I will extol You, my God, O King, And I will bless Your name forever

Psalm 145 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

The Lord Extolled for His Goodness.   A Psalm of Praise, of David.

I will extol You, my God, O King,
And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
² Every day I will bless You,
And I will praise Your name forever and ever.
³ Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised,
And His greatness is unsearchable.
⁴ One generation shall praise Your works to another,
And shall declare Your mighty acts.
⁵ On the glorious splendor of Your majesty
And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.
⁶ Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts,
And I will tell of Your greatness.
⁷ They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness
And will shout joyfully of Your righteousness.

⁸ The Lord is gracious and merciful;
Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.
⁹ The Lord is good to all,
And His mercies are over all His works.
¹⁰ All Your works shall give thanks to You, O Lord,
And Your godly ones shall bless You.
¹¹ They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom
And talk of Your power;
¹² To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts
And the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom.
¹³ Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.

¹⁴ The Lord sustains all who fall
And raises up all who are bowed down.
¹⁵ The eyes of all look to You,
And You give them their food in due time.
¹⁶ You open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing.

¹⁷ The Lord is righteous in all His ways
And kind in all His deeds.
¹⁸ The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth.
¹⁹ He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He will also hear their cry and will save them.
²⁰ The Lord keeps all who love Him,
But all the wicked He will destroy.
²¹ My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
And all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.

In our society stress, anxiety, depression; along with hatred and division are at all time highs. Ironically we entertain ourselves with much of the same stuff that we are worried about. Our programs, our movies, our books and our music are centered on violence and strife. Our news media is agenda driven rather than truth driven. Social justice, one of the buzz words of our society, has become more focused on an individual’s feelings than on their rights. It seems that the main “rights” we focus on are our right to be offended and our right to offend others. Isaiah 6:1-3 is a favorite portion of scripture for me, and one that holds the answer to much of the problem in our society today. It says:   In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of  hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.”     When we view things from the perspective of earth, particularly from the perspective of an agenda driven media, we see the division, the violence, the hatred in the world. We see the devastation of natural disasters. We see evil and darkness covering the earth, because that is what they want us to see. If instead we would, like the seraphim seen and heard by the prophet Isaiah, see the world from the perspective of heaven, we would see that the whole earth is filled with the glory of God. If we would take time to hear the songs of the birds in the morning, as they greet the day and give praise to God; if we would sit by a peaceful quiet stream, pond or lake or quietly take in the beauty and majesty of a sunrise, a sunset or a starlit night; if we would see the beauty and solitude of a snow covered landscape; if we would see and hear the gentle but powerful sound of the ocean surf, or of a mighty rushing river or waterfall; if rather than watching and hearing what the world and media wants to say, we would listen and see what the creation is saying, we would see glory rather than gloom.

Each of us must choose what we will do and what we will say, how we will react and respond to the things of the world. If we will choose better, what we see and hear, our words and actions will also be better. If we will choose to see from the perspective of heaven rather than the view of the world, we will see glory not gloom. In today’s text, Psalm 145, the psalmist offers us a way to begin to see and hear. He says:   I will extol You, my God, O King, And I will bless Your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless You, And I will praise Your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised, And His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise Your works to another, And shall declare Your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of Your majesty And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate. Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts, And I will tell of Your greatness. They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness And will shout joyfully of Your righteousness. The Lord is gracious and merciful; Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness. The Lord is good to all, And His mercies are over all His works.    If we want to see the glory of God in the earth, we should begin by extolling His goodness, by praising Him and His awesome and mighty acts, every day, forever and ever. Rather than declaring the gloom of the world to our children, we should praise the works of God to the generations. We should declare the goodness and the mercy of God to  all. If we will declare the goodness of God, if we will praise and extol His name, the psalmist says:   All Your works shall give thanks to You, O Lord, And Your godly ones shall bless You. They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom And talk of Your power; To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts And the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord sustains all who fall And raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to You, And You give them their food in due time. You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing. 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 fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them.  The Lord keeps all who love Him.    In Matthew 5:14-16 Jesus says: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”     If we will choose to see the light and the glory of God, if we will declare the light and the glory, if we will be the light and the glory of God, others too will see the glory of God in the earth.    Habakkuk 2:14 says:   The earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, As the waters cover the sea.     There are variations in the depth of the waters of the oceans, but may we begin and continue each day to be those who add to the depths of the knowledge of the glory of God in the earth. Jesus taught us to pray: Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.   To know the answer to that prayer, we need to see from the perspective of heaven. To be the answer to His prayer, we need to declare His glory on the earth.

Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  I will extol You, my God, O King, And I will bless Your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless You, And I will praise Your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised, And His greatness is unsearchable.    Amen.