PRAISE FOR THE KING AND THE KINGDOM
Psalm 145 tells how the saints praise God for His reigning in Christ and His Kingdom. Verse 1 indicates that God is the King in Christ: “I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.” To extol is higher and deeper than to praise. Here the Psalmist extols Christ as the King. Verses 10 to 13 reveal that God’s Kingdom is an everlasting kingdom with glory and majesty: “All thy works (all things on this earth) shall praise thee, O Lord; and thy saints shall bless thee. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power (power now comes from the city to the kingdom); to make known to the sons of men (all peoples, races, and nations in the entire earth) his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.” Now you can see how the praises of the Psalmists have turned to the reigning Christ and His Kingdom. In all the previous Psalms the praises have been mostly occupied with Christ, the house, and then the city. Now the praise concerns the reigning Christ and His glorious Kingdom over the entire earth. “Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations” (v. 13).
Now verse 21: “My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.” What can we do now but use our mouth to praise the Lord. Do not tell me that there is no need to shout, that you need only praise the Lord from within. The Psalmist says here, “My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord.” You must use your mouth. “And let all flesh (the human race, all people) bless his holy name for ever and ever.” My mouth shall speak His glory, and all flesh shall bless His holy name through all eternity.
We must never forget these Psalms concerning Christ, concerning the house and the city, concerning the life of unity, and now concerning the Kingdom:
- Psalms 110, 118 —
Christ - Psalms 122, 126, 132 —
the house and the city - Psalms 133, 134 —
the life of unity - Psalms 137 to 145 —
the Kingdom
(Christ and the Church Revealed and Typified in the Psalms, Chapter 22, by Witness Lee)
