Psalm 145; Worshipping God for Who He is
Recommended Procedure. Timeline. Map. Go to today’s Bible reading.
Idea for the Bible teacher or discussion leader: Bring in a hat or t-shirt with a name advertising a sport, business or something personal. Why do we put names on our clothing and hats? Talk about the importance of names and ask specifically about sport teams, businesses, and personal names. Then have a discussion about God's name and what it means.
Review
Today, we are studying Psalm 145 which occurs in the fifth book of the Psalms (#107-150). The Israelites would sing these songs going up to the temple for their feasts. Go to today's Bible reading and read Psalm 145 ten times. Try reading it in different versions. This will help you understand the overall context of the Psalm and how it might be divided.
Observing significant things in a passage.
Words. If a word is repeated over and over, it's probably important. It can indicate a theme, who the audience is, an important person or position, or help us determine the context of a passage. What word or words are repeated and how many times? What questions do you have about them?
Structure. Review the different structures of the Psalms from the introduction. Which one closely matches the structure of this Psalm? How might this influence our interpretation?
Audience. To whom was this Psalm addressed?
If you were to give this Psalm a title, what might it be? Don't worry, just a title expressing the theme is sufficient. No right or wrong answers here.
Now that you have a temporary title, what might be the subtitles, the sub themes?
Assuming for verses 1-3 you used a subtitle, "Praising God for His Majesty, what do you observe about his majesty? You might want to answer these interpretive questions:
Who will extol the LORD? How long will he worship Him?
How often will the writer exalt God?
Why?
What about God will he worship?
Let's move on to verses 4-7, which we will use this subtitle, "Praise for God's Deeds."
Here is the text:
One generation commends your works to another;they tell of your mighty acts. They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty— and I will meditate on your wonderful works.
They tell of the power of your awesome works—and I will proclaim your great deeds and joyfully sing of your righteousness.
Do you see a change in pronouns? Who is the author referring to?
What works did the Psalmist and the generation praise God for? Why is it important for the next generation to praise God and his works? How did they and I express their worship of God? Clue: Look at the Action verbs.
What works do you have to praise God for?
Next, we are looking at verses 8-9
The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.
The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.The Psalmist has definitely experienced this. Have you? Has God seemed to be extremely gracious? You knew he had every right to be angry, but he was slow to get angry and rich in love. What instance of this comes to your mind? Why not praise God now?
Have you tried to be like the LORD in this area? People can get on our nerves or under our skin. Some require a lot of our time and attention. How will we show forbearance and love?
Let's go on to verses 10-13a
All your works praise you, Lord;
your faithful people extol you.
11 They tell of the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your might,
12 so that all people may know of your mighty acts
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures through all generations.Who were or are the faithful people of God? What should they be doing and why?
Moving on, we'll now look at the characteristics of God and what they mean to the Psalmist. Psalm 145:13b-20) We will first look at verses 13b-14.
"The LORD is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does. The LORD upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down."
The first phrase is synonymous parallelism. What words are identical in meaning?
The second phrase is synthetic parallelism where the thought is extended. If so, what does it mean that he upholds all who fall and he lifts up all those who are bowed down? What does this suggest about the writer's experience?
Moving on once again, we come to verses 15-16
"The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time,.You open your hand, and satisfy the desires of every living thing."
What do these verses tell you about God? How independent are people? Is life really the survival of the fittest? What would happen if God didn't open his hand? What can we learn from this?
Let's move on to verses 17-21, our final section of this Psalm:
17 The LORD is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does.
18 The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.
20 The LORD watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.
21 My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD. Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever.
The subtitle I chose for this was Praise for God's personal intervention for his followers, verses 17-21. I at first chose verses 13b-21, but I changed my mind a little bit.
Looking at verse 17. What structure is this line of poetry and what does it indicate? Why would it make a difference to followers of God that the Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does?
Continuing on in verses 18-20, What are some of the ways God intercedes for his followers? There are three qualifiers in these verses. What are they?
The LORD is near those who fear him. What does that mean? What does it mean to call on him in truth?
Today's Focus Verses:
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A1: Significant, repeated words: "I and They" in verses 1-7;,"The LORD" and "you" (meaning Him) in verses 8-21, and All" in verses 9-12. This is a worship psalm. Audience: Faithful Jewish worshippers
A2: A title might be "Praising God's name; his character"
Subtitles could be:
Praise for God's majesty, verses 1-3
Praise for God's deeds, verses 4-6
Praise for God's character, verses 7--9
Praise for God's kingdom, verses 10-13a
Praise for God's personal intervention for his followers, verses 13b-21
A3: The Psalmist will personally do this--worship God. How long will he worship Him? forever and ever (mentioned twice in these three verses)
How often will the writer exalt God? Every day.
