Wisdom & Poetry · Old Testament
Psalms 145
Psalm 145: extolling the King whose kingdom is everlasting and who is good to all
General context
The speaker says he will extol his God the king and bless and praise his name every day and for ever. The Lord is great and his greatness unsearchable; one generation will praise his works to another and declare his mighty acts. The speaker will speak of the honour of his majesty and his wondrous works, men will speak of his terrible acts, and they will utter the memory of his goodness and sing of his righteousness. The Lord is gracious, full of compassion, slow to anger, of great mercy, good to all, with tender mercies over all his works. All his works will praise him and his saints will bless him, speaking of the glory and power of his kingdom to make known his mighty acts to the sons of men; his kingdom is everlasting and his dominion endures through all generations. The Lord upholds all who fall and raises the bowed down; the eyes of all wait on him and he gives them meat in due season, opening his hand to satisfy every living thing. He is righteous in his ways and holy in his works, near to all who call on him in truth, fulfilling the desire of those who fear him and hearing their cry. He preserves all who love him and will destroy all the wicked. The speaker closes by saying his mouth will speak the Lord's praise and calling all flesh to bless his holy name for ever.
Cited passages: Psalms 145:1, Psalms 145:2, Psalms 145:3, Psalms 145:4, Psalms 145:5, Psalms 145:6, Psalms 145:7, Psalms 145:8, Psalms 145:9, Psalms 145:10, Psalms 145:12, Psalms 145:13, Psalms 145:14, Psalms 145:15, Psalms 145:16, Psalms 145:17, Psalms 145:18, Psalms 145:19, Psalms 145:20, Psalms 145:21
Psalms 145 (KJV)
1I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.
2Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.
3Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.
4One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.
5I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.
6And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness.
7They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.
8The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.
9The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.
10All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord; and thy saints shall bless thee.
11They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power;
12To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.
13Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.
14The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down.
15The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season.
16Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.
17The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.
18The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.
19He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.
20The Lord preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.
21My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.
This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.
Historical context
The source prints no heading for this psalm; verse 1 begins with "I will extol thee, my God, O king", so no title, author or occasion is given and none is asserted. The speaker is a single "I" who is not named; the psalm names no person, place, nation or event, and no enemy of the speaker appears. The Lord is called "king" in the opening address, and his "kingdom" and "dominion" are the subject of verses 11-13, without any earthly kingdom being mentioned. The only people distinguished from the whole are "thy saints", "them that fear him", "them that love him" and, in one clause, "the wicked" whom the Lord will destroy. Everything else is said of "all": all his works, all that fall, the eyes of all, every living thing, all flesh. The psalm is twenty-one verses as printed, and the source shows no section marks. No Selah occurs.
Cited passages: Psalms 145:1, Psalms 145:11, Psalms 145:13, Psalms 145:10, Psalms 145:19, Psalms 145:20, Psalms 145:9, Psalms 145:16, Psalms 145:21
Literary context
The psalm begins and ends with the speaker's own mouth, "I will extol thee" and "My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord", and "for ever and ever" closes verses 1, 2 and 21. Between those frames the speakers multiply: "I" in verses 1-2 and 5-6, "one generation" to "another" in verse 4, "men" and "they" in verses 6-7, "all thy works" and "thy saints" in verse 10, and "all flesh" at the close. The middle alternates between statements about the Lord in the third person, "The Lord is gracious", "The Lord is good to all", "The Lord upholdeth", and direct address, "thou givest", "Thou openest thine hand". The word "all" recurs through verses 9-20, attached to works, the fallen, the bowed down, the eyes of all, every living thing, his ways, his works, those who call, those who love. The one contrast is held to the last clause of verse 20, where "all the wicked" answers "all them that love him". The psalm names no trouble and asks for nothing; every verb the speaker gives himself is a verb of praising or telling.
Cited passages: Psalms 145:1, Psalms 145:21, Psalms 145:2, Psalms 145:4, Psalms 145:6, Psalms 145:10, Psalms 145:8, Psalms 145:14, Psalms 145:16, Psalms 145:18, Psalms 145:20
Key moments
- Extolling the King (Psalms 145:1). The speaker resolves to extol his God the king and bless his name for ever.
- Generation to generation (Psalms 145:4). One generation is to praise the Lord's works to another.
- Gracious and slow to anger (Psalms 145:8). The Lord is called gracious, full of compassion, slow to anger and of great mercy.
- An everlasting kingdom (Psalms 145:13). The Lord's kingdom is called everlasting and his dominion enduring through all generations.
- Upholding all that fall (Psalms 145:14). The Lord upholds all who fall and raises up the bowed down.
- An open hand (Psalms 145:16). The Lord opens his hand and satisfies the desire of every living thing.
- All flesh bless his name (Psalms 145:21). The speaker's mouth will praise the Lord and all flesh is called to bless his name.
For reflection
The psalm says the Lord is good to all and satisfies every living thing, and in one clause says he will destroy all the wicked. How does the poem's repeated "all" hold those two statements in the same list of praise?
