Psalm 145

We are doing a double song today.

Psalm 1 was this morning, and I think the rest of you were there for that.

But let me say a little bit about it again.

I mentioned it's the gateway to the psalm.

So if we're going to look at any other psalm, then we might as well look back at that.

The first psalm orients us to all the psalms.

Puts us on one of two paths in life, with God and without God.

And it says the source of life are the instructions of God, the law of the Lord.

What we receive as the scriptures from God.

Precepts.

One form of that instruction, then, is the psalms.

And so it sort of has to win our appetite for the rest of the psalms.

Prepare us for reading and singing the psalms themselves.

They were originally sung.

It is Israel's hymn book.

It has been called correctly.

As we meditate on them, like Psalm 145, we can expect to grow in Christian maturity.

And to benefit those around us.

Right?

So the tree, the person, the blessed person, like this tree, bears fruit.

That benefits the community may provide shade, comfort, stability.

This is why the letters of the Colossians again can say, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.

Teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom.

Singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.

With thankfulness in your hearts to God.

It seems strange.

How am I teaching and admonishing other people and then I break into song and help them out?

But the idea is really that we sing songs properly together.

And it is a way of ministering to one another.

We might know someone across the room who's going through a hard time.

And we think, wow, those words and that was in life.

Must really be something special today.

And so on.

And we rejoice with those who rejoice.

And we mourn with those who mourn.

This is the fundamental perspective on living life together.

We have these two ways.

We feed on God's instruction.

And with God, we proceed to life.

Life everlasting.

It's perspective.

As we see in Psalm 145 tonight,

a lot of what the Psalms wish to do is put our life in perspective.

Put our life in perspective.

One group of people that I think has a good perspective on life,

at least in a certain way, are soldiers.

I actually have a lot of admiration for military veterans.

I'm not just talking about or necessarily talking about the fighting part.

But I'm talking about everyday life.

How a soldier lives his or her life.

Because once they've left the military and reentered civilian life,

they have a particular perspective on the world.

They've dealt with extreme situations.

By that I mean they've signed up for a profession

that requires you to live, one, without a lot of life's comforts,

where you're treated harshly,

where discipline is among probably the top three virtues.

And many of these people have seen combat or life and death scenarios.

A mission, for example, may be important than some of the very life or survival.

And there's a lot of tough love in the military.

It's thanks to all of these things that soldiers and veterans

have a particular perspective on life.

A heavy workload.

Angry colleagues.

Take these as a few examples.

An anxious partner.

Difficult students.

These are just not so serious or difficult for soldiers,

in my experience at least.

They're abnormally calm, unfazed by difficulties.

I don't know if that's your experience,

but this is the perspective that I'm referring to.

The threshold for what bothers military people

is much higher than the average person's.

I think this is by and large because of what they've dealt with

and experienced and how they've been trained.

Most of the psalms, and certainly Psalm 145,

are trying to put your life in perspective.

And the psalms do so by orienting us towards the greatest thing in life.

Psalm 1 declares it a blessed thing to delight in the law of the Lord

and meditate it on it day and night.

Psalm 4 expresses confidence in the fact that God will answer those who call to him.

Psalm 8 puts humankind in the perspective of God's majesty.

Psalm 13 proclaims trust in God despite and in the midst of his apparent absence.

You get the idea that psalms are life in perspective.

Particularly in God's perspective.

What Psalm 145 wants us to see and to believe and to feel,

the psalms are all about feeling, orienting our desires towards godly emotion,

is this, great is the Lord.

That's the psalm, great is the Lord.

Let's have a look at the first few verses.

I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever.

Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever.

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised.

And his greatness is unsearchable.

The psalmist is crazy about God.

He not only believes that the Lord is great,

he is impressed by God,

awed by God,

commends him daily,

thinks about him daily,

values God endlessly,

tells others about him,

promotes God,

and passes God on to his children.

If you read the whole of the psalm,

that's what the psalmist is doing.

Unrestrained admiration and full satisfaction.

The idea of God as king,

the first verse says,

I will extol you, my God and King.

This is a familiar idea,

but the exact word,

likening God to a king,

I think only occurs twice in the psalms.

Now God, of course,

governs and rules and acts like a king,

but to call him a king

doesn't happen that often.

