Shifting Our Focus

Our sermon text tonight is Psalm 145.

So again, these are on the screens,

and you can have a look at the Bibles at the back

! If you want to follow along there.

Okay.

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.

One generation shall commend

your works to another,

and shall declare your mighty acts.

On the glorious splendor of your majesty,

and on your wondrous works,

I will meditate.

They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,

and I will declare your greatness.

They shall pour forth in the fame

of your abundant goodness,

and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

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.

All your works shall give thanks to you,

O Lord,

and all your saints shall bless you.

They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom,

and tell of your power,

to make known to the children of man

your mighty deeds,

and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

The Lord is faithful in all his words,

and kind in all his works.

The Lord upholds all who are falling,

and raises up all who are bowed down.

The eyes of all look to you,

and you give them their food in due season.

You open your hand,

you satisfy the desire of every living thing.

The Lord is righteous in all his ways,

and kind in all his works.

The Lord is near to all who call on him,

and to all who call on him in truth.

He fulfills the desires of those who fear him.

He also hears their cry,

and saves them.

The Lord preserves all who love him,

but all the wicked he will destroy.

My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord,

and let all flesh bless his holy name

forever and ever.

So we're looking at Psalm 145.

This is David's last psalm in the book,

and I think maybe even as we heard it read,

we're seeing that David is pulling out all the stops.

He gives us 21 verses of extolling,

and praising, and blessing God,

and he lists reason after reason

for why he is going to praise God.

And I think maybe this is perhaps not the David

that we give much time to.

We think of David's psalms,

and what do we think about?

We think about the valley in Psalm 23.

We think about him reckoning with his sin,

and the awful mistakes he's made in Psalm 51.

A couple of weeks ago,

we were looking at Psalm 61,

and there, what do we see?

He's crying from the ends of the earth.

That's the David, I think perhaps,

we most often resonate with.

And then we come to something like Psalm 145,

and we say, okay David,

I don't really feel like this right now.

This praising and extolling and blessing is great,

but being in the valley,

dealing with sin and shame,

struggling along,

that is what I'm doing right now.

When I was little,

I used to get very carsick when I was really young,

and especially sitting in the back,

and on longer journeys,

I wouldn't really help myself.

We didn't have phones.

We had Lego magazines and Action Man magazines,

so I was sitting in the back,

reading my magazine,

feeling iller and iller.

And my mom would always say to me,

Lewis, you need to look up and look out of that window

before you throw up,

or before you make yourself any sicker,

because it's in raising your eyes

and looking out the window

that you'll feel much better.

This Psalm, in many ways,

is about changing our focus,

shifting our focus,

and looking out of the window.

It's about having the discipline

of doing something

that perhaps we don't feel like doing.

So, we can say,

look,

adoring God,

praising God,

looking to Him

is just not what I feel like doing right now.

That's not what my circumstances make me want to do.

I need God to act.

I need Him to lift me up.

I need Him to save me from this pain

that I am experiencing.

And David comes in Psalm 145,

and he says,

no, no, this is not about your circumstances changing.

This is about shifting your focus

from your circumstances

and praising God still.

So, just two things from this Psalm.

What is praise?

In Psalm 145,

what is it that David is describing?

And then secondly,

why praise?

When we don't feel like it,

when we don't want to do it,

when it's the last thing on our minds,

why?

Why praise God even still?

So, firstly,

what is praise?

In Psalm 145,

you'll see at the top of the Psalm,

it's titled,

A Song of Praise.

And that word praise

comes up again and again and again

in the Psalms

all the way throughout the Bible.

This is the only time

that that word is used

in the title for a Psalm.

And so,

that's worth thinking about

just because,

firstly,

it sets up the end of this book,

150 chapters,

and we are nearing the crescendo

of praising God,

the Hallelujah Psalms.

with this title,

it also separates itself

from many of the other Psalms

that we are familiar with,

which describe praise

in many ways

as a response

or as an overflow

of our feelings.

very often praise

is reactive.

So,

in Psalm 40,

we sing it a lot.

What do we have?

He's in the pit

and God lifts him up.

And what does he say?

He put a new song

in my mouth,

a song,

a hymn of praise.

It's reactive.

God has lifted him up

and he responds in praise.

Psalm 126,

the people are freed from exile,

they are released from Babylon,

and what do they do?

What do they sing?

Songs of joy,

it says.

So many more Psalms

and places in the Bible

that we read about this.

Praise can absolutely be reactive

and it can be feelings-based.

You know,

perhaps tonight,

you look back

on this past week

and you say,

God has worked

in this situation

that I've been dealing with

in a way

that I never thought

he would.

You can think about

your health,

your finances,

your work fears.

And when those things

are relaxed

and you feel

these things are lifting,

praising God

is absolutely

the right response.

