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Greatness and Goodness: For Those Who Are Wandering | Psalm 145
Ever seen a toddler's boundless energy and wondered if it could help you understand the nature of God? Join us in this episode of "Encountering God" as we explore divine attributes through the lens of family stories. We'll share anecdotes about our children, like our fearless 22-month-old Cruz, who seems to have an endless supply of energy and curiosity. These stories become a springboard for appreciating the dynamic and multifaceted nature of God.
We'll also offer a humorous yet profound look at God's greatness and goodness through a simple story about buying a goldfish for Brooklyn. What seemed like an easy task became a complex challenge, much like our attempts to comprehend the depth of God's nature. By reflecting on Psalm 145:1, we discuss how truly appreciating God's transcendence and immanence can reignite your spiritual awe and foster a more intimate relationship with Him.
Lastly, we emphasize the vital role of passing down the knowledge of God's greatness to the next generation with insights from Psalm 145:4-6. Through personal stories and Scripture, we highlight the importance of children's and student ministries and conclude with a heartfelt prayer for church growth and outreach. Celebrate with us as we rejoice over new believers and the power of communal worship. This episode promises to leave you inspired and spiritually nourished, ready to share God’s goodness with those around you.
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Amen. You can open up your Bibles with me to Psalm 145. Psalm 145. This morning, as we are continuing our series that is called Encountering God, Look at somebody and tell them Encountering God. Go and tell them that right now, Encountering God, and we're talking about the doctrine of God, all this month and this morning I'm going to be sharing with you about the attributes of God, In other words, who is God and what is he like? We're in a season in my family, in our family right now, at homes, where we have a five-year-old and a one-year-old and a three-month-old, as of in a couple days, a three-month-old, and so we're still learning a lot that there is to our kids' personalities, to their attributes.
Speaker 1:If I could summarize Cruz, our 22-month-old right now, one-year-old, almost two, if I could summarize him in two words, it would be wide open, Wide open. He's just wide open all the time man. He is like sprint nap intervals, you know what I'm saying Like there's no walking, it's running or he's chilling. And we took Cruz for his first time this past weekend to one of those indoor playgrounds right and so, with all the slides and you climb it, it's like a huge jungle gym. It's called Wiggle Giggle down Powder Springs Road man. It was awesome and he was just running the whole place just running around, climbing everything, going down the slides, throwing the balls. There was one time he was running across the entire place and he didn't see one of those black nets that separated one side of the slide or the other and he just ran, slapped into the net and just threw him back on his back and he popped up and he laughed and he kept running again. Like happened to the net and just threw him back on his back and he popped up and he laughed and he kept running again. Like that is my boy. A grandma looked at me and she said that kid is built for tough, sir. I said you better believe it, he's mine, let's go.
Speaker 1:And yesterday I took him to our neighborhood pool and typically we're at the pool and I never take my hands off of him. I want to make sure that he's safe and I'll put him up on the side of the pool. I'll be in the pool, put him up on the side and I'll kind of not let go, because he always wants to run away. I got a runner on my hands and I'll just keep a hold of him and I'll kind of throw him back into the pool. Well, yesterday I decided I'm just going to let go, I'm just going to see what he's going to do. I'm just dying to know what he's going to do. So I put him on the kid's fast and finally, as he's running, he runs about 10 feet and then he just turns and he just dives and he supermans for the first time into the pool. Just superman, it was perfect, you know. And somebody looked at me and they said he's gonna be a Navy SEAL.
Speaker 1:I saw a mom look at her son and she said why won't you do what his son does? Right, just diving into the pool all day? He knows no fear, he's fearless. He's wide open, Brooklyn. She's wide open too emotionally. She's wide open emotionally. It's just emotions all the time, right, and she is happy the majority of the time.
Speaker 1:And she told Michelle just a couple of days ago. She said I miss being an only child. You know she was our first one and I miss being an only child, she said. And so Michelle said well, we're going to take you to the pet store and we're going to go and buy you a fish. So Brooklyn was so happy, we're going to buy a fish. We got it all worked out. I mean like $20 or less.
Speaker 1:We both grew up Maybe you did too. We had the fish bowl. We had the goldfish. We walk in. Goldfish are 50 cents jackpot. It's our day, right.
