SUBJECT. This Psalm, which is very little
in its letter, is exceedingly large in its spirit; for, bursting
beyond all bounds of race or nationality, it calls upon all
mankind to praise the name of the Lord. In all probability it
was frequently used as a brief hymn suitable for almost every
occasion, and especially when the time for worship was short.
Perhaps it was also sung at the commencement or at the close of
other Psalms, just as we now use the doxology. It would have
served either to open a service or to conclude it. It is both
short and sweet. The same divine Spirit which expatiates in the
119th, here condenses his utterances into two short verses, but
yet the same infinite fullness is present and perceptible. It
may be worth noting that this is at once the shortest chapter of
the Scriptures and the central portion of the whole Bible.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. O praise the LORD, all ye nations.
This is an exhortation to the Gentiles to glorify Jehovah, and a
clear proof that the Old Testament spirit differed widely from
that narrow and contracted national bigotry with which the Jews
of our Lord's day became so inveterately diseased. The nations
could not be expected to join in the praise of Jehovah unless
they were also to be partakers of the benefits which Israel
enjoyed; and hence the Psalm was an intimation to Israel that
the grace and mercy of their God were not to be confined to one
nation, but would in happier days be extended to all the race of
man, even as Moses had prophesied when he said, "Rejoice. O
ye nations, his people" (De 32:43), for so the Hebrew has
it. The nations were to be his people. He would call them a
people that were not a people, and her beloved that was not
beloved. We know and believe that no one tribe of men shall be
unrepresented in the universal song which shall ascend unto the
Lord of all. Individuals have already been gathered out of every
kindred and people and tongue by the preaching of the gospel,
and these have right heartily joined in magnifying the grace
which sought them out, and brought them to know the Saviour.
These are but the advance guard of a number which no man can
number who will come ere long to worship the all glorious One.
Praise him, all ye people. Having done it once, do it again, and
do it still more fervently, daily increasing in the reverence
and zeal with which you extol the Most High. Not only praise him
nationally by your rulers, but popularly in your masses. The
multitude of the common folk shall bless the Lord. Inasmuch as
the matter is spoken of twice, its certainty is confirmed, and
the Gentiles must and shall extol Jehovah—all of them, without
exception. Under the gospel dispensation we worship no new god,
but the God of Abraham is our God for ever and ever; the God of
the whole earth shall he be called.
Verse 2. For his merciful kindness is great toward
us. By which is meant not only his great love toward the
Jewish people, but towards the whole family of man. The Lord is
kind to us as his creatures, and merciful to us as sinners,
hence his merciful kindness to us as sinful creatures. This
mercy has been very great, or powerful. The mighty grace of God
has prevailed even as the waters of the flood prevailed over the
earth: breaking over all bounds, it has flowed towards all
portions of the multiplied race of man. In Christ Jesus, God has
shown mercy mixed with kindness, and that to the very highest
degree. We can all join in this grateful acknowledgment, and in
the praise which is therefore due. And the truth of the Lord
endureth for ever. He has kept his covenant promise that in the
seed of Abraham should all nations of the earth be blessed, and
he will eternally keep every single promise of that covenant to
all those who put their trust in him. This should be a cause of
constant and grateful praise, wherefore the Psalm concludes as
it began, with another Hallelujah, Praise ye the LORD.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole Psalm. A very short Psalm if you regard the
words, but of very great compass and most excellent if you
thoughtfully consider the meaning. There are here five principal
points of doctrine.
First, the calling of the Gentiles, the Apostle being
the interpreter, Ro 15:11; but in vain might the Prophet invite
the Gentiles to praise Jehovah, unless they were to be gathered
into the unity of the faith together with the children of
Abraham.
Second, The Summary of the Gospel, namely, the
manifestation of grace and truth, the Holy Spirit being the
interpreter, Joh 1:17.
Third, The end of so great a blessing, namely, the
worship of God in spirit and in truth, as we know that the
kingdom of the Messiah is spiritual.
Fourth, the employment of the subjects of the great King
is to praise and glorify Jehovah.
Lastly, the privilege of these servants:that, as to
the Jews, so also to the Gentiles, who know and serve God the
Saviour, eternal life and blessedness are brought, assured in
this life, and prepared in heaven. Mollerus.
Whole Psalm. This Psalm, the shortest portion of the
Book of God, is quoted and given much value to, in Ro 15:11. And
upon this it has been profitably observed, "It is a small
portion of Scripture, and such as we might easily overlook it.
But not so the Holy Ghost. He gleans up this precious little
testimony which speaks of grace to the Gentiles, and presses it
on our attention." From Bellett's Short Meditations on
the Psalms, chiefly in their Prophetic character, 1871.
