(A Psalm of praise. Of David.) I will extol thee, my God, O King, and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.
Psalm 145 opens the closing stretch of the book of Psalms. One voice makes a vow: to lift God up as King and to bless His name without end. Two questions follow. Who is that voice? And why address God as King here, when the rest of the psalm uses His covenant name?
The psalm carries a title of its own, and where it sits in the book matters:
How very fitting that this psalm should carry the title "David's psalm of praise." It comes right before the last five psalms, and each of those begins and ends with "Praise the LORD," or "Hallelujah."
It is also David's farewell in the book. One writer sets his last note beside another king's ending:
It is the last of the alphabetical Psalms, and the last in the Psalter ascribed to the king. So we shall hear the royal singer's voice no more in the Psalter. His last words in it are unmixed praise... Saul died forsaken of God (1 Sam. 28:15-16). David's last notes in the Psalter are notes of praise.
Verse 1 calls God by a different name from the rest of the psalm:
All through the psalm the psalmist uses the Name of Jehovah — the covenant-keeping God of Israel, who brought His people into relationship with Himself. Ps. 145:1 is the one exception. There he addresses the self-existing, Eternal One as "My Elohim, O King." He extols his God and blesses Him every day. He looks forward to the time of His kingdom, for then he will praise His Name for ever and ever.
Another writer lists what this King is like:
Jehovah is the King. He is great. He is gracious. He is good. He is righteous. Such is His character... What a change will come about in the world when Jehovah the King becomes a common subject of wonder and praise!
Commentators hear more than David in the "I" of this verse. The words "my God" mark out a Man speaking:
Psalm 145 moves on in thought into the millennium. The distress is over, and there is full deliverance to celebrate. It is Christ in spirit — perhaps even in person — in the midst of Israel. He leads the praises of Jehovah and wakes them up among men... Christ speaks here as man — "my God." The psalm looks at Jehovah as King.
The psalm itself keeps this single voice separate from the crowd it draws in:
Its position in the book, and the fact that David is a familiar picture of Christ, should lead us to think of Messiah here. He leads the praises of men — praising, as He declares He will, in the great congregation (Ps. 22:25). Whose voice but His could fittingly take this place? And in the psalm itself the Speaker sets Himself apart from the general voice of praise. That praise begins with the "godly" in Israel and reaches out to the "sons of men" at large (vv. 10, 12). This distinction lasts for all eternity (v. 21).
The man who makes this vow looks ahead to a time when nothing can spoil his joy:
The godly man is delivered from all his enemies. He can look on to an eternity where he sees no evil intruding, and no trace of sorrow to dim his joy in the Lord. So he can say, "I will bless your name forever and ever," "I will praise your name forever and ever."
The psalm runs through the Hebrew alphabet, a verse to each letter — but one letter, Nun, is skipped. Writers see purpose in the gap:
The Spirit of God left out the letter Nun. This surely suggests that Psalm 145 could not supply the full measure of Jehovah's praise. All the praise of the five following psalms is necessary... To give full measure, we also need the tributes of praise in Revelation 5:9-14 and the Hallelujahs of Revelation 19:1-6. That praise will fill heaven and the wide universe of God — praise to God and to the Lamb.
But this vow does not have to wait for the kingdom. One writer ties it to the finished work of Christ:
The one finished and accepted sacrifice of Christ has lasting power. In it there is forgiveness of sins for everyone who believes... Faith sees that the one thing has been done in the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ... So praise, the highest part of worship, can begin now: "I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever." (Ps. 145.)
- Title. Psalm 145 carries the title "David's psalm of praise" — the king's last word in the book, and it is unmixed praise.
- Name. Verse 1 steps away from the covenant name used elsewhere in the psalm and addresses the eternal God as "my God and King."
- Voice. Commentators hear the "I" as Messiah, leading praise in the great congregation; the words "my God" mark Him out as a Man.
- Reach. One voice starts the praise. The godly in Israel join in, then the sons of men. A missing Hebrew letter hints that the choir still lacks the heavenly voices of Revelation.
