The Blessing of Blessing God
Psalm 145:1-21
July 20-21, 2024
This will be our last message in the book of Psalms. I know. I'm going to miss the Psalms. Of course, we have a little more during the Wednesday verse-by-verse July chapter service to finish, but this will be our last one on the weekend services until we come back around. The way we do it here at Calvary Chapel is that we're just going to continue now into the Proverbs and then continuing forward until we all get through the book of Revelation and then we're going to start it all over again. This is our fourth time through the Bible. That will be our fifth time, and we're going to come back around to the Psalms in about 10 years. Where will you be in 10 years?
If you're here and you're in the word together, you'll be 10 years richer in God's word.
Now, this is also the final Psalm attributed to David. In many ways, it is one of the most important of all of the Psalms. It's one of the glorious ones, no question, but one of the most important. The reason I say that is because this Psalm makes up the greater part of a very important prayer prayed by Jews all over the world, the Ashrei. The Ashrei prayer is Psalm 145, and it is prayed by Jews all over the world three times every single day. That's how important this Psalm is. Every single day, prayed three times, morning, in the noon, and and the evening. Three times, the Ashrei prayer.
Rabbis teach that if a person would read this prayer, read the Psalm three times every day, that they would be guaranteed a place in the eternal life, in the world to come. That's how important this Psalm is. Now, from the Christian perspective, reciting a prayer three times every day for the rest of your life will not guarantee you a place in eternal life or the world to come. That sounds far too much like believing that a person can be saved by their own righteous deeds.
What if a person missed one of these three times-a-day prayers? You'd have to make up for it. At the next assigned time, you would have to pray it twice. Making up for the prayer only counts if you missed it unintentionally. If you missed the whole day, then the next morning you have to pray it four times. Such is the idea that one can win eternal life by reciting a prayer three times a day. No, you are not saved by your own righteous deeds.
You are saved when you believe that you are a sinner who cannot redeem himself from his own sin. That is only in believing that God is the one who forgives sin through His son, the Lord Jesus Christ, because God Himself paid for that sin. When Jesus died on the cross, He paid for your sins and mine. That is how a person is saved.
Now, you might say, a person can maybe compensate, make up for a missed prayer. Maybe one could make up for a missed prayer, but how does one compensate for a lie? By telling the truth twice? I really mean it this time. This time I really mean it. No, the stain of that lie is always there. How does one compensate for losing his temper and saying ugly words? By saying nice words twice? No. The stain of those ugly words is always there.
Now, the scene of sin is washed white as snow only by the blood of Jesus Christ applied to your sins. There is no other remedy for sin. For there is no other name given under heaven by which men must be saved, the name of Jesus Christ. In Christ, not only are your sins forgiven in their entirety, paid in full, but you are also given the righteousness of Jesus Christ as a gift.
Can you imagine receiving the righteousness of Jesus Christ into your account? The righteousness of Jesus is, in fact, fully credited to your account in its entirety so that when you send before the throne of the Great Almighty at the end of the age, you'll be standing there wearing a robe of righteousness, but not a robe made of your own righteousness.
The scripture says in several places that our righteousness is like filthy rags before the Lord. If you're standing there before the throne of the Great Almighty, you don't want to be wearing filthy rags. No, we are given a robe of righteousness, but that righteousness is the righteousness of Jesus Christ given to us as a gift. How beautiful is that robe of righteousness? Amen.
Glorious. Let's give the Lord praise. Notice Psalm 130:3-4. "If You, Lord, shall mark inequities," in other words, if You should write them down on my record, "O, Lord, who can stand? But with You, there is forgiveness that You may be honored and revered." Isaiah 61:10, "I will rejoice greatly in the Lord. My soul will exult in My God for He has clothed me with garments of salvation. He has wrapped me with the robe of righteousness."
