1. This psalm is called "David's Psalm Of Praise."
2. It is the last of the Psalms ascribed to David.
3. Spurgeon said, "It is David's favourite...It is altogether praise, and praise pitched in a high key. David had blessed God many a time in other psalms, but this he regarded as his peculiar, his crown jewel of praise."
4. This Psalm deals with God's goodness, and man's response to God's goodness. It begins and ends with blessing God "for ever and ever" (145:1, 2, 21).
5. Spurgeon divided this Psalm into five parts: David praiseth God for his fame or glory (Ps 145:1-7), for his goodness (Ps 145:8-10), for his kingdom (Ps 145:11-13), for his providence (Ps 145:14-16), and for his saving mercy (Ps 145:17-21).
6. A simpler, alliterated outline is: God's greatness (vss. 1-6), goodness (vss. 7-10), glory (vss. 11-13), and grace (vss. 14-21) -- W. Graham Scroggie (A Guide to the Psalms).
7. It is the latter part of the Psalm that we will focus on this morning -- "call upon him (vs. 18)... fear him (vs. 19)... love him" (vs. 20).

I. CALL UPON HIM (145:18).

1. First, I would like to address those here this morning who are not saved. If you call on the Lord, He will save you.
2. Acts 2:21 says, "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved."
3. Romans 10:13 says, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
4. Both Acts 2:21 and Romans 10:13 are from the prophet Joel (cf. Acts 2:16).
5. Joel 2:32 says, "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered."
6. In the original Hebrew of Joel 2:32, "LORD" is JEHOVAH. The apostle Paul identifies JEHOVAH as "the Lord Jesus" (cf. Rom. 10:9).
7. David says in Psalm 145:18, "The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth."
8. Unsaved friend, why don't you "call upon Him In truth"?
9. Some people come to church but they are not truthful before God.
10. Psalm 145:18 says, "The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth."
11. Psalm 34:18 says, "The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit."
12. "The LORD is nigh," but He will not always be so near. Call on Him now before your opportunities are gone (cf. Proverbs 1:28, 29).
13. Not only should lost sinners call upon the LORD, but God's people are to call upon Him too (Psalm 145:18).
14. We should call on Him when we are in trouble. Psalm 50:15 says, "And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me."
15. David said in Psalm 18:3, "I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies."
16. And in Psalm 86:7, David said, "In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me."
17. Great men of prayer knew how to call upon the LORD. Psalm 99:6 says, "Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon his name; they called upon the LORD, and he answered them."
18. "They called upon the LORD, and he answered them."
19. Jeremiah 33:3 says, " Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not."
20. We should call upon the LORD, because nothing is too hard for the LORD (cf. Jer. 32:17, 27; 33:3).

II. FEAR HIM (145:19).

1. The LORD "will fulfil the desire of them that fear him" (vs. 19). When they call upon Him, He will hear their cry and save them (vs. 19).
2. Proverbs 1:29 says wicked men do not call upon God because they do not fear God.
3. Then when they do call on Him it is often too late (Proverbs 1:28).
4. How sad! Jesus said in Matthew 10:28, "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."
5. The repentant thief called upon the Lord before it was too late (cf. Luke 23:39-43).
6. The fear of the Lord came over the repentant thief and he got saved.
7. The LORD "will fulfil the desire of them that fear him" (vs. 19). The fear of God is one of the great themes of Scripture.
8. The Scofield Study Bible says "the fear of the Lord" is a "phrase of the Old Testament piety," and means "reverential trust, with hatred of evil." Proverbs 8:13 says, "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil."
9. Psalm 25:14 says, "The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him."
10. Proverbs 1:7 says, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge."
11. Proverbs 9:10 says, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom."
12. Acts 9:31 says the churches were "walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost," and were multiplied.
13. The island of Lewis is a small island off the coast of Scotland. For over three years (between 1949 and 1953) the people of Lewis experienced a great revival.
14. The most prominent preacher during this revival was a Scotsman by the name of Duncan Campbell.
15. When Duncan Campbell was invited to Lewis, the revival had already started. He was met at the pier by the pastor who had invited him, along with two of his church leaders. Just as he stepped off the boat, an old elder came over to Duncan Campbell, and asked him, "Mr. Campbell, can I ask you this question? Are you walking with God?"
16. In describing this meeting, Duncan Campbell would say, "Oh, here were men who meant business, men who were afraid that a strange hand would touch the ark. I was glad to be able to say, ‘Well I can say this, that I fear God.’ The dear man looked at me and said, 'Well, if you fear God, that will do.'"
17. Oh we need Christians today who fear God! We need to teach our young people to fear God. They would not talk the way they talk if they feared God. They would not dress the way they do if they feared God.
18. Ecclesiastes 12:13 says, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man."
19. In Romans 3, the apostle Paul describes the wickedness of mankind -- "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one..." (Rom. 3:10), and then in verse 18 he summarizes this whole passage by quoting Psalm 36:1, " There is no fear of God before their eyes."

