The ABC’s of Worship
Psalms 145
December 4, 2022
Tonight we study the 145th Psalm
And I’ve called it “The ABC’s of Worship”
The reason for that is because Psalm 145 is an acrostic.
It is an acrostic of the Hebrew alphabet.
There are several passages in Scripture that do this, and certainly part of that is poetic style but the practical reason is because it helps in memorization.
Anytime we call anything “The ABC’s” our minds are immediately forced to think of SIMPLICITY.
• We teach our kids the alphabet very early.
• It is the beginning.
• It is simple.
We also are called to think of STRUCTURE when we think of “The ABC’s”
• We think of things being in alphabetical order
• It is a system of organization
So while on one hand the alphabet speaks of that which is simple
It is also foundational and of extreme importance.
The alphabet is something everyone MUST know.
With that in mind I definitely like the fact that this Psalm is an acrostic.
I like the fact this Psalm is arranged according to the Hebrew alphabet.
For in this song we find what we might call “The Basics Of Theology”.
Theology is of course “The Study of God”
This Psalm gives us the basic and simple truths
Which are foundational and important.
This Psalm won’t go deep in any of these truths.
• David merely states truths about God and moves on.
• A person could literally spend hours searching out any one of the attributes David will reveal.
This Psalm is simply a rapid fire reminder from David
Of the greatness of our God.
We should also note that
This is the last Psalm in the book that specifically bears David’s name.
• Perhaps David wrote the last 5 too, but we don’t know.
• We know he wrote this one.
• This has led many to treat this Psalm as the final Psalm of David.
• Many have seen it as the Psalm of David’s old age or even dying breath.
And if that is true then it is so remarkable that a man with such depth
Ends here with this Psalm.
It speaks of a man who
Could no sooner name a favorite attribute of God
Than he could name a favorite star in the sky.
So he just starts acknowledging them all and praising Him accordingly.
SO TONIGHT,
• We’re going to follow this song of David
• That rapidly runs through the greatness of our God
• And we’ll allow this Psalm to wet our appetites for worship as well.
Tonight we are also going to give a pretty DETAILED OUTLINE.
(If you’re one of those who doesn’t like a detailed outline
Just ignore all the subpoints, but this Psalm I think warrants it)
But let’s break it down into 3 main points tonight.
#1 WHAT GOD DESERVES
Psalms 145:1-7
Here we have David giving you basically the motive for this song.
David is giving us THE MOTIVE for worship.
And it is simple: GOD DESERVES IT
And if we were to ask: WHAT DOES GOD DESERVE?
Then we can go to these 7 verses and get a pretty good list.
Other people could possibly break it down differently than me,
But I’m going to list 5 things here that David says God deserves.
A. PRAISE (1-3)
That’s not hard to see.
• “I will extol”
• “I will bless”
• “I will bless”
• “I will praise”
You get the point there.
“I will extol You, my God, O King,”
“extol” is the Hebrew word RUM (ROOM)
And it means “to lift up”
• It is used of the waters rising during the flood.
• It is used of when someone sets up an altar.
• It is used to speak of someone raising their voice.
• It is used of someone raising their hands.
And that is what David is doing here.
It is His desire to “lift up” his God and King.
He would figuratively raise God up before the people
As an object of praise and worship.
He would hold God up high
So that the people might see Him and know Him and worship Him as well.
It is all about God receiving recognition and praise.
But let’s break that down even more.
We might ask: What kind of praise?
1. UNENDING PRAISE (1b)
“And I will bless Your name forever and ever.”
Once a person jumps on the train of praising God, they never jump off.
Praise is indeed the language of Heaven.
When we get to heaven preachers are no longer needed.
“We will know fully just as we are fully known”
But song leaders work for all eternity.
We will never stop praising God.
CityAlight has a new song that I enjoy singing called “On That Day”
The chorus says:
“On that day we will see You, shining brighter than the sun. On that day we will know You, as we lift our voice as one. ‘Til that day we will praise You, for your never ending grace. And we will keep on singing on that glorious day.”
God’s praise is unending praise.
Revelation 4:8 “And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME.”
It is the proper response of Heaven and it will never stop.
2. CONSTANT PRAISE (2)
“Every day I will bless You, And I will praise Your name forever and ever.”
It’s not just unending praise that goes on forever,
It is also constant praise that continues every day.
We are told to give thanks to God and to praise Him in all circumstances.
• We praise Him in the night and we praise Him in the day.
• We praise Him in victory and we praise Him in defeat.
It is the daily language of the believer
And that which goes on “forever and ever.”
3. HIGH PRAISE (3a)
“Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised,”
Immediately on our minds because of our study of Malachi
Is how the Jews in Malachi’s day offended God
By bringing Him the lame and broken as offerings.