Speaker 1:And so we walk in the pet store. We're finding like the smallest little fish bowl we got. We go up to the counter, we would like a goldfish, please, and put this little fish bowl on the counter. And the girl behind the counter says you can't put a goldfish in that. We're like what are you talking? We grew up that way, right? And she said goldfish need a hundred gallon tank. Like what are you smoking? A hundred gallon tank for a 50 cent fish? What were we like fish abusers back in the day? And she said, yeah, because they grow to a certain size, Like it's going to be dead in a week. Like we don't need this hundred gallon tank. What are you talking about? And she wouldn't sell it to us with the little bowl, right.
Speaker 1:Anyways, I'm not going to say all that, but the whole point is finally we got, we said all right, we kid you not. In front of Brooklyn we said what is your cheapest fish and your cheapest tank? So she took Michelle in Brooklyn and they got the cheapest fish, the cheapest tank, a little pack of rocks and some coral to come up and it was a hundred dollars. They got us good hook line and sinker. They got us good hook line and sinker. They got us. It was far more than we could ever imagine, far more than we ever thought of.
Speaker 1:I want you to know this morning, as we look at the attributes of God and we see who God really is and what his personality is really like, how great he is and how good he is. I want you to know that he is far more than you good he is. I want you to know that he is far more than you could ever imagine. I want you to know that he is far better than you could ever think. As we're looking at encountering God, last week, two weeks ago, we talked about his existence, that God exists, but the point is not just that we know about his existence, but his knowability. The point is that we know him personally. Last week we talked about God's transcendence, that he's over everything, he's above everything, he is in total control, he's got all power, but at the same time, he's imminent, he's close, he's near. He's here, he's with you and this morning we're looking at God's greatness and his goodness and next week we'll look at that. God is one, but also God is Trinity. But this morning let's look at the greatness of God and the goodness of God and I want you to know that this morning is for those that maybe you feel like you are wondering.
Speaker 1:I think about that old hymn, the hymn that come thou fount. It says prone to wonder, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. I want you to know that's not just your sin, that's my sin too, that we have something to sin within us, even though that, as a Christian, you have the Holy Spirit of God. But yet there are temptations, there are deceptions, there are times that we feel ourselves wondering. Psalm 119.10,. David knew this. David said God, with my whole heart I seek you. He said, don't let me wonder from your commandments why? Because David found himself wandering often.
Speaker 1:So maybe you come here this morning and, just being honest with yourself, maybe you feel like that there's been a time in your life that you are closer to God than you are today. Maybe you come here this morning and as we all go through the seasons, obviously, of course, me included. Maybe your devotions feel dry or inconsistent, or maybe absent. Maybe this morning you feel like that your prayers are bouncing off the ceiling. It doesn't even feel like that God is listening. Maybe your worship has grown stale. Maybe you connect more with the music of the world than you do with the worship of the word. Maybe this morning you feel like that you aren't as close to God as you have been before.
Speaker 1:And what I want to share with you about this morning, this is what I wrote down for you this week the only way to get back not only to where you were, but to experience even more closeness to God than you ever have before, is not to try harder is not to do better, is not even to be godlier. No, the only way is to know who God is all the more to look into his glory and his greatness and his goodness, and to allow your heart to grow in awe of him again and even more than ever before. If you believe that, say amen. So let's look. We're going to start with the greatness of God, Psalm, chapter 145, verse 1,. The greatness of God, the greatness of God.
Speaker 1:He says here in Psalm 145, verse 1, he says I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. See, I want you to know that when we look into the attributes of God, the point is not just to get smarter. The point is not to know more than anybody else. The point is not just to become more theological or more doctrinal, as this is the doctrine of God that we're studying. The point is what does it do within your soul? The point is, what does it do in your heart? Did you know that extol means to praise God for how exalted he is? In other words, you can't exalt God any more than he already is. Our goal is not to exalt him. Our goal is to extol him because he is already exalted. That word extol physically means jumping with joy because of the praise of God. So, as we're studying his attributes, the response that it is to cause within us is joy. The response that is to cause within us is not only our joy, but also the way in which that we praise him.