Why? Because his greatness no one can fathom. Meaning we can't imagine all of it.
What will he worship? His name, meaning his character. What is it about God's character that you especially appreciate? His presence? Calling you to himself? His might? His wisdom? His sustaining grace? Holiness? Grace? Love? Justice? Patience? Mercy? Rescue/ Saving? Why not praise him now? Make it a practice every day.
A4: They author is referring to himself and the next generation committed to God
The "I" and "They" (of the next generation) will tell, proclaim, speak, meditate, and sing of God's mighty acts and splendor, and his righteousness.
Personal answers
Personal Answers.
Further consideration: Will we hold grudges and keep record of their wrongs or will we let them go and respond with kind words and deeds? If there are insults against us, will we pray for an understanding heart or seek to get even? Will we love them only a little as we think they deserve, or will we go over and above to be rich in love?
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9, ESV)
The LORD is gracious and compassionate on all he has made. Here is what the Apostle Paul would later write in his letter to the believers in Rome:
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. (Romans 1:18-20, NIV)
Since this is a Jewish Psalm written and sung by Jews on their way up to the temple for worship, God's faithful people refers to faithful Israelites (Jewish people). However, not all Israelites were faithful, and because God is gracious, when Israel would later reject Christ as their Messiah, God invited non-Jewish people to be saved. Have you been saved? Are you one of his faithful followers?
What message should you be giving to people who don't know God? Consider this: How do you extol the LORD? Do you tell of the glory of his kingdom, meaning his heavenly realm? Do you relate stories of how he has shown himself mighty in your life? Or, do you share stories of his Sovereignty? This is how those who don't know God can be attracted to him. What have you recently shared with unbelievers?
A7: The LORD is trustworthy and faithful in all he promises and does. By synonymous parallelism trustworthy and faithful mean the same thing. How have you found him faithful and trustworthy in your life? I don't know about you, but some time usually passes before I can say that. Until he shows you, trust him. This is what the composer of Psalm 145 did. He may not have seen God's faithfulness and trustworthiness right away.
The second phrase, "he upholds all who fall and lifts those who are bowed down (this could mean those who are discouraged, disheartened, depressed, or feeling defeated by life's circumstances or losses).
Have you teetered in your faith? Has your world been rocked by some crisis or disaster? He can keep you from falling, or if you do fall, he can lift you up. Of course, for the Psalmist to write this, he must have suffered himself and discovered God sees and cares. Have you suffered? Look to the LORD for your help. He sees and he cares.
A8: The LORD is kind and cares about every creature, even you and I. Because God's grace is to all, we should be cognizant of it and grateful. All creatures, and even every human being depends on God's grace, and the whole universe would fall apart without God holding all things together (Colossi 1:16-17). God opens his hand toward his creation; he is not tight-fisted (Matthew 5:45).
If God is that way, shouldn't we be? (Proverbs 19:17)
I know, some may not deserve help, and we may enable sinful behavior if we do, but that is probably a small minority of people. God is a gracious giver, and as his followers, we should follow his example.
A9:The structure is synonymous parallelism. Righteousness and Faithfulness are closely related. We might assume that the Jewish audience needed the reminder, "The LORD is righteous in all his ways. He is faithful in all he does". Perhaps they were in exile when the Psalmist penned this. Have you had some tough times when you needed the reminder?
A10: The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. Do you want to be near God? James, the half-brother of Jesus said,
Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Wash your hands you sinners and purify your hearts you who are double-minded (James 4:8).
Call on the Lord and rely on him. Believe in him and believe what the Scriptures say about him. He is the object of our faith. In the Lord there is salvation, peace, and forgiveness (more).
Why do we call on God? What is our motivation? The book of James says we have not because we ask not, or we ask for the wrong reasons, so we can consume it upon our lusts. () or we do not ask God, believing in faith that he will give us what we ask for. To some, he's either a Sugar daddy or a non-caring God.
To call on the LORD in truth means believing God is wise and powerful and omniscient to know what's going on in you life and the life of others. He will answer those who pray according to the truth of God's Word. They try to obey Biblical principles and commands. Are you trying?
Summary:
Application:
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