Psalm 145: Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.

The psalms sit in the centre of the bible. They are by and large very familiar: many of our worship songs are from the Psalms; most bible reading programmes include them at least once a year; if you have one of those pocket New Testaments (the second part of the bible) they often include the Psalms too.

 

The Psalms are really the song book of the Jewish temple, for their 24/7 worship times. They were used by the Jews from around 500 BC to sing songs to God and as a prayer curriculum and have been used in the same way for 2,500 years ever since. Many of them were written by the Israeli King, David who was alive around 1,000 BC.

 

If you read the Psalms with a view to seeing them as a whole songbook you will discover that they are not a haphazard series of often strange poems but a carefully assembled book of poetry using some deliberate structures and styles of composition.

 

If you go into the average Christian book seller, my suspicion is that you would find the majority of titles concerned with positive messages of faith and discipleship. The songs selections on the CDs would often be praise and worship. The amount of space devoted to literature and music about sorrow and anger and lament would be much less.

 

In contrast the Psalms are 70% lament and only 30% praise. This is sometimes hard to work with in our culture which wants to be positive and upbeat. It is more Johnny Cash blues than Ishmael’s praise party.

 

The psalms are also written by people who have a spiritual link to us but not a cultural one. They move from the vindictive, “may his children be fatherless and his wife a widow” to Christian-type sentiments such as, “God stands at the right hand of the needy one”. The language is sometimes homicidal and nasty but then beautifully altruistic and otherly.

 

It is very real and grounded. It is not hidden behind good behaviour and a civilised mask but it is a transparent working out of emotions and fears and joys with a living and present God.

 

One of the books I have found most useful in analysing this and helping me understand how the Psalms work is a chapter from Philip Yancey’s “The Bible Jesus Read”. It is only one chapter and you can read it in a couple of hours easily. But it is enlightening and I find it helpful when I approach studies in Psalms.

 

Yancey explains that the relationship between the Psalmist and God is not one of a worker and their employer or someone and a new friend - where they are fearful of what they can say - but one of son and father (or daughter and mother etc) where what they say will have no effect on the relationship. I can speak to my father in a way I can’t speak to many other people. My sons Josh and Sam can speak to me in a way they can’t speak with many others. The Psalmist is in a similar relationship, only deeper, with God.

 

When we read the Psalms we should not read them as though we were God on the receiving end of a mixture of praise, lament and ranting complaint. Neither is it helpful to stand on the side watching trying to work out what is going on this exchange. The best way to understand is to stand behind the psalmist as he stands on a Palestinian hillside and look over his shoulder as he variously praises, laments and rants at the God of the creation before him.

 

I would like to reflect on a Psalm of praise for a while.

 

C.S.Lewis said, “The most valuable thing the Psalms do for me is to express the same delight in God which made David dance.”

The Westminster Shorter Catechism says that “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever."

Worship and praise is indeed a key theme within the Psalms, not just that we get some Psalms that praise and some that don’t but that there is a line running though the stick of rock of the Psalms which is praise.

 

Psalm 145 is one of the praising Psalms. It is structured as an acrostic poem with each line beginning with the next letter of the alphabet. That’s all very clever and interesting but pretty irrelevant when you are reading it in English.

 

As you read you can clearly picture the psalmist standing on that Palestinian hillside looking out over a bustling and wealthy Jerusalem, watching a stunning sunrise, observing the fields of grain and herds of sheep, reflecting on the presence of God in their own life and singing this song of praise.

 

Other Psalms call us to worship and praise too. Indeed, the psalmist often seems to demand that we and the mountains and seas and animals praise God too (verse 21). It often seems as though God is saying, “Aren’t I great, come on praise me, big me up.”

 

All of a sudden that seems to grate a bit. Why does God need to be praised? Surely, he doesn’t need anything, much less puny man’s affirmation. Does the potter expect the vessel to rise up and praise him? Does the author expect his dog to speak appreciate his prose? Does the software programmer expect his PC to rise up and applaud the code?

 

Apparently Ronald Reagan was visiting an home for elderly people in California once. He was introduced to Florence who was 103 years old. He leaned down to speak to her and said, “Do you know who I am?” The elderly lady put her hand to her ear and asked him to speak up. “Do you know who I am?” he said loudly. “No,” she answered, “but if you ask the nurse over there she will tell you.” Reagan’s attempt at self affirmation was somewhat deflated – allegedly.

 

Why do we need to praise God? Why does the psalmist tell inanimate objects to do something they obviously can’t – sing or raise their hands and praise? Why is the time we spend in worship – the musical bit, using songs to express our thoughts – why is it so important to us? Worship is a Vineyard priority and a value too and it is worth examining why it is so important to praise God as the psalmist does and as he exhorts us to do too.