God responded to their disrespect by saying:
Malachi 1:11 “For from the rising of the sun even to its setting, My name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense is going to be offered to My name, and a grain offering that is pure; for My name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD of hosts.”
God would go on to say in verse 14, “for I am a great King,” says the LORD of hosts, “and My name is feared among the nations.”
God not only deserves constant praise and unending praise,
But He deserves high praise or great praise.
How many times have we read in the headings of these Psalms
• The instrumentation
• Or the style of the Psalm.
Point being: David wasn’t only concerned about the lyrics,
But the style and beauty and magnificence of what was sung.
He viewed a song as an offering to God
And it was not at all his desire
To present something lame or broken to Him.
If God were to receive a song it should be the best song.
He deserves high and great praise.
4. INFORMED PRAISE (3b)
“And His greatness is unsearchable.”
Certainly the point being made is that
No man will ever fully plum the depths of the greatness of God.
Eliphaz said:
Job 5:9 “Who does great and unsearchable things, Wonders without number.”
Job said:
Job 9:10 “Who does great things, unfathomable, And wondrous works without number.”
Zophar said:
Job 11:7-9 “Can you discover the depths of God? Can you discover the limits of the Almighty? “They are high as the heavens, what can you do? Deeper than Sheol, what can you know? “Its measure is longer than the earth And broader than the sea.”
Those men disagreed on several things,
But they were all in agreement with that.
Paul said:
Romans 11:33 “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!”
Man can never fully fathom the depths of who God is.
But the fact that David can say that God’s “greatness is unsearchable”
Indicates that David has in some way tried to search it out.
And God definitely deserves that.
The praise we give God may certainly be saturated with great emotion,
But it is never simply emotional.
We praise God based on what we know of God.
And the more we know of God the more we praise Him.
So if one finds their praise of God to be lacking in greatness
The solution is to search deeper.
We say it all the time.
“The height of your worship is directly proportional to the depth of your understanding.”
God deserves to be searched out to the best of our ability.
Men have dug great holes into the ground in search of gold and diamonds, certainly they are not worth more than God.
The praise we bring to Him should be informed from a life of seeking.
SO WHEN WE ASK: What does God deserve?
The first thing we say is that God deserves praise.
He deserves unending, constant, high, informed praise.
But there’s more that God deserves.
B. TESTIMONY (4)
“One generation shall praise You works to another, And shall declare Your mighty acts.”
What David speaks of here is the expectation of testimony.
Moses spoke to the children of Israel about the commands of God and he said:
Deuteronomy 6:7 “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.”
Take what you know and pass it on to the next generation.
When Joshua led the children of Israel across the Jordan he had them take 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan to make a rock pile.
The explanation was:
Joshua 4:21-24 “He said to the sons of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ then you shall inform your children, saying, ‘Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.’ “For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the LORD your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed; that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, so that you may fear the LORD your God forever.”
Israel’s history was filled with these types of symbols.
• They kept a jar of manna in the Ark of the Covenant
• And Aaron’s staff that budded.
• They returned to Jerusalem to live in booths once a year to remember God’s deliverance in the wilderness.
• They ate the Passover Lamb year after year to remember God’s deliverance from Egypt.
All of those were also ways to pass down
God’s great works to the next generation.
AND GOD DESERVES THAT.
If He has done great things for you, then certainly
You should share what He has done with the next generation.
That is the beauty of what goes on here on Wednesday nights.
• Amy and Karen and Tammy and Pam teaching the girls.
• Chris and Les Heflin teaching the boys.
• And more of you should jump on that train.
• It’s what Kim and Pam and Les and Kermit do on Sunday mornings in Sunday
school.
It’s men and women who take the time to teach the next generation
About the mighty deeds of God.
GOD DESERVES THAT.
He deserves testimony.
C. MEDITATION (5)
“On the glorious splendor of Your majesty And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.”
I love the word “meditate”
• Think about it…
• Ponder it…
• Dwell on it…
We do that in all sorts of things in life.
One of my favorite things about doing wood-working
Is when you approach a design or a build
That you don’t know how to do it so you ponder it.
• You just sit and run through mental repetitions in your mind about what you
could do and how you can do it.
• I really enjoy that part.
• I like thinking it through.
And people do this in all sorts of things in life.
But the highest meditation we can have
Is when we meditate on who God is and what He has done.
• We read the stories of His greatness and we just think on it.
• We chew on it in our minds.
• We play it over and over and we seek to understand it.
Have you ever pondered the majesty of CREATION?
Have you ever thought on the mystery of God’s SOVEREIGNTY?
Have you ever let your mind consider God’s PROVIDENCE?
Have you ever dwelled upon the cost of ATONEMENT?
Have you ever focused on ETERNITY?
Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”
And there may be several things that fall under one of those categories, but I only know of one subject that fits every one of those categories and that is God.
