1 I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless you
and praise your name forever and ever.
3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
and his greatness is unsearchable.
4 One generation shall commend your works to another,
and shall declare your mighty acts.
5 On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
6 They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,
and I will declare your greatness.
7 They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness
and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
8 The Lord is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 The Lord is good to all,
and his mercy is over all that he has made.
10 All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,
and all your saints shall bless you!
11 They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom
and tell of your power,
12 to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds,
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13 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.]
14 The Lord upholds all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food in due season.
16 You open your hand;
you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways
and kind in all his works.
18 The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
19 He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
he also hears their cry and saves them.
20 The Lord preserves all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.
21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.
Psalm 145
Why do I say it is changing everything?
This Psalm sheds light on the grander perspective, the framework into which I put my activities, choices, and passions.
Our pastor recently asked a question, What will your life declare?
With a gracious foundation like mine, knowing and believing Jesus for many years, I knew what I wanted my answer to be. But the thing that stopped me from penning it excitedly in the blank that followed was reality. And Holy Spirit nudging.
I knew what I wanted to be about, but I don’t think my heart, soul, mind, and body fully and completely grasp the big picture.
This Psalm rescues me from the chains of self.
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. v. 4-5
This Psalm simplifies my purpose, and empowers me to look at myself in light of the great God in whose image I was created.
For Him was I even thought of in my mom’s womb. For His beautiful plan and purpose I was given life.
I was wired for awe, that awe of something sits at the bottom of everything I say and do. But I wasn’t just wired for awe. I was wired for awe of God. No other awe satisfies the soul. No other awe can give my heart the peace, rest, and security that it seeks. I came to see that I needed to trace awe of God down to the most mundane of human decisions and activities. Paul David Tripp
When Tripp’s book came out, I read it, skimmed it really, mostly because I loved the topic. He refers to Psalm 145 as being a pivotal Psalm for him also, but it didn’t strike me then.
It has created waves in my soul lately because I have felt maxed out, like I’m floating, searching for fresh purpose and grasping for new fulfillment. All the while fighting the natural inclination to be self-absorbed. To see God and my life in light of only me.
Seeing God and life in light of me leaves MUCH to be desired. It’s also tiresome, tense, and let’s be honest, terrible.
It falls flat, and I live anxious and unsure. But, seeing myself in light of my great, powerful, awesome, good God lifts my eyes from myself and other humans to a greater Person.
A displaced gaze produces fear, comparison, envy, worry, control, idols, negativity, laziness.
A wrongfully placed fascination, with self as opposed to God, handicaps the incredible life available for us, a life of amazement and worship of everything God is.
If I may also speak plainly, in my personal life, it makes my mind feel like it’s continually climbing over and sifting through garbage (lies I believe, idols I create, selfishness and pride) to get to Jesus and His Reality.
Like David and Goliath. David believed God was powerful and faithful enough to defeat anyone. He arrived on the battlefield in awe of God, and saw Goliath as the easy target. Saul’s army viewed the situation in light of their weakness, compared to Goliath, and lived afraid.
How beautiful is Psalm 145. How steadfast and wonderful is our God. In light of this, eyes on Him, we can walk through these days with courage, joy, confidence, zeal, and peace we could never produce on our own.
I want to live the rest of my days fascinated with God above all else.
Meditating on His majesty and wondrous works, praising Him every hour, sing aloud of His goodness and righteousness, experiencing Him as gracious and loving and good, thanking Him, being satisfied by Him alone, knowing His kindness and strength intimacy.
May this be my legacy. My life’s grand perspective. May I see myself, and all around me, and every situation, in light of who God is.
His mercy and grace to cover my mistakes and failures. His strength and faithfulness to uphold me in all battles. His wisdom and majesty to direct my choices and thoughts. His beauty and greatness to capture my affections and my praise, more than any other lovely created thing.
Practically speaking, I’d like to cultivate a habit of taking minutes throughout the day to get out into the sunshine, or sing my favorite song, or meditate on a verse, and marvel at God. J teased me about calling them ‘smoke breaks’ but I think I need a better name.
This is so beautiful. Thanks for sharing what you’re learning!
Thank you for leaving your kind words, Chelsea! PS – I enjoyed your September books post. :)