to note the adjectives David uses to describe the activities of God – they are mighty, they reveal the glorious splendour of his majesty, they are wondrous, they are awesome, and they are abundant. It almost seems that David has ransacked a dictionary in order to find suitable words. Because as we all know, words can say a lot or they can say a little. Here they say a great deal. David’s choice of words helps us to worship his God.

We should also note the words that David uses to describe the praise of God’s people. They commend, they declare, they pour forth, and they sing aloud. I suppose ‘commend’ has the idea of longing, but it is longing expressed in beautiful ways. ‘Declare’ has the emphasis of clarity and conviction that what is said is true.  ‘Pour forth’ depicts the energy and the continuation of their praise. Finally, ‘sing aloud’ expressed their confidence and their delight in the God who has done and who will do great things.

Of course, each subsequent generation has more to praise God for than did the previous generations. The subsequent generation is not expected to forget what God did in the past or replace those details with what he is doing in the present. Instead they are to remember what he did in the past and add to that account what he is doing in the present. This means that every contemporary generation always has a lot to praise God for and a lot to pass on. Today, we are the link between what God was praised for in the past and what he will be praised for in the future. 

The character of God – merciful (vv. 8-9)

David then reflects on the character of God. No doubt, the psalmist is drawing on his own experience of God but I also think he is aware of different ways in which God helped his people in previous generations. And his words have been used by all subsequent generations to express their praise, are used today and will be used in the future. David wrote them in Hebrew but we use his words in English and other peoples use them in their languages. Clearly his words highlight the unchangeable nature of God.

The Lord does not treat his people the way their sins deserve. Instead of punishment they receive mercy in various ways. Surely here we have a very strong indication regarding the main focus of our worship. While it is good to praise God for his holiness and to praise him for his wonderful act of creation and amazing control in providence, the unique feature of grace is that the Lord is full of mercy. He shows mercy at the natural level in supplying the physical and other needs of his creatures. More importantly, he forgives his people their sins. This was the story of David’s life, it was the story of David’s friends, it was the story of God’s people who preceded David, and it is the story of all of God’s people who have succeeded David.

The psalmist delighted in thinking about God’s grace and mercy, his slowness to anger and his abounding in steadfast love. David mentions them together in two other psalms (86:14-16; 103:8). In Psalm 25:6, he looks back into history and sees God’s mercy: ‘Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.’ God had heard David’s cry for mercy (Pss. 28:6; 31:22; 116:1). Therefore he could sing, ‘Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever’ (Ps. 23:6).

       

The ongoing witness (vv. 10-13)

David returns to thinking about the future in verses 10-13. He touches upon the responsibility of his people to tell others about the might deeds and splendour of God’s kingdom, including its endlessness. Obviously, believers have the same role in every generation – tell others about their God. David could speak about God’s great works for Israel, but we can also speak about God’s great works through Jesus his Son. It is impossible for us to work out how much David knew when he penned this description of the calling of God’s people. I wonder what he would say if he were told how much we have the privilege of saying about the kingdom of Christ.

The character of God (vv. 13b-20)

David now mentions four features of the character of God. They seem to be divided into two sets of two, each set being preceded by a reference to his kindness (13b; 17). The first pair mentions God’s care of the struggling and his provision of the physical needs of all his creatures (vv. 14-16). Those two benefits are what he provides as the Creator. The second pair is more focussed on what he does for his people (vv. 18-20). He answers their prayers and he protects them from their enemies.

Of course, the Lord has been doing this in every generation. Who can calculate the number of needy people he has helped and who can possibly work out how much provision he has ensured was there for all his creatures who once lived on the earth? And when we move to consider the second pair, who can say how many prayers have been answered by the Lord? Nor can we say how many of the Lord’s people have been delivered by the Lord’s power?

Verses 18 and 19 are very comforting for God’s people. We can see from verse 18 that our prayer and his presence go together, and in verse 19 we see that our fearing him and his fulfilment of our longings go together. When we pray, we speak to a God who is very near, who draws close, as it were, to listen to us. The Lord listens to our hearts as well as to our words (our ‘desire’ describes our hearts) and is pleased to hear our prayer for full salvation.

What does it mean to call on God in truth? It includes sincerity because insincere prayer is mockery. But it must include a sense of sonship, that we are drawing near to a Father who wants to give good things to his children. And it also involves a willingness to submit to his decisions regarding our requests because we are praying to a sovereign King who knows what is best for us.

The responsible response (v. 21) 

David closes the psalm with a statement of intent, a personal vow: ‘My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord.’ This may be his last word and it reveals what he intended to do with the rest of his life. His statement also reveals what he wanted to happen in the future: ‘let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.’ Although he was a king, he knew who the true King is!