Psa 145:1 | Clarke | STEP | God is praised for his unsearchable greatness, , ; for his majesty and terrible acts, , ; for his goodness and tender mercies to all, ; for his power and kingdom, ; for his kindness to the distressed, ; for his providence, . He hears and answers prayer, . All should praise him, . 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. Verse 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 theeA joyful song I'll raise But O, eternity's too shortTo utter all thy praise! This contains a strong hyperbole; but allowable in such cases.

Psalms 145:1

Introduction

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

Verse 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 theeA joyful song I'll raise

But O, eternity's too shortTo utter all thy praise!

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