 

Eugene Peterson,

 

Worship is the strategy by which we interrupt our preoccupation with ourselves and attend to the presence of God. Worship is the time and place that we assign for deliberate attentiveness to God – not because he’s confined to time and place but because our self-importance is so insidiously relentless that if we don’t deliberately interrupt ourselves regularly, we have no chance of attending to him at all at other times and in other places.

 

C.S.Lewis is very good in helping us understand why we need to praise (Reflections on the Psalms).

 

Last Friday I was on an early morning train down to London and overheard someone telling someone else to, “Look out the window at that!” Several of us turned our heads to look outside and we saw one of those bright, clear rainbows that seem to be made of real, solid, shards of glass just a mile away, soaring up into the sky and away behind us. Wow. I was on my own and almost called Alison to wake her and tell her. Not sure she would have appreciated it but I was too embarrassed to turn to my fellow passengers and wax lyrical.

 

Firstly then:

An object of beauty is, by its nature, adorable. Worthy of praise because it is beautiful, lovely.
* When Andrew Flintoff pulls off one of his perfectly executed cover drives sending Glenn McGrath for 4 runs;
* or when you hear Eric Clapton play the guitar solo for Layla;
* or when you see a fluffy little lamb gambolling in the Dales next spring;
* or when Josh or one of his friends manages to perform one of those complex skateboard tricks;
* or when you hum along to the Hallelujah chorus in the Messiah;

* or when finally win a rugby game …
you acknowledge something which is worthy of praise.

 

You spontaneously nudge the person sitting next to you to tell them to watch or listen or to say, “Wow, did you see that?” You can’t keep it still, you want to applaud, watch or listen to it again. It is amazing, beautiful.

 

“Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise” sings the psalmist in verse 3.

 

It – the object of beauty, in this case, God, - does not need you to do or say anything or even to see it or him. It is gorgeous whether you are there or not. It is an independent thing of beauty and part of its existence is the praise, the affirmation, the acknowledgement, that goes with it, that it demands.

 

Like a magnet, it has a field around it which attracts metal. Whether the metal is there or not, it is still a magnet.

 

The Psalmist tells “every creature to praise his name” verse 21. The creatures and even less the mountains and trees are unlikely to be able to respond to the appeal but we know what he means - they are part of the show. They reflect the glory of God, they are part of his beauty and by just being there they are taking part in recognising that he is worthy of praise.

 

“His greatness no one can fathom” he goes on in verse 3. It just is.

 

God is just like that – beautiful, amazing, strong, awesome beyond imaginings – and simply worthy of praise. He is like that whether I notice it or not and whether I acknowledge it or not. The fact that he is there, like that, is just a matter of fact and worthy of praise. Full stop.

But we can be part of that beauty. We recognise it and are drawn into that magnetic field. We end up in praise and worship.

 

So secondly: our soul collides

Part of this, the praise of God, is our involvement. When we see an object of beauty, something within us wells up and seeks expression. It is not so much just about the object of beauty it is more an inevitable, instinctive, reaction in our being when we are in the presence of something of beauty.
 

Why do we pay money or give time to going to an art gallery or listening to a concert or watching a sporting event or walking in the Dales? Because something in us responds and is fed by the experience of seeing, listening, sensing and, in a way, taking part in a moment of beauty or excellence.

This is why it is offensive when that place in our souls is enticed by something not good, something fearful or unpleasant or violent. That is partly what Paul means when he encourages us, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things.” Philippians 4:8.

Our souls reach out to that which is lovely. And in God we deeply sense the presence of something, someone, of deep beauty and grace and our souls leap within us and reach out in praise and “wow”. Our souls “collide” with God.

C.S.Lewis wrote that, “we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment.”

“My mouth will speak in praise” the psalmist ends in verse 22.

“My soul longs for you” he says in several other Psalms (e.g. 63 and 146).

So praise starts with an object of beauty which is simply worthy of praise by its nature and then praise erupts in our souls as we connect with, collide with, beauty and God.

 

Thirdly and finally, the joy is made complete by sharing with others – it’s better together.

The enjoyment of something beautiful is made more satisfying by sharing it with someone else. Even a sunset gazed upon whilst walking on your own is somehow even more enjoyed when you call someone and tell them about it.

In fact, although private praise is a necessary part of our seeking after God, the joining in with others of his praise is not just necessary but an involuntary reaction. The desire to worship together emerges alongside the soulful response of praise.

One hears about the wealthy purchaser of art who places it on display in a private gallery or home where he or she can gaze upon the beauty in solitude. Yes, at one level you understand but at another level that is deeply sad and lonely. No one to even say, “Isn’t that beautiful?”

