Psalms 145

A Song of God’s Majesty and Love

1

A praise of David.

1 I will exalt you, my God, O king, and I will bless your name forever and ever.

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

3 Great [is] Yahweh, and very worthy of praise, and his greatness is unsearchable.

4 One generation will laud your works to another, and will declare your mighty deeds.

5 On the splendor of the glory of your majesty, and on your wonderful deeds, I will meditate.

6 And they will speak of the power of your awesome deeds, and I will tell of your greatness.

7 They will utter the renown of your abundant goodness, and they will proclaim with joy your righteousness.

8 Yahweh [is] gracious and compassionate, {slow to anger} and great in loyal love.

9 Yahweh [is] good to all, and his mercies [are] over all his works.

10 All your works will praise you, O Yahweh, and your faithful ones will bless you.

11 They will speak of the glory of your kingdom, and talk of your power,

12 to make known to the children of humankind his mighty deeds, and the glory of the majesty of his kingdom.

13 Your kingdom [is] an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion [endures] {throughout all generations}.

14 Yahweh upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down.

15 [The] eyes of all look hopefully to you, and you give them their food in due time,

16 opening your hand, and satisfying [the] desire [of] every living creature.

17 Yahweh [is] righteous in all his ways, and loyal in all his works.

18 Yahweh [is] near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.

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

20 Yahweh protects all those who love him, but all the wicked he will exterminate.

21 My mouth will speak the praise of Yahweh, and all flesh will 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. The Hebrew Bible counts the superscription as the first verse of the psalm
• [b]. That is, praise; here and v. 2
• [c]. That is, deeds that evoke a fearful reverence
• [d]. According to the reading tradition (Qere)
• [e]. Hebrew "pour forth"
• [f]. Literally "long of nostrils"
• [g]. That is, praise
• [h]. Literally "for a generation and a generation"

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.