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The five foregoing psalms were all of a piece, all full of prayers; this, and the five that follow it to the end of the book, are all of a piece too, all full of praises; and though only this is entitled David's psalm yet we have no reason to think but that they were all his as well as all the foregoing prayers. And it is observable, 1. That after five psalms of prayer follow six psalms of praise; for those that are much in prayer shall not want matter for praise, and those that have sped in prayer must abound in praise. Our thanksgivings for mercy, when we have received it, should even exceed our supplications for it when we were in pursuit of it. David, in the last of his begging psalms, had promised to praise God (Ps 145:9), and here he performs his promise. 2. That the book of Psalms concludes with psalms of praise, all praise, for praise, is the conclusion of the whole matter; it is that in which all the psalms centre. And it intimates that God's people, towards the end of their life, should abound much in praise, and the rather because, at the end of their life, they hope to remove to the world of everlasting praise, and the nearer they come to heaven the more they should accustom themselves to the work of heaven. This is one of those psalms which are composed alphabetically (as Ps. 25 and 34, etc.), that it might be the more easily committed to memory, and kept in mind. The Jewish writers justly extol this psalm as a star of the first magnitude in this bright constellation; and some of them have an extravagant saying concerning it, not much unlike some of the popish superstitions, That whosoever will sing this psalm constantly three times a day shall certainly be happy in the world to come. In this psalm, I. David engages himself and others to praise God, Ps 145:1,2,4-7,10-12. II. He fastens upon those things that are proper matter for praise, God's greatness (Ps 145:3), his goodness (Ps 145:8,9), the proofs of both in the administration of his kingdom (Ps 145:13), the kingdom of providence (Ps 145:14-16), the kingdom of grace (Ps 145:17-20), and then he concludes with a resolution to continue praising God (Ps 145:21) with which resolution our hearts must be filled, and in which they must be fixed, in singing this psalm.

This is also a Psalm of David, and the last of the series in this part of the collection. It is entitled simply, "Of Praise," or, in the Hebrew, "Praise by David," or "Praise of David;" that is, one of David's songs of praise. It is an "alphabetical" psalm; that is, each verse begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The arrangement in this respect is complete, except that the Hebrew letter nun (נ n, "n") is omitted, for which no reason can be assigned, unless it was from a desire that the psalm might consist of three equal parts of seven verses each. In the Septuagint, Syriac, Arabic, Latin Vulgate, and Aethiopic versions, this omission is attempted to be supplied by inserting between Psalm 145:13-14 a verse which in Hebrew would begin with the Hebrew letter nun (נ n, "n"), - נאמן, etc.: - "Faithful is the Lord in all his words, and holy in all his works." This is taken from Psalm 145:17 of the psalm by the change of a word in the beginning - "faithful" for "righteous," נאמן for צדיק. There is no authority for this, however, in the MSS., and it is evidently an attempt to supply what seemed to be an omission or defect in the composition of the psalm. The verse is not in the Chaldee Paraphrase, or in the version of Aquila and Theodotion; and it is certain that as early as the time of Origen and Jerome it was not in the Hebrew text. The Masorites and the Jewish commentators reject it. The sense is in no way affected by the insertion or omission of this, since the verses of the psalm have no necessary connection in meaning - the composition, as in most of the alphabetical psalms, being made up of independent sentiments suggested in part at least by the necessity of commencing each verse with a particular letter.

The psalm does not admit of any particular analysis, and it is impossible now to ascertain the occasion on which it was written.

God is praised for his unsearchable greatness, Psalm 145:1, Psalm 145:2; for his majesty and terrible acts, Psalm 145:3, Psalm 145:6; for his goodness and tender mercies to all, Psalm 145:7-9; for his power and kingdom, Psalm 145:10-13; for his kindness to the distressed, Psalm 145:14; for his providence, Psalm 145:15-17. He hears and answers prayer, Psalm 145:18-20. All should praise him, Psalm 145:21.

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, Ethiopic, 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 favors to mankind.

INTRODUCTION TO Psalm 145

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.

CXLV.

