Thinking in 3’s: Psalm 145:3 An Adjective; an Adverb; and a Noun

Thinking in 3’s: Psalm 145:3 - An Adjective; an Adverb; and a Noun

Psa. 145:3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,

and his greatness is unsearchable.

It is good for us to think about the greatness of God. One of the benefits is to resist our natural (sinful?) tendency to whittle God down to our size. We like to imagine that He is a lot like us. But no, He is great.

The other benefit is that it reminds us of our smallness. As this psalm goes on to demonstrate the greatness of God, it does so by showing His thoughtfulness and tenderness to those who are small, to “all who are falling,” and “all who are bowed down” (v.14).

But back to verse 3! First, God is described, with an adjective. God is great, or, as it reads in our text, “Great is the Lord.” All that is packed into that word, “great,” would take a lifetime to draw out. But what is not allowed by this word is to ascribe anything to God that is un-great. That would be a contradiction of terms. God is great.

So how then should this great God be praised? Well, with an adverb. He is “greatly to be praised.” The problem, then, for us, is that we are too small, too small-minded to praise God greatly. We are more apt to praise Him small-ly, pitifully. And so, when God established in very material ways the order of His worship for His people, the Israelites, He was careful to give great detail so that they would worship Him properly and well. And yet, even then, they did not always worship Him “greatly.” Oftentimes, they were very selfish (“what’s in it for me?”).

Thankfully, God is His grace has given us help from above in order to praise Him greatly. His Holy Spirit is our companion and enablement, provided through faith in Jesus, to help us worship greatly. We couldn’t do it without Him.

Finally, we have a noun. Greatness. It’s a thing, or better, an idea. It’s real, though it’s rare. In fact, in the sense used in this verse, this kind of greatness can only be found in one place: in God. And therefore, if anyone does not know God, he cannot know greatness. Oh, I know that there are different standards of greatness, for instance, soccer players who achieve greatness. But that falls so far short of what we are talking about, a different word should really be used. Greatness is found in God, in God alone, and our lives are very poor if we do not find that greatness in Him.