150 Days of Psalms - Psalm 145

Psalm 145 is my all-time favorite psalm. Cheryl knows that I want it read at my funeral (I'm planning on that being a long time from now). I used to know the entire psalm by memory. I need to spend some time getting it back into memory. Years ago I wrote a song called "One Generation" based on this psalm. We used it in a building campaign at another church. The emphasis of the campaign was a children's building and verse 4 was our theme.

In my big NASB Bible that I was given on the day of my ordination into the ministry I have a counted cross stitched book marker with verse one on it. I spelled extol wrong on it - put two Ls on the end. I never fixed it.
Ha.

The psalm is written in three sections.

It begins by proclaiming God's greatness

1 I will extol You, my God, O King, And I will bless Your name forever and ever. 2 Every day I will bless You, And I will praise Your name forever and ever. 3 Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised, And His greatness is unsearchable . 4 One generation shall praise Your works to another, And shall declare Your mighty acts. 5 On the glorious splendor of Your majesty And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate. 6 Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts, And I will tell of Your greatness. 7 They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness And will shout joyfully of Your righteousness.

The second section begins to talk about the Lord being gracious and merciful and how good He is to all but then David can't help but praise God more - this time telling of His glorious kingdom.

8 The LORD is gracious and merciful ; Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness. 9 The LORD is good to all, And His mercies are over all His works. 10 All Your works shall give thanks to You, O LORD, And Your godly ones shall bless You. 11 They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom And talk of Your power ; 12 To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts And the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom. 13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.

The final section can probably be summarized with verse 16.

14 The LORD sustains all who fall And raises up all who are bowed down. 15 The eyes of all look to You, And You give them their food in due time. 16 You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing. 17 The LORD is righteous in all His ways And kind in all His deeds. 18 The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. 19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them. 20 The LORD keeps all who love Him, But all the wicked He will destroy. 21 My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD, And all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.

I'm not writing a whole lot about this psalm because I don't want to take away from it. Read each section slowly and let David's words of praise become your words.