STUDY THEME: CREATION SPEAKS: WHAT CREATION SAYS ABOUT THE CREATOR. “TELL ABOUT JESUS.” 11-28-04.
PSALMS 145: 3-5, 8-9, 11-13, 14-16, 17-19, 20-21
PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO PSALM 145.
One of the most normal things in the world is to tell a friend about something we especially enjoy. If a restaurant serves an unusually tasty food, we usually will tell a friend about it. If a book or a movie is unusually great, we joyfully share the news with someone else.
It should be the same way about the Lord. Unfortunately, many Christians who will share good news about food and other things are hesitant to share the good news about the love of Christ. Christians ought to find it as normal to share the good news about the Lord as they do about other good experiences in life.
The Life Question in today’s lesson is, “Why should I tell others about God?” Several years ago Dr. C. E. Matthews, while secretary of the department of evangelism of the Home Mission Board, came to Immanuel Baptist Church in Shawnee, Ok., and conducted a revival on the parking lot at the rear of the church, in front of what was then the Junior Building. He made a profound statement.
He said that it was his belief that the greatest tragedy, next to one’s dying without God and without hope, is a saved person’s standing at the judgment day empty handed, having lived in the world of sinners and never having won a soul to Christ, not because they could not, but because they had not. They had never been taught that such is their privilege and duty.
In 1925 his older daughter, Kathryn Louise suddenly sickened and died.
She was of Junior S.S. age, lacking only a few days reaching her eleventh birthday. Her mother was asked in the presence of Christian friends, ‘whom do you wish to serve as pallbearers? She answered, “The girls in her Sunday School class.” One of the ladies present, a mother of Kathryn’s classmate, spoke up and said, “Kathryn led Frances to Christ.” Another mother said, “She led my girl to Christ.” Then a third said, “She led my girl to Christ, too.”
There were three of her pallbearers whom she had won to the Savior. Dr. Matthews said, “One of the greatest consolations my wife and I have had in the loss of our precious darling is that she will not stand empty-handed before her Savior she loved so much.”
Throughout the Scriptures many verses emphasize that God’s people must proclaim to all nations who the Lord is and what He has done. The world is hopelessly lost and unable to find its way, but God provides forgiveness and restoration.
Many of the Psalms extol the Lord as the Creator and Sustainer of all that exists and urge His people to praise Him accordingly. But His marvelous deeds are not to be seen and appreciated by his own chosen ones alone. Indeed, the whole world needs to know Him and celebrate His goodness and grace toward all.
PLEASE READ PSALM 145: 3-5.
In Ps. 145 David spoke to the Lord first in vv. 1-2 and then about Him in vs. 3. This pattern alternates throughout the psalm. As a hymn the purpose of Psalm 145 is to magnify the Lord and draw attention to His character and works. David was not willing to keep these elevated thoughts to himself, so he pledged to make them known to all the earth. In a sense, David was a missionary proclaiming God’s great saving acts in history and in everyday life. David wanted all humanity to know God and to praise Him for all He has done.
David confessed that the Lord is great, a characteristic amplified in the next line: His greatness is unsearchable. This is why He should be highly praised. This does not suggest so much that people do praise Him but that He is worthy of their praise whether or not He receives it.
Sadly, most people fail to praise God even thought His greatness is evident everywhere around them. The psalmist magnified his understanding of God’s greatness by characterizing it as unsearchable. God’s greatness is so beyond measure that no one can ever fully investigate is dimensions.
In vs. 4 David addressed the Lord directly and declared that what one generation learns of God and His works should be handed down to the next. The truth of who God is never changes, though insights into His nature are continually fresh. But only history reveals what He does, what David called His mighty acts, so each generation must inform the next as to what they have seen and experienced. This is what bearing testimony is all about.
David then confidently asserted that each generation will proclaim the power of God’s wonderful works, just as David did in his day. In fact, God’s glorious splendor and wonderful works will prompt believers in ages to come to do the same. The child of God should not need to work up a testimony about God’s awesome presence in his or her life. A believer’s testimony about what God has done should arise as spontaneously as it likely did for David.
