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Frederick Brotherton Meyer's Commentary

Psalms 117:1,2

Praise Him for All His Benefits

Psalms 116:12; Psalms 117:1

The psalmist dwells joyfully on his enslavement to God, because in and through it he had found perfect liberty. Thou hast loosed my bonds. They who become enslaved to Christ are set free from all other restraints. See John 8:31. Do not forget to pay your vows! In trouble we make promises, which, when the trouble has passed, we find it convenient to forget. See Genesis 40:23.

Psalms 117:1 is the shortest chapter in the Bible and its center; but, small as it is, it breathes a world-wide spirit and reaches out to all nations. “It is a dewdrop reflecting the universe.” The Apostle quotes it in Romans 15:11, as foretelling the call of the Gentiles. Here, as in Isaiah 11:10 and elsewhere, the spirit of the singer overleaps all national exclusiveness and comprehends all people and all time.

Let us learn to exercise the spirit of praise in our daily sphere. Surely we also can say that God's loving-kindness has been, and is, mighty over us. “Where sin abounded grace did much more abound.” The permanence of this love is guaranteed by God's faithfulness; for his truth is his troth. The shortest prayer of praise should find room for Hallelujah! See Revelation 19:4.

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See also Psalms 117:1,2 in other biblical comments:

  • Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

    PSALM CXVII _The psalmist calls upon the nations of the world to praise the_ _Lord for his mercy and kindness, and for the fulfilment of his_ _promises_, 1, 2. NOTES ON PSALM CXVII This is the s...

  • Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary

    O PRAISE THE LORD, ALL YE NATIONS - The idea is that God has a claim to universal worship, and that all the nations of the earth are under obligations to adore him as the true God. He is not the God o...

  • Annotated Bible by A.C. Gaebelein

    Psalms 117 This is the shortest Psalm. All the earth, all the nations, are now called upon to praise, because His merciful kindness has been great towards His people Israel. And their blessing means t...

  • Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

    CXVII. All nations are invited to worship Yahweh, who has revealed His power and faithfulness to Israel. The Ps. is Messianic in the general sense that it contemplates the union of all nations in the...

  • Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

    PRAISE, &C. Quoted in Romans 15:11. THE LORD. Hebrew. _Jehovah._ with. _eth_. Jehovah Himself. App-4. PRAISE. Laud. See note on Psalms 63:3. PEOPLE. peoples....

  • Charles Simeon's Horae Homileticae

    DISCOURSE: 693 THE GENTILES CALLED TO PRAISE GOD Psalms 117. _O praise the Lord, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the Lord end...

  • Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

    _An exhortation to praise God for his mercy and truth._ THIS psalm, like the 110th, seems to be altogether prophetical of the joy which all nations should conceive at the coming of the Messiah; to giv...

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    PSALMS 117 DESCRIPTIVE TITLE All Nations Invited to Join in Israel's Tribute of Praise. ANALYSIS By Synonyms of Unmistakable Universality, All Nations are Invited to Praise Jehovah for his Kindnes...

  • Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

    O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. Psalms 117:1 -Cf. Introduction to Psalms 116:1 O PRAISE THE LORD, ALL YE NATIONS - Israel's call to the Gentiles to praise Yahweh for H...

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    The shortest chapter in the Bible, and the middle chapter. It is a doxology, calling all peoples to praise Jehovah. It may have been appended to some Ps....

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    Psalms 107:150 _GORDON CHURCHYARD_ THE SHORTEST PSALM PSALMS 117 THE FIFTH EGYPTIAN HALLEL Jesus said, "I have other sheep. They do not live at this farm. I must fetch them also and they will

  • Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

    CXVII. This, shortest of all the psalms, might well be called _multum in parvo,_ for in its few words it contains, as St. Paul felt (Romans 15:11), the germ of the great doctrine of the universality o...

  • ETCBC data on Hebrew bible

    הַֽלְל֣וּ אֶת ־יְ֭הוָה כָּל ־גֹּויִ֑ם שַׁ֝בְּח֗וּהוּ...

  • Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

    Psalms 117:1 THIS shortest of the psalms is not a fragment, though some MSS attach it to the preceding and some to the following psalm. It contains large "riches in a narrow room," and its very brevit...

  • G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

    The fifth song of the Hallel is the shortest in the Psalter. In it in a very deep sense, is fulfilled the saying so common that “Brevity is the soul of wit.” It lives indeed with the wisdom of perfect...

