Our Great God

Psalm 145 is known as an acrostic of praise written by David. Each verse corresponds with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. I love this Psalm because it gives us accurate descriptions of God’s character and His active interest in our lives. In the English language, we can see this Psalm partially divided into two categories: God is_____________ and God does__________________.
The list begins with these descriptions of God. Each of these phrases appears in pairs and most of them are connected by the word “and”, almost as if to imply a continued explanation.
“Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise.” (v. 3)
“The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.” (v. 8)
“The Lord is good to all and has compassion on all He has made.” (v.9)
“Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom , and your dominion endures through all generations.” (v.13)
“The Lord is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all He has made.” (v. 17)
“The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.” (v.18)

The next group of phrases describes the activity of the Lord in our lives. Sometimes David talks about the Lord and sometimes he is actually directs His praise to the Lord Himself. This list begins with the statement:
“The Lord is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made.” (v.13) The list continues with how the Lord demonstrates His faithfulness to us:

“The Lord upholds all those fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.” (v.14)
“You give Your people food at the proper time.” (v.15)
“You open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.” (v.16)
“The Lord is near to all who call on Him in truth.” (v.18)
“He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them.” (v.19)
“The Lord watches over all who love Him…” (v.20)

Our Lord is an active God who continually works to fulfill His promises to us. He does it in so many ways; upholding us, lifting us up, providing for us, staying near to us, fulfilling our desires and watching over us. I am so thankful that we serve a Great God! “Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; His greatness no one can fathom!” (v. 3)