Lord of All Creation, Great God, Made Me Glad, Greater Than, Goodness of God, Great is the Lord, Holy Forever

Give your top three reasons for why your favorite athlete, music artist or movie/tv actor is the best for you.

I will extol You, my God, O King,
And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
² Every day I will bless You,
And I will praise Your name forever and ever.
³ Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised,
And His greatness is unsearchable.
⁴ One generation shall praise Your works to another,
And shall declare Your mighty acts.
⁵ On the glorious splendor of Your majesty
And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.

The Philippines is a “Christian” nation, and somehow Christianity has become “cultural”. Perhaps some of us go to church because we feel like we’ve sinned so often, we need to make up for it somehow on Sundays. Indeed, God can give us joy and peace, but true worship is not about us. It’s all about God because worship is our proper response to who God is, what He has done and our trust in what He will continue to do. If you’ve seen God’s amazing works, then worship is your proper response. Reverence (“in awe”) for God is the way to respond to Him. It’s the “fear of God”, being afraid of hurting or disappointing Him because you want to please God. If we don’t have a high view of God, we cannot worship Him in the right way. God is not just our “best friend” who loves us, He is GOD, and KING the way Isaiah saw the LORD and was awestruck and fell down in worship before a holy God (Isaiah 6:5). King Jehoshaphat cried out to God when his kingdom faced a mighty army. Upon receiving God’s promise of victory, the king and the people fell down in worship (Chronicles 20:18).  Thomas at first doubted Jesus’ resurrection. But when the Risen Lord appeared to him, Thomas responded in worship (John 20:27-28). Even angels in heaven fall down in worship before God (Revelation 7:11) because God is amazing — they know who God is!

We will naturally worship extravagantly if we have personally encountered God’s greatness. Perhaps, some of us have not personally encountered Him. We’ve been too busy on our problems, wants, desires that we don’t see the greatness of God. Psalm 145 was written by King David in the tail-end of his life when Israel was at peace, and he has experienced the goodness of God through all the years.

1. GREAT IN POWER

David was praising the Lord because of His greatness that is beyond compare and wanted even the next generation to know of God’s great power (Psalm 145:1-4).  We see God’s great power when the angel of the Lord struck down 185,000 of the Assyrian army all at once (2 Kings 19:35)! God has power over the earth, including the weather, the fruitfulness of the land, He holds the universe in the palm of His hand (Psalm 24:1). You may not like some of the leaders of our nation, but God has control over those in authority (Proverbs 21:1). He has all authority over all men, over all creation. His power is unlimited — He is omnipotent, nothing is impossible for God (Jeremiah 32:17). David declares that he will meditate on God’s power, and others will also speak of God’s greatness, His abundant goodness, joyfully declaring His righteousness (vv. 5-7).

One way that David encountered God’s power was before he even fought Goliath. David killed a bear and a lion that attacked his sheep (1 Samuel 17:34-35). David knew that it was God who delivered him and believed that God will deliver him from Goliath (1 Samuel 17:36-37). David was just an unarmed youth when he faced and defeated the giant Philistine because of God’s great power. God’s power is seen when He intervenes in impossible situations. There are many things outside of our control; impossible situations unless God will intervene. We cannot force God to answer our prayers, but a right view of God will enable us to acknowledge that He is in control and surrender to His authority. God shows His power through the blessing of physical strength to accomplish heavy responsibilities. He grants us “convincing power” to persuade people to make a certain decision. God gives us emotional strength to go through pain and loss. Endurance in difficult relationships and changed lives are also from the Lord.

2. GREAT IN GRACE

David experienced God’s amazing grace during times of great sin and failure on his part such as when he committed adultery and murder, or when thousands of Israelites died because of David’s disobedience (Psalm 145:8-10). Our sins have consequences and God’s discipline is one form of His grace. We usually only learn our lessons when God lets us experience painful consequences, like David. In spite of his sins, God still restored him (Psalm 23:3). David felt God’s presence in the midst of life-threatening situations and experienced God honoring him before his enemies (Psalm 23:4-5). David is known as a man after God’s own heart, the ancestor of Jesus, the Messiah. Once we have seen God’s amazing grace by bringing us from where we were to where we are now, we will worship Him extravagantly (Psalm 145:11-13). Experiencing God’s grace will cause us to want to live godly lives (Titus 2:12).

3. GREAT IN PROVISION

God never fails to provide — He is Jehovah Jireh, our greatest provider. The problem is that we don’t know contentment, and we turn away from God when we don’t get what we desire. Hold your desires loosely in your hands so that you can surrender them to God when He does not give them. Everything that we have comes from God and He has the final say if we can keep it or not. God never fails to provide (Psalm 145:15-16). He is kind, and near to those who call on Him; fulfills the desire of those who fear (love) Him and protects them (Psalm 145:17-19). But He destroys the wicked (Psalm 145:20). God’s common grace is available to all. But His abundant grace is available only to those who believe. To worship extravagantly, we need to humble ourselves. Ask God to give you a humble heart. Serve God with all our hearts and show people how much we adore God. But the greatest motivation for us to worship God extravagantly is His greatest provision — our Lord and Savior, Jesus (Romans 6:23, John 3:16)! David closes the psalm by praising God and declaring that all creation will bless His name forever (Psalm 145:21)!

Pray for more people to see greatness around them, and in their lives even those who may not know Jesus yet as Savior and Lord.

Share about your experience of God’s greatness in your life.

Share the gospel to as many as you can, as part of your extravagant worship to our great God.

• Worship God for who He is, what He has done, and what He will do in our lives.

• Upright and moral governance of public servants; repentance and salvation for government leaders and citizens for a Christ-centered Philippines.

• For legislators to promote and support bills and laws aligned with God’s Word.

• War in Ukraine to end, loss of lives prevented.

• For the rest of the Israeli hostages to be restored to their families safely. For Israel’s war with terrorists to end according to God’s purpose and for His glory.

• For the civil war in Syria to end peacefully, protection for Christians and other minorities; that there will be freedom from oppression for Syrians. Pray for the gospel to spread rapidly throughout the country.

• Pray for Nigeria and persecuted Christians there; earnestly seek God’s intervention to stop the bloodshed. Pray for freedom from oppression, that God’s word and His people bring them comfort and hope.

• That CCF Members would honor and love God and make disciples.

• Elders, pastors, dleaders, and families (holy, humble, harmonious, happy, heart-working).

• Ministries and churches expand worldwide.

• Worship and Training Center

• Prayer Mountain

• Deeper intimate relationship with God.

• Righteous living.

• Salvation of family and friends.

3 Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised, And His greatness is unsearchable.