Speaker 1:Psalm 145, too, says every day, I will bless you. Every day, God, I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. You know, when someone blesses you, how it makes you feel when they bless you in a way that maybe you weren't expecting or maybe you didn't deserve, when they give you something or they help you out in a way, or they tell you something and it feels like a blessing to you. You know how it feels when God gives you just one of those extra, very tangible blessings that you know that it can only be from him. Did you know that God loves to bless his children, but also God loves to be blessed by his children? Did you know that you are called to bless God? And how do you do it? Every day I will bless you. How? By praising your name forever and ever. So we're called to praise the name of God forever and ever, but listen, not just forever and ever. For every single day, forever and ever. Do you have a normal part of your life, a normal part of your routine, a normal part of your day that you take time to stop and to pray and just to bless God? It is perfectly fine if your prayers include requests, but our prayers should not only include requests. Our prayers should also include a blessing to God for who he is. If you believe that, say amen.
Speaker 1:Psalm 145.3, one of my favorite verses in the entire Bible says great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. Notice here that there are three different times that David this is the last Psalm that David wrote. There are three different times that David used the word great, but those are all three the same English word great and greatly and greatness. But did you know that all three of them are different Hebrew words than the original language? He says in Psalm 143, he says great is the Lord. That word is gadol. It means greatest. It means greatest is the Lord. In other words, nothing is greater than God.
Speaker 1:When he says and greatly to be praised, the word the Hebrew word is mode, and mode means exceedingly. In other words, we are. He is exceedingly, or more and more, or abundantly, or immeasurably. He is deserving of your praise, of your blessing. Great is the Lord and greatly do we praise, and his greatness is unsearchable Greatness the Hebrew word is gedula, and gedula, greatness, means great things. In other words, we're praising God for he is the greatest. We're praising God because he is exceedingly doing great things and we're praising God because he is doing greater things than anyone or anyone else can do in our life.
Speaker 1:But I want you to see this word unsearchable. This word unsearchable means this it doesn't mean don't waste your time searching. The Hebrew word actually means that it is to be searched. The Hebrew word actually means that it is to be searched. But unsearchable means even though, as it is to be searched, what you're going to find along the way is there's no bottom to the hole, there's no end to the search. That, because God's greatness is infinite, that you will never be able to exhaust the greatness of God. Let's do a little exercise together. I just want you to close your eyes for a second, Every eye closed, and I want you to make God as great as you possibly can in your mind. Make him as great as you can. Okay, now, make God even greater. Now. Make God even greater. Now. Make him even greater. Now. Look at me. You can do that exercise every single second for the rest of your life. You can even do that exercise in heaven, when you're with God, for all of eternity, and you can make God greater in your mind forever and ever, even in his presence. And you will still never be able to fathom or comprehend the greatness of your God, because his greatness is infinite, infinitely greater than we could ever ask or imagine. Put your hands together right now for the greatness of God. That is how great God is, not only to us, but how great he is.
Speaker 1:Psalm 145, verse 4,. It says one generation, one generation, shall commend your works to another. So we see here one generation shall commend your works to another generation and shall declare your mighty acts as a believer, for every single believer. We see this in the Bible over and over again. One of our jobs, one of our callings, one of our roles is to make sure that we are commending the works of God and declaring the mighty acts of God to the next generation. We've got to make sure that we're telling kids. We've got to make sure that we're telling teenagers. Did you know, statistically, about 90% of people who get saved do so by the age of 18? Get saved, do so by the age of 18, which means we've got to do everything in our power to tell the next generation who God is, so that they get saved.
Speaker 1:Some of my favorite mission trips is I've gone to San Diego, I've gone to Canada, I've gone to Africa, I've gone to Ireland and Europe. I've gone to different places. And here's what we do is we just go share the gospel with kids? Why? Because kids, the Holy Spirit does a work within them and when they invite Jesus into their life, they get the Holy Spirit in their life and then the Holy Spirit is present with them and we believe that the Holy Spirit will bless them with a godly spouse and a godly family and they will be able to change the trajectory of the culture of their area.