GOD DESERVES for you to study Him and ponder Him
And meditate upon what He has done.
Think deeply about such things.
D. DECLARATION (6)
“Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts, And I will tell of Your greatness.”
Men talk about all sorts of things.
There are entire podcasts and radio spots devoted to nothing more than what is going on politically or whether or not the Cowboys will win their upcoming game.
Our society spews information
And makes all sorts of declarations about all sorts of things.
And none of those things are as worthy subjects as He is.
If you want to talk about something talk about how awesome God is.
If you want to tell someone something tell them what God has done.
I don’t know if you watch the show “The Chosen”
Or what you think about it.
I enjoy it.
One of my favorite episodes was the pilot episode they did called
“The Shepherd” and it was all about the birth of Jesus.
And after that shepherd comes and sees Jesus lying in that manger one phrase begins to be repeated throughout the room, “People must know”
Can you think of any subject that deserves to be declared more?
“Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere.
Go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born.”
God deserves to have His awesome works proclaimed.
E. CELEBRATION (7)
“They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness And will shout joyfully of Your righteousness.”
• And once you’ve searched out the truth of who God is and what He has done.
• And you’ve shared that with the next generation so that they will know God.
• And then you’ve meditated upon His works to grasp their meaning.
• And you’ve gone out and told the world and gathered them in with you for worship.
THEN CELEBRATE!
• “utter the memory of [His] abundant goodness”
• “shout joyfully of [His] righteousness”
• Talk about it!
• Celebrate it!
• Sing about it!
GOD DESERVES IT.
• No one has done nearly what He has done.
• No one’s works come close to matching with His.
• None can be compared.
God deserves to be praised and shared and meditated on
And declared and celebrated.
GIVE THAT TO HIM!
What God Deserves
#2 WHY GOD DESERVES IT
Psalms 145:8-20
Here again we get a rapid fire overview
Of what makes God so worthy of praise.
And as we said at the beginning,
• You could study for hours on any one of these areas
• But we get them all lumped together
• As a way to sort of overwhelm the mind at the totality of God’s worth.
You picture David in prayer and praise
Just rattling off all the things that he loves about God
These are the things that make Him so worthy!
And again let’s detail out this outline a little more.
A. HIS PERSON (8-10)
(8-10) 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. All Your works shall give thanks to You, O LORD, And Your godly ones shall bless You.”
We are simply talking here about the attributes that describe WHO HE IS.
This is His character.
And the list is remarkable.
• “The Lord is gracious”
• “The Lord is…merciful”
• “The Lord is…slow to anger” (patient)
• “The Lord is…great in lovingkindness” (loyalty)
• “The Lord is good to all”
Any one of those attributes is worthy of great consideration.
Any human that bears even one of those attributes
Is considered a terrific human being.
And yet God bears them all.
• He bears them all – all of the time.
• He bears them all perfectly.
INCIDENTALLY, when you read verse 8,
This is also how God introduces Himself.
Exodus 34:6 “Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth;”
Jonah recognized these truths about God as well.
(Only Jonah lamented them because God was this way without relenting)
Jonah 4:2 “He prayed to the LORD and said, “Please LORD, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.”
WE HAVE A GOD
• Who treats people better than they deserve.
• Who doesn’t treat people as they deserve.
• Who is patient with people who resist Him.
• Who is loyal to people who betray Him.
• Who is good even to His enemies.
How can we not say that He is worthy of praise?
There are so many passages we could study
To magnify any one of those realities of His person,
But you take them all together and none can argue that
He is worthy of praise, testimony, meditation, declaration, & celebration.
Psalms 103:8-14 “The LORD is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him. For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.”
That who He is! (His Person)
He is so worthy.
B. HIS POWER (11-13)
(11-13) “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 words that fly off the page here are obvious.
• “kingdom” (x4)
• “power”
• “mighty acts”
• “dominion”
We speak here of a Sovereign who reigns supreme over all things.
Nebuchadnezzar seemed to quote this passage in the day of his great revival.
Daniel 4:1-3 “Nebuchadnezzar the king to all the peoples, nations, and men of every language that live in all the earth: “May your peace abound! “It has seemed good to me to declare the signs and wonders which the Most High God has done for me. “How great are His signs And how mighty are His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom And His dominion is from generation to generation.”
And of course Nebuchadnezzar would go on to explain how he got too big for his britches and God humbled him over a period of 7 years.
GOD REIGNS SUPREME.
• He sits over all kings and kingdoms.
• He sits over all rulers and thrones.
• He rules and reigns and He will rule and reign forever.
His kingdom is the final and everlasting kingdom.
He is sovereign over all.
Does He not deserve praise and testimony and meditation and declaration and celebration?
C. HIS PITY (14)
(14) “The LORD sustains all who fall And raises up all who are bowed down.”
