Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 145:1

Clarke's Commentary

PSALM CXLV

God is praised for his unsearchable greatness, 1, 2;

for his majesty and terrible acts, 3, 6;

for his goodness and tender mercies to all, 7-9;

for his power and kingdom, 10-13;

for his kindness to the distressed, 14;

for his providence, 15-17.

He hears and answers prayer, 18-20.

All should praise him, 21.

NOTES ON PSALM CXLV.

This Psalm is attributed to David by the Hebrew and all the Versions. It is the last of the acrostic Psalms; and should contain twenty-two verses, as answering to the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet; but the verse between the thirteenth and fourteenth, beginning with the letter נ nun, is lost out of the present Hebrew copies; but a translation of it is found in the Syriac, Septuagint, Vulgate, AEthiopic, Arabic, and Anglo-Saxon. See below. It is an incomparable Psalm of praise; and the rabbins have it in such high estimation, that they assert, if a man with sincerity of heart repeat it three times a-day, he shall infallibly enjoy the blessings of the world to come. It does not appear on what particular occasion it was composed; or, indeed, whether there was any occasion but gratitude to God for his ineffable favours to mankind.

Verse Psalms 145:1. I will extol thee — I will raise thee on high, I will lift thee up.

I will bless thy name — לעולם ועד leolam vaed, for ever and onward, in this and the coming world. This sort of expressions, which are very difficult to be translated, are on the whole well expressed by those words, in a hymn of Mr. Addison: -

Through all eternity to thee

A joyful song I'll raise;

But O, eternity's too short

To utter all thy praise!

This contains a strong hyperbole; but allowable in such cases.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalm 145-146 God is gracious and merciful

The book of Psalms closes with six hymns of general praise. The first of these is David’s ‘Song of Praise’ and in the Hebrew is an acrostic. The other five have no titles, but each begins and ends with the words ‘Praise the Lord’.
God is great and worthy to be the object of people’s praise, day and night, for ever and ever (145:1-3). Those who know God’s greatness should meditate upon it and proclaim it to others (4-7). Not only is God great, but he is full of goodness, showing covenant faithfulness to his people and gracious love to people everywhere (8-9). Those who have tasted his love should show their gratitude by praising him and telling others of his mighty works. In this way they will help spread his rule to the lives of others (10-13a).
The generous help and free gifts of God are always available to all his creatures (13b-16). He is on the side of those who call upon him, honour him and love him, but he is against those who in their sin reject the offer of his mercy (17-20). All creation, and in particular his people, should bring him unending praise (21).
No matter how stable people may appear to be, they can never be fully relied upon. They do not have unlimited power and their lives may be cut short at any time (146:1-4). God, on the other hand, can be relied upon, for he is the all-powerful Creator and his life never ends (5-6). Also, he has special care for those suffering from poverty, injustice, physical handicaps and social insecurity (7-10).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

GOD’S GREATNESS VISIBLE TO ALL MANKIND

“I will extol thee my God, O King; And I will bless thy name forever and ever. Every day will I bless thee; And I will praise thy name forever and ever. Great is Jehovah, and greatly to be praised; And his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall laud thy works to another, And shall declare thy mighty acts. Of the glorious majesty of thine honor, And of thy wondrous works, will I meditate. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts; And I will declare thy greatness. They shall utter the memory of thy great goodness, And shall sing of thy righteousness.”

“Every day will I bless thee” God blesses all of us every day. If one will only think, he can name a dozen blessings God has bestowed upon him even before he eats breakfast. “It is proper then that we should give thanks to God every day.”Barnes’ Notes on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, a 1987 reprint of the 1878 edition), Vol. III, p. 320. No Christian should think of omitting prayers of thanksgiving three times daily at mealtimes. It was the neglect of this simple duty that began the long decline and eventual debauchery of the pre-Christian Gentile world (Romans 1:20-26).

“One generation shall laud thy works to another” “The great and mighty acts of God are told from one generation to the next. The Bible is a divine record of such actions”;George DeHoff’s Commentary, Vol. III, p. 244. and our own lives bear witness to the same truth. This writer’s mother read the entire Bible to him before he was old enough to attend school.

