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Psalm 145: What the Righteous Love to Talk About

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INTRODUCTION

The nature and character of God is of course worthy of all praise and adoration. But we are finite, and sinful on top of that, and so we cannot even begin to praise Him as He deserves to be praised. Nevertheless, the effort must be made. As forgiven sinners, how on earth are we going to declare His worth? What are we going to do? Shout? Stand on a chair?

One of the ways that Scripture assigns to us is the method of declaring His works—the mighty works that He accomplished down here where we live. This is something we can do, and David shows us the way.

THE TEXT

“I will extol thee, my God, O king; And I will bless thy name for ever and ever. Every day will I bless thee; And I will praise thy name for ever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; And his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: And I will declare thy greatness. They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness . . . And let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever” (Psalm 145:1–21). 

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

As we begin to work our way through this psalm, take note of all the verbs that the psalmist promises. Over and over, up through the seventh verse, this is what the psalmist does. He extols God, and blesses His name (v. 1). He blesses His name every day, and is going to praise Him forever (v. 2). The magnitude of the task is recognized—God is greatly to be praised because His greatness is unfathomable. Following David’s example, one generation will praise God to the next, declaring His mighty acts (v. 4). David returns to the task, speaking of the glorious honor of His majesty . . . and His works (v. 5). Others will speak of the might of His terrible acts, and David will declare His greatness (v. 6).  Men will recount their memories of God’s great goodness, and will sing about His righteousness (v. 7).

What is this God like? Gracious, full of compassion, slow to anger, and He has great mercy (v. 8). God is good to all, and His tender mercies are the arch over our lives (v. 9). His works turn around and praise Him, and His saints echo that praise (v. 10). They, as David did earlier, will speak of God’s glory, and talk about His power (v. 11). This is instructive; men learn about His mighty acts and His glorious majesty (v. 12). His kingdom is forever; His dominion is forever (v. 13). 

But He does more than throw galaxies around, and make volcanos blow up. He operates at our nano-level as well. He upholds those who fall, and raises up those who are stooped over (v. 14). This is why we little ones look to Him, like baby birds in a nest (v. 15). We all had breakfast this morning because God opened His hand (v. 16). Same thing with real baby birds (v. 16). Always remember that God is good, all the time (v. 17). If someone calls out to Him in truth, they can be assured that God is right there (v. 18). Do you fear Him? He will fulfill your desire, hear your cry, and save you (v. 19). God preserves those who love Him and destroys the wicked (v. 20). So don’t be wicked. All of this caused David to speak God’s praises (v. 21), and he issues the invitation to all flesh to bless His name forever and ever (v. 21).

THE NATURAL DUTY OF PRAISE

It is a commonplace that our mouths are filled with the same thing that fills our hearts. The voice is the overflow valve for the heart. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matt. 12:34). This is speaking of the ungodly, but the principles works in both directions. The godly speak about what they love too. “Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: And the Lord hearkened, and heard it, And a book of remembrance was written before him For them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name” (Malachi 3:16). 

THE GENEROSITY OF GOD

God is a generous God. The picture of God opening His hand conjures up the image of someone going out to feed the chickens, spreading the feed by the handful. He is not stingy. He gives with an open hand. God is good to all (v. 9). If you are struggling, if you are beaten down, if you have been worked over . . . God sees you and stoops to lift you up (v. 14). He knows your desires, top to bottom, front to back, side to side, and He is the God who will both sanctify and fulfill those desires. 

THE GOD WHO IS NIGH

And this brings us to the realization that God is good—all the time God is good. But it is equally true that sin is bad—all the time sin is bad. And because we live in a fallen world, we have to deal with the impact of sin, our own and that of others. We have to deal with stupidity, our own and that of others. We have to deal with wickedness. And remember that God preserves those who love Him, and He destroys the wicked (v. 20). And this hard sentiment is expressed in a psalm of praise. Remember that the only passage where alleluia occurs in the New Testament is when the saints of God are observing the smoke of Babylon the great going up forever and ever (Rev. 19:3). 

So God is good all the time, and sin is bad all the time. But the goodness of God overarches and outranks everything else, including the wickedness that He is engaged in destroying. So when you are in trouble, and you are crying out to Him, remember the promise of the psalm. God is nigh. This is not the same as to say that it has to feel like He is nigh, but our task is to walk in the truth of His Word. And so don’t doubt in the dark what you knew in the light.

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The Deep and Confusing Love of Jesus

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THE TEXT

John 11:1-6
Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4 But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Mary and Martha and Lazarus are siblings. Lazarus is ill, the sisters inform Jesus through a messenger, and Jesus makes a decisive declaration: “This illness does not lead to death. This illness is for the glory of God so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
Surprisingly Jesus then waits a few days before informing the disciples that they are going to Judea, to Bethany. The disciples aren’t thrilled about this; the last two times Jesus was in that region, crowds tried to stone him for blasphemy, because he was claiming that he was equal to God (John 5:18). But Jesus insists that they must go, because Lazarus has died and they need to go see him. Reluctantly (and perhaps with some gallows humor), the disciples go with him.
When Jesus nears the town, Martha comes to meet him while Mary remains at the house with the large group of mourners. Martha expresses some hopefulness that God can still hear Jesus’s prayers, and Jesus declares himself to be the resurrection and the life. He then summons Mary to see him and she comes and falls at his feet weeping. Jesus is deeply moved and greatly troubled by this, and he himself weeps, and they all go to the tomb together.
When they arrive at the tomb, Jesus orders the stone to be removed (over Martha’s objections). Jesus then prays out loud and then cries out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” And the dead man lives.

