Psalms 117

Psalms 117:1-2

Praise Him for All His Benefits Psalms 116:12-19; Psalms 117:1-2 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 8:31-36. 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 117:1-2 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.

All ye nations! This is the shortest chapter in the Bible and its center. Perhaps it was intended to be used as a doxology to the preceding and other Psalms. Though small, and yet, small as it is, it is full of a world-wide spirit, reaching 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. In this Psalm, as also in Isaiah 11:10, and elsewhere, the spirit of Judaism forgets its natural exclusiveness and reaches out its hands to the world.

Psalms 117:1. Oh, praise the Lord, all ye nations! Before we can appropriate these words, we must have learned to exercise the spirit of praise for ourselves. We must have come to see that the Lord Jesus is infinitely deserving of the love and homage of all mankind. And we must have received into our hearts the spirit of his own great love, which yearns over all men. Men will never be truly happy till they adore and praise Him whom we call Master (Philippians 2:10).

Psalms 117:2. His merciful kindness is great The greatness of his love and the permanence of his word. Here are themes indeed for praise. Do we think enough of them? And are we as prepared to praise in dark and sad days as in bright and happy ones–because God is the same, and the same to us, though our lot may not be quite what it was in other and more gladsome moments?