Declaring God’s Goodness
“Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable.” (Psalm 145:3)
This declaration of God’s greatness is nothing less than majestic. It encapsulates the truth of God’s omniscience and inscrutability (God knows all and cannot be fully comprehended by man) all in that one phrase unsearchable. But what is the point of this announcement of God’s greatness?
“One generation shall praise Thy works to another, and shall declare Thy mighty acts.” (v.4)
This is a picture of our responsibility as Christians to share with the next generation all the wonderful things God has done throughout history and in our lives as well. But David doesn’t stop there. He makes it personal.
“I will speak of the glorious honor of Thy majesty, and of Thy wondrous works. And men shall speak of the might of Thy terrible acts: and I will declare Thy greatness.”(v.5-6)
This verse paints the picture of a conversation. --Just curious: when was the last time you had a conversation with someone where both of you were going on and on about God’s honor, majesty, might, and greatness? It may not seem to come naturally to us, and in a way, it doesn’t. Our flesh likes to extol its own virtues, rather than God’s. It takes humility to acknowledge that God is worthy of all honor and praise. But that is what David is calling us to in this psalm. --And it’s not just supposed to be a one-time thing, either.
“They shall abundantly utter the memory of Thy great goodness, and shall sing of Thy righteousness.” (v. 7)
We should have much to say about God’s goodness. We should be able to think back across our lives and see God’s hand of goodness over and over. Why?
“The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works.” (vv.8-9)
There is no one on earth who can claim that God has not been good to them. His tender mercies are indeed over all His works. So, why is it so hard to come up with things to say about God’s goodness?
There are probably as many reasons as there are people answering the question, but it all boils down to this: are we paying attention to the ways God has been good to us, and are we communicating those wonderful works to others, both in our generation and the generation to come?
I hope that when I’m elderly I will be one of those people who can’t stop talking about God’s goodness. Have you ever met someone like that? They seem to radiate joy and peace, and praises of God’s goodness seem to just flow out of them.
If I want to be that kind of a person in old age, I need to start now. Praise takes practice, for to praise God with heart and mouth is to yield to the Holy Spirit and to deny our flesh and its desire to have our full focus. It begins now. Today. Even this very moment.
How about you? What do you have to praise God for, and whom does God want you share it with?