Now, is it good to pray this prayer going back to Psalm 145? Is it good to pray this prayer? Yes, it's one of the most powerful, greatest prayers in the Bible, but you should pray it out of a heart to honor God for all that He has already done for you. All that He has done in the forgiving of your sin, in giving you the promise of eternal life, in winning for you a relationship with God as your father. He has poured out grace, upon grace, upon grace, and you're just so thankful for all that God has done in your life. You want to honor Him, you want to bless Him, and that's why you pray, and that's why you bless Him by reading such a beautiful prayer as this.
I tell You what? God has done so much for me. I am very, very thankful, and I want to honor Him for all that He's done. Anybody want to agree with me on this? Amen. Give Him praise. Exactly right. It's good to pray the prayer, yes, because, number one, it's one of the greatest prayers in the Bible. Number two, because it's good for the soul to bless God. There are blessings that come to those who bless God. That's what we're going to see. It's good for this soul to bless the Lord.
All right. Let's read it. Psalm 145. Now, after an introduction like that, you're probably saying, "I want to know what's in that Psalm." Exactly right. It's that good. Psalm 145, a Psalm of David, verse 1. "I will extol You, my God, O King. I will bless Your name forever and ever. Every day, I will bless You." You can see why they do it every day. "Every day, I will bless You. I will praise Your name forever and ever for great is the Lord and highly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable." In other words, you can search for eternity and you'll never come to the end of His greatness.
"For one generation shall praise Your works to another and declare Your mighty acts. On the glorious majesty of Your splendor and on Your wonderful works, I will meditate." Great understanding here. "All men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts, and I will tell of Your greatness. They shall eagerly usher the memory of Your abundant goodness and shall shout joyfully of Your righteousness. For the Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and great in loving kindness. The Lord is good to all and His mercies are over all His works. All Your works will give thanks to You, O Lord, and Your godly ones will bless You." Those who are righteous, godly in the Lord, they're going to bless You, Lord.
I love verse 11. To me, it is one of the great highlights of the whole Psalm. "And they shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom," declare the glory of the kingdom, "and speak of Your power to make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts, and the glory and the majesty Your kingdom. For your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and Your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord supports all who fall and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to You. You give them their food in due time. You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. For the Lord is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds."
"The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who revere Him and He will hear their cry and He will save them. For the Lord keeps all who love Him, but the wicked, He will destroy. My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord and all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever."
I. It’s Good for the Soul to Bless God
That is a great song, glorious. In every way, it's glorious, a proclamation of the greatness of God and all that He's done to bless our lives. There is much for this Psalm to apply to our life. Notice in verses 1-2, that it's good for the soul to bless God. "I will extol You, my God, O King. I will bless Your name forever and ever. Every day, I will bless You." See, he's making a declaration. He's saying, in other words, I have decided. I have set my course. I have decided that my life is going to bless and honor the name of God forever and ever. I have decided. I have resolved this. I have decided. It's a declaration.
See, in other words, you must come to the place where this matter is settled. See, for those who are unsure, for those who doubt, they stay close to the fence, if you know what I mean. Those who are of doubt, those who are unsettled, they like to stay near to the fence, but those who have decided and those who have settled their hearts, those who have declared it, they are the ones who go farther into the kingdom and higher up in glory. Farther in and higher up, for there is no greater joy for the soul than to delight itself in God. There is no greater joy. There is no higher place for the soul to dwell.
See, so many people, there's something missing. There's an emptiness. They're searching and they're longing. What is this thing that's missing? They search, they long and they seek. What is this thing? They're empty, longing to be filled with meaning and purpose and significance. They want their lives to matter. What are we here for? What is our purpose? See, David writes, "Oh, I know what it is to give glory to the almighty, to speak of Your works," and notice then, "to praise His works to another generation."
A. To praise His works to another generation
Notice verse 4. "One generation shall praise Your works to another and declare Your mighty acts." Now he's speaking, of course, of the older generation speaking of the mighty acts of God to the younger generation. You want to tell the next generation "I know what the soul longs for. I have found the soul's desire. I want you to know it. I want you to see it for yourself, to understand it, to taste it." The older generation wants to speak it to the younger generation. I've found it. I know the soul's desire. I want you to find it. I want you to know it. I want you to taste it.
