Today’s Lectio Divina: Excerpts from Psalm 145. (MsgB)
David’s Praise.
I lift You high in praise, my God, O my King! And I’ll bless Your name into eternity. I’ll bless You every day, and keep it up from now to eternity. God is magnificent; He can never be praised enough.There are no boundaries to His greatness.Generation after generation stands in awe of Your work; each one tells stories of Your mighty acts.Your beauty and splendor have everyone talking; I compose songs on Your wonders.Your marvelous doings are headline news; I could write a book full of the details of Your greatness.
King David and the Book of Psalms kinda go hand-in-hand.
While David is not credited with writing every one of the 150 songs we find smack-dab in the middle of our Bibles, one thing is for sure. If King David hadn’t lived and accomplished all he did in his life, I seriously doubt you and I would have these wonderful musical masterpieces to enjoy.
Just imagine for a moment what our Bibles would be like without the Psalms!
No wait. Consider this…
What would the lives of God-followers be like over the centuries if we hadn’t been able to turn to a psalm or two and cry out the words we find written there? I can’t tell you how many times in my life, when I’ve struggled to find the right words to say to God, how the Holy Spirit has helped me turn to the right page and read a psalm that matches my feelings.
How about you?
As I see it, my emotions might be all over the board. My heart breaking. My soul rejoicing. My will lacking. Or my praise resounding. But I just can’t find the right phrase inside me to express my feelings to God. But thanks be to King David and his Book of 150 Psalms! I pull out the Bible, flip through a few pages of Psalms, and bang; there it is! The exact words that match the emotions I’m having at the time! Regardless if I’m mad, sad, glad, or somewhere in between, with the Book of Psalms, I know with certainty that if I look long enough, I’ll always find that phrase or sentence that helps me express my true feelings to my Rescuing King.
Thanks, David, I needed that!
Some church historians say that a great majority of those who’ve prayed to God over the centuries learned how to pray by praying the Psalms. Church musicologists say that the Church of Jesus Christ basically learned how to sing by first chanting the songs found in the Book of Psalms. So when King David says in Psalm 145, “I could write a book full of the details of Your greatness”…he was certainly right.
For, in fact, he did!
As we come near the end of this blog series through the Psalms, I’m almost nostalgic and weepy-eyed realizing that Psalm 145 is the last song accredited to David in this great collection of psalms. As I read his words here in his final song of praise, my mind floats back to so many of the phrases David uses in earlier psalms. It’s almost as if Psalm 145 is like one of those greatest-hits albums musicians put out. You know the kind I mean?
Most composers and vocalists who have been in the music business for a long time, eventually get enough hit songs under their belts to go into the studio and compile a greatest hits collection. Some have so many hits, they have to do several greatest hits albums in order to appease their fans. I think Tony Bennett, for example, has recorded dozens of ‘greatest hits’ albums over the span of his long singing career!
In many ways, Psalm 145 is King David’s greatest hits album. As a matter of fact, it’s the only psalm in the Bible that’s entitled “David’s Praise”. All of his other songs are given titles like “A Song of David” or something like that. But Psalm 145?
This is David’s PRAISE SONG!
So sit back, music lovers. Turn the lights down low, and enjoy this final cut on King David’s album. Indeed, David was right when he sang here…
And I’ll bless Your name into eternity.
Without a doubt, here we are, all these millennia later, still singing your praise songs, Davey. Thanks for the memories!
My prayer: My Father in heaven, how so very thankful I am for King David and his life-long pursuit of songs of praise to the Most High God. May my life be more like his. May I always be in the hunt for just one more praise song; one more tune that best expresses all the love and admiration I have for You, Your Son, and Your advancing Kingdom. For Your name’s sake. Amen.
My questions to ponder: So how can I keep the songs of praise written and collected by King David alive in my generation? If indeed, we will be singing the Psalms, as King David says, for eternity, what role do I have in bringing forth these unique songs from the heart in my lifetime?
So what is God speaking to you today as you ponder the Psalms?
Over a 50-week period, you and I will take a deeper look at The Psalms: God’s Songbook of Prayers. In order to keep all the blog sessions organized, we suggest you bookmark our Contemplating the Psalms home page for ease of use. Keep in mind that one of the best ways to explore the on-going applications of this blog series is to walk alongside a biblically-based, Christ-centered spiritual director who is familiar with how to make material like this part of your overall spiritual formation in God. Many of our directors in our Contemplative Activist network are available to companion you in your journey with Jesus. Click here for more info.
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