Psalm 145:1 Extolling our God and King

It has been a long time since I posted on this blog, but I wanted to begin to use it again as I have been blessed immensely by my recent study of Psalm 145 and I thought it would be helpful to others to consider some things I have recently learned. Indeed, every day I read over this passage, I continue to learn more about it and feel God speaking to my heart about my own lack of obedience in various ways. This psalm is primarily one of praise to God, beginning in the first verse.

Left to right: KJV, NASB, ESV Bibles

As is often the case, I find a richer depth to Biblical texts by examining the various English translations we have in our home. I have read this psalm many times in the last few weeks and want to share with you all what God is revealing in my life from this beautiful passage. Let's look today at just a small portion of this glorious psalm, which is an acrostic beginning with each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This is similar to Psalm 119 which does the same but has whole sections, broken into 8 verses each, giving us 176 verses and culminating in the longest chapter in the whole Bible. Let's take a look at the text:

NASB
I will extol You, my God, O King, and I will bless Your name forever and ever.

KJV
I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.

ESV
I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever.

As we examine all of these texts we see the same thing. A passionate plea from the heart of the writer, David, to extol God. For those, like me, who like to look up words to see how they are defined, we find that this term "extol" means to laud, to give excited praise, to lift up. Since we don't often use this term today, one could understand this opening verse to say that David wishes to lift up the name of God, to excitedly praise his Creator, or to laud Him. As we get farther on in this psalm, we will see more of the reasons why David wishes to give such excited praise based on the character, nature, and works of God revealed throughout Creation. 

I am not seminary trained, nor am I able to even read with comprehension all the time due to my neurological problems, but this passage is understandable to me as it is clear and beautifully written. As we teach our children to know and obey the one true God as revealed in the Bible, it is our goal to do as the psalmist here has done, to extol God who is also our King, and to bless Him at all times, from now into eternity.  

Today, we will share some personal stories as we interact with the poetic beauty of the King James Version, and share from this passage things that we have learned as we read, study, examine, meditate on, and apply this song of praise. 

"I will extol thee, my God, O King; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever."

As a young man, I grew up in a home where the Bible, specifically the King James Version, was read often. We went to church whenever the doors were open, and I recall sitting or lying in my bed while my mother read stories from a Bible story book which I now have in my home. I knew who God was, and I was taught that God was the Creator of all things. We started in Genesis with the Creation account and I was given much instruction about the one true God. A solid foundation was laid for me from God's Word, but I was not yet regenerated by the Holy Spirit, not truly born again to a new and living hope in Christ Jesus. Yet even as a child I knew in my heart that this God was the truth, that Genesis held the true historical account of God making the world and everything in it, and that I was part of His creative acts. I knew about God, but I did not know God.

I see this same thing in our younger children, who have been taught the Bible since any of them were born, even hearing Sara and I singing songs of praise, honor, and adoration to God while they were still in the womb. They know about God, and it is our earnest prayer each day that God would be glorified to bring each of them to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin and eternal life. The youngest of them can recite to you passages of Scripture, catechism questions and answers, and answer questions about who God is. But do they extol God as King in their hearts and bless His Name forever? As a parent, that is our greatest desire, and the goal that we spend a large amount of time to achieve, knowing that the means God uses to draw His children to Himself is the proclamation of the Gospel, of His truth about who He is and who they are, and so we press on with reverence and passion toward God. 

I know as a parent that my children will generally do what they see me do, whether good or evil. Knowing this, we ought to be wise and discerning about what we say to them, that we get our information from the source of wisdom and knowledge, the inspired Word of God as revealed in the Old and New Testaments. When we sin against them, we confess it to them and ask them to forgive us. When they sin, we point them to the sin nature as revealed in God's Word and tell them of their need to be reconciled to God in Christ Jesus. When we pray, we ask our petitions of the Lord through the only Mediator between God and man, the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ, and we submit all our requests to the sovereign will of Him who is all wise, all powerful, and who loved the world so much that He would send His Son to die for sin and endure the wrath due to us as sinners. 

And yet, with all of our teaching and singing, reading and explaining, we admit our weakness, our failures, our sin and repentance, our catechisms and books, we at times fail to truly extol our God, our King, and to bless His name not only in the good times, but in great trials and persecutions, in sickness and weakness. We have, however, grown in obedience by the grace of God, and desire at all times to do these things. Given that even as adults, maturing in our faith over decades of walking with the Lord, we fail so often, we must admit that there is still nothing in our flesh which will please God, and so we must walk in the spirit and trust God to accomplish His work in us. 

As we go through each day, it is not enough to simply read the Bible as an academic exercise, but to meditate on it day and night, to digest it so that it becomes part of who we are, and to recognize and remember that, but for the grace of God in our salvation, we too would not truly understand these truths or be able to know God intimately and personally unless He has first brought us to repentance, a change of heart and mind which brings true life, eternal life, and gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit to apply His truth to our lives, achieving that which we could never accomplish, life from death, resurrection in spirit which will culminate in resurrection on the last day when Christ Jesus returns for His Bride, which He purchased with His own blood. These precious truths as recorded in various passages of the Bible cause us to give jubilant praise, honor, and adoration to our Creator and Savior, our King and our God. 

So today, as we walk in this world, it is our heartfelt desire, our earnest prayer and plea, that our words and deeds would do as David did, as recorded in Psalm 145:1, to "Extol You, my God, O King, and bless His Name forever and ever." We hope that this is the desire of every Christian, indeed every person who reads this post, to do the same. He is indeed worthy of all we are and have, for He has given us light and life! 

As we do this in our hearts, and then in our words and deeds, those around us should expect to not only see that we are religious or church goers, but that we are no longer as we all were before God saved us, dead in our sins and seeking our own desires, but that the God and King over all Creation is working in us and through us to make disciples through sharing and proclaiming the Gospel and shining the Light of Him who sent us into all the world to spread His fame throughout the world. 

May the God and King over all Creation be extolled forever and ever! Amen.