Psalm 145 – The Mighty Works, Goodness, and Kingdom of God
WORSHIP ARTICLE | Jeremy Woodman | Kingston, Ontario
The Book of Psalms concludes with a series of psalms that praise the Lord. Some of our most popular hymns, such as “Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah”, based on Psalm 148, are directly from this section of scripture. Although there are commonalities between these psalms, each also have a unique focus on various attributes, actions, or characteristics of God that are worthy of praise. For example, in Psalm 145, David focuses on the mighty works of God, the goodness of God, and the kingdom of God.
David opens the psalm by inviting the reader to join him in praising the Lord every day. The greatness of the Lord, explored throughout the text, is described as “unsearchable” in verse 3. However, he is not “unsearchable” in the sense of being incomprehensible; instead, He is inexhaustible. This is true individually for the man that meditates on God’s splendor (v 5) and speaks of His awesome acts (v 6). Still, it is equally true for those that commit His deeds to memory (v 7) and faithfully transmit the knowledge of God by teaching the next generation (v 4).
David doesn’t specify which of God’s mighty works he is praising. This focuses the reader on the importance of the praise continuing from one generation to the next (v 4). This is emphasized more than once in the Law. For example, in Deuteronomy 6:20-22, God through Moses says, “when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘what is the meaning of the testimonies, the statues, and the judgments which the Lord our God has commanded you?’ then you shall say to your son: ‘we were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand; and the Lord showed signs and wonders before our eyes, great and severe, against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his household. Then He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in, to give us the land of which he swore to our fathers'”. The Law contains the full account of these events, which are recounted in the historical psalms: 78, 105, 106, 135, and 136.
The psalm, therefore, encapsulates all the recorded miracles of God up to the time of writing. Though David wrote prophetically at times about the coming Messiah, he likely didn’t comprehend the magnitude of what he was writing. Only in the hindsight of fulfillment can one fully appreciate the “manifold wisdom of God” (Ephesians 3:10). The mighty works recorded in Psalm 145, as marvelous as they are, pale in comparison to the miracles of Christ, especially the resurrection. In the resurrection, all the claims of Christ are substantiated, and the sacrifice and love of the Savior to belief, confession, repentance, and obedience to the gospel in baptism move the hardened heart of the sinner. Yet we have “this treasure in earthen vessels” (2 Corinthians 4:7), and the beautiful message must be shared from generation to generation as the psalmist admonished. The world, through its stranglehold on the media and its corruption of institutions, has poisoned the minds of an entire generation. This should not surprise us. The Spirit warned in Paul’s day that “evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse” (2 Tim 3:13). The gospel has not lost its power to save, though the modern Christian often loses focus via mass distraction. We should focus on the charge Paul gave Timothy and prepare the next generation. Paul wrote, “the things that you have heard and from me among many witnesses, [and] commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim 2:2). In this manner, we will perpetuate the gospel both to the world and also for the “equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Eph 4:12). The alternative is to continue to give ground to the world and to have churches filled with immature and uneducated Christians. Ignorance was the path of the Israelites, who were “destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). It is crucial that we meditate on and share the marvelous works of God with every and anyone!
The God of the Old Testament has an undeserved reputation amongst those that have not read the scriptures for being full of wrath and quick to exercise judgment. David counters with a declaration of God’s love and mercy. He writes, “The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, Slow to anger and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all, And His tender mercies are over all His works” (v 8, 9), and statements like this are made by many other authors, including Moses, Isaiah, and Jeremiah. Furthermore, he describes God as a provider (v 14-16, 19), gracious (v 17), attentive (v 18), and a preserver of the faithful (v 20). Indeed, the Old Testament records God’s wrath. Still, two instances shall suffice to illustrate the principle that God takes “no pleasure in the death of the wicked” (Ezekiel 33:11). God gave Pharaoh ten opportunities to release the Hebrews from captivity. Instead, he chose to reject all these opportunities and brought judgment upon himself and the people of Egypt. Had he obeyed, he likely would have been blessed for submitting to the will of God. Likewise, the people of Judah were carried into captivity by king Nebuchadnezzar, which the prophets had warned would happen if they did not repent. The full breadth of the longsuffering of God is detailed in 2 Chronicles 15:21, where the author records that God sent prophet after prophet to Judah for three centuries, and they refused to repent. Like Pharaoh, their stubbornness and pride provoked the judgment of God, who did everything in His power to prevent such an outcome.
We await the final judgment, not temporal judgments like those in the Old Testament, where the wheat and the chaff will be separated into heaven and hell, respectively. However, the Lord, who “is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8), is still longsuffering. He “is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Such a demonstration of the grace of God ought to motivate us to preach the gospel with a sense of urgency and join the apostle Paul in declaring, “knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men” (2 Corinthians 5:11).
In the psalm, David says that the saints “shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom” (v 11), which is “an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures throughout all generations” (v 13). During King David’s reign, Israel was territorially its most expansive and faithful to God. After the death of David and his son, king Solomon, the people of Judah became progressively more wicked until they were carried away into captivity. Even during their return, the kingdom of Israel never achieved a semblance of its former glory. The Romans ruled them by the time of Christ. While David is writing about Israel, these verses are also prophetic in nature and point to the kingdom of Christ spoken of by other prophets like Isaiah, Daniel, and Joel. Christ’s kingdom, the church, is the fulfillment of these scriptures. While we work in the field of the world, His kingdom is “not of the world” (John 18:36), as Jesus said to Pilate. His kingdom was purchased with His blood (Acts 20:28), and this “bride, the Lamb’s wife” (Revelation 21:9) is described in detail in Revelation 21 and 22. All this shows the tremendous importance that the Lord places on the church, yet too many Christians today treat church attendance and participation as secondary or, worse, optional. God’s people have always prospered when they’ve worked together in faith. That was true in Israel’s day, and it is true today. Within the church, individual talents effectively support others, and what the individual lacks in talents is supplied by others (Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12). Use your abilities and God-given roles so that the church and the people within it are built up and effective (Ephesians 4:7-16) for the work. The result brings glory to God and edifies the individual members and congregations that influence the world. We must ensure that local churches remain faithful to God rather than being influenced by the world. Sadly, the reverse is too often true now, with the result being that throughout the nations of the world, sins that decades ago would only have been whispered about are commonly spoken of and brazenly displayed. If Christians would display a fraction of the respect for the church that Christ does, this trend could be slowed, halted, or perhaps even reversed, though with tremendous effort.
It is fitting that the Book of Psalms concludes with a series that praise Him. The Psalms poetically illustrate God’s character, His attributes, and His relationship with man. When studied in faith, the reader will be moved to praise the Lord for all that He is and all that He has done. Certainly, like how John says that he couldn’t record all the works of Christ (John 21:25), the psalmists could not exhaust all the reasons that God is worthy of praise, and each of these psalms has varying emphases. David, in Psalm 145, reminds the reader of the goodness of God, the power of God in mighty works in the past, and points prophetically to greater works and to a greater kingdom. Most importantly, he reminds his reader of the importance of keeping these things in memory and perpetuating the knowledge of God from one generation to the next. We share that responsibility today and ought to carefully consider what we are doing to ensure we are effective learners and teach others, Christian and non-Christian alike.
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January 2023 | GROW magazine
