Praying Psalm 145 Release Date: December 10, 2018 (This week s readings from Sunday to Saturday: Psalm 142 148) Psalm 145 (ESV) 1 I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. 2 Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. 3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. 4 One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. 5 On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. 6 They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. 7 They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness. 8 The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 9 The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made. 10 All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD, and all your saints shall bless you! 11 They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power, 12 to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. 13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. [The LORD is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works.] 14 The LORD upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. 15 The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. 1
16 You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing. 17 The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. 18 The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. 19 He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them. 20 The LORD preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. 21 My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever. Adoration At the beginning of Psalm 145, the psalmist immediately directs our attention to the magnitude of God. Begin to unburden yourself of the weight you may have carried into this time of prayer, by acknowledging the unsearchable greatness of our Father. Worship God with the words of verse 3, he is great and greatly to be praised. [Pray for 15 seconds.] Psalm 145 says, in verse 4, that One generation shall commend [the] works [of the Lord] to another, and... declare [his] mighty acts. And verse 6 proclaims, They shall speak of the might of [the Lord s] awesome deeds. Lift your voice and praise God for his works and his mighty acts. Adore God for his abundant goodness and his righteousness, mentioned in verse 7. Psalm 145, verses 8 and 9, display the character of our God. The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made. Say these words after me in praise to God: God you are gracious. [pause] God you are merciful. [pause] Lord you are slow to anger. [pause] Lord you are abounding in steadfast love. [pause] God you are good to all. [pause] 2
Lord, it is only because of the reconciling work of your Son, Jesus Christ, that we have the privilege of declaring your mighty acts to the next generation. As we meditate on your power, we are reminded that your works are wonderful and without equal. Today, we choose to speak of your awesome deeds. When we think of your love and commitment to humankind, how can we stay silent? Praise belongs to You, gracious and merciful Father. Confession In Psalm 145, verses 5 6 exhort us to meditate on God s wondrous works and speak of the might of his awesome deeds. Sadly, our human tendency is to speak about our troubles and meditate on our sorrows. Let s acknowledge our sinfulness in this area. Too often we allow our focus to remain squarely on our problems, forgetting to remind our hearts of God s greatness and awesome deeds. In your own words, confess your tendency to focus on the size of your problems, rather than the greatness and power of your heavenly Father. Confess specific problems and sins that you ve tried to hide from God. Acknowledge the sin of pride that has kept you from trusting God. Psalm 145:17 reminds us that, The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. As we consider this great kindness He has shown us, let s remember that God commanded us to reflect this same love and kindness to others. In your own words, confess out loud ways in which you have failed to show this same kindness toward others. [Pray for 15 seconds.] Father, the grace and mercy you have extended toward us is overwhelming. There is nothing we have done to deserve it, yet you have made it available to us because of your Son s sacrifice on the cross. As you have been to us, may we be to others. We confess that in our weakness, we have wanted to cling to offense and hold onto grudges. Yet, as your children, we have been given the freedom to forgive those who have hurt us and the grace to throw off the sin of bitterness that tries to set us back. You have set us free from the bondage of unforgiveness and offense. We have the grace to love, because you first loved us. Thanksgiving In Psalm 145, verse 10, the psalmist writes, All your works shall give thanks to you. All of creation has been given the honor of giving thanks to the Creator. In your own words, express your thankfulness to God for the privilege of joining the rest of creation in singing his praises. 3
Chief among these works, mentioned in verse 10, is man. Ephesians 2 tells us that, we are his 1 workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. Our lives have been designed to give thanks to the Creator and reflect his beauty. We don t deserve this esteemed position among creation, yet in his kindness, he has entrusted us with it. Thank God for the honor of being created in his image. According to Psalm 145, verse 13, God s kingdom is everlasting. This means that even when time ceases to exist, God s kingdom will remain, steadfast and constant. This reality is awe-inspiring. In your own words, thank God for the honor of being a part of his eternal kingdom. Verse 13 also declares, The Lord is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works. Thank God for keeping the promises he has made in his Word and for showing kindness to us through his actions. 2 Father, you are the Alpha and Omega the beginning and the end. You are eternal, standing outside of time. But even so, you care about each of our moments. In your great rescue plan, you sent your Son into our world, into the constraints of time. And when he came, he reconciled us, making us members of this unending kingdom. Thank you that we are full-fledged citizens, with all the rights and responsibilities that come along with belonging to this eternal kingdom. As Psalm 145, verse 4 declares, One generation shall commend your works to another and shall declare your mighty acts. We praise you for the privilege of making your deeds known to future generations. We are grateful to be a part of reconciling this generation to you, as part of your rescue plan. Supplication Psalm 145 tells us that God hears the cries of those who fear him (145:19) and is near to those who call on him (145:18). Verse 13 also assures us that The Lord is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works. This means that he is a loving God that keeps his promises. One of the promises he made to us is that he will continue the good work in us and finally complete it on 1 Eph 2:10. 2 Rev 22:13. 4
3 the day Christ returns. In your own words, ask God to develop a steadfast and unrelenting faith in his people a faith that waits expectantly for the Lord to complete his good work in us. [Pray for 15 seconds.] As a part of this generation of believers, verse 7 says that we shall sing aloud of God s righteousness, declaring the fame of his abundant goodness. Ask God to give us the confidence to declare these truths about our Father to the those in our communities and throughout the world. We see another of God s promises in verse 14, as he, upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. You may be in a season of your life where you feel as if you re on a mountaintop. Or, perhaps you feel like you re walking through the lowest valley. Wherever you re at today, ask the Lord to uphold you with his mighty hand. God, in verse 19 we are reminded that you hear the cries of those who fear you and verse 18 declares that you are near to those who call on you. Please give us an awareness of your faithful presence as we walk on the mountaintops and through the valleys. You have promised that you will uphold all who are falling and raise up all who are bowed down. Help us to stay in a posture of humility and dependence, so that we can be upheld by you. Benediction Father, in every season, you have proven you are worthy of our praise. We are grateful to join generations past, present, and future in the act of proclaiming your power. You have shown compassion to us, being slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. And may we mirror this divine love to the people you have sent us to friends and strangers, alike. Fill us with wisdom and confidence, fully knowing that your hand is holding us up. In the name of your son, Jesus, we pray. AMEN. Credits Praying the Bible is a copyrighted production of The Summit Institute, the equipping ministry of the Summit Church in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. If you would like to learn more about The Summit Institute, visit us online at summitchurch.com/institute. 3 Phil. 1:6 5
Produced by Chris Green, Luke Brown, and Jonathan Welch Engineered by Luke Brown and Branden Williams Written by Brooke Medina Narrated by Brooke Medina Music by Luke Brown and Paul Seykora Scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version ), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. 6