See, I'm thinking of an illustration. I remember the first time I ever tasted cotton candy grapes, first time. I remember this so very well. I was at Fred Meyer, and I was in the produce section, and I saw in the grapes that there was a package that said, "Cotton candy grapes." I thought, "Really? Grapes that taste like cotton candy?" I had to taste it. Of course, you're allowed to taste one, so I did. I tasted this cotton candy grape, and I thought, "Oh my, it is amazing. It really does taste like cotton candy grapes."
I remember I was there in Fred Meyer. I took out my phone and I started calling my family like, "You won't believe this. I'm tasting grapes right-- One, I'm tasting grapes right now. They taste like cotton candy." They said, "No way." I said, "Way." I bought a big bag of them, brought them to home because we had a family gathering, and said, "You all got to taste this." They all tasted it and they went, "You're right, it really does taste like cotton candy. These things are amazing."
By the way, how many people have never tasted cotton candy grapes? Are you kidding me? You have got to be kidding me. They are so good. You see why that's such a good illustration? It's like you want to tell the next generation. You tasted something so good you got to just tell the next generation. "This is amazing. I found it." It's like Psalm 34:8, "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good, for how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him."
See, you want to tell the next generation relationship to God is far more than just some theological understanding. Relationship to God is a matter of life. It's a bearing of faith, taste it. You must taste and see that the Lord is good. See, you're partaking of the life of God. This is far more than some intellectual understanding. I want you to taste it for yourself and see that's what the generation speaks in the next generation, "Partake. It's good. I found the soul's desire. It settles well upon the soul because it brings forth that which is beautiful in your life. I want you to know it. I want you to taste it yourself to be transformed by it."
Psalm 34:9, "Oh, revere the Lord, you His saints, for those who honor Him there is no want." David understood this. David wrote this Psalm. There is no want. That's what the generation wants to speak to the next generation. "I have found the soul's desire. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. I shall not want for rest for He makes me lie down in green pastures. I shall not want for refreshment for He leads me besides still waters. I shall not want for forgiveness for He restores my soul. I shall not want for guidance for He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
I shall not want for companionship, for though I walk to the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for Thou art with me. I shall not want for comfort for Your rod and Your staff they comfort me. I shall not want for provision or sustenance for You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. I shall not want for joy for You anoint my head with oil and my cup runneth over. I shall not want for anything in this life for goodness and mercy follow me all the days of my life and I shall not want for anything in life to come for I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever."
There is no want for those who have tasted and seen how good the Lord is. Can We give God praise? It's glorious. Amen. This is what one generation declares to another, that they have found their soul's desire and they want the next generation to know it, to taste it for yourself. I tell you, I have discovered myself. I have discovered the beauty of the Lord. This is what David declared in Psalm 27, "One thing I have asked from the Lord and that I shall seek, one thing, above all things, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to meditate in His temple and to behold the beauty of the Lord."
B. Meditate on the majesty of His splendor
Oh, many people do not understand the aspect of the beauty of the glory of God, that that which God does on the soul is beautiful. I have come to discover it. I want the next generation to know it. Verse 3, "Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. His greatness is unsearchable." Then what you notice in verse 5. To meditate on the majesty of a splendor is a key understanding. "On your glorious majesty of Your splendor and on Your wonderful works, I will meditate." This is a very important key. I mentioned before that the Christian understanding of meditation is far different than that of Eastern religions.
In the Eastern philosophies, they meditate by emptying their mind of all thought. This is their thought, empty, empty, empty the mind of all thought. The biblical understanding of meditation is far different. It's not the emptying of one's mind. It is the filling of one's mind and one's heart and one's soul. It is in the filling that one discovers the glory of His majesty. On the glory of the majesty of Your splendor, I will meditate. I will consider. I will dwell upon this. On Your wonderful works, I will meditate.
Psalm 139, "Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well." This is what I will meditate upon. See, so many people, they fill their hearts and their minds with anxious thoughts. This is what they meditate on, their fears, their anxieties, their insecurities. When one dwells in their insecurities and in their anxieties, they're turning inward. They're always inward. They're considering their anxiety. That is what they meditate. That's what they consider. What he's showing us is that that's not good for the soul. It's not good for the body. It's not good. When one turns inward and all one thinks of is one's anxieties and one's insecurities and one's fears, you are turning inward.
