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.
Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts. They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty—and I will meditate on your wonderful works. They tell of the power of your awesome works—and I will proclaim your great deeds. They celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.
The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.
The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. All your works praise you, Lord; your faithful people extol you. They tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might, so that all people may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations.
The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does. The Lord upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them. The Lord watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.
My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord. Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever. - Psalm 145
Praise is the natural outcome of experience. When someone does something extraordinary, it is not only normal to praise that person, it would be weird if there was no praise. In fact, you might begin to doubt the gift was truly extraordinary, the giver generous or the recipient grateful.
The write of this psalm cannot get his mind around the greatness of God. "Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom" To be "unable to fathom" means that one does not have a way to measure something because it is too much or too big. The psalm could stop right here because the writer is saying he doesn't know how to measure God's vastness and goodness.
God's greatness is too good to be contained in one person or, for that matter, in one generation. "One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts." When God's greatness is acknowledged generation after generation, we get an idea of its magnitude. One of the things I enjoy about church history is seeing sketched out on its pages how God has been active year after year. Christianity is not innate. It is passed along to children, grand-children, nephews and neices. The fact that Christianity survives is a testimony to the praise-worthiness of God who continues to inspire and draw people to him.
The psalm claims that God's greatness is to big to understand. But he encourages us to go ahead and try. It says: "They [generations of God's people] speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty...They tell of the power of your awesome works...They celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness."
Then the psalm says, if that's not enough, then creation will rise up to fill in the gap in praise: "They [the works of God] tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might, so that all people may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom."
Then the psalm goes on to list several ways that God is great: "The Lord is trustworthy...The Lord upholds all who fall...The Lord is righteous...The Lord is near...The Lord watches over all..."
Then the psalm brings it home to me: If I really think God is great, then I should probably say something about him to other people. "My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord." Do I keep quiet about the greatness of God that is evident to me? And what does that say about what I really think about God?
