Great Is The Lord!
OPENING PRAYER:
Gracious God, you are my maker and my God. You gave me life and sustain my life. I give you praise.
A psalm of praise. Of David.
1 I will exalt you, my God the King;
I will praise your name for ever and ever.
2 Every day I will praise you
and extol your name for ever and ever.
3 Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
his greatness no one can fathom.
4 One generation commends your works to another;
they tell of your mighty acts.
5 They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty—
and I will meditate on your wonderful works.[b]
6 They tell of the power of your awesome works—
and I will proclaim your great deeds.
7 They celebrate your abundant goodness
and joyfully sing of your righteousness.
8 The Lord is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in love.
9 The Lord is good to all;
he has compassion on all he has made.
10 All your works praise you, Lord;
your faithful people extol you.
11 They tell of the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your might,
12 so that all people may know of your mighty acts
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures through all generations.
The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises
and faithful in all he does.[c]
14 The Lord upholds all who fall
and lifts up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food at the proper time.
16 You open your hand
and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways
and faithful in all he does.
18 The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;
he hears their cry and saves them.
20 The Lord watches over all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.
21 My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord.
Let every creature praise his holy name
for ever and ever.
Footnotes
Psalm 145:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, the verses of which (including verse 13b) begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
Psalm 145:5 Dead Sea Scrolls and Syriac (see also Septuagint); Masoretic Text On the glorious splendor of your majesty / and on your wonderful works I will meditate
Psalm 145:13 One manuscript of the Masoretic Text, Dead Sea Scrolls and Syriac (see also Septuagint); most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text do not have the last two lines of verse 13.
REFLECT:
Praising God brings renewal and hope to our lives. As you echo the words of this psalm, may God banish any feeling of fear or sadness you may be carrying.
I don’t know about you, but sometimes my life is marked by grumpiness and self-pity. So, I need this psalm. Between the opening and concluding verses, four stanzas extol the greatness of our God.
God is indescribably majestic, and his character is revealed in the wonderful things he does (vs 3–7). But the majesty is not remote. It touches earth, and our lives, with love, compassion and forgiveness, as God, who is Father, embraces his children (vs 8–13a). And what God promises he always delivers. He lifts me up when I stumble and fall, he opens his hands in love and gives me the desires of my heart (vs 13b–16). Best of all, he comes ‘close up and personal’ to satisfy, to save and to make secure (vs 17–21). Grumpiness and self-pity be banished! How could we not draw near to the one who draws near to us (v 18)?
How could we not shout his praise from the rooftops (vs 1,2,21)? The psalmist leads the way. He can hardly contain himself. He will extol God, commend him to the next generation, proclaim his wonderful deeds, celebrate his goodness and sing with joy. Can we do the same?
APPLY:
Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord! / Unnumbered blessings, give my spirit voice’ (Timothy Dudley-Smith, 1962).
CLOSING PRAYER:
Amazing God, today I tell out your greatness. How great you are.
WORSHIP:
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