The other place is Psalm 98,

with trumpets and the sound of the horn

that make a joyful noise

before the king, the Lord.

The idea here is that God is great,

and that he does great things,

and that he's deserving of great praise,

and a king would or should be.

I'm going to say something

that I think I remember correctly.

I read a book,

but I haven't been able to find it.

And so I think this is what the author was saying.

The part of this book was about

what it meant to bow before a king,

a symbolization of bowing,

a special falling on your face before a king,

which would have been done

all over the ancient world,

but it is still done in some places today.

Egyptian kings, Assyrian kings,

Greek kings, biblical kings,

any senior figure really

would have people bow down before them.

This shows respect and deference, obviously.

But this author thought that it could symbolize

something else.

Death.

He said the person would bow and fall before

the king,

who would then tell them to stand,

or rise.

And that was showing that the king

granted life.

that the king had been ruled

over life itself.

And that it was symbolically

dying before this person

and coming up to life.

Even if, and the author is very awful,

even if it's not entirely correct,

that the idea could even be

put forward and passed around

as a real possibility,

so it's just how much it meant to be king.

I will praise you,

I will extol you,

my lord and king.

The very life of those

in the king's presence

was sustained by the king.

And that's just an earthly king

he was talking about.

Surely King David's greatness

was searchable,

quantifiable,

understandable.

But the greatness of the lord

who made the heavens and the earth

who formed many complex

and wonderful things

in creation.

His greatness is

unsurginal,

as the psalmist puts it.

The psalm leans into this.

It's a recognition of greatness.

One way this happens,

to extol God as king like that,

to recognize His greatness,

is by imbibing God.

There's really no other way

to put it,

kind of feasting on the lord.

If we have a look at verse 5,

on the glorious splendor

of your majesty

and on your wondrous works,

I will meditate.

This is that word again

from this morning,

to meditate.

The psalmist is in that verse

and the surrounding notes.

He's taken in God's works.

He's taken in the splendor

of God's majesty.

And he's taken in the lord's kindness

and goodness.

And as much as he takes

all of this in,

the whole point really

is that he gives it back out.

It's input and output.

Things that come in about God,

we must give out.

Or almost have to give out.

Teenage boys,

particularly,

love new phrases.

Multiply month,

week by week,

year by year.

The teenage population

is regularly processing

catchphrases and slang.

I was recently walking

with a young guy

who had recently

taken his theology GCSE exams.

How was it?

I asked.

Sir,

it was large.

It was large,

he said.

I said,

the theology exam

was large.

I took it to mean

that it was daunting,

that it was exhilarating.

Perhaps it was impressive.

I'm still not quite sure,

but I get the sense

that slang for things

excellent and superior

is really never in me.

Now,

the boy,

this boy had done well

on the exam

and proceeded to tell me

his score.

And I might say

that he was then flexing.

He was showing off.

He didn't know

how to celebrate

by eating pizza,

but we wouldn't eat pizza,

we would smash it.

We didn't smash it.

We're going to smash

that pizza tonight.

It's probably enough of that,

but I should say

that the adults

actually enjoy new phrases too.

Last week,

I was in Los Angeles

visiting a family

where we were actually

and heard some new phrases

like chill vibes,

which was familiar,

but the slang

that's really going now

is talking about energy.

That's positive energy

or even college guy energy

or Polish energy.

I'm not sure

if I'll

reuse that.

Right,

we might not

be into these

sorts of things,

but we do repeat jokes,

we repeat mannerisms,

we repeat these things,

but they come in

and they come out.

Double to the law of life.

We take air in

and it has to come out.

We drink coffee

and find his way

and we speak

about those we love

to future generations

and the deceased,

we tell stories about them.

We even bring it back

to life

by expressing our memories.

Many of the things

in life that we take in,

we also give out.

You give the idea.

The question that

the psalmist has for us

is whether or not

we speak of God.

And if we don't,

then it seems that

we haven't really

taken God in.

As we saw in Psalm 1,

to meditate means

to turn over

in one's thoughts,

to ponder,

using the memory

and considering

all kinds of material

or experiences.

It requires focus

and it expects

an outcome.

The first five says,

on your wondrous works,

I will meditate.

And I'll read Psalm 143

again as I did this morning.

I remember the days of old.

I meditate

on all that you have done.

