Psalms 145King James Version
I will extol thee, my God, O king. Every day will I bless thee. The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.
David's acrostic psalm of praise: twenty-one verses (lacking the nun-letter verse, though the Dead Sea Scrolls include it) moving through praise of God's greatness, goodness, mercy, and kingdom. Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise his works to another. The LORD is gracious, slow to anger, good to all. He upholds all who fall. The eyes of all wait on him; he gives their meat in due season. The LORD is righteous in all his ways. He will hear their cry. My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD.
God's greatness is demonstrated not only in cosmic acts but in the specific attention he pays to falling creatures, hungry creatures, and crying creatures; the kingdom that rules everything bends to the smallest need.
verse: "The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down." The king of the universe has a specific posture toward those who have gone down.
Superscription: 'David's Psalm of praise.' The only psalm titled 'tehillah' (singular praise/hymn). This makes it the original 'the Psalm of Praise' from which the Hebrew name Tehillim for the whole book is derived. The acrostic structure (aleph to tav) suggests completeness: the full alphabet of praise. Closes the Davidic collection; the final five psalms are the closing Hallel.
David as the praiser; God as the subject of every attribute; the saints who bless the name; all creatures whose eyes wait on God; the righteous; the wicked who will be destroyed; all flesh invited to bless the holy name.
Psalm 145 is the only psalm explicitly titled 'David's Psalm of Praise' (tehillah). It is the acrostic in the Psalter most deliberately celebrated as a summary of theology. In Jewish tradition, saying Psalm 145 three times daily is connected to assurance of the world to come (Babylonian Talmud, Berakot 4b). It is the summative praise psalm before the closing Hallel.
For when you want to praise comprehensively, not about a specific event but about the whole character of God. The psalm covers everything from the unsearchable to the most immediate falling creature.
1[David's Psalm of praise.] I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.
2Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.
3Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.
4One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.
5I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.
6And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness.
7They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.
8The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.
9The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.
10All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee.
11They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power;
12To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.
13Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.
14The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down.
15The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season.
16Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.
17The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.
18The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.
19He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.
20The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.
21My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.