Speaker 1:Can I get an amen? And that's what we're called to do. We're called to bless these kids. We're called to bless our teenagers. We're called to read the word of God to them. We're called to pray for them and pray with them. I want to encourage them, If God calls you, to go and serve in our children's ministry, to go and serve in our student ministry. We need the most amount of people possible pouring into the next generation. Maybe you've got grandkids, maybe you've got nieces, maybe you've got nephews, maybe you've got cousins that are little kids and maybe you need to invite them over to your house to spend the night on Saturday night, just to bring them to church on Sunday, just so you can commend the works of God and declare his mighty acts to the next generation. Can I get an amen. We cannot take the next generation seriously enough. We have an opportunity to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with them. Opportunity to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with them.
Speaker 1:Next it says what do we do with the greatness of God? Psalm 145.5, on the glorious splendor of your majesty and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. Which means the greatness of God is not just something to know. To know is something to meditate upon. That word is like a cow chewing its cud. And as that cow is chewing its cud, that word meditate it is literally talking about an opportunity to where we, like a cow, would get all of the nutrients out of its cud because it has four different stomachs. Every ounce of nutrient that cow just keeps chewing and keeps processing and keeps digesting. In the same way, we don't hear the truths of God just to forget them. One of my favorite books says that we are to warm our hearts by the fires of the meditation of Scripture, that we're to be meditating upon the greatness of God, on the glorious splendor of your majesty and on your wondrous works. I will meditate Verse 6,. It says they shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds and I will declare your greatness. In other words, what do we do with the greatness of God? We talk about it, we don't hog it to ourselves, we don't keep it within ourselves. In fact, I believe if you've really encountered the greatness of God, you can't help but share it.
Speaker 1:Just Just this past week, you know your pastor loves some Texas Roadhouse. Can I get an amen? That's my favorite. It's like a little glimpse of heaven. And my wife and our kids were there about two Saturdays ago. We'll never take them out to eat again. It was a complete train wreck, it was a disaster.
Speaker 1:And we're there at a table and I'm holding Cruz from running the restaurant and I'm listening to these two ladies in the table beside us talking and I try not to be a nosy pastor. I try, I try hard, but I can hear their conversation and these two ladies, the whole time, are just talking about all of the great things that God is doing in their life. I couldn't help it. I just found myself sliding closer and closer to them. Finally I find myself in their life. I couldn't help it. I just found myself sliding closer and closer to them. Finally I find myself at their table and I just I pull up and they look at me and I'm like I am just I'm sorry y'all. I said I really am trying not to listen, but you're talking about God, my intent is up and I just I just got to get to know y'all. And so the ladies told me their name. One of their names was Debbie. I remember Debbie because she said she'd be coming on a Sunday morning, that she knows many of you and I just said I'm just a pastor and I'm just so encouraged by your conversation. They were just sharing back and forth of the goodness of God.
Speaker 1:I want you to know that, as we think about the greatness of God, that remember what his great attributes are his omnipotence. His omnipotence means he is all powerful. There's nothing that God cannot do except sin. That God has all the power in the world to do whatever he wants to do, whatever is according to his will. His omniscience hear me that God is all knowledgeable and he's all wise. That everything that he is doing it is perfectly and well thought out. That he is the omniscient one not us, not you, not me. And that God is omnipresent. He's everywhere, at all times. And we also see those three things in the life of Jesus that he's omnipotent, that he has all power over everything, when he was on the earth, that he was omniscient, that he has all wisdom and knowledge and that he's omnipresent. He said that I will be with you always, even into the ends of the age. So I want to encourage you because of his greatness, don't go to God as your last resort, of his greatness, Don't go to God as your last resort, but go to him as your first response. If you need love, go to God. He's omnipresent. He's with you. If you need wisdom, go to God. He's all wise. He's promised he'd share it with you. If you need power, go to God. He's omnipotent. He will give you the power that you need. And then, last, and I'm done, the goodness of God. We see the greatness of God and the goodness of God.