III. LOVE HIM (145:20).

1. God preserves us. This speaks of security.
2. God fulfills the desire of them that fear him. This speaks of satisfaction.
3. "He also will hear their cry, and will save them" (vs. 19). This is salvation.
4. Security, satisfaction, and salvation. This is why we should praise the LORD for ever and ever (145:1-4).
5. "The LORD preserveth all them that love him" (145:20). We often sing, "O How I Love Jesus," but do we really mean it?
6. In John 14:15, Jesus said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments."
7. First John 5:3 says, "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous."
8. In Mark 12:28, one of the scribes came to Jesus, and asked him, "Which is the first commandment of all?"
9. "And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment" (Mark 12:29, 30).
10. Today there are very few people who really love God.
11. They love money.
12. They love sin.
13. They love themselves.
14. But they do not love God!
15. First Timothy 3:2 says, "For men shall be lovers of their own selves."
16. First Timothy 3:4 says, they are "lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God."
17. Baseball stadiums and shopping malls are packed, but most churches are empty because people do not love God.
18. People spend hours watching television, but they will not spend time to pray or read the Bible because they do not love God..
19. Alas, the day will come when they will have to leave this world.

When all the great plants of our cities
Have turned out their last finished work;
When our merchants have made their last bargain
And dismissed the last tired clerk.
When our banks have raked in the last dollar
And have paid out the last dividend;
When the Judge of the earth says, "Close for the night,"
And asks for a balance - What then?

When the choir has sung its last anthem,
And the preacher has said his last prayer,
When the people have heard their last sermon
And the sound has died out on the air;
When the Bible lies closed on the pulpit,
And the pews are all empty of men,
When each one stands facing his record -
And the great book is opened - What then?

When the actors have played their last drama
And the mimic has made his last Pun;
When the movies have flashed the last picture,
And the billboard displayed its last run.
When the crowds seeking pleasure have vanished
And have gone out in the darkness again -
And the world that rejected its Saviour,
Is asked for a reason - What then?

When the bugle’s last call sinks in silence,
And the long marching columns stand still;
When the captain has given his last orders,
And they’ve captured the last fort and hill,
When the flag has been hauled from the masthead,
And the wounded afield have checked in,
When the trumpet of ages is sounded -
And we stand up before Him - What then?

When your life, friend, has run to a finish,
And the last you can do is then done;
When your work here on earth is all ended,
And eternity’s issues begun;
As you think of how long God has pleaded,
Of how Christ bore your sins on the tree;
And your soul stands there naked before Him,
And the Father denies you - What then?

20. We see a sharp contrast in Psalm 145:20 -- those who love God are preserved, but the wicked will be destroyed.

CONCLUSION:

1. "The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy" (Psalm 145:20).
2. Jonathan Edwards said, "God has so many different, unsearchable ways of taking wicked men out of the world, and sending them to hell, that there is nothing to make it appear that God had need to be at the expense of a miracle, or go out of the ordinary course of his providence, to destroy any wicked man at any moment."
3. Just recently I saw an illustration of this. A man named Thomas Scala killed his wife last year on Staten Island because she refused to pay for cable TV while he was hospitalized over the Thanksgiving weekend.
4. He bashed his wife's skull in with a can of oven cleaner, and she died of a brain hemorrhage.
5. He should have gotten the death penalty, but instead he was sentenced to a mere five-years' probation for criminally-negligent-homicide.
6. But the great Judge of Heaven overruled and gave him the death penalty.
7. On July 12, Mr. Scala, 58, choked to death on his chicken dinner.
8. “He got what he deserved,” Gloria Sellitto, the sister of victim Blanche Scala, told the New York Post. “If there is a God, he was punished. He choked on a chicken."
9. Yes, there is a God. Psalm 145:20 says, "The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy."
10. Thomas Scala's own son saw God's hand in this. Thomas Jr. told a reporter from the Post that his dad got what he deserved, saying that the deadly chicken cutlet was "from God" and, "What goes around comes around.”
11. Remember Jonathan Edwards' statement about God's "many different, unsearchable ways of taking wicked men out of the world, and sending them to hell."