EXPECTATIONS & CONFUSION

The unfolding of the story leads us to identify with the confusion of the disciples and Mary and Martha and the crowds. Because their expectations are not being met. Notice the sources of confusion and disappointment:
1) “Lord, he whom you love is ill” (11:3). What’s implied? “Come heal him! We know you can heal, so come do it.” And yet Jesus delays. It’s confusing.
2) The disciples fear returning to Judea, where the Jews had just threatened to stone him. Why go back now? It’s confusing.
3) Jesus seems to speak in riddles. “Lazarus has fallen asleep but I go to awaken him” (11:11). Is Jesus talking about sleep or death? It’s confusing.
4) Jesus’s emotional responses are puzzling. To his disciples: “Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there.” And then, he is deeply moved and troubled in his spirit. He weeps. If he’s glad, why is he weeping? It’s confusing.
5) Jesus’s request is puzzling. “Take away the stone.” He’s dead, Jesus. Why remove the stone now? It’s confusing.
6) There is one central thought hanging over the whole episode.
Martha (11:21): “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
Mary (11:32): “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
The mourners finally explicitly raise the question that haunts this whole story (11:37): “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”
I highlight that confusion because it’s where most of us live. Whether it’s illness (cancer, stroke, unexplained sickness, chronic pain), whether it’s the death of someone we love (parent, child, sibling, friend), whether it’s persecution, opposition, or enmity, whether it’s anxiety, doubt, depression—here’s what we know:
1) Jesus is able to fix this.
2) In his compassion, Jesus has fixed these sorts of things for others.
3) Jesus loves me and has compassion for me.
4) And yet, the illness is still here, the death still happened, the persecution has intensified, and the darkness has not lifted.
This is where we live–in the long days between our message to Jesus—“The one whom you love is ill”—and his confusing arrival a week later. And yet John insists from the beginning, “Jesus loved Martha and Mary and Lazarus.” So where is the love of Jesus in this story?

THE LOVE OF JESUS WAITS

The love of Jesus waits. The most shocking word in this entire story is two letters long. “So.” Jesus loved Martha and Mary and Lazarus. So, when he heard about the illness, he stayed two days longer. Some Bible translators can’t handle that reasoning. They say, “Jesus loved them, and yet, when he heard, he stayed two longer.” But that’s not what John wrote. John said, He loved them, therefore he waited. The love of Jesus waits.

THE LOVE OF JESUS WEEPS

Second, the love of Jesus weeps. When Jesus weeps at the tomb of Lazarus, they say, “See how he loved him!” (11:36). And in this, we see the amazing complex and righteous emotional life of our Lord. On the one hand, he’s glad that he waited. And then, when he gets there, he weeps. More than that, he is deeply moved. He sees the effects of death on those he loves, and he joins them in their grief and their anger.

THE LOVE OF JESUS RAISES THE DEAD

The love of Jesus raises the dead. After he waits, and after he weeps, he tells them to roll away the stone. And then he looks at the tomb and calls out, “Lazarus, come forth!”
And Lazarus comes forth. The church fathers noted how important it was that Jesus said the name Lazarus. Had he not, had he simply said, “Come forth,” all the tombs would have emptied and the general resurrection would have happened right then and there.

THE LOVE OF JESUS DEEPENS OUR FAITH

The love of Jesus deepens our faith. Pay attention to what Martha knows. Martha runs to Jesus with some vague hope that Jesus can do something. “But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” And so Jesus takes her deeper. “Your brother will rise again.” “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” This is a general belief in the future resurrection. And so Jesus takes her deeper. “I am the resurrection and the life.”
This is where Jesus has been taking Martha. “Do you believe this?” With your brother lying in a tomb, knowing that I could have prevented it, Martha, do you believe this? And Martha says, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who is coming into the world.”
And so Jesus stands before us today. We live in those long six days. And on this Lord’s Day, because he loves us, he says to us, “Do you believe this?” When the cancer is still there. When the illness is still unexplained. When the headaches won’t stop. When the pain is still oppressive. When the opposition won’t let up. When the darkness hasn’t lifted. When the doubts still weigh us down. When the body is still in the grave. When Jesus is not yet here. At that moment, he says to us, “Do you believe this?”
Jesus loved Martha and Mary and Lazarus. And he loves you. And because he loves you, he may wait. He may take you through unimaginable suffering and loss and pain. And when he does, because he loves you, he will weep with you. And someday, because he loves you, he will raise the dead. He will wipe away every tear. And in the meantime, because he loves you, he deepens your faith.

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