Speaker 1:Psalm 145, verse 7. They shall pour forth your fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness. What do we do with the goodness of God? What are we called to do as a church? What do we do as First Baptist Church, Powder Springs? We make him famous. Can I get an amen? He already owns all the fame, but our job is to point people to his fame so that they understand how famous he really is. And how do we do it? Part of that is just by singing aloud. I was so proud of you this morning that you were singing loud, even though you didn't even know what the words were. Some of you were just singing watermelon the whole time, but it was to the glory of God. Can I get an amen? You were just singing your heart. You were just singing what you knew Amen and praise God. I'm so blessed to be a part of a church who's not afraid to sing loud to God.
Speaker 1:He goes on to say in verse 8, the Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. God is gracious. Do you know what God's grace in your life means? It means that he gives you what you don't deserve. You know what his mercy means that he doesn't give you what you do deserve. What do I deserve from God? I deserve hell, judgment, wrath because of my sin, but because of his mercy, he doesn't give me what I deserve. Because of his grace, he gives me what I don't deserve. Because of God's mercy, he doesn't give you what you deserve. Because of his grace, he gives you what you don't deserve. If you got pulled over by one of Powder Springs finest, and they don't give you a ticket. They gave you mercy. If they hand you the keys to their car, they give you grace.
Speaker 1:God doesn't give us hell. He gives us Jesus, his son. He's full of grace, he's full of mercy. He's slow to anger. He's patient with me, praise God. He's patient with you. He is abounding, never ending, giving you steadfast love in your life. He's patient in your sin. He's abounding in his love. The Lord is good to all and his mercy is over all that he has made. Even if you or someone that you know is a unbeliever, hear me, he's still good to them and merciful towards them Because, as they're alive, he's not done with them yet. God's patience and his mercy. He keeps us alive so that we have the opportunity to come to know him and to be saved by him. But according to his children, he's good to you on a whole, nother level. He's good to the saved. He's good to the follower of Jesus on a whole, nother level. He's good to you in a covenantal, fatherly kind of way. He's merciful towards you in a covenantal, fatherly kind of way. He's merciful towards you in a covenantal, fatherly kind of way. Psalm 145, 14,. The Lord upholds all who are falling. He raises up all who are bowed down.
Speaker 1:Do you feel like that you're constantly falling in life lately? Do you feel like you're falling? Do you feel like you're failing? Do you feel like you're failing? Do you feel like, wherever you go, you're tripping, that you're not just able to get up and run? I often hold my son's hands whenever we go down our steps to our basement. Why? Because I don't want him to fall. There are times that we're walking outside, that he's got to learn to walk, he's got to learn to run without me holding his hand, and there are times that he falls and, as a dad, I can't help it, but I pick him back up, and your heavenly father can't help doing that. In your life, too, there are times that he holds your hand. There are times that he lets you fall, but he's right there with you the entire time because he's good, he loves upholding you and he loves raising you up.
Speaker 1:I don't know about you, but I'm gonna take God up on this verse. He raises up who are bowed down. I don't want there to be a day in my life that goes by that I'm not bowing down on my knees before him because I so desperately need God to raise me up. I want you to know that the attributes of God, his greatness and his goodness, they all culminate in the gospel of Jesus. How did God defeat sin and death and hell in your life? Through the cross and the resurrection of Jesus. That's his omnipotence. God thought it all up, the gospel. How is he going to save you? He thought it all up by his omniscience. And then God came alongside you and he led you to himself. That is God's omnipresence.
Speaker 1:I want you to know this morning that we see the last verse in Psalm 145. We couldn't look at every verse, but the last verse says this my mouth will speak the praise of the Lord. Let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever. I love it when he says this right here. He says my mouth. He says my mouth will speak. In other words, have you made a covenant with God that your mouth is going to speak of the praise of the Lord? That if anybody is going to hear the praise of the Lord, it is certainly going to be from your mouth?
Speaker 1:God convicted me, as I love to run out of my house. I run two or three times a week and I run down from my house and down a trail and along a little pond and I run the baseball diamonds at Lost Mountain Park and God's convicted me Now, whenever I run by somebody, he's just convicted me to smile, look at him, smile and just say God bless you. I'm running, I'm huffing, I'm puffing, I can barely get it out, but I smile and I just tell him God bless you. I'm running, I'm huffing, I'm puffing, I can barely get it out, but I smile and I just tell them God bless you. You might be one of those that have walked by me running. I am that weirdo who is running around Lost Mountain Park blessing people. Why? Because God's just convicted me to do that, that my mouth will speak of the praise of the Lord and I believe that you are someone who, just you, Lord, and I believe that you are someone who, just you, want to bless people by speaking of the praise of the Lord.
