Psalm 145:1-21, My Response to God (1)

We are travelling from California back to Montana.  This is a trip we have made often over the years, given our families are still in California.  So, when we go, if we’re not in a big hurry, we try to take a route different than I-15 through Salt Lake City.  This time we traversed “Utah Highway 12.”  It’s called a “scenic byway” and for good reason; it is full of the beauty of eastern Utah.  We went through Zion Nat’l. Park, dipped into Bryce NP briefly, travelled along the “Grand Staircase – Escalante Nat’l. Monument,” and had grand views of Capitol Reef NP.  All the way along, we believe we are seeing the work of our Creator God, which He made in great wisdom, and which He then “rearranged” by a cataclysmic flood. 

Now I don’t normally bore you with travelogue items (at least when we’re not in Israel).  But I mention it today in the context of what I want us to consider from Psalm 145.  What we have seen has caused us to call out to God in wonder and praise, for His works.  Likewise, the Psalmist (said to be David in the introduction) is full of praise to God for His works. 

But when we say “praise” what do we mean?  Don’t be quick to answer that question.  Let’s take a longer look at the different words that describe what praise to God looks like.  In the NKJV version, the English word “praise” is, for example, a translation of several different Hebrew words.  I hope you will be blessed by this, and encouraged to give God the variety and abundance of responses He deserves.  Our basic approach is to give a root definition (with the Strong’s Concordance number), and then look at the first use (or two) of the term in Scripture, which is often definitive of terms in the OT.

·       Title: A praise of David.  tehillah (8416).  This is a “hymn of praise.”  That makes sense.  It is, after all, the title of the Psalm.  The first use of this term was in Exodus 15:11, where it is part of the great hymn of praise which the people of Israel sang after crossing the Red Sea.  Another use of the word is in 2 Chron. 20:22 where the people of Judah began to sing and to praise when they went to war.  And, of course, the Lord granted victory.  One other use I will mention is what post-exilic Israel was told by the Levites: Blessed be Your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise (Neh. 9:5)!  Great reminder: God is greater than our praise.  We can never fully describe our God of praise.  We have several CDs in our car of pianists who accompany God’s people in local churches.  We love to sing along with them in the songs of praise.  We will be doing that again today, I am sure, as we go through “dinosaur land” in NE Utah.