1Praise the LORD, all nations;
         Laud Him, all peoples!

2For His lovingkindness is great toward us,
         And the truth of the LORD is everlasting.
         Praise the LORD!

Parallel Verses

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
Praise the LORD, all nations; Laud Him, all peoples!

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
Praise the LORD, all you nations! Praise him, all you people of the world!

King James Bible
O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people.

Douay-Rheims Bible
O praise the Lord, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people.

Darby Bible Translation
Praise Jehovah, all ye nations; laud him, all ye peoples;

English Revised Version
O PRAISE the LORD, all ye nations; laud him, all ye peoples.

Webster's Bible Translation
O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people.

World English Bible
Praise Yahweh, all you nations! Extol him, all you peoples!

Young's Literal Translation
Praise Jehovah, all ye nations, Glorify Him, all ye peoples.

Cross References

Romans 15:11 And again, "PRAISE THE LORD ALL YOU GENTILES, AND LET ALL THE PEOPLES PRAISE HIM."

Psalm 66:4 "All the earth will worship You, And will sing praises to You; They will sing praises to Your name." Selah.

Zechariah 8:20 "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'It will yet be that peoples will come, even the inhabitants of many cities.

Commentary

Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary

PSALM 117

This psalm is short and sweet; I doubt the reason why we sing it so often as we do is for the shortness of it; but, if we rightly understood and considered it, we should sing it oftener for the sweetness of it, especially to us sinners of the Gentiles, on whom it casts a very favourable eye. Here is, I. A solemn call to all nations to praise God (v. 1). II. Proper matter for that praise suggested (v. 2). We are soon weary indeed of well-doing if, in singing this psalm, we keep not up those pious and devout affections with which the spiritual sacrifice of praise ought to be kindled and kept burning.

Verses 1-2

There is a great deal of gospel in this psalm. The apostle has furnished us with a key to it (Rom. 15:11), where he quotes it as a proof that the gospel was to be preached to, and would be entertained by, the Gentile nations, which yet was so great a stumbling-block to the Jews. Why should that offend them when it is said, and they themselves had often sung it, Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and laud him, all you people. Some of the Jewish writers confess that this psalm refers to the kingdom of the Messiah; nay, one of them has a fancy that it consists of two verses to signify that in the days of the Messiah God should be glorified by two sorts of people, by the Jews, according to the law of Moses, and by the Gentiles, according to the seven precepts of the sons of Noah, which yet should make one church, as these two verses make one psalm. We have here,

I. The vast extent of the gospel church, v. 1. For many ages in Judah only was God known and his name praised. The sons of Levi and the seed of Israel praised him, but the rest of the nations praised gods of wood and stone (Dan. 5:4), while there was no devotion at all paid, at least none openly, that we know of, to the living and true God. But here all nations are called to praise the Lord, which could not be applied to the Old-Testament times, both because this call was not then given to any of the Gentile nations, much less to all, in a language they understood, and because, unless the people of the land became Jews and were circumcised, they were not admitted to praise God with them. But the gospel of Christ is ordered to be preached to all nations, and by him the partition-wall is taken down, and those that were afar off are made nigh. This was the mystery which was hidden in prophecy for many ages, but was at length revealed in the accomplishment, That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, Eph. 3:3, 6. Observe here, 1. Who should be admitted into the church-all nations and all people. The original words are the same that are used for the heathen that rage and the people that imagine against Christ (Ps. 2:1); those that had been enemies to his kingdom should become his willing subjects. The gospel of the kingdom was to be preached to all the world, for a witness to all nations, Mt. 24:14; Mk. 16:15. All nations shall be called, and to some of all nations the call shall be effectual, and they shall be discipled. 2. How their admission into the church is foretold-by a repeated call to praise him. The tidings of the gospel, being sent to all nations, should give them cause to praise God; the institution of gospel-ordinances would give them leave and opportunity to praise God; and the power of gospel-grace would give them hearts to praise him. Those are highly favoured whom God invites by his word and inclines by his Spirit to praise him, and so makes to be to him for a name and a praise, Jer. 13:11. See Rev. 7:9, 10.

II. The unsearchable riches of gospel-grace, which are to be the matter or our praise, v. 2. In the gospel, those celebrated attributes of God, his mercy and his truth, shine most brightly in themselves and most comfortably to us; and the apostle, where he quotes this psalm, takes notice of these as the two great things for which the Gentiles should glorify God (Rom. 15:8, 9), for the truth of God and for his mercy. We that enjoy the gospel have reason to praise the Lord, 1. For the power of his mercy: His merciful kindness is great towards us; it is strong (so the word signifies); it is mighty for the pardon of mighty sins (Amos 5:12) and for the working out of a mighty salvation. 2. For the perpetuity of his truth: The truth of the Lord endures for ever. It was mercy, mere mercy, to the Gentiles, that the gospel was sent among them. It was merciful kindness prevailing towards them above their deserts; and in it the truth of the Lord, of his promise made unto the fathers, endures for ever; for, though the Jews were hardened and expelled, yet the promise took its effect in the believing Gentiles, the spiritual seed of Abraham. God's mercy is the fountain of all our comforts and his truth the foundation of all our hopes, and therefore for both we must praise the Lord.

Calvin's Commentary

1. Praise Jehovah, all ye nations; magnify him:, all ye peoples. [385] 2. Because his mercy is strengthened [386] towards us: and the truth of Jehovah remains for ever. Praise ye Jehovah.