I ponder

the work of your hands.

I stretch out

my hands to you.

My soul thirsts

for you like a partial lamb.

I remember,

I meditate,

I ponder

what you've done.

God,

because I need you

and I expect you

to satisfy my soul.

Meditating is like

punching one's thirst.

It's taking God in.

But again,

Psalm 145 is clear

that by taking God in,

we also are

and need to be

giving God out.

We can think about this

as breathing.

There are several

different passages

that deal with

taking God in

and giving God out.

God breathes

into Adam the breath of life

and Adam rules

on God's behalf.

Jesus says,

I am the bread of life.

And unless you eat

the flesh of a son of man

and drink his blood,

you have no life in you.

Paul says,

Be kind to one another,

tender hearted,

forgiving one another,

as God and Christ

forgave you.

We take God in

and give God out.

We find this all over

the New Testament

and it becomes imperative

for Christians.

It's not just that we

give out what we take in,

but there are certain things

we should take in

and therefore should

give out.

Let's talk a little bit

about forgiveness.

Some of you will know

Matthew 18.

Peter is talking to Jesus.

How many times

should I forgive my brother?

He's just received

Jesus' teaching

about forgiveness,

which really puts

the expectation

through the roof.

So Peter says,

How many times

do I need to do that?

Seven times?

The total number

is definitely better

than the three

that the Jews

were naming.

About three times,

seven times,

Jesus.

Jesus says,

77 times.

He then tells

a parable about

a king and two servants.

The king forgives

or hardens

the debt

of one of his servants.

Now this servant

owed

10,000 talents.

And we think

that a talent

was about

20 years wages

for a labor.

20 years wages.

So we're talking

200,000 years worth

of accumulated debt.

It's an unpayable amount.

It's meant to be

unrealistic.

And so the servant

begs the king

to let him try

to pay it off

nonetheless.

And the king says,

You know what?

The debt

is forgiven.

The debt is forgiven.

And what does

that servant do?

Well, he goes

and finds

one of his own

workers.

And this man

owes him

100 denarii.

Now a denarii

is about

a day's wage.

Right?

So he's got

a few months

of back bills.

Right?

Completely,

I'd say,

fairly realistic

for some amount

of time.

And he could say,

Let me work this off.

Okay?

And what does

the senior servant do?

He doesn't just deny it.

He chokes him.

He chokes the man

and demands

repayment.

But this servant,

too,

says,

Have patience.

He begs for forgiveness

or pardon.

Well, not even that.

He begs for a chance

to pay him back.

I'll pay.

But the servant's

thrown into jail.

There's no forgiveness.

There's no pardon.

Now if you think

that that's harsh

and unreasonable

way to treat this

man

who

owes him

100 denarii,

then you'd be right.

You'd be exactly right.

Even if

that was some sort of

within the law,

it was the custom

and so on.

What really bothers us

about that story

is that it's mean

and cruel

and ungrateful

in light of the fact

that that servant

has been forgiven

and has been forgiven

so much.

And the king

in the story

thinks

that it's also

not okay.

And he also thinks

that the senior servant

hasn't understood

forgiveness

correctly,

that he hasn't

taken it in,

that he hasn't

fully

taken it on board,

taken it apart,

and he's right.

Forgiveness may be

the greatest gift

of God,

but it shouldn't

be taken lightly.

We should take care

to absorb the blessings

and the greatness

of God

and have those

things God

in our life.

Be kind to one another,

tenderhearted,

forgiving one another

as God and Christ

forgave you.

Christ is the pattern

for our lives.

And his forgiveness

is one of the

principal parts.

The psalmist spends

a great deal of time

giving God out,

extolling God,

praising him

for his wondrous works,

naming some of his

mercies,

and so on.

He's talking about God,

he's telling us

who God is,

and so on.

But you can already

tell that something

else underlies

these words.

He's not just

saying them.

He's talking based

on something.

I think something

is an encounter.

It's an encounter

with God.

If we have a look

at verse 8,

the Lord is gracious

and merciful,

slow to anger

and abounding

in steadfast love.

The Lord is good

to all,

and his mercy

is over all

that he has made.

Note some of these words,

his mercy is over

all that he has made.

Verse 11,

the saint shall speak

of the glory

of your kingdom

and tell of your

power

to make known

to the children

of men

your mighty deeds

and the glorious

splendor

of your kingdom.

