In the beautiful Psalm of Praise, Psalm 145, there is a repeated refrain that captures my eye:
The Lord is . . .
loving toward all that he has made.
Sometimes one hears (or thinks) the opposite:
God (if there is indeed a God) doesn't treat me fair. Or he just seems cruel to allow __(fill in the blank)__ to happen. Or he seems uninvolved in his creation, so why bother with him? Sorry, but I see no evidence of his love in my world . . . etc.
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| My daughter Rachel and little Daisy |
To all who have thoughts similar to those above, David argues the opposite. Perhaps he is reminding himself also to look at the deeper truth than a current perplexity seems to hold out. He looks around and notices in a multitude of evidences how richly loving God is toward all he has made. He doesn't say, God is sometimes loving, or God is loving to some people, but not others. No, in this psalm David reminds himself and everyone that God has showered humanity with loving gifts everyday. Therefore he cannot help but say, "Everyday I will praise you" (vs. 2).
I breathe in a deep breath, see the morning rain, and say, "Yes, David. It's true. God IS loving toward all he has made and it takes a blind or stubborn eye to miss that." Lord, open my eyes today to the endless ways your love is seen all around me.
Other lines from the psalm are partners with this thought: abundant goodness; wonderful works; awesome works; mighty acts; he has compassion on all he has made; faithful to all his promises . . .
Everyday I will praise you.
My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord.Here is Psalm 145 in its entirety from the New International Version, 1984:
A psalm of praise. Of David.
1 I will exalt you, my God the King;
I will praise your name for ever and ever.
2 Every day I will praise you
and extol your name for ever and ever.
I will praise your name for ever and ever.
2 Every day I will praise you
and extol your name for ever and ever.
3 Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
his greatness no one can fathom.
4 One generation will commend your works to another;
they will tell of your mighty acts.
5 They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and I will meditate on your wonderful works.
6 They will tell of the power of your awesome works,
and I will proclaim your great deeds.
7 They will celebrate your abundant goodness
and joyfully sing of your righteousness.
his greatness no one can fathom.
4 One generation will commend your works to another;
they will tell of your mighty acts.
5 They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and I will meditate on your wonderful works.
6 They will tell of the power of your awesome works,
and I will proclaim your great deeds.
7 They will celebrate your abundant goodness
and joyfully sing of your righteousness.
8 The Lord is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in love.
9 The Lord is good to all;
he has compassion on all he has made.
10 All you have made will praise you, O Lord;
your saints will extol you.
11 They will tell of the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your might,
12 so that all men may know of your mighty acts
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures through all generations.
slow to anger and rich in love.
9 The Lord is good to all;
he has compassion on all he has made.
10 All you have made will praise you, O Lord;
your saints will extol you.
11 They will tell of the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your might,
12 so that all men may know of your mighty acts
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures through all generations.
The Lord is faithful to all his promises
and loving toward all he has made.
14 The Lord upholds all those who fall
and lifts up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food at the proper time.
16 You open your hand
and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
and loving toward all he has made.
14 The Lord upholds all those who fall
and lifts up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food at the proper time.
16 You open your hand
and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways
and loving toward all he has made.
18 The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;
he hears their cry and saves them.
20 The Lord watches over all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.
and loving toward all he has made.
18 The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;
he hears their cry and saves them.
20 The Lord watches over all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.
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| Each little bird is a reminder of God's love |
21 My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord.
Let every creature praise his holy name
for ever and ever.
Let every creature praise his holy name
for ever and ever.
This
Psalm in the original Hebrew is an acrostic poem. I wrote about how
this device was used in many psalms in a January post, in the footnote (after the haiku Zoo).
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John Ireland set several texts from the Old and New Testaments in a beautiful anthem,
Greater Love Hath No Man, sung here by St. Paul's Cathedral Choir. It's soft at the beginning, so you may want to turn up your speakers. Listen here with the score.
Here's a fresh setting of an old gospel hymn, The Love of God sung by Mercy Me.
Finally, here is a lovely video with a montage of all the loving things God has said to us:
If you don't have a Bible to look up the references given in this video, you can search for any of them here.
We love him, because he first loved us.
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