“Men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts… and utter the memory of thy greatness… and… sing of thy righteousness” “David could have had little inkling in store for the fulfilment of his words.”Derek Kidner, Vol. II, p. 481. Just think of all the praises spoken and sung to the honor and glory of God all over the world continually, in every language spoken on earth, in all nations, and by all races of mankind! Today, there is no nation on earth where the present generation is not telling to the next generation the mercies and love of God, even in Russia, and in the nations once behind the iron curtain!

“Men shall speak of thy terrible acts” (Psalms 145:6). What are the terrible acts of God? There is no catalogue of all of them, but a few are surely revealed in the holy Bible.

(1)    The Great Deluge must head the list. How terrible is the thought of drowning the entire human race in one disastrous flood! In this terrible act, God achieved a new beginning for his Operation Adam, in the family of Noah.

(2)    The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah as recorded in Genesis is another of God’s terrible acts. Two prosperous cities were completely devoured by fire from heaven, which God sent upon them because of their intolerable wickedness. This, in the New Testament, is made a type of the final destruction of all men upon the occasion of the Final Judgment. The same thing is also true of the Great Deluge.

(3)    The overthrow of the army of Pharaoh in the Red Sea, an action which delivered Israel from Egyptian bondage, must be added to the list.

(4)    The extermination of the pagan peoples of Canaan in order to settle the children of Israel in the Promised Land was terrible indeed. Whole cities were destroyed, young and old, soldiers and infants, everyone, upon the specific orders of God himself.

(5)    The destruction of No-Amon in the overthrow of Egypt by Nineveh was terrible indeed, as described in Nahum 3.

(6)    The destruction of 185,000 of the army of Sennacherib (2 Kings 19).

(7)    The destruction of Nineveh “with an over-running flood” (Nahum 1:9). See the detailed prophecy of this in Nahum 3.

(8)    The destruction of Jerusalem by the armies of Nebuchadnezzar.

(9)    The destruction of Babylon with “a drought upon her waters.”

These are only a few of the “terrible acts of God,” and by no means all of them. Even since the First Advent of Christ, there has been another destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and many other `terrible acts of God’ throughout history. The fall of Rome, the Fall of France, the destruction of Nazi Germany, the collapse of Communism, and many other historical events betray indelible marks of the hand of God in the record of what happened.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

I will extol thee ... - I will lift thee up; I will lift up thy name and praise, so that it may be heard afar.

And I will bless thy name forever and ever - I will bless or praise thee. I will do it now; I will do it in all the future. I will do it in time; I will do it in eternity. See the notes at Psalms 30:1.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

1.I will extol thee, my God and my king. David does not so much tell what he would do himself, as stir up and urge all others to this religious service of offering to God the praises due to his name. The design with which he declares God to be beneficent to the children of men is, to induce them to cultivate a pious gratitude, he insists upon the necessity of persevering in the exercise; for since God is constant in extending mercies, it would be highly improper in us to faint in his praises. As he thus gives his people new ground for praising him, so he stimulates them to gratitude, and to exercise it throughout the whole course of their life. In using the term daily, he denotes perseverance in the exercise. Afterwards he adds, that should he live through a succession of ages he would never cease to act in this manner. The repetitions used tend very considerably to give emphasis to his language. As it is probable that the Psalm was written at a time when the kingdom of David was in a flourishing condition, the circumstances deserves notice, that in calling God his king he gives both himself and other earthly princes their proper place, and does not allow any earthly distinctions to interfere with the glory due to God.

This is made still more manifest in the verse which follows, where, in speaking of the greatness of God as unmeasurable, he intimates that we only praise God aright when we are filled and overwhelmed with an ecstatic admiration of the immensity of his power. This admiration will form the fountain from which our just praises of him will proceed, according the measure of our capacity.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 145

I will extol thee, my God, O King; I will bless thy name for ever and ever. Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable ( Psalms 145:1-3 ).

Oh, the riches of His mercy and grace unto us! The greatness of God unsearchable.

