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Walking the Talk

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Walking the Talk, July 2007, Psalm 145

Scriptures that Build Our Faith

Psalm 145

How many Bible studies on environmental stewardship have you heard focusing on Psalm 104? Yet the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is rich with concepts and teachings relevant to creation care. It’s time we expand our reference library of scriptures, so a regular feature of CreationVoice will be to unpack some favorite scriptures. Dean Ohlman, a writer, filmmaker and Restoring Eden board member, recently pointed me towards Psalm 145, which is considered by many Old Testament scholars to be one of four key “Creation Psalms.” (The others are Psalms 8, 33 and 104.)

This is a Psalm all of us should ponder. It is a powerful song of the kingship of God over all creation. Running through Psalm 145 are two simple concepts. The first is that creation declares the glory of God. The Psalmist is clear “All you have made will praise you” (v10). Over and over, he writes that creation and the saints will: speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty (v5), wonderful works(v5), awesome works (v6), proclaim your great deeds (v6), celebrate your abundant goodness (v7), sing of your righteousness (v7), tell of the glory of your kingdom (v11), and speak of your mighty acts (v12).

The second theological concept revealed in Psalm 145 is that God loves all of creation. “The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made” (v10). The Lord is…loving towards all that he has made (v13); The Lord is…loving towards all he has made (v17).

In verse 10, we read that “All you have made will praise you, O Lord; your saints will extol you.” Some commentators say that the Hebrew meaning is to “kneel down in humble gratitude.” What a different way to see dominion – one where we kneel in thankfulness to our Creator for all that he created. (Restoring Eden has a sticker that summarizes this – “If you love the Creator, take care of creation.” Click here to view/order this and other stickers.)

Psalm 145 ends with “My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord. Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever” (v21). Can’t get any clearer than that