And we see that

over and over again

in the Bible.

But Psalm 145

gives us no hint whatsoever

at what David is experiencing

or what David is going through.

It's likely that he did write

this later in his life,

maybe towards the end

of his reign.

And some commentators,

you know,

they'll look at this

and they'll say,

David appears

much more mature

in this Psalm

than perhaps

his earlier ones.

And if David is,

if he is nearing

the end

of his reign,

as he thinks of Saul

chasing him

into the wilderness

to kill him,

as he thinks

of his affair

with Bathsheba

and having her husband killed

so he doesn't find out,

as he thinks

about his own son,

Absalom,

trying to seize

the throne from him,

in spite of all of that,

his reaction,

his discipline,

his attitude

is to praise God.

In reflection,

looking at a life

with many highs

but many,

many, many lows,

he says,

his attitude

has to be one of praise.

Great is the Lord,

he says,

and greatly

to be praised.

You can see,

we're just going to

push this a bit more,

you can see that the Psalm

has 21 verses.

The end of verse 13

is in brackets

because some question

over whether this is

original or not.

This is one of the few cases

where a lot of the scholars

would say

it most likely

is original.

So you have

22 lines

in this Psalm.

There are

20,

we're getting

into the rabbit hole here

and I don't want to lose you

but we'll be quick.

There are 22 letters

in the Hebrew alphabet.

Each line

follows the next

letter in the alphabet.

It's an acrostic.

So David,

David frames this poem

in this way

using every letter

of the alphabet

for every line

to say that

there is a structure,

there is a completeness,

there is an actual discipline

in praising God.

So just as this poem

takes up all of the alphabet,

praise is a discipline

which should surround,

which should take up

all of life.

So yes,

praise is often a response

to changes in our circumstances

but David,

you know,

he doesn't mention any of that.

He doesn't point out

any particular area

in his life

that would lead him

to praise God.

If anything,

he's reflecting

on the whole of it

and he shifts his focus

and he says,

whether I feel like it or not,

my attitude

has to be one of praise.

Look at verses 1 to 3,

what does he say?

He says,

I will extol God.

Every day,

I will bless God

and praise Him

forever and ever.

he's speaking

about discipline here.

Primarily praise

needs to be a discipline,

a part of life.

David says,

whether we feel like it or not,

it's firstly

a continual act of the will,

a choice,

not a feeling.

Okay,

a bit more specific.

When David says

that he will extol,

he will bless

and he will praise,

praise carries this meaning

of celebrating God.

The word bless

follows that

and it just means

in a way

to speak well

about God

and extolling

means to lift

Him up.

And so,

what is praise

in Psalm 145?

We could define it

really simply like this.

Praising God

is not first a feeling,

but it is

your regular discipline

in celebrating God

and speaking well

of Him

and in lifting Him high

and acknowledging

that He knows

far better

than us

in all ways.

Now,

what do we do

on a Sunday

when we come together?

We come together

for worship

and a part of that

is praise.

We've sung tonight.

We're singing

in celebration

of who God is.

it's an outward expression

of celebrating God.

What do we do

in the middle of the week

when we pray

not my will

but yours?

We are praising God

and acknowledging

that He knows

far better than us

in all ways.

His understanding

is far beyond us.

See just one point

that David makes here.

He mentions

speaking well of God

in verse 4

and he says

that one generation

commends your works

to another.

One reason

that we have tonight

for being sure

that God is faithful

all the time

is because

David's generation

still speaks to us.

The prophets

still speak to us.

The writers

of the Gospels

and the New Testament

liars

still speak to us.

Through God's word

they speak

to the world today

about God

and they say

what David says

in verse 8.

The Lord is gracious

and merciful.

Now

just to end this point

we can apply this

really specifically.

Do we

make it

a regular practice

in our lives

to speak well

about God

to one another?

we spend time

together

praying for one another

caring for one another.

Do we make it

a practice

to speak well

about what God

has done

in our lives?

One thing

that's really

encouraged me

in my time

in St.

C's

one thing

that's really

encouraged me

has been

meeting up

with some

of the people

here

some of the guys

over the weeks

and

some of these

guys are

beyond me

by a few decades.

