Psalm 145 for People Who Fail

I’ve read Psalm 145 dozens of times, but the other day it grabbed my attention like never before.

King David – giant killer, warrior, adulterer, murderer . . . and “man after God’s own heart.”

Let’s take a closer look at his words:

I will exalt You, my God and King, and praise Your name forever and ever.
I will praise You every day; yes, I will praise You forever.
Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise!
No one can measure His greatness.v.1-3

“I will”  – not I’ll try, but I will. I promise.

“To extol” – the Hebrew word for extol here is ruwm. It means to lift or raise up, to give glory and honor.

“My God and King” – Creator, Redeemer, Comforter . . . sovereign, all-knowing, all-powerful, ever-present, Lord of all.

“I will praise You every day; yes, I will praise Your forever” – not for just an hour a week, but 24/7 forever and always.

David pledged to live each day raising God up before the people of his day. He promised to live so people would see the difference God made in his life.

Pledging to Live Like David

I want to be like David. Not the David who failed to go to battle, had an affair, and had an innocent husband murdered. But the David who promised to glorify God before men.

But too often like David, I fall short of what I want to do. Not exactly like David, but in lots of ways that fail to give God glory and honor, ways that fail to lift Him up.

Forgiven Like David

No matter what we’ve done, like David we are forgiven.

Feeling guilty over a past failure?

Pray David’s words from Psalm 51:

Have mercy on me, O God, because of Your unfailing love.
Because of Your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins.
Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. v. 1-2

Then praise God for His mercy and grace.

The Lord is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. Psalm 145:8

The Lord always keeps His promises; He is gracious in all He does.
The Lord helps the fallen and lifts those bent beneath their loads. v. 13-14

Wow, mercy and compassion, grace and help! God’s love covers every failure and gives us a fresh start.

Pledging to Live Psalm 145

By God’s grace we can live Psalm 145. We can live to lift His name before others. We can go to Him when we fail. We can thank and praise Him for His grace and mercy.

We can give Him glory and honor forever and always.