How Great Thou Art
Chuck Sligh
November 17, 2013
TEXT: Psalm 145:1-9 – “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 honor 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.
INTRODUCTION
The only song that rivals Amazing Grace in popularity among Christians around the globe is How Great Thou Art. It was originally penned by a Swedish preacher named Carl Boberg as a three-verse poem entitled “O Store Gud,” in 1886. It was later set to music and spread throughout the churches in Sweden.
Boberg’s inspiration for the song came when he witnessed a violent midday thunderstorm on Sweden’s coast that was both terrifying and awe-inspiring. But soon after the storm, he heard the sweet songs of the birds in nearby trees. One author said Boberg’s experience prompted him to “fall on his knees in humble adoration of his mighty God.”
In some ways, the flow of the original three-verse poem reflects the themes of Psalm 145. Like the song, the writer of this psalm talks about God’s might on the one hand, then extols God’s loving attributes on the other.
I originally meant to preach the whole Psalm, but verses 1-9 provide the main themes and the rest of the psalm simply expand on the basic themes presented in verses 1-9. So we’ll restrict ourselves today to just verse 1-9.
Before we look at what this psalm teaches us about God, let’s consider some intro information.
• First, note that DAVID IS THE AUTHOR of this psalm. – It’s titled, “David’s Psalm of praise,” an appropriate title for it consists solely of praise to God.
• Second, the psalm is INTERESTING IN ITS STRUCTURE. It’s an alphabetical acrostic, meaning that David begins each verse with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Sometimes preachers are made fun of for their acrostics or alliteration, but scholars believe this was a devise to aid Hebrew readers of this psalm in memorization. By the way, David’s attempt to use all the letters of the Hebrew alphabet didn’t quit pan out: there’s one missing, perhaps because he couldn’t find a suitable word that started with that letter, or maybe God’s just checking to see if we’d notice.
David begins the psalm with a statement of intention: He says in verse 1-2, “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.”
I see four things about David praise:
• First of all, his praise was PERSONAL. He addresses his praise to “MY God.” If you know God as your Savior, you have a personal relationship with Him. You’re on a personal, first-name basis with the King of the Universe.
• Second, David’s praise was PURPOSEFUL praise. “I WILL extol thee…I WILL bless thy name…I WILL praise thy name…” We have a natural tendency to be negative and not be praiseful in our lives. The way to overcome this sinful tendency is to regularly, intentionally, by plan, resolve to praise God every day.
• Third, it was PERPETUAL praise – In these two verses David said he would do two things for ever and ever: bless His name and praise His name. This is what I call “long-range planning.” David knew he would go to heaven and he tells God He’s going to praise Him for all eternity—for ever and ever.
• Finally, David’s praise was PERSISTENT praise – In verse 2 he says, “EVERY DAY will I bless thee…” Not just in eternity, way out yonder in heaven SOME day. No, he resolved to glorify God EVERY DAY while on this EARTH too. You know, we wouldn’t be so down-in-the-dumps and discouraged and mealy-mouthed and negative if we purposed in our hearts to make a habit of lifting up and blessing and praising God every single day of our lives!
So David says, “Lord I’m flat gonna’ praise you.” For what?—Basically, David’s praise falls into two broad themes:
I. THE FIRST IS GOD’S GREATNESS – Verses 3-6 – “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 honor 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.”
God’s greatness is powerfully communicated in the first verse of How Great Thou Art:
O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
Who among us hasn’t marveled at the awesome greatness of God in His creation?
• Consider all the worlds God’s hands have made. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune—just in our own solar system, and each one amazingly different and amazingly awesome. And there are billions of OTHER worlds throughout our vast universe.
• I’ve seen the stars…uh wait a minute; no, I really haven’t. It’s estimated that there are about a hundred-billion stars, only an extremely tiny percentage of which are visible even with the most powerful telescopes.
One hundred-BILLION stars—THINK OF IT! What kind of God can create a hundred-billion stars with just a word…in a split second…out of NOTHING! Oh, how GREAT is our God!
• Oh, and like Boberg, I’ve heard the rolling thunder. Just the greatness of God seen in a violent thunderstorm is enough to scare you half to death if you’re caught out in one without shelter. But think of it!…Thunder and lightning are only a tiny, infinitesimally small FRACTION of the power displayed when a star explodes. How incredibly GREAT God’s power is!
• As Boberg reminds us, God’s power is displayed throughout the whole universe. Everywhere, in every tiny corner, God’s greatness and power are displayed. How GREAT is our God!
But God’s greatness is not only seen in these incredible, mighty BIG displays of God’s power; they’re also displayed in very quiet, gentle, peaceful ways right here on earth.
This is the inspiration for the second verse of How Great Thou Art:
When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.
Illus. – When life gets too busy, or when I’m stressed out, or discouraged—I like to go out to the lakes over by Eschenbach and walk on the trails by the lakes. As I walk through those woods and forest glades Boberg talks about, I hear those birds sweetly sing in the trees, I see those lovely brooks he describes, and I can feel the gentle breeze on my back. Somehow, just being out there in the glory of God’s creation, I feel calm and whole again, and the stress just drops away; and I feel a peace and harmony that fills me with gratitude for the GREAT God who made it all.