A week or two ago a Jackson Pollock painting, Work No 5, became the most expensive painting ever sold at just short of $140 million. Apparently bought by a Mexican financier. However, he later denied having bought it. So we don’t know where it has gone, who owns it. Whoever it is, they are not sharing the experience of looking at that painting.

In the case of this painting although I must say that am not unduly bothered, but the joy of beauty being made complete by sharing is lost.

If a man and woman fall in love and think each other fanciable they don’t keep it to themselves. They tell each other, they probably tell their friends too. The speaking out of the words of praise adds to, no completes, the joy of the experience.

When they get engaged they don’t keep it a secret, they tell everyone. A friend of mineg got engaged recently and had sent me Alison and me 3 texts within the hour.

So the psalmist records that, “One generation will commend your works to another” in verse 4. Later in verses 10ff, “All you have made will praise you O Lord, your saints will extol you. They will tell of the glory of your kingdom, and speak of your might so that all men may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendour of your kingdom.”

In praise and worship of God we are simply identifying something that is worthy of praise, an objective thing of beauty, we are allowing our soul to well up in response to this overwhelmingly attractive person and we complete our experience of the beauty of who God is by drawing others into our praise.

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These praise and worship responses of the psalmist are interspersed with declarations of all the things that describe attributes of God and his kingdom and tell us that this worth going on about for ever and ever.

Verse 11 ff

“They will tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might, so that all men may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendour of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations….for ever and ever”

For ever and ever? What does that feel like? For ever and ever?

As Governor George W Bush Jr once said, "The future will be better tomorrow."

Is that what heaven is going to be like? Praise and worship for ever and ever? If that means a turbocharged version of what we try and do here I am a bit perplexed. Much as I love our worship leaders’ ministry, much as I love the intimacy of Vineyard worship songs, even when I am really able to easily get involved and begin to approach my heavenly Father in these songs, even then I feel a long way away and even then I can’t go on for very long. Perhaps 30 minutes on a good day, maybe 40 if I had a really good sleep last night. Forever seems like a long time.

We were discussing church at Alpha the other day and an elderly lady who only ever comes to Christmas and such events at the Vineyard commented that at first she couldn’t understand why she had to stand up for so long in the sing-song. She got tired and just as she thought it had quietened down and it was OK to sit down, they started another song. I don’t think she would want to go to a heaven that was going to go on like that for ever and ever.

C.S Lewis says that these are merely attempts at worship and are never fully successful, often 99.9% failures, sometimes total failures!

It is a bit like learning to ski. Some of you who have been lucky enough to learn may remember the first few days or weeks when there was the occasional, very occasional, astonished moment when you stayed upright and moved smoothly and decorously down snow-laden mountain slopes looking the part - before the inevitable and humiliating crash to the ground, again. Rare moments of enjoyment obscured by the aching muscles and bruises of learning.

Our worship here is like that, rare special moments of awareness of the presence of God followed swiftly and obscured by the distractions and agitations of life.

The Psalmist is encouraging us to grasp onto that slender experience of acknowledging the majesty of God, allowing our souls to well up in response and joining in with others to praise. When the Lord returns and we get to spend eternity with him, his beauty will be uncluttered and unveiled, our hearts will be free to fully respond and let go and we will be surrounded by millions doing the same.

• It will be like skiing the black runs with ease and grace and with all the time in the world to look around and enjoy the scenery. The bumps and bruises and failures left in another world.
• It will be that moment of shared delight with a friend when nothing needs to be said. No awkward misunderstandings or endings to worry about, just the sheer pleasure of closeness and friendship.
• It will be enjoying a banquet for kings without ever getting too full and without washing up.

We will know that God is God and we are not - and knowing that we will be set free to praise completely and fully. It won’t be boring or painful or false or out of tune. It will be leaving behind the pain and suffering and worries of this earth and enjoying a new heaven and a new earth:

• where we will experience the sheer fulfilment of identifying he who is worthy of praise;
• where we will experience our souls colliding with our maker;
  
• where we will experience this in perfect unity and harmony, better together with the rest of creation.

We can experience this one day because the psalmist tells us that, “the Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all that he has made. The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving towards all he has made. The Lord upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.” Verse 8-14.

Would you like to respond to this God? To this beautiful amazing God who loves you and has enormous compassion for you?

Would you like to open your heart to him and let your soul collide, leap toward him?

Would you like to be able to join in with the praises of his people and all creation?

Well you can do so – right now. It is not magic, the journey can start now. You just need to turn toward him. Whether you have followed Jesus for many years or whether you have never got to that point. You can worship him today, now.

The psalm says, “The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” Verse 18.

 

David Flowers
18 November 2006