The Grammar of Perpetual Praise
Introduction: The Non-Negotiable King
We live in an age that is allergic to kings. Our democratic sensibilities, our radical egalitarianism, and our deep-seated commitment to our own personal autonomy make us recoil at the very thought of a monarch. We want a president we can vote out, a leader who is one of us, a figurehead who serves at our pleasure. The idea of an absolute sovereign, one who rules by divine right and to whom we owe unconditional allegiance, is not just foreign to us; it is offensive.
And yet, the central confession of the Christian faith is precisely this: Jesus is Lord. Jesus is King. This is not a suggestion. It is not a proposal to be debated in the public square. It is a declaration of an existing reality. God is the King of all the earth, whether the earth agrees to it or not. His throne is established in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all. This is the fundamental truth upon which all other truths rest. To deny it is not to opt for a different political theory; it is to opt for insanity. To rebel against this King is to declare war on reality itself.
David, a king himself, understood this better than most. He knew that his own throne in Jerusalem was a dim shadow, a faint echo, of the true throne in the heavens. His own authority was entirely derived. He was a king under the King. And so, in this magnificent psalm of praise, he shows us the only sane, rational, and joyous response to the reality of God's kingship. It is not sullen submission. It is not reluctant obedience. It is explosive, exuberant, and unending praise.
This psalm, it should be noted, is an acrostic. Each verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This is not just a clever poetic device. It signifies completeness. David is giving us an A-to-Z declaration of God's glory. He is marshalling the entire created order, represented by the building blocks of language, to give praise to the Creator. In these first two verses, he lays the foundation for this comprehensive praise. He establishes the object, the nature, and the rhythm of true worship.
The Text
A Praise of David.
I will exalt You, my God, O King,
And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless You,
And I will praise Your name forever and ever.
(Psalm 145:1-2 LSB)
The Personal Resolution of Royal Worship (v. 1)
We begin with David's personal declaration in verse 1.
"I will exalt You, my God, O King, And I will bless Your name forever and ever." (Psalm 145:1)
Notice the intensely personal nature of this worship. "I will exalt You." "My God." This is not the abstract worship of a distant deity. This is a covenantal relationship. David does not say, "I will exalt the concept of a higher power." He says, "I will exalt You." Worship must be personal before it can be corporate. It begins with a singular resolution in the heart of the believer. And he identifies the one he worships with two titles: "my God" and "O King."
First, He is "my God." This is the language of faith, of personal possession and belonging. This is the God who has revealed Himself, who has entered into covenant, who has saved him. This is not a God he has discovered through philosophical speculation, but a God who has discovered him through sovereign grace. This is the foundation of all true worship. We praise Him because He is ours and we are His.
Second, He is "O King." This acknowledges His absolute sovereignty and authority. David, the king of Israel, bows before the King of the cosmos. This is a political statement. In a world of competing allegiances and rival thrones, David declares that his ultimate loyalty belongs to God alone. This is a direct challenge to every earthly power that would claim final authority. Caesar is not king. The State is not king. My desires are not king. God is King. And because He is King, the only proper response is to "exalt" Him, to lift Him up, to magnify Him, to make Him look as great as He truly is.
Then David adds, "And I will bless Your name forever and ever." What does it mean for a man to bless God? When God blesses us, He bestows favor and goodness upon us. We, of course, can add nothing to God. To bless God's name means to praise Him, to speak well of Him, to declare His goodness and His glory. The "name" of God in Scripture represents His entire character and reputation. So, to bless His name is to declare who He is as He has revealed Himself: merciful, gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. David is resolving to spend his life as a walking, talking advertisement for the glory of God's character.
And notice the duration: "forever and ever." This is not a temporary emotional high. This is a permanent, eternal commitment. This praise will not end when circumstances change. It will not end at the grave. It will extend into eternity. This is a recognition that God's worthiness does not have an expiration date. Because His reign is eternal, our praise must be also.
The Daily Rhythm of Perpetual Praise (v. 2)
In verse 2, David moves from the eternal scope of praise to its daily rhythm.
"Every day I will bless You, And I will praise Your name forever and ever." (Psalm 145:2)
Here we see how the "forever and ever" is worked out in the here and now. How do you live a life of eternal praise? You do it one day at a time. "Every day I will bless You." This is the discipline of daily worship. Praise is not to be reserved for Sundays or for moments of great deliverance. It is to be the constant, steady beat of the Christian life. It is the spiritual air we breathe.
The world wants us to believe that our days are mundane, a series of meaningless tasks to be gotten through. But David sanctifies the daily grind. Every sunrise is a fresh reason to bless God. Every day is a new stage upon which to declare His praise. Whether the day brings victory or defeat, sunshine or storm, God's worthiness remains unchanged, and therefore the duty and delight of praise remain constant. This is a radical reorientation of our lives. We are not to fit worship into our day; we are to fit our day into worship.
This daily blessing is not drudgery; it is a declaration of dependence. Each morning, we acknowledge that the breath in our lungs is a gift, that the food on our table is a gift, that the strength in our bodies is a gift. We bless Him for common grace and for saving grace. We bless Him for who He is and for what He has done. This habit of daily praise is the engine that drives the Christian life. It starves complaints, kills entitlement, and fuels joy.
And he repeats the eternal refrain: "And I will praise Your name forever and ever." He says it in verse 1 and he says it again in verse 2. This is not careless repetition. This is emphatic, covenantal resolve. The daily praise is not an end in itself; it is practice for eternity. We are in training for the everlasting chorus. The saints and angels in heaven serve Him day and night, continually crying "Holy, Holy, Holy" (Rev. 4:8). Our daily praise on earth is our joining that heavenly song, tuning our hearts and voices for the day when we will see our King face to face and praise His name, world without end.
Conclusion: Your Personal and Daily Duty
These two verses are a call to action. They present us with a pattern for our own lives. Your worship, like David's, must be personal. It is not enough to affirm that God is King in some abstract sense. You must bow the knee and confess, "You are my God, O King." Your life must be a personal resolution to exalt Him above all other rivals.
And your worship, like David's, must be perpetual, which means it must be daily. The Christian life is not a series of disconnected spiritual sprints. It is a long-distance marathon, fueled by the daily intake of God's grace and the daily output of His praise. Do you begin your day by blessing Him? Do you consciously look for reasons throughout your day to praise His name? This is not a suggestion for the spiritually elite. This is basic Christian living.
The world is groaning under the tyranny of lesser kings: the king of self, the king of mammon, the king of political power. They all promise freedom but deliver only slavery. David points us to the true King, the one whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light. The one who is not a tyrant, but a Father. To exalt this King is perfect freedom. To bless His name is our highest joy. Let us therefore resolve with David, personally and daily, to give our God and King the praise that is due His name, now and forevermore.