Nehemiah 9:5

Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, [and] Pethahiah, said, Stand up [and] bless the LORD your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

Ver. 5. Then the Levites, Jeshua, &c., said, Stand up] Gird yourselves, and serve the Lord, as Luke 17:8. Be instant, or stand close to the work, επιστηθι, 2 Timothy 4:2; set sides and shoulders to it; rouse up yourselves, and wrestle with God. Hoc agite, Do this, said the Roman priest to the people at their sacrifices. And Sacerdos parat fratrum mentes dicendo, Sursum corda, saith Cyprian, In the primitive times the ministers prepared the people to serve God, by saying, Lift up your hearts (De Oratione).

And bless the Lord your God for ever] Give him immortal thanks, all possible praise, amore more, ore, glorify him doingly, 1Co 10:30-31 Ephesians 1:11,12. Think of the multitude, seasonableness, suitableness, constancy, &c., of God's favours; and then give him the glory due unto his name; which yet we can never do, because his name is exalted above all blessing and praise (as it followeth here), so that if we should do nothing else all our days, yea, as long as the days of heaven shall last (said that martyr), but kneel upon our knees and sing over David's Psalms to God's praise, yet should we fall far short of what we owe to the Lord, who is most worthy to be praised.

And blessed be thy glorious name] These holy Levites, having called upon the people to bless God, break forth into the performance of this divine duty themselves. So St Paul often, exhorting the saints to pray, falls a praying for them.

Which is exalted above all blessing and praise] So that when we have done our utmost herein, we can never out do. David is oft so transported, that he seems to forget himself, as a bird that hath got a note, records it over and over, as Psalms 136:1,26, "for his mercy endureth for ever." And Psalms 150:1,6, in six verses are twelve Hallelujahs. "Praise him," saith he, Nehemiah 9:2, "according to his excellent greatness," "for great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised," Psalms 145:3; and Nehemiah 9:5, "Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord," or, Let every breath praise the Lord. As oft as we breathe we are to breathe out the praises of God, and to make our breath like the perfumed smoke of the Tabernacle.