Praising God should be our daily work, for God is every day blessing us.
His greatness and goodness cannot be comprehended, and when we have said what we can in praising Him, there is more to be said.
Psalm 145
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.
3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.
4 One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.
5 I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.
6 And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness.
7 They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.
8 The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.
9 The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.
10 All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee.
11 They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power;
12 To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.
13 Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.
14 The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down.
15 The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season.
16 Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.
17 The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.
18 The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.
19 He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.
20 The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.
21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.
Psalm 145 – J. Vernon McGee
Psalm 145:1-9 – God’s Unsearchable Greatness
This psalm is an acrostic, the verses beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
The word all is characteristic of this psalm. It was the Te Deum of the Hebrew Church. The Jews said that its threefold repetition was the best preparation for the praises of the world to come. Speaking of this psalm and those following, Dr. Gilfillan says: “They are the Beulah of the Book; the sun shineth night and day. Coming at the close of all the prayerful, penitential, and mournful psalms, they unconsciously typify the joy and rest of glory.” The theme of the psalm is God. He is great, Psalm 145:3; gracious, Psalm 145:8; good, Psalm 145:9; upholdeth, Psalm 145:14; is righteous, Psalm 145:17; is nigh, Psalm 145:18; preserveth, Psalm 145:20. And the main aspect of His handiwork is the creation and maintenance of a universe of happy beings who subsist on His bountiful care. His tender mercies are over all his works. —Through the Bible Day by Day
Psalm 145:10-21 – God’s Bountiful Provision
There is more happiness in the world than we are disposed to think. God’s works give praise to Him. Take, for instance, the gladness of one summer day, when from the little green lizards upward there is a perfect murmur of enjoyment in the stilly heat. Shall we not trust God, to whom the care of all things is as easy as the opening of the hand is to us? Psalm 104:28.
Psalm 145:13 is graven in the keystone of a very old building in Damascus, once a Christian church but for many centuries a mosque. The words are still true and are nearer historical fulfillment today than ever, Psalm 145:18. The Lord is always nigh, though we do not perceive or realize His presence, and it is good to affirm it as we pray. To utter these words often during one’s daily life is to practice the presence of God, after the manner of the Christian mystics. But some cannot do as much; they can only desire, Psalm 145:19. But He whose love notices the faintest yearning after Himself will fulfill it. See Psalm 145:19. We shall praise God worthily when we see Him as He is! —Through the Bible Day by Day
Psalm 145:13—Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.
“Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.” These words are engraven on the door of a mosque in Damascus, which was formerly a Christian church. Originally they were plastered over by stucco; but this has dropped away, and the words stand out clearly defined. They seem to be contradicted by centuries of Mohammedanism; but they are essentially true. Just now the kingdom is in mystery; but soon it will be manifested.
Jesus is gone to the Father to be invested with the kingdom, as a Roman official might have gone from the provinces to Rome for his investiture on the part of the emperor as pro-consul or governor. And Daniel tells us that when He comes to the Ancient of Days, He will receive from Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him; and his dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom shall not be destroyed. It shall break in pieces, and consume all other kingdoms. The iron, clay, brass, silver, and gold, shall be broken in pieces, and become like the chaff of summer threshing-floors; but it shall become a great mountain and fill the earth.
We are called to receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Each faithful servant is to rule over his allotted cities. We are to reign with Christ for a thousand years in this world, sharing his throne and empire. We have been made kings unto God, and we shall reign for ever and ever.
“Then long Eternity shall greet our bliss
With an individual kiss;
Then all this earthly grossness quit,
Attir’d with stars, we shall for ever sit,
Triumphing over Death, and chance, and Thee, O Time!” —Our Daily Homily