Whole Psalm. The occasion and the author of this Psalm
are alike unknown. De Wette regards it as a Temple Psalm,
and agrees with Rosenmueller in the supposition that it was sung
either at the beginning or the end of the service it the temple.
Knapp supposes that it was used as an intermediate service, sung
during the progress of the general service, to vary the
devotion, and to awaken a new interest in the service, either
sung by the choir or by the whole people. Albert Barnes.
Whole Psalm. In God's worship it is not always
necessary to be long; few words sometimes say what is
sufficient, as this short Psalm giveth us to understand. David
Dickson.
Whole Psalm. This is the shortest, and the next but
one is the longest, of the Psalms. There are times for short
hymns and long hymns, for short prayers and long prayers, for
short sermons and long sermons, for short speeches and long
speeches. It is better to be too short than too long, as it can
more easily be mended. Short addresses need no formal divisions:
long addresses require them, as in the next Psalm but one. G.
Rogers.
Verse 1. O praise the Lord, etc. The praise of
God is here made both the beginning and the end of the Psalm; to
show, that in praising God the saints are never satisfied with
their own efforts, and would infinitely magnify him, even as his
perfections are infinite. Here they make a circle, the
beginning, middle, and end whereof is hallelujah. In the
last Psalm, when David had said, "Let everything that hath
breath praise the Lord, "and so in all likelihood had made
an end, yet he repeats the hallelujah again, and cries,
"Praise ye the Lord." The Psalmist had made an end and
yet he had not done; to signify, that when we have said our
utmost for God's praise, we must not be content, but begin anew.
There is hardly any duty more pressed in the Old Testament upon
us, though less practised, than this of praising God. To quicken
us therefore to a duty so necessary, but so much neglected, this
and many other Psalms were penned by David, purposely to excite
us, that are the nations here meant, to consecrate our
whole lives to the singing and setting forth of God's worthy
praises. Abraham Wright.
Verse 1. All ye nations. Note: each nation of
the world has some special gift bestowed on it by God, which is
not given to the others, whether you have regard to nature or
grace, for which it ought to praise God. Le Blanc.
Verse 1. Praise him. A different word is here
used for "praise" than in the former clause: a
word which is more frequently used in the Chaldee, Syriac,
Arabic, and Ethiopic languages; and signifies the celebration of
the praises of God with a high voice. John Gill.
Verse 2. For his merciful kindness is great toward
us. We cannot part from this Psalm without remarking that
even in the Old Testament we have more than one instance of a
recognition on the part of those that were without the pale of
the church that God's favour to Israel was a source of blessing
to themselves. Such were probably to some extent the sentiments
of Hiram and the Queen of Sheba, the contemporaries of Solomon;
such the experience of Naaman; such the virtual acknowledgments
of Nebuchadnezzar and Darius the Mede. They beheld "his
merciful kindness"towards his servants of the house
of Israel, and they praised him accordingly. John Francis
Thrupp.
Verse 2. For his merciful kindness is great toward
us. Albeit there be matter of praise unto God in himself,
though we should not be partakers of any benefit from him, yet
the Lord doth give his people cause to praise him for favours to
them in their own particular cases. David Dickson.
Verse 2. For his merciful kindness is great.
rbg, gabar, is strong:it is not only great in bulk
or number;but it is powerful;it prevails over sin,
Satan, death, and hell. Adam Clarke
Verse 2. Merciful kindness... and the truth of the
LORD. Here, and so in divers other Psalms, God's mercy and
truth are joined together; to show that all passages and
proceedings, both in ordinances and in providence, whereby he
comes and communicates himself to his people are not only mercy,
though that is very sweet, but truth also. Their blessings come
to them in the way of promise from God, as bound to them by the
truth of his covenant. This is soul satisfying indeed; this
turns all that a man hath to cream, when every mercy is a
present sent from heaven by virtue of a promise. Upon this
account, God's mercy is ordinarily in the Psalms bounded by his
truth; that none may either presume him more merciful than he
hath declared himself in his word; nor despair of finding mercy gratis,
according to the truth of his promise. Therefore though thy sins
be great, believe the text, and know that God's mercy is greater
than the sins. The high heaven covereth as well tall mountains
as small mole hills, and mercy can cover all. The more desperate
thy disease, the greater is the glory of thy physician, who hath
perfectly cured thee. Abraham Wright
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Whole Psalm. The universal kingdom.
1. The same God.
2. The same worship.
3. The same reason for it.
Verse 2. Merciful kindness. In God's kindness
there is mercy, because,
1. Our sin deserves the reverse of kindness.
2. Our weakness requires great tenderness.
3. Our fears can only be so removed.
Verse 2 (last clause)
1. In his attribute—he is always faithful.
2. In his revelation—always infallible.
3. In his action—always according to promise.