One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. I will speak of the glorious honor of thy majesty, and of your wondrous works. And men shall speak of the might of thy awesome acts ( Psalms 145:4-6 ):

The word terrible is an old English word, and it's our present usage of it doesn't do justice to the translation. Awesome is a word that we would use more accurately to describe the Hebrew word. "That Thy awesome acts."

and I will declare thy greatness. They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness. For the LORD ( Psalms 145:6-8 )

This is an Old Testament revelation.

is gracious, and full of compassion ( Psalms 145:8 );

That's not the God of the New Testament. That's the God of the Old Testament. The same God. There aren't two Gods.

slow to anger, great mercy. The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power; To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom. For thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations. The LORD upholds all that fall, and raises up all those that be bowed down ( Psalms 145:8-14 ).

"Humble thyself in the eyes of the Lord, He will lift you up" ( James 4:10 ). Here is the same idea here. The Lord raises up all of those that are bowed down. God withstands the proud. "He that exalteth himself shall be abased; but he that humbleth himself shall be exalted" ( Matthew 23:12 ). The Lord will uphold those that fall.

Paul said, "Who are you who judges another man's servant? Before his own master he either stands or falls. Yea, God is able to make him to stand" ( Romans 14:4 ). It's so comforting to me to know that in my weakness, God will hold me when I fall. He'll hold me up lest I fall.

The eyes of all wait upon thee; you give them their meat in due season. You open your hand, and satisfy the desire of every living thing. The LORD is righteous in all of his ways ( Psalms 145:15-17 ),

He's gracious. He's full of compassion. He's slow to anger. He's of great mercy. He's good to all. His tender mercies are over all of His works. And now, "The LORD is righteous in all of His ways."

and holy in all of his works ( Psalms 145:17 ).

Satan is constantly challenging the righteousness of God. How can a God of love allow children to be born blind? How can a God of love send men to hell? And all of these concepts that challenge the righteousness of God.

The LORD is near to all of those that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. He will fulfil the desire of those that reverence him ( Psalms 145:18-19 ):

"Delight thyself also in the Lord; He'll give you the desires of your heart" ( Psalms 37:4 ). He will fulfill the desire of those that reverence Him.

he also will hear their cry, and will save them. The LORD preserves all of them that love him: but all of the wicked he'll destroy. My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever ( Psalms 145:19-21 ). "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

David resolved to praise the Lord daily and forever. The reasons follow.

"When one has come to the point of knowing the Lord in a personal way, the desire to sing His praise and sing it often becomes very strong." [Note: Leupold, p. 975.]

Observant Jews used to repeat this psalm three times a day: twice in the morning and once in the evening. [Note: Ibid.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

1. God’s powerful acts 145:1-7

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 145

This acrostic psalm begins a series of six psalms, the last six in the Psalter, which are especially full of praise to God. The title, "a psalm of praise," occurs only here in the Book of Psalms. The word "praise" appears 46 times in the last six psalms. In this psalm David praised God for His powerful acts, for His mercy and grace, for His everlasting kingdom, and for His response to those who pray to Him. As such it resembles history psalms, but its genre is most similar to the psalms of descriptive praise.

"In the psalm there is no development of plot or building of intensity. Indeed, it is essentially static in form, articulating what is enduringly true of the world. What is true at the beginning of the psalm is still true at the end. What is true from beginning to end is that Yahweh securely governs, and that can be counted on. We are given a series of affirmations that could be rearranged without disrupting the intent. . . . This is Israel in its most trustful, innocent, childlike faith." [Note: Brueggemann, pp. 28-29.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

I will extol thee, my God, O King,.... Or "the King" a, the King Messiah, who is by way of eminency called "the King", as in

Psalms 21:1. This is the foundation of this whole psalm, as Aben Ezra observes; and shows who is intended and who is the subject of it that is spoken of throughout, even the Messiah, who is the King of the world, the King of the kings of it, the King of Zion, of his church and people, the King of saints, of all believers in him, by the appointment of God, by the conquest of his grace, over whom he reigns by his Spirit and grace; for this his kingdom is spiritual, is in righteousness, and everlasting: and this great King is not a creature, but God, the mighty God, David's Lord and God, and the Lord and God of every saint; whom David loved as such, believed in, looked unto for salvation; from whom he received grace and expected glory, and knew and claimed his interest in him, which is the great privilege of believers in him; see

