GRACE
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Opening Prayer
Lord Jesus, I join with all of heaven in worshipping you today—for who you are, for all that you sacrificed for me, and for the grace and mercy you offer me each day.
Read PSALM 145
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Psalm 145[a]
A psalm of praise. Of David.
1 I will exalt you, my God the King;
I will praise your name for ever and ever.
2 Every day I will praise you
and extol your name for ever and ever.
3 Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
his greatness no one can fathom.
4 One generation commends your works to another;
they tell of your mighty acts.
5 They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty—
and I will meditate on your wonderful works.[b]
6 They tell of the power of your awesome works—
and I will proclaim your great deeds.
7 They celebrate your abundant goodness
and joyfully sing of your righteousness.
8 The Lord is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in love.
9 The Lord is good to all;
he has compassion on all he has made.
10 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.
The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises
and faithful in all he does.[c]
14 The Lord upholds all who fall
and lifts up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food at the proper time.
16 You open your hand
and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
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.
Footnotes
- Psalm 145:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, the verses of which (including verse 13b) begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
- Psalm 145:5 Dead Sea Scrolls and Syriac (see also Septuagint); Masoretic Text On the glorious splendor of your majesty / and on your wonderful works I will meditate
- Psalm 145:13 One manuscript of the Masoretic Text, Dead Sea Scrolls and Syriac (see also Septuagint); most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text do not have the last two lines of verse 13.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
In what ways are you most accustomed and eager to worship God?
This is a Hebrew acrostic psalm: each verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This may constrain the flow of the poem but it keeps the psalm (covering an infinite subject—God’s character) to a reasonable length.1 AA Anderson suggests that we should imagine a worship leader singing the song, with the congregation joining in a chorus like ‘Blessed be God’s name forever.’2 Because of the reference to the provision of food (v. 15), the Jewish community sang the psalm as a harvest anthem, while the ancient church sang it as a lunchtime grace. Anderson notes that there was a tradition among pious Jews to recite this psalm three times daily in the synagogue!3 Dramatically, the psalmist speaks to, and about, the Lord, so that the poem seamlessly blends personal prayer and corporate praise.
One of the key Scriptural descriptions of God comes in verse 8, also recorded in three other places.4 The concept of God’s love was often proclaimed only to the community of God’s people in relation to the covenant, but there is a universalist theme to this psalm. The following verses show that God’s grace is for ‘all,’ a word used 16 times in the psalm. Alongside God’s mighty acts, we see the tenderness and intimacy of the compassion with which he loves his creatures.
As we have observed, there are always two sides to Ezekiel’s prophecies, blessing and judgment. Punishing the wicked is the responsibility of the Sovereign God. Those who respond positively to God are rewarded with his presence and blessing. As Ellison puts it, ‘The wicked reap what they have desired—absence from God.’5 Overall, we should see the psalm as a glorious expression of joyful, exultant worship. Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise.
Apply
Read the psalm aloud three times as an act of worship.
Closing prayer
Lord, I come into your presence this Sunday thanking you for the sacrifice made for me on the cross and for the gift of your Spirit that made it possible for me to worship you in spirit and truth.
1 HL Ellison, Psalms (SU, 1967), 121. 2 AA Anderson, The New Century Bible Commentary Psalms 73-150 (Eerdmans, 1981), 936. 3 AA Anderson, 937. 4 Ps 86:15; 103:8; Exod 34:6 5 HL Ellison, 1967, 121.
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