Psalm 145 - Any good in you was in Him first
 1 I will exalt you, my God the King;
      I will praise your name for ever and ever.
This isn’t the point of this Psalm, but it dawns on me reading this first verse that David was king, but God was David’s. The buck usually stops with the king, but this realized it stopped with the King. We should all realize that when we get fat-headed about our role in life. If you are husband, then remember God is the church’s Husband. If you are a father, remember God is your Heavenly Father. If are any kind of authority, remember as Paul wrote that all authority derives from God.
 2 Every day I will praise you
      and extol your name for ever and ever.
This is the best thing you can do to keep yourself in line, especially if someone looks up to you. Pass that praise and admiration on to God… because He will always be more worthy of it from you. And if you are worthy of any… even the tiniest amount, then it is only one account of God that you are.
 3 Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
      his greatness no one can fathom.
Are you worthy of praise? God is more. Are you great? God is greater. Your greatness can be fathomed… God’s cannot.
 7 They will celebrate your abundant goodness
      and joyfully sing of your righteousness.
If you are righteous, that is if you believe God, obey Him, and live in purity on account of Him, then you know a little of the righteousness of God, because your righteousness is really His flowing through you. Sing of His righteousness. Joyfully sing about it.  In a practical sense, it’s hard to just turn on “joy”, but I find that meditating on His righteousness helps, and God is actually making me more joyful, even during trying times. I suppose I never lived out that promise before, and I wasn’t looking for it, but I am seeing it is true.
And I come to this verse…
 20 The LORD watches over all who love him,
      but all the wicked he will destroy.
Some people who don’t believe in Hell say God is loving in His destruction of the wicked, because if they are destroyed then their souls cannot be eternally tormented. People who do believe in Hell say God is loving in His destruction of the wicked because it’s eternal, and therefore eternally just. An atheist would say that eternal judgement is simply not loving, and that watching over only those who love Him is not really loving at all. However, I am created in God’s image, and through my selfless acts I can know God. I love my children. I punish them for wrong, and forgive when they repent. Without their repentence, there is no forgiveness from Dad. But, I’m right there waiting with it, though one day I won’t be, and then they cannot have it. It’s pretty simple really. If my fathering is just, so is the eternal punishent of the unrepentent.