Psalms 145:8-18

8 Yahweh is gracious, merciful, Slow to anger, and of great lovingkindness.

9 Yahweh is good to all. His tender mercies are over all his works.

10 All your works will give thanks to you, Yahweh. Your saints will extol you.

11 They will speak of the glory of your kingdom, And talk about your power;

12 To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, The glory of the majesty of his kingdom.

13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. Your dominion endures throughout all generations.

14 Yahweh upholds all who fall, And raises up all those who are bowed down.

15 The eyes of all wait for you. You give them their food in due season.

16 You open your hand, And satisfy the desire of every living thing.

17 Yahweh is righteous in all his ways, And gracious in all his works.

18 Yahweh is near to all those who call on him, To all who call on him in truth.

Psalms 145:8-18 Meaning and Commentary

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.