Let God Be Exalted

Psalm 145:8-13

8The LORD is kind and merciful,

slow to get angry, full of unfailing love.

9The LORD is good to everyone.

He showers compassion on all his creation.

10All of your works will thank you, LORD,

and your faithful followers will bless you.

11They will talk together about the glory of your kingdom;

they will celebrate examples of your power.

12They will tell about your mighty deeds

and about the majesty and glory of your reign.

13For your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.

You rule generation after generation.

The LORD is faithful in all he says;

he is gracious in all he does.

William Carey, often called the father of foreign missions, loved this psalm. A remarkable man, Carey taught himself the languages of India and translated the Bible into thirty-four Indian languages.

Carey was also an enthusiastic gardener and a scientific botanist, with 427 species of plants in his garden, carefully identified by their Latin names. When he published an edition of a classic botanical book, he prefixed it with the tenth verse of this psalm.

Although Carey suffered many hardships, perhaps the hardest came when his entire mission complex, which contained manuscripts on which he had worked for years, burned to the ground. “In one short evening,” he said with tears in his eyes, “the labors of years are consumed. How unsearchable are the ways of God! The Lord has laid me low that I may look more simply to him.” Then turning to a fellow missionary he said, “Return to your books, and let God be exalted in all your plans, purposes, and labors.”

So Carey and his team continued translating God’s Word, and God continued to work, too. The devastating fire made all of England aware of Carey’s work, and donations more than covered Carey’s losses. As the missionaries doubled their efforts, a more efficient printing operation was built on the ashes of the old one.

God is “faithful in all he says . . . gracious in all he does”—even when we are tested by fire.

And so through all the length of days

Thy goodness faileth never:

Good Shepherd, may I sing thy praise

Within thy house forever.

HENRY W. BAKER

Bible Networking

In this psalm verses 8 and 9 repeat God’s self-revelation to Moses at Sinai. Read Exodus 34:6.

Notable Quotable

“It is a marvel that people are not always praising, since everything around us is continually inviting praise.”

GREGORY THE GREAT