David says, "Oh no, I have discovered a great truth." In fact, we might call it one of David's spiritual secrets that when I dwell upon, when I consider, when I get outside of my fears and get outside of my anxieties and get outside of my insecurities and I dwell upon the glory of the majesty of your splendor and the wonderful works of the Almighty, that something glorious happens in the soul.
It's like Psalm 92, the notes you say in Psalm 92:1-4. "It is good to give thanks to the Lord and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High. To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning and Your faithfulness by night. For You, O Lord, have made me glad." See, it's good for the soul to bless the Almighty. Something glorious happens there. It's good. It's good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to Your name, O Most High, to declare Your loving-kindness in the morning and Your faithfulness by night. For You have made me glad by what You have done, and I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands. Great are your works, O Lord.
II. The Lord Keeps All Who Love Him
You may notice in verse 20. Verse 20 in many ways captures the theme of the second half of this great Psalm that the Lord keeps all who love Him. He keeps watch over those who love Him because He loves You. The whole of the Psalm is how He pours blessings and favor and the grandeur of His glory out upon those who abide in Him. See, God loves You. You are made in His image and He wants you to love Him. See, that is what He desires most, is that you would love Him out of the glory and the splendor of what He's done in Your life, that you would love Him. That it would be a relationship that goes both ways. He loves You. You are made in His image, and He wants you to love Him
I was thinking of an illustration, and it's this. All my life, I was never into babies until I had one, and that changed everything. Before I had a baby, if someone would say, "Oh, look at my baby." I would say, "Oh, that's nice." "You want to hold him?" "Not really." Until I had one. It's like I couldn't believe it. That baby is made in my image. It's like I'm all in. I'm all in. I went to Harvard, all the doctor's appointments. I would get up at night, take my turn at night. I would change the diapers. I'm in. I was so in that I said to the doctor, "I want to deliver this baby myself in the hospital." The doctor said, "Fine." That I could do it.
Now, this was a different day and things have changed, but back in those days, he said, "Yes, you could do it on two conditions." I go, "Okay, what are those?" "First condition, if anything goes wrong, you step aside and I think over." "Okay, well, I want that for sure, yes." "Now, you said there were two conditions. What's the second one?" "The second condition is that you're still paying the same price." "Okay, fine, fine, fine." That was Nicole. There was always something special between us. Always something special.
No matter what happened, ups and downs, I could always talk to her. She could always listen. All the difficulties, there was always something special. When she was nine, she had this Kawasaki syndrome where she had fever of 106.5, and every joint in her body was just ached in pain. Then when she was 19, she had cancer and she lost all her hair. No matter what the trivial, no matter what the difficulty, there was always something special between us. I'm all in and she was all in. In fact, the night before she was killed, we had a cold drink sitting outside of Starbucks. For hours, we sat talking about God and family and relationships. I'm all in and she was all in.
It's a beautiful illustration. Because when God considers you, you are made in His image and He loves you. I'm all in. God would say, I'm all in. I'm in. I'm all in. I'm in so much that I will take all the sins that you've ever done, all the sins you've ever committed, and I will put them on My son, on the cross of Jesus Christ, that your sins would be paid, and paid in full, so that nothing could stand between you and a relationship to God the Father. I'm so in that I'll pay for your sins myself. I'll pay for them. I'm all in. I want you to be all in. He says, and God keeps watch over those who love him. He surrounds them with songs of deliverance. He says you're the apple of my eye. I'm all in.
Deuteronomy 32:10 speaks of, He encircled Israel. He cared for Him. He guarded him as the apple of his eye. Zechariah 2:8. "For thus says the Lord of hosts, he who touches you touches the apple of my eye." That's why He surrounds you. That's why He takes care to watch over you. Then it says even further in verses 18:9-19, that he is near to those who call. He's near to them. Notice, the Lord is near to all who call upon him in truth. He will hear their cry and He will save them.
