Psalm 145 Part 2

In the second stanza, beginning in v8 David echoed the self-description of Yahweh to Moses (Exodus.34:6). He then goes beyond the greatness, majesty, and splendour of the Divine nature; he rises still higher to celebrate the moral attributes of Yahweh. His goodness and lovingkindness spread to all humanity (c.f. Matt.5:45 and Acts.14:17). They too must be ‘made known’. As Jesus declared,” This Gospel of the kingdom, (the Mighty acts of the cross,) must be known in all the world, and then the end shall come.” (Matt.24:14.) Then comes the‘everlasting kingdom:’ One reason why praise should continue forever (as in v2) is because God’s kingdom will last forever. Men come and go like shadows on the wall, but God reigns eternally. 

How wonderful to know that God’s compassion is especially evident toward those who fall and fail(v14). He does not despise or reject them; there is a sense in which He especially draws near them to hold them up. If they allow their fall to rightly humble them, God will draw near and uphold them. The NLT translation of v14 says it beautifully, ‘The Lord helps the fallen and lifts those bent beneath their loads.”

The last portion of the psalm is marked by a frequent repetition of ‘all,’ which occurs eleven times in these verses. The singer seems to delight in the very sound of the word, which suggests to him boundless visions of the wide sweep of God’s universal mercy, and of the numberless crowd of dependents who wait on and are satisfied by Him. V15 is mirrored in the Lord’s prayer (Matt.6:11) as we pray for our daily bread, and later in Matt 6:26,30 the thought of God even feeding the animals with an open hand is mentioned by Jesus.

We praise God for who He is and what He has done. David now (v17ff) adds another reason for worship; His incomparable combination of being righteous AND gracious. Paul would echo this in Romans 3:26 when he declared that God could be “Just and yet the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” This was demonstrated through the death of Jesus!