1 Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. 2 Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. 3 Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. 4 Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. 5 Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced, 6 you his servants, the descendants of Abraham, his chosen ones, the children of Jacob. 7 He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth.8 He remembers his covenant forever, the promise he made, for a thousand generations, 9 the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac.10 He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant:11 “To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit.” 45 that they might keep his precepts and observe his laws. Praise the Lord. When I was in active ministry one of my main concerns was church growth. I urged, pleaded, begged my churches to open their hearts and minds towards growth; to expanding God's kingdom. What was the main obstacle to growth? As the old joke said, instead of standing on the promises of God, the church was content to sit on the premises of God. "Let someone else do it!" Or, they would remind each other of the glory days (pre-1968 when most churches were full!) and how God had blessed them back then. It's not bad to look back as a church or even as an individual, but we must know that ours is a calling to move ever forward with a desire to move upward as we will discover in today's text. Let the adventure begin!
There's a phrase near the beginning of this psalm that's easy to skim past but worth pausing on: "make known among the nations what He has done." Not what He might do. Not what He promises to do someday. What He has already done. This psalm is built on memory — the deliberate, intentional act of looking back and telling the story of God's faithfulness, out loud, to other people. And it starts not with a request, but with praise: "Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name; make known among the nations what He has done."
Isn't that a striking place to begin? Before asking God for anything, the psalmist starts by giving thanks and by singing — "sing to Him, sing praise to Him; tell of all His wonderful acts." There's a rhythm here worth noticing: gratitude first, then glory in His name, then rejoicing. It's as if the psalmist knows that before we bring our needs to God, we need to remind ourselves who it is we're actually bringing them to. Praise reorients us. It reminds us that the God we're approaching today is the same God who has already proven Himself faithful, over and over, across generations.
Then the psalm turns toward something deeply personal: "He is the Lord our God; His judgments are in all the earth. He remembers His covenant forever, the promise He made, for a thousand generations, the covenant He made with Abraham, the oath He swore to Isaac." This is a God who doesn't forget His promises. He didn't make a covenant with Abraham and let it fade with time — He reaffirmed it to Isaac, then to Jacob, confirming it "as a decree" and "an everlasting covenant." That word everlasting carries weight. It means the promises God makes aren't fragile or temporary. They don't have an expiration date tied to our circumstances or our faithfulness. They rest on His character, not ours.
And here's what makes this even more remarkable — this covenant was made and confirmed while God's people were still "few in number, few indeed, and strangers in it." They weren't living in security or abundance when God made these promises. They were small, wandering, vulnerable. If you've ever felt like your life is too uncertain, too unsettled, too "not enough" for God to be doing something significant in it — this psalm gently pushes back on that. God's covenant faithfulness was never dependent on His people already having it together. He commits to us in the wandering, not just after we've arrived.
The psalm closes with a purpose clause in verse 45: all of this — the promises, the provision, the faithfulness — was so "that they might keep His precepts and observe His laws." In other words, remembering isn't just a nostalgic exercise. It's meant to shape obedience. When we recall what God has done, it strengthens our resolve to walk in step with Him today. Memory fuels faithfulness.
So here's the quiet challenge tucked into this psalm: don't keep your memories of God's goodness locked away in your own heart. Tell them. Make them known — to your family, your friends, your community. Let your story of His faithfulness become part of how someone else learns to trust Him too.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank You for Your covenant faithfulness that never wavers — help me remember Your wonderful acts, declare them boldly to others, and let that remembrance draw me deeper into obedience today. This we pray in Jesus' strong name, Amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! OUR CALL TO ACTION: Set aside a few minutes today to recall and share with someone — out loud or in writing — one specific way God has proven faithful in your life.
I love you and I thank God for you! You matter to God, and you matter to me!
Let's win the world with love for Jesus and His love!
Pastor Eradio Valverde, Jr.
