Psalm 145 Giving Thanks to God Dennis Mock

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Thanksgiving provides us the opportunity to praise and thank God for who He is and
what He has done in our lives. That is really what Psalm 145 is about. What specifically
are you thankful for this morning? What has God done or is He doing in your life.

Inasmuch as the great Father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, peas,
beans, squashes, and garden vegetables, and has made the forests to abound with game and the sea with
fish and clams, and inasmuch as he has protected us from the ravages of the savages, has spared us from
pestilence and disease, has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own
conscience.
Now I, your magistrate, do proclaim that all ye Pilgrims, with your wives and ye little ones, do gather at
ye meeting house, on ye hill, between the hours of 9 and 12 in the day time, on Thursday, November 29th,
of the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and twenty-three and the third year since ye Pilgrims
landed on ye Pilgrim Rock, there to listen to ye pastor and render thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for
all His blessings.
--William Bradford
Ye Governor of Ye Colony

He thanked God for provision and protection and the freedom to worship Him.

Psalm 145 is fascinating. It has been called the “magnificent psalm”. It was read in
synagogues at least three times a day. It was the last ascribed to David. It is the only
Psalm to use the word “praise” in the title.

Read Psalm 145

– Think about the psalm this morning.
– It is David’s magnificent hymn of praise.

5 Really Good Reasons to Praise God

1. God is Powerful –
a. He is omnipotent, His greatness no one can fathom.
b. His mighty acts demonstrate it. (4)
c. He made everything and it will all praise Him.
d. It cannot be exhausted.
e. He has the power to accomplish His will 100% of the time.
f. God’s power is inherently part of who He is. All man’s power is delegated and
not inherent.
g. Our power wanes and fails us but not so with God.
h. Think of God sending His Son to earth and raising Him from the dead. Think
of the birth of the Church and the Holy Spirit indwelling each of us.
i. What if you were “all-powerful”? Only God is.
j. Let’s stop and praise the Lord today as the Psalmist does for His power.
2. God is Preeminent –
a. What would it really be like to have no one above you? This can only be said
of God himself. God the Father is preeminent.
b. (11-13) There is universality and eternality associated with God’s Kingdom.
There is no limit to His preeminence.
 c.I thank God for His preeminence because it means He is in charge.
d.APP: We can be terrified and worried about what is happening in the world or
we can trust in God who is in charge of it all. His will alone will come to pass.
i. I want someone in charge who actually knows what is going on and has
the power and authority to do something about it.
ii.Some couples fight about who is in charge but it is pointless because
God is actually in charge of us all.
iii.We can rest in the fact that we know how the story ends.
3. God is Purposeful –
a. What if God were arbitrary and capricious? What if He were like the Greek
gods? What if we could only appease him but never trust him.
b. God is not like this. He never sleeps. He is always intentional.
c. (17) The Lord is righteous and loving.
i. God reveals His righteousness in an ongoing way.
ii.He both provides and protects.
d. (20) The Lord watches over all who love Him.
i. He is near to us. He will destroy the wicked.
ii. His plan of salvation is not arbitrary. There are two categories; with
God or against God. In Adam or in Christ.
e. If God operated whimsically we would be left with no hope.
f. One thing I really like about God is that He is predictable! He is working
towards His stated ends and always acts in reflection to His character.
i. He is righteous in all of His acts all the time.
ii.His purpose for us was that we would respond to Him and become a
saint.
iii.We sometimes have to ask God to define “good” for us time to time.
4. God is Personal –
a. If we had the first three but not the fourth we would be in real trouble.
b. He knows when we rise and sit. He knows our thoughts before we speak
them.
c. (13) He is good to all. He loves all He has made.
d. There is a concept of “common grace”. (15-16,19)
i. He extends His goodness and grace to the entire created order.
ii.He doesn’t appear to provide for all at all times yet He is immanent
and involved with all creation at all times. His common grace offers
relationship to all.
iii.People judge God based on His being transcendent but not immanent.
He is both!
e. Theologians and philosophers have suggested that God is not knowable.
This is not true! He makes Himself knowable and extends himself to us.
i. This can make us uncomfortable knowing He is always looking. Yet not
when we know He is loving.
ii.He is above His created order yet He is “in” it by His Son and His Spirit
in us.
f. I am not interested in an impersonal God.
g. God wants us to know Him personally.
5. God is Promise-Keeping –
a. (13) The Lord is faithful to all His promises.
b. Dependable, trustworthy, predictable.
c. God does what we cannot do.
 i. Prayer – it is rare for God to ask us to pray for what we can do on our
own. Rather we pray to ask God to do what only He can do.
ii.All who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10).
d. Religions that make God an “exalted man” are foolish. He is so much more
than that! He has no weaknesses or lack. He can never fail. Man is always
subject to his own weakness or limitations.
e. If you come away from this Psalm with only one thing let it be that God will
always do what He says He will do. He is all that we are not.

The Psalmist always calls for a response:

3 Really Good ways to say “Thank You Lord!”

1. By Praising Him –
a. (21) Praise His name
b. (10) Praise and extol
c. (1-2) Exalt and Extol
d. (7) Joyfully sing of your righteousness
e. For who He is and what He has done.
f. Praising God as a way of life. Not by rote but from the heart.
i. What about praising Him at our meals?
2. By Proclaiming Truth about God –
a. Praise is directed towards His person. Proclamation is towards others so that
they will know.
b. (6) Tell and proclaim His power and works.
c. (11) Tell of His glory and might.
d. (12) So that all men may know!
i. There is so much confusion about who God is. Even inside the church!
ii.We do not need to go to what anyone says about who He is we need to
proclaim what He himself has said.
3. By Personally Committing to Him –
a. Look back at (1,2, 4). Notice how many times the personal pronoun is used.
b. (18-20) Things which reflect our commitment to Him:
i. Those who call on Him
ii.Those who fear Him
iii.Those who love Him

I trust that you will find some new ways to thank God.