PLEASE READ PSALM 145: 8-9.
David was keenly aware of what God had done for Him. Though there is no way to date the psalm, it may well be that David had already committed the sins of adultery and murder that had so tragically undermined his political, moral, and spiritual leadership. But he has also learned of God’s gracious forgiveness, and perhaps this was in his mind when he spoke of the Lord as gracious and compassionate.
Those who have sinned the greatest are most likely to celebrate the grace of God when they experience His forgiveness. You will remember the experience of Jesus while eating in the home of Simon the Pharisee. The woman from the street bathed the feet of Jesus with her tears and wiped them with her hair for she loved so much. To Simon Jesus said in Luke 7:47 “Her sins which are many are forgiven for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”
If anyone knew that God is slow to anger and of great mercy it was David. Having heard the Prophet Nathan’s parable in 2 Samuel 12: 1-4 David had concluded that the man who had stolen the poor Man’s lamb in Nathan’s parable ought to die. Ironically, it turned out that David was that man, but he had not only stolen a man’s “lamb” (in reality his wife) but had arranged for his murder also. When David should have died for his sins, God in His great patience and faithful love allowed him to live. The Hebrew word translated faithful love is rich in covenant overtones.
God had committed Himself to David to make him founder of the messianic line. But despite David’s sins, God was faithful to Himself and kept His promise. God in His love did not overlook David’s wickedness, but He responded to David’s heartfelt confession.
The love of God is not limited to David or even to Israel, His chosen people. The psalmist declared that the Lord is good to everyone.
Sadly, not all recipients of that goodness recognize and respond to it. The vast majority of the world’s population lives oblivious to the fact that all the benefits and blessings they enjoy come from the hand of a gracious God. This goodness is not limited to the material or physical realms. God’s love is linked with His compassion which rests on all that he has made. The Hebrew term for compassion, or mercies, is related to a noun meaning “womb.”
The idea is that just as a mother has tender and self-sacrificial love for the child from her womb, so God also has feelings of compassion for both His own children and for all people everywhere.
Most of the O.T. words for God’s grace and love are in this quotation. “When the psalmist emphasizes that the Lord’s grace and mercy are to be especially praised he advances from the works to the basic attributes of God. Till now God’s power and might have been indirectly under consideration. It has been rightly observed that the psalmist now mounts to even greater heights.
He who recognizes that God is merciful understands God much more completely than does he who merely recognizes how mighty He is….’Gracious stresses the undeserved favor that God bestows;’ ‘merciful’ lays the finger of compassion on the deep need of man. He that has been forgiven cannot help but make mention of the fact that God is also ‘slow to anger’ and does not punish us as we so richly merit.
The ‘great kindness’ spoken of has to do with that quality which is so commonly translated ‘steadfast love’ in the RSV, a term for which our language has no equivalent that is quite big enough toe express “all that is involved.”
In this passage we encounter the two basic qualities of God in the child’s prayer “God is great, and God is good.” Vs. 3 introduced the passage by pointing to God’s unsearchable greatness. Vs. 9 has the good news that this great God is good to all. God’s great love is directed to all (not just Israel).
PLEASE READ PSALM 145: 11-13.
The subject of vs. 11 is the godly referred to at the end of vs. 10. It is their (and thus our) tasks to speak of the glory of God’s kingdom. In the N.T. terms it is to proclaim the gospel of God’s kingdom. And to proclaim the gospel of God’s saving grace in Jesus Christ for it is through His atoning work that the kingdom arrives.
There is an army, almost without number, of young people and adults who hold membership in Southern Baptist Churches, and yet have never won a soul to Christ and probably never attempted to win anyone to our Savior.
Bringing a lost person to a definite decision of acceptance of Christ as Savior is the end as far as the salvation of the soul is concerned. The transaction that takes place when a lost soul accepts Christ, and is saved, involves more than the finite mind can even imagine, much less understand.
