December 24
December 24
Psalm 145:1–13
Greatly to Be Praised
This psalm has special meaning for me. Several years ago a drunken driver hit me going eighty or ninety miles an hour. When I woke up in the intensive care ward of a hospital with broken bones and lacerations, this is the verse that went through my mind: “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable” (v. 3).
Let’s praise God for His greatness. The psalmist says His greatness is eternal. “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” (vv. 1–2). We will spend all eternity praising the greatness of God. His greatness also is unsearchable. We can’t begin to measure it. We can’t know its depth, its height, or its breadth. And the greatness of God is memorable. “One generation shall praise Your works to another, . . . I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty” (vv. 4–5). We must tell the next generation of the greatness of God.
Then the psalmist praises the goodness of God. Verse 7 says, “They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness, and shall sing of Your righteousness. . . . The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works” (vv. 7, 9). Verse 8 expounds the grace of the Lord: “The Lord is gracious and full of compassion.” Aren’t you grateful that He is slow to anger?
All of this leads to the glory of the Lord. “They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom, and talk of Your power” (v. 11).
As finite beings, we can scarcely comprehend God’s attributes. But we can certainly praise Him for who He is and what He has done in our lives. Thank God for saving you. Praise Him for His greatness, His goodness, His grace, and His glory.