Psalms 145:3-13 - Homiletics

The greatness of God.

In this exquisite psalm the greatness and the goodness of God are celebrated, and the writer passes so freely from one to another, that it is very difficult to keep them separate. Nor is there much need to do so; for God's greatness, his glory, is in his goodness ( Exodus 33:19 ), and the two are really inseparable. Endeavoring, however, to look at them apart, we are here reminded of—

I. HIS MAJESTY . We read of "the splendor of the glory of his majesty" ( Psalms 145:5 ). The manifestations of God's presence, given in the earlier times, were those of radiant, insupportable effulgence; those who witnessed them shrank from them. God dwells in the "light inaccessible, to which no man can approach." The splendor of his glory is such as would dazzle and bewilder our mortal sight.

II. HIS POWER . We have "the might of his terrible acts," "his wondrous works," "his mighty acts." From the time when David looked up into the heavens and was awed by the tokens of Divine power shining down upon him from above, to our own time, when we first sang of him whose power "made the mountains rise," "spread the flowing seas abroad," and "built the lofty skies," men have been affected and subdued by the "almighty power of God;" and they always must be while the wonderful fabric of nature lasts.

III. HIS INFINITY . The kingdom of God is "everlasting;" it endures "throughout all generations." Nations rise and fall, dynasties appear and disappear, centuries begin and end, but God's dominion knows no bound at all. It continues from generation to generation. There is something which powerfully affects us as we think of that which lasts, and will last, while every other thing fades and vanishes away.

IV. HIS HOLINESS . ( Psalms 145:6 , Psalms 145:17 , Psalms 145:20 .) The psalmist speaks of God's "terrible acts," and he says that he "will destroy the wicked." History, sacred and profane, is full of proofs that the holiness of God is as great as his majesty and his power. "The face of the Lord is against them that do evil." "By terrible things in righteousness" God makes us to know that sin is hateful in his sight, that continuance in it will result in ruin, in shame, in death. On the other hand, God's greatness in righteousness is seen in the rewards he gives to the upright, in lifting up the lowly, in abundantly blessing the true and pure and good. Who would not fear God who is of such majesty, power, infinitude, holiness? Who would not worship him? How foolish and how guilty to refuse to listen when he speaks, to come to him in willing subjection when he calls us to his service!