Many things occur when salvation takes place: A soul is redeemed; a pardon for the sinner is granted; a new name is written in the Lamb’s book of life. Hell has lost another of its victims. A bond-slave to sin has been emancipated. The family of God has been increased by one, and this brings rejoicing in heaven in the presence of the angels of God.
To bring a lost soul to Christ as Savior is the most important service one can render that person. If it were possible for us to communicate with the angels and we could ask them, “What is the greatest thing one human being can do for another?” The answer in unison would be, ‘The greatest thing one person can do for another is to bring him to Christ as Savior.’
If we could ask great preachers, spiritual giants of other generations---Simon Peter, Martin Luther, John Knox, John Wesley, Charles Finney, Dwight L. Moody, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, George W. Truett and Lee R. Scarbrough----the question, “What is the greatest thing one person can do for another on this earth?” the answer would be the same form all: ‘The greatest thing any person can do on earth is to bring a lost soul to Jesus Christ as Savior!”
Is it not glorious to know that every Christian on this earth, regardless of age or circumstances, is privileged to do the greatest thing that any person ever did for another? The main task is to bring the lost to a confession of Christ as Savior.
There are three stages through which a Soul-winner seeks to lead a lost sinner to be saved.
(1) He must know that he is lost. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23)
(2) He must want to be saved. “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) The desire to be saved is brought about by the work of the Holy Spirit.
(3) He must repent of his sins and trust Christ for his salvation. At the moment he does he becomes a child of God. “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:3)
In Acts 1:8 the disciples were promised, “Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
In John 1:41-42 “He (Andrew) first findeth his own brother Simon…And he brought him to Jesus.”
In John 15: 8 Jesus said, “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.” This is every Christian’s job.
“Thy Kingdom” is mentioned in all 3 of the verses read from Psalm 145. The word Kingdom in the Bible emphasizes the reign of God. A king of course has a realm over which he reigns, and at times the word kingdom refers to God’s realm. The reign of God as king is a strong theme in this Psalm 145. Vs. 1 says, “I will extole thee, my God, O king: and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.” King is another word for Sovereign or Ruler. God has always been King. He is King of the universe that He created. But he is not visible as are earthly rulers, and thus only people of faith acknowledge His reign. Others either deny Him or ignore Him. Believers worship Him and seek to live by the standards of His eternal kingdom.
When God sent His son into the world, Jesus came to declare that the kingdom of God had come and to promise that God’s universal reign will be revealed in the end times. Thus we need to read O.T. references to the kingdom in light of N.T. revelation. When Christians tell people of God and His kingdom, we tell them of Jesus.
Notice the powerful array of words used to describe the kingdom in vs. 11, 12 & 13. glory…power…mighty acts…glorious majesty…ever-lasting. God is different from earthly kings and rulers. His kingdom is different. Earthly kings and kingdoms come and go, but God’s kingdom never ends.
In Daniel 4:3 we read the words Nebuchadnezzar wrote about the true God: “His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation”----almost word for word the same as Psalm 145: 13.
Notice the words that describe telling others of he kingdom: speak---talk----make known. Those who know the King are responsible for telling others. Solomon wrote in Eccl 3:7 that there is “a time to keep silence, and a time to speak.” One of the times to speak is when you have an opportunity to tell someone about the Lord.
After the healing of the lame man at the Gate Beautiful, Peter and John were ordered by the religious authorities to say no more about Jesus. They answered in Acts 4:20: “We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” Paul said in Rom. 1: 14-15 that he was a debtor to all people to tell them of the good news of Jesus Christ.
Who are those who need to hear this message? Vs. 12 identifies them as the sons of men. This refers not only to Israel but also to all people.
When William Carey launched the modern mission movement, he used as one text Isaiah 54: 5: “The Lord of hosts is His name; and thy redeemer the Holy One of Israel: the God of the whole earth shall he be called.” The O.T. has passages with clear missionary implications. The command for world missions is made explicit in the N.T. Many passages stress that the Lord has the whole world on His heart and that Christians are to make God known to the entire world. In spite of opposition, Carey went to India to tell the good news to the lost in that part of the world. The good news must be made known to people of the whole world, and then Jesus will return.
