Do we praise God’s name with words alone or by how we live? Let’s look at Psalm 145.
A praise psalm by David. (WEB)
Do we praise God’s name every day? Will we praise His name forever?
I will speak highly of you, my God and King, and I will bless your name forever and ever. I will bless you every day and I will praise your name forever and ever. The Lord is great, and to be praised highly, though his greatness is indescribable. (Ps 145:1-3 ISV)
Will the next generation praise God’s works and sing of His righteousness?
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. (Ps 145:4-7 KJV)
How gracious and compassionate and good is our God?
Yahweh is gracious and compassionate; Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness. Yahweh is good to all, And His compassions are over all His works. (Ps 145:8-9 LSB)
Who will give thanks to God and make known to generations His mighty acts?
All Your works will give thanks to You, Lord, And Your godly ones will bless You. They will speak of the glory of Your kingdom, And talk of Your might, To make known to the sons of mankind Your mighty acts, And the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord is faithful in His words, And holy in all His works. (Ps 145:10-13 NASB)
Who alone satisfies the desires of every living thing?
The Lord upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. (Ps 145:14-16 NIV)
Who is the Lord near to? Whose desire will God fulfill? Whose cry will God hear? Who will God preserve?
The Lord is righteous in all His ways, Gracious in all His works. The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them. The Lord preserves all who love Him, But all the wicked He will destroy. My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord, And all flesh shall bless His holy name Forever and ever. (Ps 145:17-21 NKJV)
Though we are not saved BY good works, are we saved FOR good works?
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things [works] we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things [works] he planned for us long ago. (Eph 2:8-10 NLT)
Though we are not saved BY good works, is there a conundrum that too many ignore, for those who refuse to love their neighbor by doing good works?
Then they will also answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn’t help you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you didn’t do it to one of the least of these, you didn’t do it to me.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. (Mat 25:44-46 WEB)
Do we praise God’s name with words alone or by how we live? You decide!