A. He is near to those who call
Now, there are two parts to that. The Lord is near to those who call upon who call upon him in truth. Now, David understood this very well. It meant everything to David. How many times did David cry out to the Lord and the Lord saved him? Over and over and over. David understood it, that he could cry out to God. That God was watching over him and God was all in and surrounded him with songs of deliverance, keeping him as the apple of his eye, that therefore David knew that he could call out to God and that God would save him and help him.
We know this. It's also a New Testament understanding. It's also in 1st John 5:14. This is the confidence that we have before Him. This is our confidence, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. He attends to our prayer. If we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests, which we have asked from Him. David understood this very well. To call upon Him in truth though. In Hebrew is a very deep understanding. It means that you call upon Him with a true heart, sincere, true heart. There's a genuineness of the faith to believe. I know my God, and I know that He is near to those who call upon Him, and therefore I will believe.
You see, in truth means that in all confidence of faith, you know that God is your help in time of trouble. Can you imagine David in some trouble and then says, "I've tried everything else. I guess I might as well as the last resort ask God for some help." Can you imagine David saying that? No, David would never ask God for help as the last resort. That's what some people do. I've tried everything else, so I guess I should try this. David says, "Oh no, that's not my understanding. That's what it means to call after Him in truth. That's not my understanding. That's not my last resort. That's my first option. That's what that is.
B. He will satisfy those who honor Him
I know my God. I know that He is near to those who call upon Him that He will save them and help them. You draw near to the Lord and He will draw near to you. Then He says, "He will satisfy the desire." Notice in verse 19, He will fulfill the desire of those who revere and honor Him. He will satisfy the soul of those who honor Him. You come to a place where you have decided, I declare my life will honor Him. I will bless His name forever and ever. God says, "I will satisfy. I will fulfill the desire of those who honor Me." This is one of David's greatest themes. I'll tell you.
If you were to take David's Psalms and put them back to back and read through them all, you would discover this great theme. That's why David would include it in one of His greatest prayers. Psalm 37:4, delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. That's one of the reasons Psalm 145 is so beautiful, is because it expresses this-- it's a relationship. You delight yourself in the Lord and God will give to you the desires of your heart. Pour out upon you favor and honor and blessings, and then the blessings go both ways. I will bless you as long as I live. Forever and ever, I will bless you. Every day, I will bless you.
Then Psalm 36:8-9 to speak of it. We can end the Psalms by quoting one of the most glorious verses in all of the Psalms. "They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house and You give them to drink of the river of Your delights, for with You is the fountain of life. In Your light, we see light." This is one of the glory verses, the understanding of David's soul that God gives, that you would drink your fill from the river of His delights. What a great picture is that? Let it trickle. Let the river stream. There is a river of God's delight. Oh, what God would do in the soul of the one who delights in Him.
What you partake of in life will have a direct impact on your soul. Whatever you partake of, whatever you bring into that soul will impact it. David says, "Oh, I've come to understand that God has given, that those who would drink of the river, of the abundance of the river of His delights will find life, life to the full, life overflowing. My cup runneth over. Taste and see it for yourself how good God is, the greatness of our God, the glory of His majesty, the wonderful works of the Almighty. When you consider it deeply, you want to bless Him. Every day, I will bless You.
Father, we thank You so much for all that You've done. We do celebrate the glory of the majesty of Your splendor. On Your mighty works, on Your wondrous works, be considered for You have blessed us, poured out glory upon us. We have come to settle this in our hearts. Church, how many would say to the Lord today, "I want my life to honor Him. He has done so much for me. I'm so thankful. I want my life to honor Him. Every day, I will bless Him. He's done that much for me. Every day, I bless Him. I'm so thankful."
Church, how many would make that declaration? Would you just raise your hand as a declaration unto the Lord? I want my life to honor You, Lord. Every day, I'll bless You. So thankful for You. I give You glory and honor today in Jesus' powerful name, and everyone said-- Can we give God glory. Amen. Church, we're going to worship in a moment.