1 Praise Jehovah, all ye nations. The Holy Spirit having, by the mouth of the prophet, exhorted all nations to celebrate the praises of God's mercy and faithfulness, Paul, in his Epistle to the Romans, very justly considers this as a prediction respecting the calling of the whole world, (Romans 15:11.) How can unbelievers be qualified for praising God, who, though not entirely destitute of his mercy, yet are insensible of it, and are ignorant of his truth? It would therefore serve no purpose for the prophet to address the heathen nations, unless they were to be gathered together in the unity of the faith with the children of Abraham. There is no ground for the censorious attempting, by their sophistical arguments, to refute the reasoning of Paul. I grant that the Holy Spirit elsewhere calls upon the mountains, rivers, trees, rain, winds, and thunder, to resound the praises of God, because all creation silently proclaims him to be its Maker. It is in a different manner that he is praised by his rational creatures. The reason assigned is, that God's mercy and truth furnish materials for celebrating his praises. Besides, the prophet does not mean that God shall be praised everywhere by the Gentiles, because the knowledge of his character is confined to a small portion of the land of Judea, but because it was to be spread over the whole world. First, he enjoins God to be praised, because his goodness is increased, or strengthened, for the Hebrew term admits of both meanings. Secondly, because his truth remains steadfast for ever How, then, are those qualified to celebrate his praises, who, with brutal insensibility, pass over his goodness, and shut their ears against his heavenly doctrine?

The truth of God, in this passage, is properly introduced as an attestation of his grace. For he can be true even when he menaces the whole world with perdition and ruin. The prophet, however, has placed his mercy first in order that his faithfulness and truth, comprising an assurance of his paternal kindness, might encourage the hearts of the godly. His power and justice are equally praiseworthy; but as men will never cordially praise God until they are drawn by a foretaste of his goodness, the prophet very justly selects God's mercy and truth, which alone open the mouths of those who are mute to engage in this exercise. When his truth is said to be everlasting, it is not set in opposition to his mercy, as if it, after flourishing for a season, then instantly passed away. The same reason would go to prove, that it was small compared with his mercy, which is said to be abundant. The meaning is, that God's mercy is rich towards us, flowing in a perennial stream, because united to his eternal truth. If we read, his mercy is confirmed, all difficulty will be removed, for then both constancy and stability will alike adorn his mercy and his truth.

Footnotes:

[385] "That all the nations here, and in the next word all peoples, signify, in the greatest latitude, all the nations, all people of the Gentile world, even pasan ktisin, the whole creation,' and kosmon hapanta, the whole world,' Mark 16:15, appears both by Matthew 28:19, where, parallel to those phrases in St Mark, is no more than panta ta ethne, all the nations,' as here; but especially by Romans 15, where, for a proof of God's purpose that the Gentiles should be received into the Church, and join with the believing Jews in one concert of Christian love and faith, and praise God together in the same congregation, the proof is brought, as from several other texts, so from these words in this psalm. And this not only by expressly citing, verse 1, And again praise the Lord, all ye nations, and laud him, all ye people;' but also in the front of the testimonies, by the phrases, for the truth of God,' verse 8, for the mercy or pity of God,' verse 9, both which are here mentioned, verse 2." -- Hammond.

[386] "Ou, multipliee." -- Fr. marg. "Or, multiplied."

Links

Psalm 117 Commentaries: Barnes • Calvin • Clarke • Darby • Gill • Geneva • Guzik • JFB • Keil / Delitzsch • KJV Translators' • Henry's Concise • Matthew Henry • Scofield • TSK • Treasury of David • Wesley

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Alphabetical: all extol him Laud LORD nations peoples Praise the you

Bible Browser

from all that Dwell Below the Skies
[966]Old Hundredth: Louis Bourgeois, 1551 Doxology Psalm 117 Isaac Watts, 1719; Doxology, Thomas Ken, 1692 From all that dwell below the skies Let the Creator's praise arise! Let the Redeemer's Name be sung Through every land, by every tongue! Eternal are thy mercies, Lord, And truth eternal is thy word: Thy praise shall sound from shore to shore Till suns shall rise and set no more. Praise God, from whom all blessings flow! Praise him, all creatures here below! Praise him above, ye heavenly host! …
Various—The Hymnal of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the USA

Epistle vii. To Peter, Domitian, and Elpidius.
To Peter, Domitian, and Elpidius. Gregory to Peter, Domitian, and Elpidius, Bishops [1688] . I rejoice exceedingly that you welcomed with great joy the ordination of the most holy Cyriacus, my brother and fellow-priest. And since we have learnt from the preaching of Paul the apostle that If one member rejoice, all the members rejoice with it (1 Cor. xii. 26), you must needs consider with how great exultation I rejoice with you in this thing, wherein not one member, but many members of Christ have …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

Of Meditation Upon the Hidden Judgments of God, that we May not be Lifted up Because of Our Well-Doing
Thou sendest forth Thy judgments against me, O Lord, and shakest all my bones with fear and trembling, and my soul trembleth exceedingly. I stand astonished, and remember that the heavens are not clean in thy sight.(1) If Thou chargest Thine angels with folly, and didst spare them not, how shall it be unto me? Stars have fallen from heaven, and what shall I dare who am but dust? They whose works seemed to be praiseworthy, fell into the lowest depths, and they who did eat Angels' food, them have …
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

Sermon on the Mount Continued Its Woes in Strict Agreement with the Creator's Disposition. Many Quotations Out of the Old Testament in Proof of This.
"In the like manner," says He, [3982] "did their fathers unto the prophets." What a turncoat [3983] is Marcion's Christ! Now the destroyer, now the advocate of the prophets! He destroyed them as their rival, by converting their disciples; he took up their cause as their friend, by stigmatizing [3984] their persecutors. But, [3985] in as far as the defence of the prophets could not be consistent in the Christ of Marcion, who came to destroy them; in so far is it becoming to the Creator's Christ that …
Tertullian—The Five Books Against Marcion

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament