December 20, 2023
Psalm 145 is a praise song written by David to “exalt” God (verse 1). Today we consider the first part, verses 1-7. David recognizes God as King, and his intention is to praise God “every day for ever and ever” (verses 1-2). Indeed, our God should be praised daily and forever because He is “great - most worthy of praise – and His greatness no one can fathom” (verse 3). Think about the words that David uses to describe God: “mighty acts; glorious splendor; majesty; wonderful and awesome works; great deeds; abundant goodness; and righteousness” (verses 4-7). In literature, such are the words we use to describe a literary hero. In reality, such words can only describe One Who is inconceivable - beyond our capacities to grasp - yet this is precisely why we worship Him. He is no ordinary god. Nothing and no one else is like Him. We worship and serve the one real God Who stands behind all reality. This God excites our imaginations by being the Unimaginable One, and properly so. He is worthy of all praise and worship because “He is unfathomable” (verse 3).
In Revelation 11, we learn about God’s two tribulation witnesses who will “prophesy for 1,260 days” (verse 3) - about 3.5 years - or half of the tribulation period. Specifically, these two witnesses are not identified, but their actions are similar to those of Moses and Elijah in the Old Testament. We can do no more than speculate about their identity, but we should recognize far more importantly that God’s purpose for these witnesses relates to the strength of their “testimony” (verse 7). “They have power to shut up the heavens” (verse 6), thus, to certify the veracity of their divine message during a time when God will be completely ignored by belligerent and evil men. Their testimony will be so authoritative that Satan himself will attack and kill them; men will “gloat over” their deaths and “send each other gifts” (verse 10). But in a demonstration of His awesome power and authority, God “will resurrect them and strike terror in those who saw them” (verse 11). Any celebration during the tribulation will be short-lived and put down.
In Ezra 4:6 - 5:17, we see the historical fruitlessness of opposing our awesome God, His purposes, and His people. In chapter 5, we see that the enemies of the Jews write letters of fabrication and accusation against the post-exilic Jews to King Artaxerxes to discredit God’s people and their work, an age-old issue that is always initiated by the enemies of God. This letter resulted in a temporary setback to the construction work in Jerusalem. However, tomorrow we will see that, after a legitimate search of the legal records, the truth will come out, and God will vindicate His people and bless their work. Why is it that, somehow, the truth always seems to emerge? Because our God is the God of all truth, and He is in full control of the reality that He has created.
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