The Praiseworthiness of God

David composed a hymn, a song, extolling the greatness of God in the revelation of his nature, his character displayed in his grace to us. Psalm 145:3 Great is YHWH (Yahweh) and greatly to be praised. 

Bible Insights with Wayne Conrad
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Transcript

Title: The Praiseworthiness of God

Date: September 29, 2025

Scripture: Exodus 34:6-7; Psalm 145
 
AI TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to Bible Insights with Wayne Conrad

God's word is a lamp to our feet and a light on our path. Today's topic is extolling the great God, Yahweh. I want us to think about a hymn that King David wrote. A hymn is a song, a composition meant to be sung, extolling the greatness, the attributes, the very being and actions of God. It's very God-centered. That's the true hymn. We have songs, and hymns are songs, but not all songs are hymns because songs may talk indirectly about God or about God's actions. They may also talk about God's work within the believer and other things of this nature. We can refer to them as spiritual songs, compositions in which we reflect upon God's actions toward us, his work within us, and we extol him for this while also encouraging one another in our faith.

King David wrote Psalm 145, and we're not told about any particular occasion upon which it was composed. Perhaps it's just an accumulation. I've been reading this psalm, meditating on it, and even our pastor spoke on it this past Lord's Day. I want us to think about God, how he's extolled, remembered, and talked about in this psalm. I think the key to the psalm may very well be in verse 3: "Yahweh is great and is highly praised, and his greatness is unsearchable." David will talk about ways in which he praises God for his greatness. But in this first podcast, I want us to focus not on the ways we can join David, but on why—on who this God is. What's the nature of Yahweh that David puts the spotlight on for us to see?

I want us to think about the words David uses about God, because these words tell about God's nature, his character. We call them his attributes, the way that he is. The first one is found in verse 8: "Yahweh is gracious." He parallels that with compassionate. He's gracious and compassionate, slow to anger. Thank God. He is great in faithful love or steadfast love. That's the Hebrew word hesed, meaning that God's love is firm, constant, not one that comes and goes with the wind. It's not variable. Interestingly, this is a statement about the nature of God that God himself makes in Exodus 34:6, where Moses asked to see God. God said, "I can't show you my face and you live, but I'll let you see my hinder parts as I pass by. I'll let you take a glimpse of my form." When Yahweh did this, he declared his name, Yahweh, and what it means to Moses: that he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, great in faithful love. The Psalmist David also picks up this truth in Psalm 86.

To talk about God being gracious means he's full of grace, a kindness we don't deserve, a mercy we don't deserve. But he goes beyond that. He doesn't just show us mercy in the midst of things that may have befallen us, even from our own actions. Grace is more than mercy. You are merciful in grace, but in grace, you go beyond, showing compassion toward one in their need or suffering and blessing them abundantly, providing far more than they ever need or want. That's how the New Testament speaks about God's grace, especially in the epistle to the Ephesians. Yahweh is gracious and therefore the right object for our worship and adoration.

In verse 9, "Yahweh is good." In other words, God does good to everyone. There's a measure of goodness in all that God does, and his compassion rests on all that he's made. Even the animals, the plants, everything that's part of his creation—he sustains it. He's good in doing this. As a result, David says, everything you've made will praise you. How does that come to pass? By fulfilling the purposes for which God made them.

In verse 13, it speaks about Yahweh being faithful, faithful in all his words. In verse 8, he's steadfast in his love; in verse 13, he's true in all his words. What God says is true, not fake or pseudo. It's real, firm. He's faithful in all his words, meaning what he says is what he means, and what he says will come to pass. He's gracious, not just in his nature or in how he shows compassion and goodness to his creation and his people, but in all of his actions.

In verse 17, Yahweh is to be extolled and blessed because he is righteous in all of his ways. Righteous means that which is straight, right, not crooked. God is upstanding, perfect, and right. We use the word holy, but holy has more the idea of God being set apart from all that he's made, exalted above everything. Here, righteous deals with his creation and his people in particular. Yahweh is righteous in all his ways. He's not false and doesn't do wrong. God cannot do evil. We might interpret what he does that way, but that's not the truth. We see God through colored, tinted glasses, not through clear light. He's faithful in all of his acts, and we can thank God for that. He's not a God who changes in his character—one day for us, the next day against us.

In verse 18, "Yahweh is near to all who call out to him, to all who call out to him with integrity." Though God is high and exalted, he pays attention, especially to his people, those whom he has chosen and entered into relationship with by his grace, who have responded in faith, trust, and love to him. Yahweh is near to hear when we call upon him. But we must call out with integrity, not hypocrisy, with wholeness. He will hear us when we call, and he will act on our behalf. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him, hears their cry for help, delivers them, saves them, and guards those who love him.

God is a great God, worthy of our praise, worthy of being extolled in our words and singing. David composed these words as a song to be sung, chanted, set to music so we can remember them and extol him with our voices as we lift up God. There's only one way to truly praise God: to praise him in the character he has revealed himself to be. He's revealed himself to be this kind of God in his actions of grace and mercy toward us, especially in the giving of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He has blessed those who believe in Christ with the added grace of the Holy Spirit, who lives among us and dwells within us. Thus, we have union with God in the Lord Jesus Christ himself.

What a God we serve. Yahweh is a great God, to be greatly, highly praised. There can be no higher praise than rehearsing before him, naming his very character, his very person, as he has demonstrated himself to be in his acts of revelation, deliverance, salvation, reconciliation, and a life of reconciled love with his people who trust in him. Would you join me? Would you join David in exalting the Lord our God, offering him praise? With this intention, my mouth will declare Yahweh's praise. Let everything and everyone join me in blessing his holy name forever and ever.

This has been Wayne Conrad with Bible Insights. If you have received benefit from the teaching and sharing of the word of God, I invite you to respond, to write us a text, to let us hear from you. You can put your praises to God in it and join us in praising the name Yahweh. Thank you.