John 20:28; and therefore they, as David, will extol him above all created beings, he being God over all; extol him above all men, even the best and greatest, Moses, Joshua, Aaron, Abraham, or any other, who are his creatures, his children, and his subjects; and even as man he is to be extolled above all men; being chosen out from among the people, fairer than the children of men, and the chiefest among ten thousand; and above the angels, having a more excellent name and nature than they; they being his creatures and servants, and he their Creator and the object of their worship: Christ is extolled by his people when they ascribe deity to him, magnify him in his offices, and make use of him in them all; attribute their whole salvation to him, think and speak highly of him, and declare him extolled and exalted at the right hand of God, as he now is, and as the Old Testament saints, as David and others, had a foresight of and rejoiced in, Psalms 110:1; the Septuagint, Syriac, Ethiopic, and Arabic versions, have it, "my King"; see Zechariah 9:9;

and I will bless thy name for ever and ever; by pronouncing him the Son of the Blessed, God over all blessed for ever; and by ascribing blessing, honour, glory, and power, unto him; by adoring and celebrating the perfections of his nature, which are his name, by which he is known; by expressing a high value and esteem for every precious name of his, as Immanuel, God with us; Jesus, a Saviour, c. and a regard to his everlasting Gospel, which is his name, bore by his ministering servants throughout the world see Psalms 8:1.

a המלך "rex", Tigurine version, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

David's psalm of praise.

      1 I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.   2 Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.   3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.   4 One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.   5 I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.   6 And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness.   7 They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.   8 The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.   9 The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.

      The entitling of this David's psalm of praise may intimate not only that he was the penman of it, but that he took a particular pleasure in it and sung it often; it was his companion wherever he went. In this former part of the psalm God's glorious attributes are praised, as, in the latter part of the psalm, his kingdom and the administration of it. Observe,

      I. Who shall be employed in giving glory to God.

      1. Whatever others do, the psalmist will himself be much in praising God. To this good work he here excites himself, engages himself, and has his heart much enlarged in it. What he does, that he will do, having more and more satisfaction in it. It was his duty; it was his delight. Observe, (1.) How he expresses the work itself: "I will extol thee, and bless thy name (Psalms 145:1; Psalms 145:1); I will speak well of thee, as thou hast made thyself known, and will therein express my own high thoughts of thee and endeavour to raise the like in others." When we speak honourably of God, this is graciously interpreted and accepted as an extolling of him. Again (Psalms 145:2; Psalms 145:2): I will bless thee, I will praise thy name; the repetition intimates the fervency of his affection to this work, the fixedness of his purpose to abound in it, and the frequency of his performances therein. Again (Psalms 145:5; Psalms 145:5): I will speak of thy honour, and (Psalms 145:6; Psalms 145:6) I will declare thy greatness. He would give glory to God, not only in his solemn devotions, but in his common conversation. If the heart be full of God, out of the abundance of that the mouth will speak with reverence, to his praise, upon all occasions. What subject of discourse can we find more noble, more copious, more pleasant, useful, and unexceptionable, than the glory of God? (2.) How he expresses his resolution to persevere in it. [1.] He will be constant to this work: Every day will I bless thee. Praising God must be our daily work. No day must pass, though ever so busy a day, though ever so sorrowful a day, without praising God. We ought to reckon it the most needful of our daily employments, and the most delightful of our daily comforts. God is every day blessing us, doing well for us; there is therefore reason that we should be every day blessing him, speaking well of him. [2.] He will continue in it: I will bless thee for ever and ever,Psalms 145:1; Psalms 145:2. This intimates, First, That he resolved to continue in this work to the end of his life, throughout his ever in this world. Secondly, That the psalms he penned should be made use of in praising God by the church to the end of time, 2 Chronicles 29:30. Thirdly, That he hoped to be praising God to all eternity in the other world. Those that make praise their constant work on earth shall have it their everlasting bliss in heaven.

      2. He doubts not but others also would be forward to this work. (1.) "They shall concur in it now; they shall join with me in it: When I declare thy greatness men shall speak of it (Psalms 145:6; Psalms 145:6); they shall abundantly utter it" (Psalms 145:7; Psalms 145:7), or pour it out (as the word is); they shall praise God with a gracious fluency, better than the most curious oratory. David's zeal would provoke many, and it has done so. (2.) "They shall keep it up when I am gone, in an uninterrupted succession (Psalms 145:4; Psalms 145:4): One generation shall praise thy works to another." The generation that is going off shall tell them to that which is rising up, shall tell what they have seen in their days and what they have heard from their fathers; they shall fully and particularly declare thy mighty acts (Psalms 78:3); and the generation that is rising up shall follow the example of that which is going off: so that the death of God's worshippers shall be no diminution of his worship, for a new generation shall rise up in their room to carry on that good work, more or less, to the end of time, when it shall be left to that world to do it in which there is no succession of generations.

