Psalm 145 shows God’s nature like a multi-faceted diamond. King David, the author of this psalm of praise, describes God’s majesty and compassion, His greatness and nearness. Sometimes one facet of God’s character is more noticeable to us while at another time a different facet shines to us. Our perspective and situations in life changes, revealing different facets of the same perfectly cut diamond of God’s unchanging character.
The facets of God’s nature in Psalm 145 lead us to praise.
Verses 1 and 5 describe God as majestic King.
I will exalt you, my God and King,
God is sovereign over all the earth. He is in the position of ruler, reigning over others; He is above or superior to all others and can do anything.
Verses 3 and 6 speak of God’s greatness.
Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.
Imagine the greatest thing you can – the Rocky Mountains or the Grand Canyon — and then realize that God is greater still. His greatness is beyond anything our finite minds can imagine. God’s greatness sets Him apart from all others.
Verses 6-7 describes believers remembering God’s works and acts as worthy of praise.
They tell of the power of your awesome works—and I will proclaim your great deeds.
They celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.
When we have relationship with God, we are aware of how God is active in our lives and in the world. We can recall answered prayers and praise God for His works. Even when life is tough, we can remember the goodness of God and trust His love.
Verse 8 is packed with descriptions of God that are repeated through the Psalms.
The Lord is gracious and compassionate; slow to anger and rich in love.
How is God gracious? By accepting us as we are. We don’t have to have everything in order to come to Him. We are saved by His grace. God doesn’t give us what we deserve–he gives us grace instead.
Has God shown compassion when you’ve needed comfort? One friend explained this as seeing God as someone she can crawl up in His lap and feel loved, like a child going to the tender parent for comfort, accepted and resting in His love.
God is slow to anger with great patience toward us. We cry out in exasperation ‘How long, O Lord?’ at the injustices around us, yet He is patient until He is ready to move.
God is rich in love. Even when we neglect to praise Him, His love is steadfast, echoing throughout the universe and pulsing within our hearts.
Verse 13 describes the eternal kingdom that is open to all generations.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations.
The future generations will know God if we testify about Him to the present generation.
The next several verses (14-20) describe the relational aspects of God’s character. Notice the descriptive words and action verbs that are in italics.
The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does.
The Lord upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time.
You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does.
The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.
The Lord watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.
These verses describe God as responsive to us, His chosen creation.
God is compassionate to his people, interacting with love.
The problem is we don’t always see these attributes when we are busy in our own lives with our problems.
The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
He will not abandon us. He is Immanuel, “God with us.”
Psalm 145 concludes with this declaration of praise in verse 21.
My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord. Let every creature praise his holy name forever and ever.
How can Psalm 145 help us today?
It leads us to deeper understanding of God’s character so that we can know what to expect of God. Our expectations will be aligned with God’s attributes. We can approach God expectantly, praising Him for who He is and what He has done. God interacts with us and is near to us when we call to him.
The more we look at His Word to see God’s character, the more we know Him. The more we know Him, the more we can praise Him.
On your own, read through Psalm145 and make your own list of God’s characteristics. Meditate on those words. Cross-reference the verses and see other places where the Bible has similar descriptions of God.
Knowing more of the character of God should lead us to praise, which takes our focus off of ourselves and puts it on God.
What aspect of Psalm 145 speaks to you?