BIBLE CHAPTER STUDY
Psalms 145 — A King Extols the Greatness of Jehovah
An alphabetic psalm of David in which every verse (except one beginning with nun) praises Jehovah for his unsearchable greatness, his everlasting kingdom, his merciful sustaining of creation, and his nearness to those who call on him in truth.
Scripture
1A Psalm of praise; of David. I 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 Jehovah, and greatly to be praised; And his greatness is unsearchable.
4One generation shall laud thy works to another, And shall declare thy mighty acts.
5Of the glorious majesty of thine honor, And of thy wondrous works, will I meditate.
6And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts; And I will declare thy greatness.
7They shall utter the memory of thy great goodness, And shall sing of thy righteousness.
8Jehovah is gracious, and merciful; Slow to anger, and of great lovingkindness.
9Jehovah is good to all; And his tender mercies are over all his works.
10All thy works shall give thanks unto thee, O Jehovah; 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 glory of the majesty of his kingdom.
13Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.
14Jehovah upholdeth all that fall, And raiseth up all those that are bowed down.
15The eyes of all wait for thee; And thou givest them their food in due season.
16Thou openest thy hand, And satisfiest the desire of every living thing.
17Jehovah is righteous in all his ways, And gracious in all his works.
18Jehovah 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.
20Jehovah preserveth all them that love him; But all the wicked will he destroy.
21My mouth shall speak the praise of Jehovah; And let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.
What this passage means
David opens the psalm by declaring that he will extol God as King and bless God's name 'for ever and ever' (Psalms 145:1–2). The pairing of royal language with the personal 'my God' shows that the worshipper's lifelong response is the proper acknowledgement of a sovereign whose reign deserves perpetual blessing.
Greatness that is 'unsearchable' is the next theme (Psalms 145:3–7). The psalm does not merely list God's acts; it credits generation after generation with the responsibility to declare them. Praise here is corporate and transmitted: each generation 'shall laud thy works to another' and 'shall declare thy mighty acts' (Psalms 145:4).
Verses 8 through 20 unfold the character of that great King. He is 'gracious, and merciful; slow to anger, and of great lovingkindness' (Psalms 145:8), good to all and tender over all his works (Psalms 145:9), upholding the falling and raising the bowed down (Psalms 145:14), feeding every living thing (Psalms 145:15–16), near to those who call on him in truth (Psalms 145:18), and preserving those who love him while destroying the wicked (Psalms 145:20). Verse 13 places the whole picture under the heading of an 'everlasting kingdom' whose 'dominion endureth throughout all generations.' The psalm closes, as it began, with a vow of perpetual praise: 'let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever' (Psalms 145:21).
Context
The chapter is identified by its superscription as 'A Psalm of praise; of David,' situating it within the Davidic psalms. Its form is an acrostic: in the Hebrew text the verses move through the alphabet in order. Within the Book of Psalms it belongs to the final run of praise psalms (Psalms 145–150) that close the Psalter with doxology; the Davidic superscription here functions as a traditional attribution rather than a claim of direct authorship that the chapter itself argues for. The chapter note provided only states that the psalm was backfilled from Psalms chapters outside P0/P1 and gives no further literary or historical detail beyond what the verses themselves supply.
The note also provides no surrounding context before or after the chapter, so the meaning of the psalm must be read from its own movement: from the worshipper's vow (vv. 1–2), to God's unsearchable greatness (vv. 3–7), to God's gracious character and sustaining care (vv. 8–16), to the nearness of God to those who call in truth (vv. 17–20), back to a closing vow that 'all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever' (v. 21). No external historical setting is stated in the material provided.
Key words in the original
- H8416 Glossed 'praise' and defined as 'laudation; specifically (concretely) a hymn.' This Hebrew noun is the superscription of the psalm in Psalms 145:1 ("A Psalm of praise; of David"), and the same conceptual field runs through the chapter's recurring vocabulary of blessing and lauding God's name.
- H1984 Glossed 'praise' and defined as 'to be clear ... to shine; hence ... to celebrate.' In Psalms 145:2 the speaker vows 'I will praise thy name for ever and ever,' and the chapter's repeated calls to declare and celebrate God's works draw on this verb family. The psalm also uses the passive participle מְהֻלָּל in Psalms 145:3 ('greatly to be praised').
- H1732 Glossed 'David' and defined as 'David, the youngest son of Jesse.' In Psalms 145:1 it functions as the traditional superscription attaching the psalm to David ('A Psalm of praise; of David'), a generic Davidic attribution rather than a claim developed within the chapter.
Related verses
- Jeremiah 29:12 In Jeremiah 29:12 the call-and-answer structure of prayer is set out: 'ye shall call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.' This sits behind Psalms 145:18–19, where Jehovah is 'nigh unto all them that call upon him' and 'will hear their cry and will save them.'
- Psalms 34:18 Psalms 34:18 says 'Jehovah is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, And saveth such as are of a contrite spirit.' This pairs with Psalms 145:14's picture of Jehovah 'upholdeth all that fall, And raiseth up all those that are bowed down,' showing that divine nearness to the lowly is a consistent claim across the Psalter.
- Deuteronomy 4:7 Deuteronomy 4:7 asks, 'what great nation is there, that hath a god so nigh unto them, as Jehovah our God is whensoever we call upon him?' The question mirrors the affirmation in Psalms 145:18 that Jehovah 'is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth,' placing the psalm's claim of divine nearness within Israel's covenant confession.
Common questions
What kind of psalm is Psalms 145?
It is a psalm of praise (H8416, 'praise; a hymn') whose superscription attributes it to David. The chapter's verses follow the Hebrew alphabet in order (an acrostic), and it stands in the closing praise cluster (Psalms 145–150) of the Psalter. It is anonymous in the sense that the chapter itself makes no further claim about authorship beyond the Davidic superscription.
Why is God called 'King' in Psalms 145:1?
The opening line pairs 'my God, O King' as the one whom David will extol and whose name he will bless 'for ever and ever.' The royal language frames the whole psalm: God's greatness is 'unsearchable' (v. 3), his kingdom is 'an everlasting kingdom' (v. 13), and 'all flesh' is called to bless his holy name (v. 21). Worship, in this psalm, is the creature's acknowledgement of the King's reign.
Does Psalms 145:18 promise that God hears every prayer?
The verse specifies who God is near to: 'all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.' The qualification 'in truth' is part of the promise itself; verse 19 then adds that he fulfils the desire of 'them that fear him' and hears 'their cry.' Nearness, answered prayer, and preservation are given to those who approach God honestly and with reverent fear, and verse 20 limits the promise of preservation to 'them that love him,' while 'all the wicked will he destroy.'