In just a few minutes, we’ll be serving the Lord’s Supper. We invite Christ-followers to join with us in celebrating the death and resurrection of Jesus just as Christians have done for thousands of years.
I brought a globe with me this morning. If you believe this globe (this world) is all there is then you believe in a closed system. If you believe this globe (this world) is all there is then I depend greatly on politics, education and science to solve the human condition. If you believe this globe (this world) is all there is then I’m passionate about saving the planet, because I believe this planet is all there is. I am just the latest rung on the evolutionary ladder & I need to hope that we can all raise to some kind of moral level. But if you believe there is more to this world than the world … If I believe that there is a God who exists outside this world, then I can use the tools of politics, education and science without having to worship them as gods. If I believe that there is a God who exists outside this world, then I can live for His glory, which will far outlive myself or anyone on this planet - doing things here on earth that will resonate into eternity.
Knowing God Makes Life Meaningful
“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8). Life finds purpose and meaning when you know God. Knowing God intimately means more than having supermodel good looks, losing 20 pounds or being offering the director’s role to the next Star Wars film. You live completely differently when you believe in God. The quality of your life will be determined by how well you know God.
We have been in a series on the attributes of God- God’s love, His power, & God’s holiness. Today, we finish up the series by looking at God’s goodness. You and I have no idea how good God is. God is good “all the time” … all the time “God is good.” This is one of the most vibrant and expressive passages on praise in all the Bible.
Today’s Scripture
“A SONG OF PRAISE. OF DAVID.
1 I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. 2 Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. 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. 8 The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 9 The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made. 10 All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD, and all your saints shall bless you! 11 They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power, 12 to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. 13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. [The LORD is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works.] 14 The LORD upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. 15 The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. 16 You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing. 17 The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. 18 The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. 19 He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them. 20 The LORD preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. 21 My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.” (Psalm 145:1–21)
This psalm is nearly an alphabetical psalm. Each verse begins with a Hebrew letter except one letter – nun (comparable to our letter “n”). You could say that we are given a reason to praise God from A to Z – an alphabet of glory. The entire alphabet is put together as a parade to praise God.
1. Choose to Tell God’s Praise Because God Sustains the World
1.1 Commit to Praise
David makes a personal commitment to praise God: “I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever” (Psalm 145:1). David makes a personal promise to God to praise God every single day. Now, I want you to make this personal commitment too. The Jewish Talmud encouraged all Jews to recite this Psalm three times a day – twice in the morning and once in the evening. Now, your praise of God is blocked by at least three items this morning:
1) Your ignorance of God;
2) Your desire to run your life (aka your sinful nature);
3) Your lack of trust in God’s goodness.
1.2 The Reason to Praise
And why should God be praised? We praise God because of God’s pure goodness. You have no idea how good God is. David tells us God possesses “abundant goodness” in the middle of verse seven. And again in verse nine: “The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made” (Psalm 145:9). Later in verse seventeen, we are told again about God’s inherent goodness: “The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works” (Psalm 145:17). God has no flaws and He doesn’t have to work on Himself. God is impeccably good. There was a man that history has called “the rich young ruler” who runs up to Jesus, kneels before Jesus only to say to Him: “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life”” (Mark 10:17b)? Jesus responds: “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:18b). God has it all together.
The word “all” or “every” is used seventeen times in this psalm to talk about how good God is to all of us. Let give you a tour because I don’t want you to miss even one “all” or “every.” I want you to feel the force of all these together so you can fully appreciate God’s rich goodness to everyone. In verse two we are told we are to bless God “every” day. In verse nine, we see God is good to “all” and His mercy is over “all”. In the first part of verse ten, “all” God’s works will give thanks to Him. And in verse thirteen, God’s reign is over “all” generations. Note the perfect symmetry at the end of verse thirteen where “all” God words are “faithful” and “all” of His works “kind”. But don’t stop there for in verse fourteen, the Lord is holding up “all” who are falling and He is raising up “all” who are knocked down. Take a look around you for verse fifteen says the eyes of “all” look to God for food. At the end of verse sixteen, God’s open hand satisfied the desire of “every” living thing. Pause: portions of this psalm would be recite at lunch in ancient times because of verses fifteen and sixteen. In verse seventeen, God is righteous in “all” His way and for the 2nd time we are told He “all” of His works “kind”. But don’t stop now for verse eighteen tells us the Lord Himself is near “all” who call on Him … to “all” who call Him in truth. The Lord Himself personally sees to ensure that “all” who love Him are persevered while the “all” wicked are destroyed in verse twenty. And the caboose of the train is in verse twenty-one where “all” flesh are bless His holy name forever and ever.
