TEXT:
‘Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! No one can measure his greatness’ (Psalm 145:3 NLT)
THOUGHT:
Psalm 145 contains seven statements about the Lord, reminders about who God is. The author of the psalm, King David, made praise a daily practise because he wrote, ‘Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever’ (v2). He did not just praise God for a victory he had experienced, he used praise to get the victory when personal or national issues were getting him down.
Regardless of your experience, belief or what others have said about the Lord, this is what the Lord is. What was David so thankful for?
1. The Lord is Great – ‘Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised’ (v3)
Many verses in the Bible refer to God’s greatness. These are not listed as if God is boasting about Himself. They are there for our benefit, to remind us of what God can do. Let the following verses encourage you about God’s greatness working on your behalf.
‘Lord, there is no one like you! For you are great, and your name is full of power’ (Jeremiah 10:6)
‘Blessed God … the one and only wonder-working God!’ (Psalm 72:18 MSG).
‘You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world’ (1 John 4:4).
‘For He who is mighty has done great things for me’ (Luke 1:49).
‘O Lord God! You have made the heavens and earth by your great power; nothing is too hard for you!’ (Jeremiah 32:17).
God’s greatness is beyond our understanding but not beyond our experiencing!
2. The Lord is Gracious – ‘The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy’ (v8).
Countless world leaders have shown off their greatness, particularly military strength, but were not known for being gracious, for they considered that to be a sign of weakness.
Thank God, the Lord is tough but He is also tender. His greatness includes great compassion and mercy.
Because of the nation’s sin and his own, King David was offered a choice of divine judgment: seven years of famine, overrun by enemies for three months or a three day plague. He chose to fall into God’s hands and replied, ‘I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man’ (2 Samuel 24:14).
He knew God’s hand would be lighter than man’s, for years earlier he had prayed, ‘Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions’ (Psalm 51:1).
His request was granted when God stopped the destroying angel after only one day of the plague. David purchased Araunah’s threshing floor as instructed and God accepted his sacrifice on the altar he erected. Little did he know that the site would later become the very place Solomon built the Temple.1
Wherever Jesus ministered, he was moved with compassion2 and He showed compassion.3 He sent the Demoniac away with these words ringing in his ears, ‘Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you’ (Mark 5:19). Little wonder he went everywhere proclaiming what Jesus had done for him.
We will always get what we do not deserve when we are willing to fall at the feet of Jesus! When no one else wants you, He does!
3. The Lord is Good – ‘The Lord is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all his creation’ (v9).
The Lord is good to everyone, not just a select few. One of the hardest things to believe as a Christian is that I have as much right to call on God as anyone else, that God loves me as much as anyone else. The Bible says, ‘For God so loved the world’ (John 3:16) and He means it.
‘In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike’ (Matthew 5:45 NLT).
God is good. He does not just do good, He is good. ‘If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!’ (Matthew 7:11).
Be encouraged with this amazing promise, ‘For the Lord God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory. The Lord will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right’ (Psalm 84:11 NLT).
This is why we can rejoice because, ‘Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever’ (Psalm 23:6).
In Part 2 we shall study the remaining four aspects of, “The Lord Is!”
Endnotes:
1 2 Samuel 24:15-25 2 Matthew 9:36 3 Mark 8:2
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