God is high and lofty and yet He cares for the lowly and broken.
Psalms 114:5-8 “Who is like the LORD our God, Who is enthroned on high, Who humbles Himself to behold The things that are in heaven and in the earth? He raises the poor from the dust And lifts the needy from the ash heap, To make them sit with princes, With the princes of His people.”
Isaiah 57:15 “For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, “I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite.”
God is so merciful to mankind.
• We are told that not even a sparrow falls apart from His knowledge, how much more does man.
Why should such a sovereign Being
Care so much for such lowly humans?
“What is man that You are mindful of him?”
But He is.
• He is moved with great compassion for humanity.
• He is moved with pity for the broken.
• You see it nowhere better than with our Savior.
Philippians 2:6-7 “who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.”
HE IS SO WORTHY BECAUSE OF THIS!
D. HIS PROVIDENCE (15-16)
(15-16) “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.”
• Who else cares for humanity?
• Who else sends the sun?
• Who else sends the rain?
• Who else brings the wind or the tide or grass or any other thing?
He is the source of provision for all creation.
And He is faithful to provide it.
Psalms 104 is the great Psalm of God’s providence
Psalms 104:10-11 “He sends forth springs in the valleys; They flow between the mountains; They give drink to every beast of the field; The wild donkeys quench their thirst.”
Psalms 104:14-15 “He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And vegetation for the labor of man, So that he may bring forth food from the earth, And wine which makes man’s heart glad, So that he may make his face glisten with oil, And food which sustains man’s heart.”
Psalms 104:21 “The young lions roar after their prey And seek their food from God.”
Psalms 104:27-28 “They all wait for You To give them their food in due season. You give to them, they gather it up; You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good.”
Does He not deserve all praise and testimony and mediation and declaration and celebration for that?
E. HIS PERFECTION (17-20)
(17-20) “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, But all the wicked He will destroy.”
Again we see words that blow us away
Regarding the greatness of His character.
Words like:
• “righteous”
• “kind”
• “near”
• “save”
• “keeps”
• “destroy”
These are all things God does.
• We see the nearness of salvation and the justice of judgment.
• We see the mercy He has and His constant care.
• He is righteous yet also kind.
THOSE ARE ALL GREAT WORDS.
But the real thrust of these 4 verses are the words “all” and “will”
• “He is righteous in ALL His ways”
• “He is…kind in ALL His deeds.”
• “The LORD is near to ALL who call upon Him”
• “He WILL fulfill the desire of those who fear Him”
• “He WILL also hear their cry”
• “He…WILL save them”
• “The LORD keeps ALL who love Him”
• “ALL the wicked He WILL destroy”
It’s not just that He is righteous sometimes.
He is righteous all the time!
When our kids were little they used to love the words “always” and “never”.
• “We never get to do this…”
• “You always make us…”
And we would say that “always” and “never” AREN’T FAIR words.
More than that they aren’t accurate words.
But they are for God and that is remarkable!
• He is immutable.
• He is always righteous.
• He is always kind
• He is always near
• He is always willing to save
• He is always just
• He always keeps
That is simply mind-boggling.
His consistency speaks to His perfection.
• He never slips, He never stumbles.
• He never has a bad day.
• He is perfect!
Does that not make Him worthy of all praise and testimony and mediation and declaration and celebration?
You see What God Deserves and You see Why God Deserves It.
#3 WHAT GOD RECEIVES
Psalms 145:21
The simple and glorious point here is that David wants in on it!
“My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD,”
He doesn’t just recognize what God deserves,
He gives God what He deserves.
• David is committed to praise.
• David is committed to testimony.
• David is committed to mediation.
• David is committed to declaration.
• David is committed to celebration.
I’m going to do it!
And incidentally, someday all of creation will do it as well.
“And all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.”
Are we not taught this?
Philippians 2:10-11 “so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Do you understand that?
Someday all of creation will worship.
We are well aware of the universal and eternal language of heaven.
IT IS PRAISE!
“Day and night they do not cease to say, “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY WHO WAS AND IS AND IS TO COME.”
All of heaven will worship forever.
But do you know what the universal and eternal language of hell will be?
THE EXACT SAME THING!
• Paul said every tongue “under the earth” will also “confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
• Even in hell, “Day and night they do not cease to say, “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY
IS THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY WHO WAS AND IS AND IS TO COME.”
HE DESERVES IT AND HE WILL RECEIVE IT!
YOU WILL GIVE IT TO HIM!
• You’ll either do it gladly today
• Or you’ll do it forcefully in eternity,
• But every knee will bow and every tongue will confess.
God deserves praise and testimony and mediation
And declaration and celebration and He will receive it!
That is what we call “THE ABC’S OF WORSHIP”
• It is basic and it is foundational.
• If you don’t know anything of theology, start with that.