Speaker 1:And it says let all flesh bless his holy name. I actually looked up this word in the Hebrew flesh and it's kind of funny. It means all lean flesh and all fat flesh, which means everybody. It's got everybody in there. So if you're a lean flesh. If you're a fat flesh, you're included. Let all flesh bless his holy name forever.
Speaker 1:That's my prayer that I pray every day for our church. I pray every single day. Genesis 128, for our church that God would bless us, continue to bless us. That God would continue to make us fruitful spiritually, that God would continue to multiply us numerically, that God would use us to fill the earth. Genesis, chapter one, verse 28, says I pray that we would be responsible around our community, around our surrounding counties, that we will praise the Lord, that other people will see that God is worthy to be praised. Can I get an amen that it'll come from our mouths and that we will praise God in such of a way that all flesh will bless his holy name? This is what I wrote. I pray that all Cobb County, all Paulding County and all surrounding counties praise and bless God because of what he is doing in our church and your life. I pray that all ethnicities, I pray that Africans, Europeans, South Americans, Central Americans, Asians, Antarcticans if there's any here North Americans, Canadians, African Americans are saved and baptized and discipled because of our ministry together here at First Baptist Church, Powder Springs.
Speaker 1:I pray that God does a work in the lives of all flesh. I pray in Jesus' name. Hear me that you personally encounter God more because of this series. I pray that you encounter his greatness. I pray that you encounter his greatness. I pray that you encounter his goodness and I pray that you share of his greatness and declare of his goodness to other people because of what you get to personally encounter with him. I'm gonna ask all heads to be bowed, all eyes to be closed, no one looking around at this time, with every head bowed and every eye closed.
Speaker 1:I just wanna encourage you right here, right now that maybe that's you this morning that right now you just need to meditate upon the greatness and the goodness of God, right here, right now. And maybe the devil's just been fooling you Because, honestly, when the devil can get your mind on things that God is not doing, that you think you should be doing, then the devil will start to get you to think that God is not who he should be. So, right here, right now, I just want you to meditate upon his greatness. I want you to meditate upon his greatness, I want you to meditate upon his goodness and I just want you to praise him, I want you to bless him. I want you to tell him how thankful you are for him.
Speaker 1:And maybe you're here this morning and you don't yet have that relationship with God because you haven't given your life to him. Jesus gave his life for you so that you can give your life to him. I can't pray this for you, I can't save you, but you can pray a prayer like this from your own heart, from your own words, right now, and God will save you and he will forgive you for all of eternity. You can pray a prayer like this. You can say dear God, I love you, I believe in you and I need you. And God, I believe that Jesus, your son, died on the cross for my sin and I ask you to forgive me of all of my sin. And you can tell him, God, I believe that Jesus rose from the dead, he's alive, and I turn away from my sin and I give my life to him. The Bible promises that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, tell him right now Jesus be the Lord of my life and that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. And we believe that that God will save you right here and right now. God, we believe that we pray, that we ask all of that in Jesus' name, and all God's people said amen.
Speaker 1:Would you put your hands together right now for anybody who gave their life to Jesus? The Bible says that heaven is rejoicing every time a sinner gives their life to repentance. Now, just want to encourage you. We're going to to repentance Now. I just wanna encourage you. We're gonna sing one last song. I wanna remind you about our next step card, that you can fill that out during this last song, and we just wanna bless you. But right now, let's stand together and I wanna encourage you that we're gonna sing this song in worship to God.
Speaker 1:This song was specifically picked out for this moment, after this message, so that you can bless God with your worship because of his greatness and his goodness. Heavenly Father, we love you and God, we pray in Jesus' name, Lord, that you would just continue to act and work and move in our hearts and lives, even through your worship. God, thank you for your blessing in our life, Thank you for your greatness, Thank you for your goodness. And so, God, we bless you, we praise you, we glorify you, we love you. In Jesus' name, we pray, and all God's people said let's sing together.