- Result. Praise "forever and ever" fits a scene where no evil is left to dim it. Because Christ's work is finished, that praise can begin today.
Every day will I bless thee, and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.
Psalm 145 carries the title "David's Psalm of Praise." Its second verse sets the pattern for the rest: bless God today, and praise His name without end. Commentators read the words as both a daily habit and a promise reaching into the kingdom to come. So who is speaking, and what makes such a promise keepable?
The psalm's shape and its place in the book both point to praise.
In Proverbs 31 and Psalm 119, each verse or series of verses begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, running through all twenty-two. Psalms 25, 34 and 145 are also alphabetical psalms. But in this last one the Holy Spirit has seen fit to leave out the Hebrew letter Nun, so there are only twenty-one verses in this psalm. How fitting that this psalm should carry the title "David's psalm of praise." It comes just before the last five psalms, and each of those begins and ends with "Praise the Lord," or "Hallelujah."
The "I" of this verse is not a lone worshipper. Commentators hear Christ leading the singing, with others answering.
Psalm 145 goes on in thought into the millennium, after the distress is over and the full deliverance can be celebrated. It is Christ in spirit — perhaps even in person — in the midst of Israel. He leads the praises of Jehovah and awakens them among men. So, though it only expresses purpose, it has the character of a dialogue. First, He expresses His own purpose of praising Jehovah, and for ever and ever. One generation should do it to another.
The verse holds two time frames at once: the daily and the endless. The coming kingdom joins them.
All through the psalm the writer uses the Name of Jehovah — the covenant-keeping God of Israel, who brought His people into relationship with Himself. The one exception is Psalm 145:1, where he addresses the self-existing, Eternal One as "My Elohim, O King." He extols his God and blesses Him every day. He looks forward to the time of His kingdom, for then he will praise His Name for ever and ever. These first two verses form the opening section of the psalm. They express the feelings of the godly remnant of Israel as they look toward the coming kingdom of Messiah, the God of Israel.
Endless praise needs a lasting object. The psalm gives one: a throne that outlives every human generation.
It is a celebration of continuance (verse 2), for the kingdom that is to be set up is an everlasting kingdom (verse 13). As long as human generations follow one another on earth, the sceptre of the world's rule will remain unbroken in Messiah's hands. This kingdom has its measured limits in the declared purpose of God. It will have an end, but it will yield to no successor in its place.
Daily blessing here is not forced cheerfulness. It comes from a man whose troubles are behind him and who sees nothing ahead that could spoil his joy.
The godly man delivered from all his enemies can look on to an eternity in which he sees no evil to intrude, and no trace of sorrow to dim his joy in the Lord. So he can say, "I will bless your name forever and ever," "I will praise your name forever and ever."
Commentators also apply the verse to the present. One writer traces the opened mouth of praise back to the finished work of Christ.
Faith sees that the one thing has been done in the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. So praise, the highest part of worship, can now begin. While praise is silent for God in Zion, the mouth of the sinner, redeemed to God through the precious blood of the Lamb, is opened to show forth His praises.
One writer takes the gap in the alphabet as a hint. Full as this song is, it still waits for other voices.
The Spirit of God left out the letter Nun. That would suggest Psalm 145 could not supply the full measure of Jehovah's praise. It takes all the praise of the five psalms that follow — the Hallelujahs at their beginnings and endings — to fill up the tribute of praise on earth, and "in His sanctuary," and in the "firmament of His power."
- Deliverance — the daily blessing rises from a man with his enemies behind him and no sorrow ahead.
- Leader — commentators hear Christ in the midst of His people as the "I" of the psalm. He starts a song others take up, generation after generation.
- Duration — "forever and ever" rests on an everlasting kingdom. Its sceptre passes to no successor.
- Today — the precious blood of the Lamb has already opened the redeemed sinner's mouth to praise.
- Fullness — the missing letter signals that even this psalm's praise waits for more voices.