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Psalm 145

The Greatness and the Goodness of God

Praise. Of David.

I will extol you, my God and King,

and bless your name forever and ever.

Every day I will bless you,

and praise your name forever and ever.

Great is the L ord, and greatly to be praised;

his greatness is unsearchable.

One generation shall laud your works to another,

and shall declare your mighty acts.

On the glorious splendor of your majesty,

and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.

The might of your awesome deeds shall be proclaimed,

and I will declare your greatness.

They shall celebrate the fame of your abundant goodness,

and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

The L ord is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

The L ord is good to all,

and his compassion is over all that he has made.

All your works shall give thanks to you, O L ord,

and all your faithful shall bless you.

They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom,

and tell of your power,

to make known to all people your mighty deeds,

and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

The L ord is faithful in all his words,

and gracious in all his deeds.

The L ord upholds all who are falling,

and raises up all who are bowed down.

The eyes of all look to you,

and you give them their food in due season.

You open your hand,

satisfying the desire of every living thing.

The L ord is just in all his ways,

and kind in all his doings.

The L ord is near to all who call on him,

to all who call on him in truth.

He fulfills the desire of all who fear him;

he also hears their cry, and saves them.

The L ord watches over all who love him,

but all the wicked he will destroy.

My mouth will speak the praise of the L ord,

and all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

15. The eyes of all hope in thee. David adduces an additional proof of God’s goodness, in giving food to all living creatures, and thus showing himself in the character of the father of a family. Some interpreters, led by the term hope, which is employed, restrict the application to men, as being endued with reason and intelligence, to seek their food from their heavenly father, while the beasts seek it only in a gross manner, by sight or smell. But although not endued with the exercise of reason, leading them to depend upon God’s providence, necessity itself forces even them, by a certain hidden instinct, to seek their food, so that they may very properly be said to hope in God, as elsewhere the young ravens are said to cry unto him. (Psalm 147:9.) Besides, those who would restrict the words to man, still leave them open to the charge of impropriety; for the wicked have no regard to the fatherly care of God, more than the ox or the ass. Since such is the order established in nature that all animals are brought to a dependence upon their Maker, there is no impropriety in supposing the affection of desire or expectation to be here put for the fact of dependence itself. ²⁸²²⁸² “Il ne sera point mal connenable que l’affection soit yei mise pour la chose mesme.” — Fr. All ambiguity is taken away by the next verse, where every living thing is said to be satisfied. It is said that he gives them their food, and in its season, for the very variety of it serves more to illustrate the providence of God. Each has its own way of feeding, and the different kinds of aliment are designed and adapted for different uses. David therefore speaks of that food which is particular to them. The pronoun is not in the plural, and we are not to read in their season, as if it applied to the animals. The food he notices as given in its season; for here also we are to notice the admirable arrangements of divine providence, that there is a certain time appointed for harvest, vintage, and hay crop, and that the year is so divided into intervals, that the cattle are fed at one time upon grass, at another on hay, or straw, or acorns, or other products of the earth. Were the whole supply poured forth at one and the same moment, it could not be gathered together so conveniently; and we have no small reason to admire the seasonableness with which the different kinds of fruit and aliment are yearly produced.

²⁸² “Il ne sera point mal connenable que l’affection soit yei mise pour la chose mesme.” — Fr.