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.
~ Psalm 145:3-7
This Sunday, we will sing a wonderful Psalm, “God, My King, Thy Might Confessing.” [1] It is a beautiful song that praises God for His mighty attributes. Psalm 145 is found at the end of the Psalter, which is the second of the last six “praise” Psalms (144-150), which follow five prayer Psalms (Psalms 139-143). Matthew Henry states, “That after five psalms of prayer follow six psalms of praise; for those that are much in prayer shall not want matter for praise, and those that have sped in prayer must abound in praise. Our thanksgivings for mercy, when we have received it, should even exceed our supplications for it when we were in pursuit of it.” [2] Also found in Psalm 145 are the wonderful memory verses we learned as children, The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made (vss. 8-9).
This week I am attending the Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary conference. The theme is “Infinite Splendor: God’s Attributes for All of Life.” The speakers lectured on God’s attributes, what they are, and what they mean for us, particularly in our worship of Him. A note from one of Dr. James Dolezal’s lectures, “From Everlasting to Everlasting,” states, “God is not a non-living rock but an all-powerful, living Spirit that is engaged with His creation.” [3] This thought is something we often forget. In times of loss or difficulty, we tend to think God is not with us. Sometimes we might think He is with us, but He does not care what we are going through. Yet, God’s Word tells us the Lord is good to all, and His mercy is over all that He has made, even you and me, our struggles and our hurts.
Whenever we go through trying times, we must remember that our trials are subject to God’s omniscient power. The Psalmist gives us a beautiful picture of this in verse three with a combination of two words in our English translation “great” and “highly.” The word picture for “great” is one that is “large, the magnitude of your arm, a large man among the Anakim,” [4] and “highly” is “strength, force, too much, exceedingly.” [5] In other words, the God we praise is the God to which every single power in the universe succumbs.
I love the thought of Gesenius’s definition of God’s power as “too much.” We love to use that idiom in our English communications. My dad refurbished my mother’s car when I was younger. He had the GM 350 v8 engine rebuilt. I could not wait to drive that car. However, he would not let me until I was eighteen years old. I begged and pleaded to drive that car for three years, but he said no. Why? Because he thought its power was “too much” for me. And he was right. He probably should have made me wait until I was more mature than eighteen. Maybe your spouse acts curmudgeonly, and you say to them, “You’re just ‘too much’ for me right now.” The point is that neither of those illustrations can compare to God’s “too much.”
CH Spurgeon, in the notes section of his exposition of Psalm 145 of The Treasury of David, quotes William Nicholson on what this “great power” looks like from a human point of view:
If “great” here be referred to God as a king, then a great king he is in respect of the breadth of his empire, for all creatures, from the highest angel to the poorest worm, are under him. “Great” for length; for “his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.” “Great” for depth; for he rules even in the hearts of kings, of all men, over rules their thoughts, affections, nothing is hid from him. And “great” again for height; being “a great King above all gods”, ruling by his own absolute power and authority; whereas all other kings have their sword from him, and rule by a delegated and vicarious power. [6]
Is this not a beautiful thought? Breath, length, depth, and height of all things are subject to God’s great power. This great power is why the Psalmist praises His name, and so should we; on the glorious splendor of Your majesty and on Your wonderful works, I will meditate. Finally, notice that not only are (and will) all things to praise God, but His praise will never end. The Psalmist reminds us that in every generation, there will be God’s people to praise Him for who He is and what He does. The Psalmist states, one generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts. Again, Matthew Henry states, “The preservation, maintenance, and government of all the creatures proclaim the Creator very great. When therefore we declare his greatness, we must observe the unquestionable proofs of it.” [7] Let us remember this word as we sing, meditate, and pray Psalm 145.
[1] Psalm 145D, “God, My King, Thy Might Confessing,” Trinity Psalter Hymnal (Willow Grove, PA: Trinity Psalter Hymnal Joint Venture, OPC & URCNA, 2018). You may find wonderful singing of this by Brian Cochran at https://youtu.be/3LyDllfU3f4.
[2]Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible: Job to Song of Solomon. https://ccel.org/ccel/henry/mhc3/mhc3.Ps.cxlvi.html?queryID=23958098&resultID=131412. Accessed on March 08, 2023 at 9:46 AM.
[3]James Dolezal, “From Everlasting to Everlasting,” Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, lecture given in Session 5, 10:30 AM. Not a word-by-word quote, only my personal note taken.
[4]Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament.
[5]Ibid.
[6]CH Spurgeon, The Treasury of David. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://library.mibckerala.org/lms_frame/eBook/Spurgeon%20-%20Treasury%20of%20David.pdf. Accessed on March 08, 2023 at 11:26 AM.
[7]Henry, Ibid.
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