I don't know

how to word that

politely

I don't think

that was it

but

getting to know

them

and spending

time with them

and hearing

about what's

brought them

to where they

are

and hearing

about how

God has

worked

over the years

in so many

situations

in their lives

hearing that

I've come away

being encouraged

in my faith

and encouraged

in how I

think about

God

and David

says speaking

like that

to one another

is a form

of praise

what is praise

it's the regular

conscious

effort and

discipline

of celebrating

God

of speaking

well of him

and acknowledging

that he is higher

than us

in all his ways

and doing that

still

in light

of how

we feel

so secondly

why

why would we

do it

why praise God

maybe we want

to say

in light

of all this

I can't

do it

the pain

and the

doubt

that we

experience

we have

we experience

these things

to different

degrees

some of us

you know

some of us

tonight

might have

more questions

about why

life is

the way

that it is

tonight

we talk

you know

we talk

about these

acts

prayers

adoration

confession

thanksgiving

supplication

we jump

right to the

end

sometimes

and we

get straight

to sing

Lord

I need

you to

do this

for me

right now

I need

you to

help me

we jump

right past

praise

how do I

celebrate God

right now

and speak

well of him

and acknowledge

that he knows

better than me

when this week

or this month

or this year

is far

from what I

think is best

for me

if that's the

place you're at

and you know

we all say

that at times

to different

degrees

in our

hearts

if that's

the place

you're at

I think

David

gives a

great answer

in verse

three

he says

great

is Lord

and greatly

to be praised

and his

greatness

is unsearchable

David's

reason

for extolling

and praising

and blessing

God

is

the fact

that we

will never

fully understand

how great

God actually

is

this word

greater

greatness

is so common

we see it

in the Bible

and we just

skim over it

and yet

David is making

a huge claim

he's saying

God's greatness

is unsearchable

in other words

he goes beyond

every limitation

that we live

with

God's

unsearchable

greatness

is the reason

for praise

so

what is it

that makes

God great

that's what

we have

in the rest

of the psalm

and we're not

going to do it

verse by verse

but

the rest

of the psalm

answers that

question

in two big

ways

I think

God is

great

in his

cosmic

rule

on one

end

and he is

great

on the other

end

in the fact

that he is

near to us

at the same

time

he's near

to his

people

why praise

why be

disciplined

in celebrating

God

because he is

great

in his

cosmic

rule

and because

he is

great

in how near

at the same

time

how near

he is

to his

people

a lot

of commentators

they would

say

they would

note

that there's

not really

a clear

structure

in this

psalm

if you're

looking at

a bible

or a

bulletin

you'll just

see that

David

talks about

God's

love

his power

his care

his kingdom

his common

grace

he lists

all these

things

the roughest

or simplest

outline

that some

writers

give the

psalm

is to

say

David

is moving

from a

wide

lens

view

of God

and he's

taking us

down to

the end

to a

narrow

lens

view

it's

almost

a contrast

he brings

out

from being

distant

to being

near

at the

same

time

so he

talks

amongst

other

things

about

his

rule

which

includes

his

power

and

kingdom

and

towards

the

end

about

his

nearness

his

presence

with

his

people

so

David

calls

God

his

king

verse

13

he

says

your

kingdom

is

an

everlasting

kingdom

and

your

dominion

endures

throughout

all

generations

you

think

about

David

at the

end

of his

reign

Saul

before

him

has

caused

so much

confusion

and upset

in his

reign

David

in many

ways

has

done

the

same

we

know

after

that

we

meet

these

kings

in the

Old

Testament

who

are

never

the

kings

that

we

want

or

expect

them

to

be

David

turns

and

he

says

God

God

is

king

and

his

kingdom

is

everlasting

in

other

words

this

isn't

about

area

or

land

or

political

order

or

political

power

he's

referring

to

God's

he's

referring

to

God's

rule

and

power

over

all

creation

and

every

single

thing

that

happens

we

live

today

in a

world

which

praises

self

sufficiency

we walk

out there

and what

does the world

tell us

it tells us

to be

self

dependent

it tells us

to be

self

reliant

if we're

going to

survive

if life

is going to

be the

beautiful

true thing

that we

want it

to be

then that's

down to

us

psalm

145

comes

to

that

and

says

no

that's

not

how

it

works

at

all

actually

there

is

a

higher

wisdom

and

authority

which

governs

without

fail

verse

17

the

Lord

is

righteous

in

all

his

ways

and

kind

in

all

his

works

God

knows

what

he's

doing

all

of

the

time

he

is

kind

in

all

that

he

does

above

the

universe

God

does

all

things

well

and

he

is

kind

in

every

single

thing

that

he

does

we

might

not

feel

that

and

we

might

say

that

we

would

do

things

a

bit

differently

to

how

they've

been

done

how

they've

been