I think the psalms

and those who

are saying this song,

and even many of us

here will have

a reference point

for these sorts

of things.

The mercy,

the glory,

the power,

the splendor,

the mighty deeds

of God.

Even,

or maybe most of all,

God's kingdom.

If you read on

through the final

third of the psalm,

the last few verses,

the list only gets

longer.

God's generosity,

his responses,

his presence,

his protection.

You satisfy the desire

of every living thing.

The Lord is near

to all who call on him,

to all who call on him

in truth.

He fulfills the desire

of those who fear him.

He also hears them cry

and saves them.

The Lord preserves

all who love him.

These words are about

an encounter with God

because words,

even words in the Bible,

are not God themselves.

Now,

I know around here

and I think we rightly

have a close identification

with the Bible,

with God's words

and with God himself.

They can't really be

separated because

they came from God.

But we can study the Bible

and not know God.

And so there's some

difference going on.

And what the Bible

should be doing

is drawing us nearer

to God,

the person,

God the Lord.

They point us to God.

They tell us about God.

They draw us nearer

and closer to him.

They even make demands

with God.

But we must encounter

the person of God.

It refers to the opposite

as the dead letter.

The dead letter.

Let me finish with a few

of the primary encounters

from the Bible.

In the Old Testament,

the main encounter

for the people of God

was the Exodus.

We cite the Ten Commandments

here right in the middle.

And they begin with this.

I am the Lord your God

who brought you out

of the land of Egypt.

It's almost like a tagline.

That's how God

names himself.

Dozens of times

this phrase occurs.

Who took you out

of the land of Egypt?

The Lord who brought you up

out of Egypt.

And so on.

It's cited in all sorts

of contexts.

In preparation for battle,

I'm the Lord who took you

out of the land of Egypt.

Now therefore,

go and fight.

It's cited as the meaning

or significance

of festivals.

Remember your time in Egypt,

out of which I brought you.

It's a justification for loss.

It's the basis of confidence

that God will act now again.

It's a definitive

historical reference point

through which people

can understand their past.

It's an identifier

for the Lord himself.

It's like an extension

of his name.

And it serves as a contrast

to the lack

of people's faithfulness.

God had been so faithful

to them,

yet they are so unfaithful.

To him.

The Exodus,

God taking the people,

delivering them out of Egypt,

is the definitive mercy

that the Lord showed

in the Old Testament,

in the Old Testament.

For the New Testament,

it's really the whole

of salvation in Christ.

That's the primary event.

But I think we can say

particularly,

and in parallel

with the Exodus,

it's a rescue from sin,

deliverance from the power

of sin.

In Matthew,

we are told that

she will bear a son,

and you shall call

his name Jesus,

for he will save

his people from their sins.

Or the words in John,

behold,

the Lamb of God,

John's looking at Jesus,

behold,

the Lamb of God

who takes away

the sin of the world.

In Hebrews,

Jesus was offered once

to bear the sins

of many.

Now this could go on

and on.

Liberated from bondage

to Egypt.

Then goes from

liberation

from sin.

This is so much

of Christ's encounters

with people,

how he deals with sin.

Sometimes the outright

forgives people.

Sometimes he

reverses the consequences

of sin.

And sometimes he just

invades people's lives

and gives them

a little taste

of what life

would be like

without all the power

of sin.

That's always pushing

on against us.

You will have

your own experience

with this.

Amen.

And we'll never know

anyone greater

than Christ

who takes away

the sin of the world.

Psalm 145

wants us to have

a bona fide encounter

with the triune God

and it does its part

by telling us

great is the Lord.

And we'll have

a collection of ways

to do so.

Mercy,

generosity,

response,

presence,

protection,

power,

and splendor.

One of the greatest

things is the forgiveness

of sin

and new life

in Christ.

God is delighted

for us to live

a life of perspective.

A life of full heart

and praise.

A life overwhelmed

with God's majesty

and goodness.

That kind of response

comes from an encounter

with God himself,

especially his mercies.

And so we take

whatever harm,

despair,

sin we bring,

even tonight,

and all the consequences

of sin.

These are opportunities

to call out

for the mercies

of God.

To behold God

and everything

is called

the perspective.

Let us pray.