A Harvest of Praise

Psalm 145

INTRODUCTION

For many years, churches have held Harvest Festivals. The significance of this event has dimmed over the years because of improved farming methods, and the abundance of food from all over the world. Having said this, it is still good to remind ourselves of God’s blessing in a world that takes so much for granted. To help us do this, we are going to look at a harvest of praise in Psalm 145. We will begin by asking two basic questions. What is praise and who do we praise. This is…

AN APPRECIATION OF PRAISE

I will exalt the king

Psalm 145 is called a Psalm of Praise. It begins with these words of appreciation in vs.1-2: “I will exalt you my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever.” Notice the resolve here: I will exalt you… I will praise your name… every day I will praise you… I will extol your name for ever and ever.

We praise the Lord

The word praise in the title of Psalm 145 means adoration and thanksgiving. It is to speak well of someone. We praise our pets, our children, and our heroes. In Psalm 145, however, there is one recipient of praise. It is our God the King. It is Yahweh or Lord.

In v1, we exalt the God who is king. In v2, we praise his name. In v3, we praise the one whose greatness no one can fathom. In vs.5-6, we praise the one who is splendid in majesty and who displays his glory in his wonderful works. In v7, we praise the one who is good and righteous. In vs.8-9, we praise the one who is gracious and compassionate; slow to anger and rich in love. In v13, we praise the one whose dominion endures through all generations. In vs.14-15, we praise the one who is faithful in all he does. In v16, we praise the one who satisfies the desires of every living thing. In v20, we praise the one who watches over all who love him.

Unashamed praise

In Psalm 145, the idea of praise is unashamed adoration of God—for who he is, for what he has done, and for what he continues to do. When we praise our pets, our children, and our heroes, we do so openly, but we seem to be more hesitant about praising God. To be relevant as God’s people, however, we need to be as bold in our praise today as we will be in heaven. Revelation 7:9–12 says in heaven there will be a great multitude of people standing before the throne and before the Lamb. Angels will also be there worshipping God and saying, “Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honour and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever.” This is an appreciation of praise and it answers the question what is praise and who do we praise. It leads to a further question: why do we praise? This is…

AN APPRAISAL OF PRAISE

A reason for praise

Psalm 145:15-16 says, “The eyes of all look to the Lord, and he gives us food at the proper time. He opens his hand and satisfies the desire of every living thing.” This is why we praise. Verses 17-18 go on to say, “The Lord is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made. He is near to all who call on him.” This is another reason for praise.

A greater reason for praise

The problem with praise today is that we have it too easy. We collect our food from the supermarket or at home online. This is convenient, but we then don’t see the hard work that goes into ploughing, sowing, and reaping. Those who struggle through the seasons know what it is to be thankful during harvest.

There are, however, greater reasons for praising God. The Lord meets our physical need, but his greater provision is seen in his love, mercy, and grace in salvation. Psalm 145:7 says, “We celebrate his abundant goodness and joyfully sing of his righteousness. From our perspective, we can add the words in Jesus who is Lord (Yahweh). Verses 17-19 could then read like this, “The Lord (Jesus) is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does. The Lord (Jesus) is near to all who call on him; to all who call on him in truth… he hears their cry and saves them.”

Celebrating his abundant goodness

We do not hold back when praising gold medal winners or those who score the winning goal in a Cup Final. We don’t hesitate to thank people when they are generous to us. If we do this with human beings, how much more should we praise the one who gives us everything we need in Christ. Philippians 4:19 says, “My God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” This is why we praise God, and it leads to two further questions: when do we praise and how. This is…

AN APPROACH TO PRAISE

The when and the how

Psalm 145:2 says, “Every day we will praise him and extol his name for ever and ever.” This is when we praise God. The ‘how’ is seen in v4: “We commend his works from one generation to another.” Verse 5 says we praise him by speaking of the glorious splendour of his majesty, and by meditating on his wonderful works. Verse 7 says we celebrate his abundant goodness and sing joyfully of his righteousness.

We praise God always

We should praise God at harvest. We should praise God at the beginning and end of each year. We should praise God as the months and seasons change. We should praise God at the end of each week. We should praise God throughout the day. We should praise God all the time. Psalm 113:3 says, “From the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, the name of the Lord is to be praised.”

What about when we are sick, unemployed or struggling to make ends meet. Can we praise God then? The answer is “Yes!” During times of adversity, praise comes into its own. During adversity, v17 is still true: “The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does.” In times of adversity, v19 says, “The Lord hears our cry and saves us.” In times of adversity, we may ask where is God, but he’s on a cross dying for us. Romans 8:35–37 asks who shall separate us from the love of Christ. Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword. In all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Come on let’s celebrate

Psalm 145:7 says, “We should celebrate his abundant goodness and joyfully sing of his righteousness.” The word celebrate means to bubble forth. It’s like a river flowing over rocks. The expression joyfully sing means to shout aloud for joy. We cannot do this in moderation. Psalm 45:1 says, “My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king; my tongue is the pen of a skilful writer.”

CONCLUSION

Today, we have tried to answer the questions: What is praise? Who do we praise? Why do we praise? When do we praise, and How? Our answers here should help us with one more question as we close, “Who praises?” According to Psalm 145, it is all that God has made (v10). Verse 21 concludes therefore with these words, “Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever.”

Bernard Cartledge