In one way or another, we have all experienced in our lives that when we praise God with utmost sincerity, our hearts are suddenly filled with peace, we feel a certain warmth as if there is a supernatural presence around us, and most importantly we feel as if we are being heard by a Divine Power. Praising God and glorifying His Holy name gives us the power to beat the unbeatable and defeat our enemies; surmount our worries and heal our souls; open closed doors to achieve success; attain peace within our hearts and revive our energies. Worshipping God is the food for our souls, for without Him we wither away in body and spirit.
Psalm 145 starts with David directly addressing God and proclaiming that he will sing high praises of God everyday as long as he lives for God is the ultimate ruler, the King! He says, “I will extol you, my God the King, and bless your name forever and ever. 2 Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever.” David says that he will never cease to praise God for His greatness, His unique attributes, His extreme power and sovereignty, and most of all for the love He has for His creation. He says that he will forever speak highly of God who is the true King.
Psalm145, encourages us to sing praises, worship, bless, and to thank God for the wondrous works that He does around us as well as in our lives. David says that we can never ever comprehend, as hard as we may try, the depths of God’s righteousness and might.
From verse 4 to 7 David says that generation after generation people have praised God highly for His righteousness and His amazing presence in their lives. He says that people of yesteryears have shared with their families and young ones the incredible divine acts of God and the great love that He showed them in different ways. They have always, generation after generation, exalted His name and paid great tribute to the Lord for His majestic ways. David says he will always praise God for all the good that He has done and for all that He continues to do. If we are parents or grandparents, we will tell our young ones how magnanimous the Lord is and how He blesses our lives in so many ways. We will share the miracles that we experienced in our lives because of the divine intervention of God as well as share stories from the Bible to explain how God’s incredible presence blessed the lives of those who trusted in Him. Similarly, the love of God has been transferred from one generation to another through different covenants and promises. He sent many prophets to share His word with His people, which reflects upon the fact that the Lord is a loving father who cares deeply for His children. His amazing creations such as the sun, moon, stars, mountains, seas, birds, animals, etc., all go to show His beautiful handiwork. It is our responsibility to pass on His works of righteousness to the next generations. Duet 6:6-7These words that I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You should teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise”
From verse 8- 10 David speaks about the attributes of God and says that the Lord is extremely kind and loving. He loves His children and is highly patient with them even when they do not obey Him, instead He showers His love on them and is slow to anger as He awaits their return to Him in worship and praise. Davis says that God loves all His creation equally and is kind to everyone. He goes on to say that everything that God has made speaks volumes of His creativity, aesthetics and beauty and His devoted and faithful people continue to praise Him for His goodness.
From verse 11-13 David says that the faithful people praise the great acts of God and tell about the Kingdom in heaven, the eternal Kingdom. Although David was a powerful King of Israel and was installed by God Himself, yet he is praising the Kingdom of God in heaven which is eternal. All Kingdoms on earth will perish but the eternal Kingdom will reign forever; but the question is who would enter, into the eternal Kingdom? “Matt: 7:21 Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven”. Here, it is written very clearly that not everyone will enter the eternal kingdom, only those who obey their Lord and are pious in their deeds will be permitted to enter the eternal kingdom. David says that God is trustworthy in all that He has promised to those who obey Him and He is faithful in all His words when He says that they will enter the eternal kingdom.
In the last portion of the chapter, David gives us hope and tells that God is always there to support us and guide us when we fall or are burdened by our grief. He says that God never fails the ones who look up to Him for their needs and call out to Him in their moment of trial. He feeds the hungry and reaches out to those who call to Him for help. He is generous and fulfills the needs of each one of us. He is right besides those who love Him devoutly and obey Him without question; God never deserts those who fear His displeasure and never falters to calm them in their troubled times. David says that God lovingly watches over the ones who truly believe in Him but He will destroy the ones who fall prey to sin and are wicked in their deeds whereby they never repent or beg God’s forgiveness.
David guides us towards the eternal Kingdom. He encourages us to turn to God, who is the Almighty. He is the one and only God who can lift us up and guide us to the best. David tells from his own experience how God turned His face away from David, when he fell in sin, but when David patiently prayed, repented from his sins, God listened to him and answered his prayers by lifting him up and reinstating him. Acts 3:19 “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord”.
From verse 16 to 21 he continues to tell us the secret to enter the Eternal Kingdom. He says that God is near all those who look for Him and desire to have fellowship with God. It is important to understand that God’s purpose to create humans was to have fellowship with them. However, due to sin God discontinued His physical presence from earth. Nonetheless, God did not forget his creation, whom He created in His own image. He always intended to ensure that His people were saved and would enter the Eternal Kingdom with Him. For that God sent His prophets and established His Covenants with them and made certain promises. Then finally He sent His only begotten son Jesus Christ to fulfill all His Covenants and promises with human beings and show them the way to Eternal Kingdom. John 3:16 “ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”.