  • George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

    Alleluia is borrowed from the end of the former psalm in Hebrew. Our Saviour and the apostles determine us to explain this solely of the Messias, though should would also see another literal sense, ap...

  • Hawker's Poor man's commentary

    CONTENTS In this short but sweet Psalm, the nations of the earth are called upon to praise God for his mercy; and the people of God are more immediately urged to be active in this service. Psalms 11...

  • James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary

    _THE CRY OF FAITH AND JOY_ ‘I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.’ Psalms 117:1 We shall never, I suppose, know from whose lips and hearts this cry of faith and joy first spr...

  • James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary

    _THE SHORTEST PSALM_ ‘O praise the Lord!’ Psalms 117:1 This is the shortest of the Psalms, but is honoured by being quoted by the Apostle Paul as a link in his chain of argument that God meant His s...

  • John Calvin's Bible Commentary

    1_Praise Jehovah, all ye nations. _The Holy Spirit having, by the mouth of the prophet, exhorted all nations to celebrate the praises of God’s mercy and faithfulness, Paul, in his Epistle to the Roman...

  • John Darby's Synopsis

    Psalms 117 is the calling the other nations and peoples to come and praise Jehovah, who will be now King over all the earth. They join and are brought happily into this relationship, Jehovah being mad...

  • John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

    O PRAISE THE LORD, ALL YE NATIONS,.... The Lord having chosen, and Christ having redeemed, some out of every kindred, tongue, people, and nation; and the Gospel being sent and preached to all nations,...

  • John Trapp Complete Commentary

    O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. Ver. 1. _O praise the Lord, all ye nations_] viz. For Christ, that gift, John 4:10, that benefit, 1 Timothy 6:2, that desire of all natio...

  • Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    _O praise the Lord, all ye nations_ Let not the praises that are due to the great Lord of all, be confined to our nation; but let all people upon the face of the earth praise him. _For his merciful ki...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    THE UNIVERSAL KINGDOM OF MESSIAH. The shortest hymn in the Psalter, portraying, in a few words, the Church of God of all times in its relation to Jehovah, the God of salvation. The truth expressed in...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    O praise the Lord, all ye nations, since He is the God of the Gentiles as well as of the Jews, Luke 2:30; PRAISE HIM, ALL YE PEOPLE, all the nations of the world, without exception....

  • Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary On The Bible

    PSALM 117 THE ARGUMENT This Psalm contains a prophecy of the calling of the Gentiles, as appears both from the matter of it, and from ROMANS 15:11, where it is quoted to that purpose. An exhortation t...

  • Patchworkid's Personal Study Bible Notes

    Psalms 117:1 Praise H1984 (H8761) LORD H3068 Gentiles H1471 Laud H7623 (H8761) peoples H523 O praise -...

  • Summarized Bible Commentary

    CONTENTS: A solemn call to the nations to praise God. CHARACTERS: God. CONCLUSION: The Lord is kind to us as His creatures and merciful to us as sinners, therefore praise is due Him from all peoples...

  • Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    This psalm, like Psalms 113., is a prophecy of the conversion of the gentiles: so it is cited by St. Paul in Romans 15:11. Some critics regard it as an exordium to the hundred and eighteenth psalm. It...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _O praise the Lord, all ye nations: praise Him, all ye people._ AN EXHORTATION TO PRAISE GOD FOR HIS GOODNESS 1. In God’s worship it is not always necessary to be long; few words sometimes say what...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    PSALM PSALM—NOTE ON PSALMS 117:1. This short hymn invites ALL NATIONS to PRAISE THE LORD. The Lord’s steadfast love

  • The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

    INTRODUCTION 1. Authorship, &c., unknown. 2. Probably a liturgical introduction to, or dismissal from, a service, either by separate choirs or the whole people. 3. “The lyrical expression of the consc...

  • The Pulpit Commentaries

    EXPOSITION IT has been doubted whether this exceedingly short psalm can ever have been in tended for a separate composition, and was not rather written as a conclusion to Psalms 116:1. or an introduct...

  • Through The Bible C2000 Serie by Chuck Smith

    Beginning with Psalms 113:1-9, you have what are known as the Hallel psalms, meaning the psalms of praise. Hallel meaning praise in Hebrew, and hallelujah, the hallelujah praise to Yahweh. So these ar...

  • Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

    Isaiah 24:15; Isaiah 24:16; Isaiah 42:10; Psalms 66:1; Psalms 66:4;...

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