God is good “all the time” … all the time “God is good.” God’s rich goodness is stockpiled high and long. God’s goodness covers all times, all people, and of creation. No matter how far down in the depths of the sea you travel, you’ll find God’s goodness. No matter how far back you travel in time or how far forward you travel in the future, you’ll find God’s goodness.
God has two kinds of grace for people: common grace and saving grace. Common grace is the grace of God where He gives all people numerous blessings beyond what they deserve. Circle back to verses 14–17 for it says some wonderful things. It says the Lord upholds all who are bowed down; He lifts up all who fall: “The LORD upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down” (Psalm 145:14). It talks about the fact, “The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season” (Psalm 145:15). And then verse seventeen: “The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works.” God gives gifts of beauty across the human race and especially in times of difficulty. God gives strength across the human race because He loves all He has made. “For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” Matthew 5:45b. Without God’s gift of common grace, this world would be hell and total anarchy. It would be nothing but evil all the time. “…for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil” (Luke 6:35b).
Again, common grace is His kindness to all people. Again, common grace is His love for all people.
It is because God’s goodness that Psalm 145 instructs us to praise God. God is good “all the time” … all the time “God is good.”
2. Commit to Tell God’s Praise Because God Saves His People
“The LORD preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy” (Psalm 145:20).
2.1 The Reason to Praise
Again, David makes daily commitment to sing God’s praise: “Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever” (Psalm 145:2). Even a surface look at God should surface praise from you: “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable” (Psalm 145:3). God is your lifeguard and your paramedic. He is your bodyguard and guardian – nothing happens to us that He doesn’t permit.
2.2 Commit to Praise
“The LORD is righteous in all his ways…” (Psalm 145:17a). While God is good to everyone, He is not equally good to everyone for His goodness is a righteous goodness. While God is good to everyone, He has eyes and can see those who are hostile to Him. While God is good to everyone, He is especially good to His people. He sees those who approach Him with sincerity – “The LORD is near to all who call on him” (Psalm 145:18a). He sees those who approach Him with reverence – “He fulfills the desire of those who fear him” (Psalm 145:19a). He sees those who approach Him with love – “The LORD preserves all who love him” (Psalm 145:20a). When the Bible says God’s greatness is “unsearchable,” it speaks that if you searched for the end or the completion of His greatness, you’d never come to the end of your search.
Watch this relationship for a moment: as your knowledge of God grows so does your desire to praise Him. When you raise your thoughts of God, you’ll raise your praise of God. You should always be growing in your information about God while simultaneously increasing in your praise for God. Every new data byte of biblical fact you learn should provide more and more kindling to ignite a fire of praise inside you.
Before I move any further, let me offer you three quick reasons why you should publically praise God.
1) Praising God is good for us.
2) Praise God is good for others. Other Christians need to hear us praise God. The other Christians around you need to hear of your love for Christ. Passion for God stimulates others to praise Him.
3) Praise God is good for God. God delights in the praise of His people. God inhabits the praise of His people.
Conclusion
Pastor, convince me that God is good to me.
God says He loves you (Psalm 145:9);
You're never out of his sight (Psalm 139:3);
He cares about every detail of your life (Matthew 10:30);
He gave you the capacity to enjoy all kinds of pleasure (1 Timothy 6:17b);
He has good plans for your life (Jeremiah 29:11);
He forgives you (Psalm 86:5);
He's patient with you (Psalm 145:8);
He sacrificed his Son for you (Romans 5:8).
What more could you want? When you die, common grace is of no help to you. Common grace has an expiration date on it – it expires at the end of your life. That is why you need saving grace.
