Psalm 145
There are times when I feel more like praising God than other times. I may see an answer to prayer and be immediately called to praise by the greatness God has shown me. Or I may be having a “Monday.” You know, not a bad day, but not a day that makes you jump out of your skin with praise for the Almighty.
This Psalm of Praise caught my attention. God’s people have a reason to praise every day, whether we feel like it or not. This the last of the Psalms attributed to David. It’s almost like this Psalm was a Hymn expressing the training in praise that David had gone through.
Training helps us to carry out important tasks with excellence. Training helps us to plan ahead, and decide in advance how we will act and respond. This psalm will help us to “train” for this praise.
I hope you aren’t new to praise, but new or not I’m going to try and approach this subject very simply. We all need to be reminded of the basics once in a while.
David’s Commitment to Praise God (v. 1-2)
“1 I will extol thee, my God, O king; And I will bless thy name for ever and ever. 2 Every day will I bless thee; And I will praise thy name for ever and ever.” Psalm 145:1–2
“Extol” means to lift up. David is committing to lift up his God. How will he do this? By blessing God’s name, and praising Him.
This was David’s commitment. Will you make it your commitment, today?
God’s Attributes are a Motivation of this Praise (v. 3-13)
David praises God first for all the things that God IS.
Whether we feel like praising God or not, God’s attributes are reason enough to praise Him. An attribute is a quality or characteristic part of someone. These are the character traits or dispositions that are indistinguishable from who the person is.
What Attributes of God are mentioned in these verses? Take a few minutes, read this Psalm, and write down all the attributes of God that you see in it. (You’ll see my list below. Writing your own will help you in the process of training to Praise God.)
Here are the Attributes I saw and wrote down when I was reading through this Psalm a few weeks ago:
- Greatness
- Might (“mighty acts”)
- Goodness
- Righteousness
- Compassion
- Mercy
- Power
- Everlasting (He has no beginning or end.)
How God Meets Needs is a Motivation for Praise (v. 14-20)
There are things that God does for us that we can and should praise Him for. This section covers some general segments of these.
- God supports those who are weak and raises up those who are getting weak. v. 14
- God supplies the needs of all. v.15-16
- The LORD is near to those who call on Him. v.18
- What a blessing to know that God is near! Often on days when I don’t feel like praising God, I have also lost sight of how near He is.
- He will fulfill and deliver those who fear Him. v.19
- The LORD will preserve those that love Him, He will also destroy the wicked. v.20
Final Commitment to Praise (v. 21)
“My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord: And let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.” Psalm 145:21
David closes the Psalm by reiterating his commitment to Praise God, and a call for all to Praise God.
Your Turn
Read Psalm 145
Note all the ways that David praises God.
Make a list of God’s attributes.
Begin a list of how God is working in your life.
Plan ahead to praise God. He is worthy, whether we feel like it or not.
Share with family, friends and social media some of the things for which you are praising God.