      II. What we must give to God the glory of.

      1. Of his greatness and his great works. We must declare, Great is the Lord, his presence infinite, his power irresistible, his brightness insupportable, his majesty awful, his dominion boundless, and his sovereignty incontestable; and therefore there is no dispute, but great is the Lord, and, if great, then greatly to be praised, with all that is within us, to the utmost of our power, and with all the circumstances of solemnity imaginable. His greatness indeed cannot be comprehended, for it is unsearchable; who can conceive or express how great God is? But then it is so much the more to be praised. When we cannot, by searching, find the bottom, we must sit down at the brink, and adore the depth, Romans 11:33. God is great, for, (1.) His majesty is glorious in the upper world, above the heavens, where he has set his glory; and when we are declaring his greatness we must not fail to speak of the glorious honour of his majesty, the splendour of the glory of his majesty (Psalms 145:5; Psalms 145:5), how brightly he shines in the upper world, so as to dazzle the eyes of the angels themselves, and oblige them to cover their faces, as unable to bear the lustre of it. (2.) His works are wondrous in this lower world. The preservation, maintenance, and government of all the creatures, proclaim the Creator very great. When therefore we declare his greatness we must observe the unquestionable proofs of it, and must declare his mighty acts (Psalms 145:4; Psalms 145:4), speak of his wondrous works (Psalms 145:5; Psalms 145:5), the might of his terrible acts,Psalms 145:6; Psalms 145:6. We must see God acting and working in all the affairs of this lower world. Various instruments are used, but in all events God is the supreme director; it is he that performs all things. Much of his power is seen in the operations of his providence (they are mighty acts, such as cannot be paralleled by the strength of any creature), and much of his justice--they are terrible acts, awful to saints, dreadful to sinners. These we should take all occasions to speak of, observing the finger of God, his hand, his arm, in all, that we may marvel.

      2. Of his goodness; this is his glory, Exodus 33:19. It is what he glories in (Exodus 34:6; Exodus 34:7), and it is what we must give him the glory of: They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness,Psalms 145:7; Psalms 145:7. God's goodness is great goodness, the treasures of it can never be exhausted, nay, they can never be lessened, for he ever will be as rich in mercy as he ever was. It is memorable goodness; it is what we ought always to lay before us, always to have in mind and preserve the memorials of, for it is worthy to be had in everlasting remembrance; and the remembrance we retain of God's goodness we should utter, we should abundantly utter, as those who are full of it, very full of it, and desire that others may be acquainted and affected with it. But, whenever we utter God's great goodness, we must not forget, at the same time, to sing of his righteousness; for, as he is gracious in rewarding those that serve him faithfully, so he is righteous in punishing those that rebel against him. Impartial and inflexible justice is as surely in God as inexhaustible goodness; and we must sing of both together, Romans 11:22. (1.) There is a fountain of goodness in God's nature (Psalms 145:8; Psalms 145:8): The Lord is gracious to those that serve him; he is full of compassion to those that need him, slow to anger to those that have offended him, and of great mercy to all that seek him and sue to him. He is ready to give, and ready to forgive, more ready than we are to ask, than we are to repent. (2.) There are streams of goodness in all the dispensations of his providence, Psalms 145:9; Psalms 145:9. As he is good, so he does good; he is good to all, to all his creatures, from the highest angel to the meanest worm, to all but devils and damned sinners, that have shut themselves out from his goodness. His tender mercies are over all his works. [1.] All his works, all his creatures, receive the fruits of his merciful care and bounty. It is extended to them all; he hates nothing that he has made. [2.] The works of his mercy out-shine all his other works, and declare him more than any of them. In nothing will the glory of God be for ever so illustrious as in the vessels of mercy ordained to glory. To the divine goodness will the everlasting hallelujahs of all the saints be sung.