Psalms 145

1 ¹I will extol you, my God and ²King, and bless your name forever and ever.

2 Every day I will bless you ³and praise your name forever and ever.

3 ⁴Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his ⁵greatness is unsearchable.

4 ⁶One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.

5 On ⁷the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.

6 They shall speak of ⁸the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness.

7 They shall pour forth the fame of your ⁹abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

8 The LORD is ¹⁰gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

9 The LORD is ¹¹good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.

10 ¹²All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD, and all your ¹³saints shall bless you!

11 They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power,

12 to ¹⁴make known to the children of man your^[a]15mighty deeds, and ¹⁶the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

13 ¹⁷Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations.[The LORD is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works.]^[b]

14 The LORD ¹⁸upholds all who are falling and ¹⁹raises up all who are bowed down.

15 The eyes of all ²⁰look to you, and you give them their food in due season.

16 You ²¹open your hand; you ²²satisfy the desire of every living thing.

17 The LORD is ²³righteous in all his ways and ²⁴kind in all his works.

18 The LORD is ²⁵near to all who call on him, to all who call on him ²⁶in truth.

19 He ²⁷fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also ²⁸hears their cry and saves them.

20 The LORD ²⁹ preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.

21 My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD, and ³⁰let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

Psalms 145 Commentary

Chapter 145

David extols the power, goodness, and mercy of the Lord. (1-9) The glory of God's kingdom, and his care of those that love him. (10-21)

Verses 1-9 Those who, under troubles and temptations, abound in fervent prayer, shall in due season abound in grateful praise, which is the true language of holy joy. Especially we should speak of God's wondrous work of redemption, while we declare his greatness. For no deliverance of the Israelites, nor the punishment of sinners, so clearly proclaims the justice of God, as the cross of Christ exhibits it to the enlightened mind. It may be truly said of our Lord Jesus Christ, that his words are words of goodness and grace; his works are works of goodness and grace. He is full of compassion; hence he came into the world to save sinners. When on earth, he showed his compassion both to the bodies and souls of men, by healing the one, and making wise the other. He is of great mercy, a merciful High Priest, through whom God is merciful to sinners.

Verses 10-21 All God's works show forth his praises. He satisfies the desire of every living thing, except the unreasonable children of men, who are satisfied with nothing. He does good to all the children of men; his own people in a special manner. Many children of God, who have been ready to fall into sin, to fall into despair, have tasted his goodness in preventing their falls, or recovering them speedily by his graces and comforts. And with respect to all that are heavy laden under the burden of sin, if they come to Christ by faith, he will ease them, he will raise them. He is very ready to hear and answer the prayers of his people. He is present every where; but in a special way he is nigh to them, as he is not to others. He is in their hearts, and dwells there by faith, and they dwell in him. He is nigh to those that call upon him, to help them in all times of need. He will be nigh to them, that they may have what they ask, and find what they seek, if they call upon him in truth and sincerity. And having taught men to love his name and holy ways, he will save them from the destruction of the wicked. May we then love his name, and walk in his ways, while we desire that all flesh should bless his holy name for ever and ever.

Cross References

• 1. Psalms 99:5, 9
• 2. Psalms 98:6
• 3. [Psalms 146:2]
• 4. Psalms 48:1
• 5. Job 5:9; [Isaiah 40:28]
• 6. Isaiah 38:19
• 7. ver. 12
• 8. [Psalms 78:4]
• 9. Isaiah 63:7
• 10. See Psalms 86:5, 15
• 11. See Psalms 100:5
• 12. [Psalms 19:1; Psalms 103:22]
• 13. [Psalms 132:9, 16]
• 14. Psalms 105:1
• 15. ver. 4; Psalms 150:2; Deuteronomy 3:24
• 16. ver. 5
• 17. See Psalms 10:16
• 18. [Psalms 37:17, 24]
• 19. Psalms 146:8
• 20. Psalms 104:27
• 21. Psalms 104:28
• 22. [Psalms 104:21; Psalms 147:8]
• 23. See Psalms 116:5
• 24. Psalms 18:25; Jeremiah 3:12
• 25. [Psalms 34:18; Psalms 119:151; Deuteronomy 4:7]
• 26. John 4:23, 24
• 27. Proverbs 10:24; [John 9:31]
• 28. Psalms 31:22
• 29. See Psalms 97:10
• 30. [Psalms 150:6]

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew his; also next line
• [b]. These two lines are supplied by one Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint, Syriac (compare Dead Sea Scroll)

Chapter Summary

David's [Psalm] of praise. This psalm is rendered by Ainsworth "a hymn of David"; and the whole book of Psalms is from hence called "the Book of Hymns"; see Ephesians 5:19; It seems to have been a psalm David took great delight in, and it may be that he often repeated and sung it, as it was made by him with great care and contrivance, in a very curious manner, as well as he was assisted in it by divine inspiration; for it is wrote in an alphabetical order, each verse: beginning with the letter of the alphabet in course, and goes through the whole, excepting one letter; and very probably it was composed in this form that it might be the more easily committed to memory, and retained in it. The Jews have a very high opinion of it; their Rabbins say, that whoever says this psalm thrice every day may be sure of being a child of the world to come. This is mentioned by Arama and Kimchi; and which the latter explains thus, not he that says it any way, but with his mouth, and with his heart, and with his tongue. It seems to have been written by David after the Lord had granted him all his requests put up in the preceding psalms, and had given him rest from all his enemies; and when he turned his prayers into praises; for this psalm is wholly praise from one end to the other; and so are all the five following ones; they begin and end with "hallelujah": nor is there a single petition in them, as I remember; so that it may in some sense be said, "here the prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended." It no doubt, as Cocceius observes, belongs to the Messiah and his kingdom, which is everlasting, Psalm 145:13.