Bible Commentaries
Psalms 145

Verses 1-21

David's psalm of praise, dedicated to Messiah for His mighty, righteous, and gracious government of all men, and of His Church in particular.

v. 1. I will extol Thee, exalting Him high above all mere men, my God, O King, Messiah being the King over all by virtue of His exaltation to the right hand of God; and I will bless Thy name forever and ever, singing the praises of His divine essence and attributes not only here in time, but throughout eternity.

v. 2. Every day will I bless Thee, the repetition bringing out the necessity of the constant praise in honor of God and messiah, the King; and I will praise Thy name forever and ever. The song of praise now follows.

v. 3. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, greatness, unsearchable majesty, being the sum of His essence; and His greatness is unsearchable, literally, "and to His greatness not is there a search," it cannot be fathomed and comprehended by finite man.

v. 4. One generation shall praise Thy works to another and shall declare Thy mighty acts, that being the effect which a contemplation of God's greatness, as manifested in His works of creation and redemption, is bound to have upon men, fathers teaching their children and thus keeping the consciousness of God's greatness and majesty alive in their minds.

v. 5. I will speak of the glorious honor of Thy majesty and of Thy wondrous works, meditating upon the excellent superlative beauty of God's glory and celebrating the redemption through the promised Messiah, the most wonderful theme for prayerful and thankful meditation which can be suggested.

v. 6. And men shall speak of the might of Thy terrible acts, as the holy God performs His righteous judgments upon the children of men; and I will declare Thy greatness, for that is the effect which the acts of God's justice have upon the believers, causing them to set forth the majesty of the Lord.

v. 7. They shall abundantly utter the memory of Thy great goodness, announcing and proclaiming it, keeping the remembrance of it alive in the minds of men, and shall sing of Thy righteousness, shouting for joy over the manifestation of this attribute of God, in dealing with us on the basis of Christ's perfect atonement, thereby giving us evidence of His unfailing interest in the welfare and in the salvation of mankind.

v. 8. The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, His mercy being revealed in and through Jesus Christ, the Messiah of the world; slow to anger and of great mercy, His mercy serving, as it were, as a check upon His anger, keeping it from breaking forth upon us. That is the most wonderful fact in the Bible, that God is great in mercy, full of love and kindness toward us in and through Jesus Christ, our Savior. This Gospel-message is brought out still more strongly in the second part of the psalm.

v. 9. The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works, manifested to all His creatures, the evidence of this goodness filling the believers with all the greater joy since it tends to confirm them in their trust in Jehovah, in their confidence in His love.

v. 10. All Thy works shall praise Thee, O Lord, all creatures showing their gratitude to Jehovah by proper thanksgiving, and Thy saints shall bless Thee; for the obligation resting upon the believers to give Him grateful credit for the salvation granted to them is greater even than that of men in general with reference to the goodness of God.

v. 11. They shall speak of the glory of Thy kingdom, especially the Kingdom of Grace, the Church; for it is there that His glory is revealed in the most remarkable way, and talk of Thy power, proclaiming with all earnestness His might, as illustrated so frequently in the history of the Church,

v. 12. to make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, the works of redemption gained for all mankind, and the glorious majesty of His kingdom, in spreading the Gospel and its glorious truths throughout the nations.

v. 13. Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, standing firm through all eternity, the Kingdom of Grace merging into the Kingdom of Glory, the Church Militant into the Church Triumphant, and Thy dominion endureth throughout all generations, in the power and mercy of His ruling.

v. 14. The Lord upholdeth all that fall, literally, "Is holding up Jehovah for all that are falling," keeping them through the Word of His grace, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down, rather, "for all those who are bowed down," hearts broken and contrite on account of the realization of their guilt. Cf Matthew 11:28. However, it is not only in the Kingdom of Grace that the Messiah's power is exerted, but also in the Kingdom of Power.

v. 15. The eyes of all wait upon Thee, looking to the Lord for their sustenance, and Thou givest them their meat in due season, supplying them with food as they are in need of it.

v. 16. Thou openest Thine hand, which is like the true horn of plenty, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing, His bounty supplying in rich measure what they actually need for their maintenance. To these acts of God's providential care are added those of His government.

v. 17. The Lord is righteous in all His ways and holy in all His works; being sinless, without a flaw, in His essence, His acts also are of a nature that no justified complaint can be lodged against Him with regard to any of His dealings with men.

v. 18. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth, their prayer being prompted by, and flowing from, true faith, and being strictly free from all hypocrisy and doubt.

v. 19. He will fulfill the desire of them that fear Him; He also will hear their cry and will save them, probably not always in the manner in which they had imagined their deliverance, but always in agreement with their longing and therefore in true fulfillment of the prayer of faith, Matthew 21:22; Mark 11:24; James 5:16; 1 John 3:22.

v. 20. The Lord preserveth all them that love Him, whose faith finds its expression in childlike love and trust in Him: but all the wicked will He destroy, for His avenging wrath is bound to strike all those who persist in their wickedness. All these wonderful facts having been set forth concerning the Lord, the psalmist is constrained to summarize his praise in conclusion:

v. 21. My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord, making it his business to extol Him everywhere and at all times; and let all flesh, joining the psalmist in his grateful anthem, bless His holy name forever and ever, glorifying Him for all the various ways in which He manifested Himself for the benefit of mankind in general and of His Church in particular; for the believers are looking forward to everlasting salvation in heaven.