What is the shortest chapter in the Bible?

So far Ps. 115. Then in 116 we have deliverance, which has been wrought, clearly and joyfully expressed. Deliverance had been experienced from death, which had threatened (3-9, 15). Precious in the sight of Jehovah is the death of His saints, so He had kept them from it. That which in Ps. 72:14 had been foretold, they had now found to be true. Thanksgiving, therefore, would they render, and that openly in the courts of the Lord's house, in the midst of Jerusalem (12-19). But not content with that, in Ps. 117 — the shortest Psalm in the whole collection — all nations and people are exhorted to praise Jehovah for that which He has done for Israel, for His mercy manifested toward them, and for His truth which endures for ever. The bright pictures, presented many centuries back by the prophets, are now seen to have been descriptive of realities taking place before their eyes (117:2).

The first section contains four psalms, none of them very long, and one the shortest in the Bible. In them we are first carried back, as in the beginning of the sixty-eighth psalm, to the exodus from Egypt, to see the power and grace of God as shown among them at that time. There had come in, alas, a breach between them and their glorious Leader in consequence of the straying of their hearts from Him; and the setting up of the abominations of the heathen before His eyes in the land from which they should have been rooted out. This is now looked back upon and judged in the light of their present experience of His delivering hand; and in the third psalm here (Ps. 116) He has displayed Himself to them in the resurrection of the nation, so as to bring back their hearts effectually to Him. The final psalm (Ps. 117) exhorts the nations of the earth to praise Him therefore for His loving-kindness and faithfulness towards the delivered nation.

This Psalm, the shortest portion of the Book of God, is quoted, and given much value to, in Rom. 15. And upon this it has been profitably observed, "it is a small portion of Scripture, and as such 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."

In Rom. 15:11, the shortest portion of the Old Testament is honoured by distinct quotation. (Ps. 117)

Another quotation — again from the Psalms — is a general call to all Gentiles, and all races to praise the Lord. This shortest of all Psalms (117) is most striking in that it speaks only of Gentiles, Israel's salvation being the occasion of the call. It is “merciful kindness” indeed.

Psalm 117.

It is a little psalm out of a large heart. Grace enjoyed goes out toward others, yea to all. So shall Israel then sing. What a contrast with their narrowness of old! So Jehovah's mercy and truth will work in that day to His praise on earth. We see how beautifully these three psalms ending in Hallelujah follow Ps. 114 (Jehovah's intervention as when He brought Israel out of Egypt through the desert), which is preceded by the three psalms beginning with Hallelujah, as the last of these indeed both begins and ends.

Psalm 117 is a very short one, but it strikes a very definite note of praise. It also contains two very striking thoughts. The first is that the nations and peoples are called upon to praise the Lord because of His mercy to " us," that is, to Israel. The reason for this is expounded to us in Romans 11:12-15. The receiving of them back into the favour of God will be as "life from the dead," as is indicated also in the first two verses of Psalm 67. It will mean an outpouring of blessing which will reach out to every people, and hence all the nations will heartily join in praising God for His mercy to Israel.

The second thought of much importance is the way that mercy and truth are linked together in the second verse. Neither mercy at the expense of truth, nor truth at the expense of mercy, would be for the glory of God and the blessing of men. In the coming day when God brings to fruition all His purposes concerning Israel the mercy of God toward them will be seen to be great indeed, and at the same time His truth will be established for ever. The foundation of all this has already been laid in the cross of Christ, and hence the same thing is true when the gospel reaches us today.

Psalm 118 picks up this theme and shows in a detailed way how the mercy will be displayed and how the truth will be established. In verses 2-4, the same three classes appear that we had in Psalm 115. "Israel" is of course the whole nation — the born-again nation that will enter into millennial blessedness. "The house of Aaron" is the priestly family, brought into special nearness to God. "Them that fear the Lord" is a description that would include the godly from among the Gentiles. In Psalm 115 they were all bidden to trust in the Lord who proves Himself to be a help and a shield. Here, in the light of what He has accomplished — as recounted in the rest of the Psalm — they are to praise Him and say that His mercy endures forever.

But if Israel is so greatly blessed in the coming millennial age, it will be no less true for Gentiles, and in this very short psalm it is to be evident that Gentiles will share in the privilege of worshiping the Lord, the Source of all their blessing. "For His merciful kindness is great toward us"(toward both Jews and Gentiles), and His truth endures forever, then realized as such by a changed world.

Of the 150 Psalms two of the shortest are Psalm 131 and Psalm 133; but they are spiritual gems of the inspired word. Each is a song of degrees of David. In the first of them we see Christ; in the other His brethren.

These psalms are all very brief, the longest only of eight verses; they are plainly still introductory: outline-sketches to be filled in at a later time.