PLEASE READ PSALM 145: 14-16.
God is an eyewitness to all that happens. He comes to us even in the dark corners of mistreatment. He is not a “stay away” and “play it safe” God. In Ps. 46:1 He is described as “a helper who is always found in times of trouble.” In this section of Ps. 145, David pointed to God’s providential care for all people. Wherever heartache and injustice exists, the psalmist affirmed God’s care and help. This reality drives the enthusiastic praise of the song and gives people hope in the face of injustice. In vs. 14 “the Lord helps” is a profound statement. The Hebrew word translated helps may also be translated “sustains’ or “bears up” and refers to God’s help toward all who fall. When the bottom falls out in life and you are helpless to get up, God is there to help you up. Falling is part of the suffering factor of this universe. Unfairness exists in so many forms, and one is not immune to its destructiveness. Were it not for the help and hope of God, helplessness and hopelessness would have the final word. To the darkness and weakness, God brings the sunrise of His strength.
The most common testimony concerning the Lord’s help I hear from believers goes something like this: “I wouldn’t have made it without the help of the Lord.” Ps. 107 illustrates this point. The psalm’s theme is stated in vs. 2: “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.” Then the psalmist listed a series of situations in which the Lord provided help. Each situation leads to the exhortation: “Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderous works to the children of men!”
God raises up all who
are fallen and oppressed. His concern includes people of every nation
and generation. This category of the needy, have felt the blow of
mistreatment from an oppressor. The oppressed, or bowed down ones,
picture slaves being subjected to harsh treatment by evil
taskmasters.
God is involved in the human condition especially
when it comes to human hurt. He is the protector of the weak and
helpless and works to reverse the injustices of life. This reversal
theme surfaces frequently in O.T. stories such as the Israelite
slaves’ defeat of Pharaoh; Ruth’s marriage to Boaz;
David’s defeat of Goliath; and Esther’s work to save her
people. God brings solutions to problem situations.
In vv. 15-16 God not only deals with injustice, but He is also gracious in food provision. ALL includes those who have no claim on God. They do not know God but must depend on His provision. The statement eyes look to you has the sallow look of refugees who are totally dependent and are not disappointed because God gives them their food in due time.
God delights, in opening His hand, for, behind His ‘open hand’ is His giving heart.
God is certainly not tightfisted. The people of the world do not have to wear down the reluctant attitude of a mean-spirited God in order to persuade Him to provide for their needs; quite the opposite. God not only knows the desire of every living thing, but He also is pleased to satisfy that desire.
Vs. 16 speaks of fulfillment in areas other than eating----“Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.” Only a right relationship with God satisfies the deepest needs of human hearts. Many people claim to feel no need for God or the church. Life is running along smoothly at the time and they don’t want to allow religion to make its claims on them. In essence they ask, “What does Christ offer that we need?”
Every person needs four things that only God in Christ offers. The first universal need is freedom from guilt. All have sinned, and real life begins only when the guilt of sin is removed.
The second need is meaning. Only he Lord can provide ultimate meaning for one’s life.
The third need is strength. At many times life falls in on us. Only God’s strength is sufficient at such times.
The fourth need is hope that overcomes death. This is the heart of the Christian proclamation as seen in 1 Cor. 15:3-4.
In these actions the eternal God makes Himself known in what He does. His graciousness should drive people to seek Him out. Meeting needs are God-visits when He is only a whisper away. They are invitations for fellowship from the God of the open hand. Go tell others who need His help how He has helped you.
PLEASE READ PSALM 145: 17-21.
These verses focus on believers. God provides for all people, but His special actions are for those who have placed their faith in Him. They are those “who call out to Him,” “who fear Him,” and “who love Him.” God’s actions n vs. 17-21 show a God of love who pays special attention to the needs of His children who in turn talk to others of His love and loving actions.
David concluded his recounting of the attributes and acts of God by focusing on His love. God’s love is bound to all His other attributes and manifests itself in the display and exercise of those attributes.