No wonder Boberg’s chorus belts out these inspiring words…
Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee, How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
I think David and Boberg would understand one another.
II. THE SECOND THEME OF DAVID’S PSALM IS GOD’S GOODNESS – Verses 7-9 – “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.”
David begins by telling us in verse 7 that God is good and righteous. You cannot really appreciate God’s loving attributes mentioned in verses 8-9 until you get a grasp of God’s goodness and righteousness in verse 7.
• God is GOOD in every sense of the word and in every possible way. He’s INFINITELY good. Grudem’s Systematic Theology says God’s goodness means that “God is the final standard of good, and all that God is and does is worthy of approval.”
• But God is also RIGHTEOUS, which means that He is perfectly holy and set apart from sin; that He can do no sin nor can He tolerate sin, and that He is totally just, meting to mankind what he justly merits for His actions and choices.
This presents a problem, because we’re all sinners, deeply ingrained in sinful habits. We’re by nature separated from this holy, righteous, good God because of our sin. God cannot fellowship with sinful creatures without their sin being justly punished.
There’s no way we can make up for our sins ourselves, because God, being infinite, requires INFINITE perfection; INFINITE holiness; INFINITE goodness. And none of us are infinitely perfect, good or righteous, despite our best efforts. We, as sinful creatures, can tolerate sin and overlook sin in other sinful people; but God, who is infinitely holy and just, CANNOT overlook our sin.
Thus, on our own, we stand condemned and doomed before God’s just judgment. That’s where God’s loving attributes come into the picture.
David describes them in verse 8:
• First, he says God is GRACIOUS.
That is, He bestows on us His grace, which is God giving us what we do not deserve. He gives us salvation through Christ; forgiveness of sins; eternal life; and heaven—NOT because we DESERVE it; but in SPITE of what we deserve.
• Next, David tells us that God is FULL OF COMPASSION.
We DESERVE His wrath; but God is full of compassion. He’s FULL of it; He OVERFLOWS with it; He EXUDES it; it’s part of His basic make-up; He can’t help but be compassionate for our plight.
That’s the only reason He sent His son to die on the cross for our sins—because of His character. He doesn’t save us because He needs us for some reason, for God is totally self-sufficient: He needs no one and no thing.
So why does He love us? Why did Jesus come to save us from sin and give us eternal life? Why does He put up with us who are already His kids, even when we sin again and again? WHY?—Because He’s FULL of compassion; He just can’t help Himself; it’s just part of His nature; it’s who He IS.
• David says He’s also SLOW TO ANGER.
The first time we sin, we deserve to be zapped into eternity. But Peter tells us this in 2 Peter 3:9 – “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
But God’s longsuffering will not last forever. His anger is slow, but inevitable to those who spurn His free gift of salvation. Don’t wait and don’t delay coming to Christ and trusting Him to save you. Don’t delay returning to God if you’re a wayward son or daughter of God. He’s still standing there with open arms willing to accept you back.
• David reminds us that God is also “OF GREAT MERCY.”
Mercy is the flip side of grace. GRACE is God giving us what we do NOT DESERVE: salvation, forgiveness of sins, eternal life, a relationship with God, heaven. MERCY is God NOT giving us what we DO deserve: condemnation, judgment, alienation and separation from God, hell, damnation.
And David says God is of GREAT mercy. He’s not a little merciful; He’s of GREAT mercy; He has a LOT of it; He’s FULL of mercy!
• Finally, David sums it up by saying in verse 9 that “The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.”
In other words, there’s no partiality with God and His mercy has no limits. It matters not if you have sought to be good your whole life or have shaken your fist at God in rebellion your whole life—there’s ample mercy for you. It doesn’t matter where you came from; what you’ve done; what sins you’ve committed; what commandments you’ve transgressed; or how bad you’ve been—God, in His goodness, still calls out to you in love to come to Him and be saved and experience His mercy and grace and love and forgiveness.
And it doesn’t matter who you are as a Christian or what you’ve done. There is abundant mercy still available to you. Return to Him; repent; confess your sin to God; and give Him the rest of your life!
CONCLUSION
Oh listen friend: God is a great God and a good God. He’s worthy of our praise, and He’s worthy of giving our lives to serve. He’s gracious, FULL of compassion; slow to anger, and of GREAT mercy.
Boberg expressed it like this in his powerful hymn we’ve been quoting:
And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.
Think about a God so gracious; so full of compassion; so longsuffering; so great in mercy that He would not spare His only Son, but sent Him to die so that on that cross—your and my sin burden gladly bearing—He bled and died to take away our sin.
What at great and good God!…
• One you should bow before and give your life to today if you are not saved.
• One you should turn back to in humble repentance if you’re a believer who has wandered away from God.
• One that you should intentionally, purposefully, habitually, continually lift up and praise and bless every single day!
Don’t let today go by without making sure that you, first of all, are in God’s family and that, secondly, you are 100% committed to God and His kingdom; and thirdly that you have not resolved to praise God and lift Him up every day.