worked

out

in

our

works

is

not

crippled

in

any

way

by

the

limitations

that

we

face

when

you

get up

in

the

morning

if

you

have

trusted

in

Christ

when

you

get up

in

the

morning

you

wake

up

with

one

who's

commanding

the

universe

out

of

kindness

for

your

sake

he

has

done

it

for

generations

and

nothing

will

stop

that

and

when

we

look

at

our

lives

and

we

say

why

I

think

it's

a

huge

comfort

to

know

that

there

is

one

who

knows

what

he

is

doing

all

of

the

time

we

get

worn

down

by

upset

and

things

not

going

the way

we

want

them

to

go

and

not

being

as

strong

or

as

reliant

as

we

think

we

should

be

David

simply

invites

us

to

look

up

to

shift

our

focus

and

see

that

there

is

one

who

cannot

be

distracted

or

hurt

or

confused

by

any

circumstances

that we

face

but

one

who

works

kindness

into

the

most

out

of

control

areas

of

your

life

why

praise

God

why

be

persistent

in

praising

him

when

we

say

life

is

not

what

we

want

it

to

be

because

the

Lord

reigns

and

all

of

his

works

are

kind

he

knows

what

he

is

doing

all

of

the

time

and

nothing

can

stop

that

his

rule

his

kingdom

endures

forever

does

knowing

that

does

believing

that

bring

us

to

praise

what

about

the

other

side

then

and

distantly

God

rules

over

all

things

that's

that's

the

picture

that

David

is

painting

for

us

on

the

other

side

of

that

look

at

verse

18

the

Lord

is

near

to

all

who

call

on

him

in

truth

he

fulfills

the

desire

of

those

who

fear

him

he

also

hears

the

and

saves

him

so

praising

God

for his

distance

and his

absolute

control

is one

thing

at the

same

time

David

says

he

is

very

present

it's

not

that

he

does

works

of

kindness

but

at the

same

time

he's

somehow

far

from

you

leaving

you

still

alone

in

your

fear

and

in

your

doubt

no

God

is

with

his

people

wholly

other

and yet

so

involved

in

your

life

that

he

would

stoop

down

like

a

father

to

his

child

and

hears

every

single

cry

now

what does

he

mean

what does

David

mean

calling

on him

in

truth

David

is

saying

that

God

is near

to all

who are

genuine

in

faith

tonight

tonight

tonight

you might

be asking

questions

about

Christianity

you

might

read

a part

of the

Bible

like

this

and

wonder

is

this

just

a

case

of

me

calling

out

for

help

when

I

need

it

and

the

maker

of

the

whole

universe

bends

over

backwards

and

comes

and

helps

me

out

not

at

all

David

is

saying

calling

on

him

has

to

be

done

in

truth

!

in

other

words

your

prayer

for

help

a

prayer

for

help

is

a

prayer

from

an

honest

heart

a

heart

that

says

I

am

broken

and

lost

and

without

hope

on

my

own

in

every

way

but

there

is

a

God

who

is

perfect

and

who

deserves

my

all

God's

nearness

is not

a

sweeping

promise

it's

for

those

who

know

they

are

weak

broken

sinful

people

but

who

know

that

they

need

a

!

who

is

higher

and

wiser

than

them

to

come

down

and

save

them

and

give

them

freedom

Jesus

Christ

fulfilled

God's

promise

to be

near

by

coming

as

a

baby

and

spending

the

next

30

years

of

his

life

experiencing

the

tears

and

pain

and

temptation

and

rejection

that

we

all

face

and

eventually

dying

the

very

death

that

we

deserved

and

coming

near

to

us

the

son

of

God

has

given

us

life

as

it's

meant

to

be

Jesus

went

outside

the gate

we read

in Hebrews

13

and

his

blood

was

spilt

where we

wondered

looking for

self

dependency

and self

control

and authority

Christ

drew

near

and

he

died

the

Lord

is

righteous

in

all

his

ways

and

kind

in

all

his

works

if

you

ask

tonight

is

God

near

is

he

really

near

me

if

you

feel

he

is

distant

his

his

his

nearness

is

not

based

on

what

you

feel

it

is

based

on

what

you

know

!

you

and

in

faith

calling

on

him

tonight

to

stoop

down

and

comfort

why

praise

God

when

my

circumstances

don't

encourage

me

and

it

feels

so

difficult

to

why

why

praise

him

because

he

is

far

above

us

in

every

way

he

is

kind

in

all

that

he

does

and

he

knows

what

he

is

doing

all

the

time

and

at

the

same

time

he

is

near

and

he

is

with

his

people

always

ready

and

able

to

help

when

we

cry

out

in

genuine

faith

just

to

close

the

writer

to

the

Hebrews

says

that

we

have

no

lasting

city

but

we're

waiting

for

the

city

to

come

we're

waiting

for

life

to

be

fulfilled

and

beautiful

and

true

like

it's

meant

to

be

and

he

says

in

that

time

in

this

in

between

he

says

we

praise

God

through

him

through

Christ

praise

God

for

power

over

all

aspects

of

life

and

for

his

nearness

through

Christ

he

says

what

does

he

mean

how

do

we

praise

God

through

him

it

means

that

it

means

that

even

when

you

are

weary

and

you

feel

discouraged

in

your

faith

and

in

your

walk

and

you

don't

think

you

can

praise

it

simply

means