The first of these is suggested in the fact that God is righteous and gracious. To be righteous is to adhere to a standard of moral and spiritual integrity and not to deviate from it. God is perfect and never deviates from His righteousness. His ways describes God’s works in creation and history. None can charge Him with unfairness or with failure to conform to what is inherent in His nature as the sinless One.
God’s righteousness finds a counterpoint in His grace. His righteousness pertains to what He is: His grace emphasizes what He does. David said the Lord is gracious in all His acts. He does nothing from sheer meanness. The problem, of course, is that finite human minds are incapable of seeing these attributes in times of great trouble.
When disease, suffering, and death invade the life and home, how is it possible to understand that God is righteous and gracious? The answer lies not in formulating a doctrine of god in the heat of experience but rather interpreting experience in light of the character and works of God as revealed in His Word.
Any perception of universalism----that God dispenses His saving grace on all without conditions—is dispelled by David in vs. 18. Those who call out to Him find Him to be near. This nearness is not spatial or physical, because God clearly is not limited in this way. He is equally near to all things at all times. He was near the psalmist in terms of His special presence with those who trust Him. Only those so related can call out to Him with integrity.
David describes God’s people as those who fear Him. This is not the fear or terror induced by someone or something that can inflict harm but a reverential awe of God. God hears them when they cry for help and he saves them. Though eternal salvation from sin may be somewhat in view here, the context argues for the normal O.T. understanding of salvation, namely, deliverance from danger and difficulty. God loves His people and rescues them when they call on Him.
The contrast in vs. 20 is not between love and fear but between those lovers of God and the wicked. God protects His own but destroys the wicked. One of the threats against God’s people is that of hostile opposition.
The soul-winner must recognize the power Satan holds over the sinner. Dr. B.H. Carroll said, “Over the soul of that man whom you wish to lead to Christ there is an adversary whose intelligence so far surpasses yours that it cannot be mentioned in comparison, whose power transcends yours so far that they ought never to be placed side by side, who has the experience of six thousand year of conflict, who has been in direct and personal conflict with God himself, who has placed his foot upon the hearts of ten thousand foes, who has brought to naught the physical strength of Samson, the intellectual culture of Solomon, the piety of David and millions more of men and women; His name is the devil.
By definition the sinner is alienated from God and is in fact God’s enemy. This may not even be the opinion of the sinner, but the Bible is clear that by nature all of us are rebels against God. We can come to love Him only by a work of super-natural grace. God destroys (or judges) those who remain His enemies, here called the wicked.
There are consequences when humans act wickedly. The word “All” leaves no escape clause, no neural ground. Here are two distinct lifestyles with no middle ground. Her is a life choice that makes an eternal difference. Sitting on the fence is not an option.
In light of all that David had brought to mind about God and His marvelous attributes, all he could do at the end of the poem was to pledge to declare the Lord’s praise.
Vs. 21 is a fitting conclusion to Psalm 145. It comes back to the personal commitment to “speak the praise of the Lord. This speaking involves praising God in worship, but it also includes speaking to others about God.
A dedicated Christian was a bold and tireless witness for Christ. One day he met a new-comer to town, introduced himself, and asked about the man’s spiritual condition. When the man admitted that he had no relationship with Christ or the church, the Christians spoke to him about Jesus and salvation.
The lost man’s wife saw the Christian leaving. She asked, “What did that man want? When her husband told her, she said. ”That’s none of his business!” Her husband replied, “If you had been here and heard him, you would have felt that it was his business.”
Telling others about the Lord Jesus Christ is the business of every Christian. It is “every Christian’s Job.” Every printed item from the Baptist Press contains the “Plan of Salvation.” Please feel free to use this from your quarterly or other literature.
NEXT SUNDAY WE BEGIN A FOUR LESSON SERIES ON “WHAT TO DO WITH THE GIFT OF CHRISTMAS.” THE DEC. 5 LESSON BEGINS WITH JOHN 1: 19-34 “CONFESS JESUS, GOD’S SON.” A.V. DAUGHERTY altav@swbell.net http://www.theweeks.org/av/