Psalm 145

Great is the Lord A Song of Praise of David Verses 10-13a

These verses parallel verses 4-7. Verse 10 all your works shall give thanks points back to verse 4 Verse 11 speak the glory of your Kingdom points back to verse 6 Verse 12a to make known your mighty deeds points back to verse 7 Verse 12b glorious splendor of your Kingdom points back to verse 5 Every action has a reaction. Every cause has an effect Think about how God might be using your actions right now to advance His Kingdom. Is it difficult for you to do an action without seeing the immediate effect? What if the effect doesnt come in your lifetime? If you knew this would you still do the action? o For me this is so hard I want to see tangible results. o What is invisible to our eyes can have a dramatic effect on us. (electricity, nuclear power, micro-organisms) Who is the they in verse 11? It points back to verse 10 and all your saints shall bless you. Psalm 37:28 For the Lord loves justice and will not forsake his saints. Psalm 132:9 let your saints shout for joy. The saints are Gods faithful people. The people who will speak of the glory of the Lords kingdom. Notice that not all of the people speak of Gods glory. And dont we see this in everyday life!?! Why is it important to speak of Gods power and glory? So that the children of man will know of his deeds. The children of man here are non-believers. The Lord uses his saints to advance His power and mighty kingdom and to declare it to the children of man. o When the role of the saints is put like that doesnt it sound important? Do I really see the importance of sharing Gods word with people in my life? Whose deeds are you making known? Your needs or the Lords? (verse 12) Galatians 6:14 1 Corinthians 1:31 All of these verses have one central theme --- boasting in Christ alone. Colossians 3:17 God loves it when man boasts in God, and God hates it when man boasts in man. John Piper Eight times in four verses is you/your used. This life is not about me. It is about God. What are some times where I have boasted in my own works and not in His? Boasting in man deflects mans attention from the fountain of his joy and ruins his life. It tricks man into replacing magnificence with a mirror. Man was not made to admire man. He was made to admire God. The joy of admiration is prostituted and ruined when man tries to find galaxy-size glory in the glow of his own reflection. God does not like the damage done by boasting in man. John Piper To continue reading the article Godly Boasting go to this website ... http://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/godly-boasting/

Gods kingdom is forever. What is the Kingdom of God? {Grudems Systematic Theology, The Church and the Kingdom of God} The church is part of the Kingdom but never the Kingdom itself The Kingdom is the rule of God the church is a society of men (sinners). The Kingdom is not solely the church, and the Kingdom isnt entirely in the future. Then what is it? There is a close relationship between both. As the church proclaims the good news (the Gospel) of the kingdom then people will come to church. As people come to church then they will experience the blessing of God in their life. We experience some of the kingdom here as believers and get to live in the power of the Holy Spirit. What is our role in the Kingdom? {Ligonier The Kingdom of God devotional} Genesis 1:28 Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over every living thing that moves on the earth. Genesis tells us that the Lord has made humans to share in his reign. Mankind was made to declare His glory while ruling over the earth. o Our role is to increase and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is not by just doing missional work. Teaching your child a scripture, pruning your flowers to be more beautiful next year, being ethical at work, showing compassion and grace to others all of these things exercise the righteous dominion for which we were created. Verse 13 points us back to verse 4. We are only one generation. Our time is limited. God, however, is beyond generations. He is outside time unlimited. How great will it be to see His kingdom! Psalm 10:16 The Lord is king forever and ever Psalm 145:1,2 I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Once we see God in heaven we will still bless and praise His name. Sometimes it is difficult to praise something that you cant tangibly see. Once we see the glory of God do you think that will change? o Isaiah 6:1-6 Look at the seraphim. They see God but still cover their eyes and feet and continually sing His praises and worship. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts The thrice-holy magnifies the holiness of God. Each holy intensifies the one before it. {When People are Big and God is Small, page 118} o When John saw Christ he fell at his feet and worshipped. See Revelation 1:17 John Wesley says St. John, before our Lord suffered, was so intimate with him, as to lean on his breast, to lie in his bosom. John had a relationship so close to Jesus that he could go to Him and be consoled. He felt near to him, they had a close knit relationship like a brother. Seventy years before he had a very intimate relationship with Jesus. Now at his sight he is struck down at one glance from seeing such a heavenly and weighty thing. If we saw God now with our sinful hearts we would perish instantly. Just like John, we literally cannot bear to see His goodness and grace. o His invisibility is both a blessing and a curse. Its a blessing because it is an act of protecting grace. It is a curse because we long to see the face of God. Think about how awesome heaven is going to be and how one day our desires will be fulfilled. We will see the Makers hand and worship him for eternity.