Psalms 117

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 hear my voice. Then there will be one farm and one sheep-farmer" (John 10:16).

Psalms 117

v1 Every country in the world, *praise the *LORD!
All the people (in the world), *praise him!

v2 His kind love for us is very strong.
And he will always do what he has promised.
*Praise the *LORD

The Story of Psalms 117

Some Bible students think that this psalm was to start times of *worship in the *temple. The *temple was God’s house in Jerusalem. We do not know who wrote it. And we do not know when they wrote it.

Read the notes in Psalms 113 in this set of psalms. They will tell you about Egyptian hallels.

What Psalms 117 means

Verse 1: Usually "*praise the *LORD" is "*hallelujah" in Hebrew. The *Jews spoke Hebrew and wrote the psalms in Hebrew. Here they use a different Hebrew word. "*Praise" means "tell someone that they are great". "*LORD" is another word for God. It is his *covenant name. A *covenant is when two people, or groups of people, agree. Here God agrees to love and give help to his people when they need it. His people agree to love and obey God.

But who are "his people"? Here it is not only the *Jews. It is all the people in the world, if they will love and obey him!

Verse 2: "Very strong" is a Hebrew word that means "will win the war". God loves everybody in the world and he will try to "win the war" for their love and obedience. "Obedience" is another word for "obeying". "*Praise the *LORD" at the end of the verse is "*hallelujah" this time!

Something to do

1. Pray that your friends and family will start to *praise the *LORD.

2. If you have a Bible, read Romans 15:11. There Paul repeats Psalms 117:1.

Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke; they wrote the Psalms in Hebrew.
praise ~ to say how great someone is; or, words that say how great someone is.
Lord ~ a name for God; it means he has authority, or "master"; It is the word "Adonai" in Hebrew. Look also at LORD below.
LORD ~ a special name for God that his people use. It is the covenant name of God. In Hebrew it is Yahweh or Jehovah. Look after Psalm 25 in Book 1 of the Psalms of David for more about the names of God.
lord ~ someone with authority.
LORD ~ the covenant name for God (in a covenant you agree with someone).
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke; they wrote the Psalms in Hebrew.
covenant ~ two people have agreed what each should do (here, God and his people). Look in Psalm 120 about the covenant.
Yahweh ~ the covenant name for God. Most Bibles translate it LORD with 4 capital letters. It means something like "I am" or "always alive".
Jehovah ~ how some languages say Yahweh, one of the names of God in Hebrew.
praise ~ to say how great someone is; or, words that say how great someone is.
worship ~ you tell someone that they are very great. And you tell them that you love them.
temple ~ a place where people meet to worship God.
hallelujah ~ say that the LORD is great. (Jah is Hebrew for LORD.)
Lord ~ a name for God; it means he has authority, or "master"; It is the word "Adonai" in Hebrew. Look also at LORD below.
LORD ~ a special name for God that his people use. It is the covenant name of God. In Hebrew it is Yahweh or Jehovah. Look after Psalm 25 in Book 1 of the Psalms of David for more about the names of God.
lord ~ someone with authority.
LORD ~ the covenant name for God (in a covenant you agree with someone).
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke; they wrote the Psalms in Hebrew.
covenant ~ two people have agreed what each should do (here, God and his people). Look in Psalm 120 about the covenant.
Yahweh ~ the covenant name for God. Most Bibles translate it LORD with 4 capital letters. It means something like "I am" or "always alive".
Jehovah ~ how some languages say Yahweh, one of the names of God in Hebrew.
Jew ~ a person who is born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children; a person who has the faith of the Jews, called Judaism.
faith ~ belief in someone or something; in the Psalms, belief in God.
covenant ~ two people have agreed what each should do (here, God and his people). Look in Psalm 120 about the covenant.