Psalm 145: God’s reign restored in David

To conclude this survey of the Psalms, we’ve chosen something very significant: the last psalm “of David.”

It’s a praise psalm, as God’s anointed points his people to their true sovereign, the one who always reigns:

Psalm 145:title-2 (NIV)
A psalm of praise. Of David.
¹ I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever.
² Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever.

This is an acrostic poem, where each verse beginning with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

The preceding psalms (138–144) are all “of David.” Now the king lifts up his people’s gaze to their heavenly sovereign. The remaining psalms (146–150) then open and close with the people shouting, “Let’s praise the Lord!” In Hebrew, that’s, “Hallelujah!”

So, what do you hear in these verses?

Psalm 145:3-7 (NIV)
³ Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.
⁴ One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts.
⁵ They speak of the glorious splendour of your majesty — and I will meditate on your wonderful works.
⁶ They tell of the power of your awesome works — and I will proclaim your great deeds.
⁷ They celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.

What is it about the Lord that elicits praise from his people? What do you see?

After thrilling over what God does, the psalm moves the spotlight to God’s character:

Psalm 145:8-13 (NIV)
⁸ The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.
⁹ The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.
¹⁰ All your works praise you, Lord; your faithful people extol you.
¹¹ They tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might,
¹² so that all people may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendour of your kingdom.
¹³ Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations.

Do you remember when the nation first discovered the qualities of God’s character described in verse 8? (Hint: Exodus 34:6.) Again, “love” is ḥě·sěḏ, God’s unfailing loyalty to his covenant people, even when they have not been. (Their unfaithfulness with a golden calf is the context of Exodus 34).

But God’s sovereign love is not limited to the Sinai covenant people. What is the extent of God’s faithful love? (verses 9-10) And what was the role of his kingdom in relation to the nations? (verses 11-12)

Meditate on verse 13. What does God’s kingdom cover? How much of time and space is included? What is the application of this for those of us who believe that God’s kingdom authority has been restored to the earth in his Anointed (the Christ)?

In the NIV, verse 13 is twice as long as the other verses. The second half reads: The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does. The King James Version doesn’t have this. The English Standard Version includes it in brackets, with an explanation: These two lines are supplied by one Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint, Syriac (compare Dead Sea Scroll).

Remember, all the ancient manuscripts were copied by hand, so there are differences between them. And something odd has happened at this point of the psalm. It’s an acrostic, but the letter N (nun in Hebrew) is missing from the poem. Was it left out intentionally? Was it lost in copying? Was it added by a copyist who felt the need to supply something? We really don’t know. It makes no practical difference. The statement that “the Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does” is perfectly congruent with God’s character, and consistent with his promise to restore the kingdom, whether it was originally part of the psalm or not. Are you okay with the uncertainty?

Since God is king (verse 1) of the whole kingdom (verse 13), our heavenly sovereign takes responsibility for the needs of everyone and everything in his earthly realm:

Psalm 145:14-16 (NIV)
¹⁴ The Lord upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.
¹⁵ The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time.
¹⁶ You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.

This was the responsibility of kings in ancient times. If a famine came and Pharaoh had not prepared to feed his people, he would have been in trouble (Genesis 41). People looked to their kings to keep them safe, and to sort out injustice. Still today, people look to the government for our economic well-being and national defence.

The trouble is that people trust the government instead of trusting God. Then, when something goes wrong like a global pandemic, financial recession, or a war, people blame the government for failing to protect us. This trust in government is unwise. The Psalms warn:

• 118:9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.
• 146:3 Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save.

Our faith is in the Lord to provide for us and keep us safe. Instead of trusting human governments, we’re participants with God in his governance:

• The Lord upholds those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down (v. 14), so we’re the agents of God’s government, partnering with God in caring for them.
• The Lord provides fresh food in season for all the creatures in creation (verse 15), so he calls us to partner with him in caring for them too — even the ones we think of as enemies (Matthew 5:43-48).
• The Lord opens his hand to satisfy the desires of every living thing (verse 16), so we’re fulfilling our vocation when we care for his creation (Psalm 8:4-9).

When people trust human governments, that’s where they invest their energies. When we trust our true sovereign, that’s where we invest our lives:

In the ancient Near East, the role of the king was to provide a safe place of habitation for humanity. That safety included dwelling places, farm land, drinking water, abundant harvests, increase of animals, and fertility within the family (see Psalms 72 and 107).

In our twenty-first-century world, many people do not have the basic elements of safe habitation—whether as a result of poverty, societal violence, disease, or outright neglect. We must, in God’s name, support those who are falling, lift up those who are bent down, give food in its time, open our hands, and hear and respond to cries for help.
— Nancy deClaissé-Walford. The Book of Psalms, NICOT (Eerdmans, 2014), 994-995.

The goal of history is the world back under God’s kingship, where everyone is cared for. Is that how you understand your life? How do you spend your life as a contribution to God’s government, his kingdom arriving on earth as in heaven through his Anointed?

If God designed us to image him, it’s through his people that the world discovers who God is and what he’s like. We aren’t God, but we image God’s character to creation:

Psalm 145:17-21 (NIV)
¹⁷ The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does.
¹⁸ The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
¹⁹ He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.
²⁰ The Lord watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.
²¹ My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord. Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever.

The psalm concludes with all creation echoing the praise of its Creator. This is where history is headed. When all the wars against God’s authority are over, the earth finds peace in its eternal sovereign.

At this point, David bows out. The remaining Psalms (145–150) focus entirely on the Lord’s reign, with unending praise for the eternal sovereign who sets everything right. “The Lord reigns” was the goal of the Psalms, as it is the goal of history. Hallelujah!

That’s how it will be when God has set all things right. God’s anointed will do what no human ruler in history has ever done: give authority back to God:

1 Corinthians 15:24-28 (NIV)
²⁴ Then the end [the goal/outcome] will come, when he [the Anointed] hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. ²⁵ For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶ The last enemy to be destroyed is death. … ²⁸ When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.

So in the end, who has the throne? The one who renewed creation:

Revelation 21:3-5 (NIV)
³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
⁵ He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”

That’s where the Psalms are leading us. Your thoughts?

Adapted from the series, “Formed in God’s Story: Psalms.” Full notes and podcasts here.

Related posts

• Psalm 118: Trusting God’s gracious love
• Psalm 97: The Lord is king
• Psalm 89: The Lord’s reign through David has died
• The story of the Psalms