This alphabetical psalm recalls in many expressions and phrases the thoughts and feelings of older songs. It has been identified with the “New Song” promised in Psalm 144:9. Possibly some thought of the kind may have led to its following it. The song, though abounding in familiar psalm expressions, deserves the claim of originality from the insistance of its conviction of the Divine love and pity and care for all the world and all creatures.

The acrostic arrangement is incomplete (see Note, Psalm 145:13), thus supplying only twenty-one instead of twenty-two stanzas. The parallelism is well sustained.

Title.—This is the only psalm inscribed tehillah, though the whole collection is, in Hebrew, called Tehillîm, or Tillîm. (See General Introduction.) It is possibly from Psalm 145:21; or perhaps this distinction is due to the early rise of the custom of repeating it daily at the noonday repast. So it would be called “Praise,” just as we speak of “the grace” before and after meat.

This noble doxology worthily heads the series of Psalms of praise with which the “Book of Praises” ends. “Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever,” is the thought which it expands. It is addressed to Israel’s God as the supreme King, whose kingdom is universal and eternal; it celebrates His majesty, greatness, and goodness; His providential care for all His creation; His constant love towards those who love and fear Him. Its most striking feature is its universalism. If Israel begins the chorus of praise (Psalm 145:1) it will not be content until all mankind join in it (Psalm 145:21). Jehovah’s goodness embraces all His creation; and the whole of creation responds with its hymn of praise.

The speaker is Israel; or at any rate the Psalmist so completely identifies himself with the whole nation as to lose sight of the limitations of his own individual personality. The unceasing praise contemplated in Psalm 145:1-4 is that of the nation, in which as one generation passes away, another takes up the strain to hand it on in turn to its successor.

The Psalms of this group (145–150) were evidently composed for liturgical use. They are connected by many similarities of thought and language, and probably belong to the same period. The Maccabaean age, to which Psalms 149 has very commonly been referred, is excluded by the fact that, according to the newly-discovered Hebrew text of Ecclesiasticus (see p. 776), Psalms 147, 148 were known to the author, and must at the latest be older than b.c. 180. The clearest indications of date seem to be furnished by Psalms 147, which may have been written for the Dedication of the walls of Jerusalem under Nehemiah; and allusions in Psalms 146 may also be explained from the circumstances of that period. To this date then the whole group may best be referred. The times of Simon ben Johanan described in Sirach 50 might also be suggested as a possible date, whether Simon I (b.c. 310–291) or Simon II (b.c. 219–199) is meant; but our knowledge of that period is extremely scanty.

For details see the introduction to each Psalm.

This is the only Psalm which bears the title Tehillâh, ‘a Praise,’ from which the Hebrew title of the whole Psalter Tehillîm, ‘Praises’ is derived. It is alphabetic in form, each verse of two lines beginning with a letter of the alphabet in regular order (see Introd. p. lxiv). The verse beginning with Nûn is wanting between Psalm 145:13-14. It may have been omitted by the poet for some special reason, but hardly for that which the Talmud (Berachoth 4 b) assigns, viz. that the ill-omened words of Amos 5:2, “Fallen is the daughter of Israel,” begin with Nûn. More probably it was accidentally lost. A Nûn verse is found in the LXX, but its genuineness is disputed. See notes on Psalm 145:13.

This Psalm has naturally been largely used for liturgical purposes. It is recited twice in the Daily Morning Service and once in the Evening Service of the synagogue. It is said in the Talmud (Berachoth 4 b) that “Whoever repeats it three times a day may be sure that he is a child of the world to come.” It was the Psalm at the midday meal in the ancient Church, and Psalm 145:15-16 form part of the grace which has been used in colleges for centuries. St Chrysostom speaks of the use of it in the Eucharistic service, especially on account of Psalm 145:15 (Bingham, Antiq. Xv. Psalm 145:10). It is one of the Proper Psalms for Whitsunday; and it is especially appropriate for that festival, as celebrating the universality and eternity of the kingdom of God.

Ps 145:1-21.

A Psalm of praise to God for His mighty, righteous, and gracious government of all men, and of His humble and suffering people in particular.

1, 2. (Compare

Ps 30:1).

bless thy name--celebrate Thy perfections

(Ps 5:11).

God is addressed as king, alluding to His government of men.

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 Psalm 30:1.