Psalm 145: Jesus, the Compassionate Warrior King

I will exalt you [Polel 1CS Impf rum with 2MS Suff], my God the King, And I will bless [Piel 1CS Cohort barak with waw conj] your name forever and ever. 2 In every day I will bless you [Piel 1CS Impf barak with 2MS Suff], And I will praise [Piel 1CS Cohort halal with waw conj] your name forever and ever. 3 Great [is] YHWH, and [he is] to be praised [Pual MS Part halal with waw conj] greatly! And his greatness is without searching [unsearchable]. 4 Generation to generation will laud [Piel 3MS Impf shabach] your works, And your mighty deeds1 they will tell [Hiphil 3MPl Impf nagad]. 5 The majestic glory of your splendor, And the things of your extraordinary works [Niphal FPl Part with 2MS Suff] I will meditate [Qal 1CP Cohort siach]. 6 And the fierceness2 of your glorious things3 they will speak [Qal 3MPl Impf amar], And your great works I will recount [Piel 1CS Impf saphar with 3fs Suff]. 7 The remembrance of your abundant goodness [zeker rab-tobeka] they will pour out [Hiphil 3MPl Impf naba], And your righteousness they will give a ringing cry [Piel 3MPl Impf ranan]
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Gracious and compassionate is YHWH, Slow to anger and great in steadfast love. 9 Good is YHWH to all, And his compassions are over all his works. They will praise you [Hiphil 3MPl Impf yadah with 2MS suffix] YHWH, all your works. And your saints will bless you [Piel 3MPl Impf barak with 2MS suffix]. 11 The glory of your kingdom they will tell [Qal 3MPl Impf amar], And your mighty deeds (geburateka) they will speak [Piel 3MPl Impf dabar]. 12 To make known [Hiphil Inf Cons yada with lamed] to the sons of Adam his mighty deeds, 4 And the glorious splendor of his kingdom. 13 Your kingdom is a kingdom all-forevers [everlasting], And your dominion from every generation to generation.
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YHWH upholds [Qal MS Part samak] all the falling-down-ones [Qal MPl Part naphal with art.], And raises up [Qal MS Part zaqaph with waw conj] all the bent-down-ones [Qal MPl Part kaphaph with art.] 15 The eyes of all to you wait/hope [Piel 3MPl Impf sabar] And you are giving [Qal MS Part natan] to them their food in its season. 16 Opening [Qal MS Part patach] your hand, And satisfying [Hiphil MS Part saba] every living thing as he desires [ratson].5 17 Righteous is YHWH in all his ways, And faithful in all his works. 18 Near [Qal Inf Abs qarab] is YHWH to all calling upon him [Qal MPl Part qara with 3MS suff], To all who call upon him [Qal 3MPl Impf qara with 3MS suff] in truth/faithfulness. 19 The desire of those-who-fear-him [Qal MPl Part yare with 3MS suff] he [Qal 3MS Impf asah] And their cries for help he hears [Qal 3MS Impf shama] and he saves them [Hiphil 3MS Impf yasha with MPl suff and waw conj] 20 Keeps [Qal Inf Abs shamar] YHWH all those-who-love-him [Qal MPl Part ahab with MS suff], And all the wicked he will annihilate [Hiphil 3MS Impf shamad]. 21 The praise of YHWH it will speak [Piel 3MS Impf dabar] the mouth, And it will bless [Piel 3MS Impf barak with waw conj] all flesh his holy name [shem qodsho] forever and ever.

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BDB, p. 150. Geburah means strength, might, but in this context probably refers to the mighty deeds of God. BDB, p. 739. ezuz refers specifically to ones strength, might, or fierceness of battle. 3 BDB, p. 431. Yara means fear, and these acts are specifically the fear inspiring kind of wondrous works. 4 Ibid. 5 Prob. the desire of each living thing rather than the desire of God. (ESV: you satisfy the desire of every living thing.)

Psalm 145:1-7: Jesus, The Warrior King V. 1: Interestingly, Delitzsch notes that Psalm 145 is the only Psalm the bears the title tehillah, whose plural tehillim is become the collective name of the Psalms.6 Delitzsch also gives a helpful reflection on why the Nun strophe is not included in this acrostic psalm: The LXX. (but not Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, nor Jerome in his translation after the original text) gives such a strophe, perhaps out of a MS. (like the Dubline Cod. Kennicot, 142) in which it was supplied.We are contented to see in the omission of the Nun-strophe an example of that freedom with which the Old Testament poets are wont to handle this kind of forms. Likewise there is no reason apparent for the fact that Jeremiah has chosen in ch. ii., iii., and iv. Of the Lamentations to make the Ajin-strophe follow the Pe-strophe three times, whilst in ch. i. it precedes it. 7 This tehillah of David opens with the phrase I will extol you, my God the King. The word extol is a form of rum, which means to be high, exalted, proud, and in the Polel, this means to to raise up; exalt. Smith and Hamilton write: The vb. can communicate the process of lifting or moving things higher, or it may have the stative sense when describing things that are high or exalted. The stative usage describes things that are already high or lifted up. God is a rock who is higher than humankind (Ps 61:2[3]); his throne is high and lifted up (Isa 6:1); and the stars are high in the heavens (Job 22:12).8 Undoubtedly, this is the stative sense, describe a God who is already high and exalted. Regarding the Polel form specifically, Allen writes This vb. belongs to the general vocabulary of praise; it appears predominantly in the Psalms.9 This word sets the tone for the first section of the psalmDavid is interested first in describing God as the matchless King. This King is to be adored, glorified, and worshiped as the High King of Heaven. There is not an easy way to approach such a God who is so high and lofty. The object of Davids extolling is my God the King. The words My God and The King are in apposition, defining each other, but the ESV misses it a bit by translating the verse as my God and King. Yes, David is claiming this God as my God; however, he is staking a far more universal claim for the Kingship of this God. Delitzsch helpfully notes that: The language of address my God the King, which sounds harsh in comparison with the otherwise usual my King and my God (v. 3, lxxxiv. 4), purposely calls God with unrelated generality, that is to say in the most absolute manner, the King. If the poet is himself a king, the occasion for this appellation of God is all the more natural and the signification all the more
F. Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament in Ten Volumes: Psalms, Vol. 5, trans. James Martin (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1960), 387. 7 F. Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament in Ten Volumes: Psalms, Vol. 5, trans. James Martin (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1960), 388. 8 Gary V. Smith and Victor Hamilton, Rum, in NIDOTTE, vol. 3, ed. Willem A. VanGemeren (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997), 1079. 9 Leslie C. Allen, Romem, in NIDOTTE, vol. 3, ed. Willem A. VanGemeren (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997), 1081.
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pertinent. But even in the mouth of any other person it is significant. Whosoever calls God by such a name acknowledges His royal prerogative, and at the same time does homage to Him and binds himself to allegiance; and it is just this confessor act of exalting Him who in Himself is the absolutely lofty One that is here called romem. 10 This God is not merely Davids personal king (even if he is God in a personal way to David), but this God is the King over all creation. David therefore vows to bless your name forever and ever. Name here refers to the character and reputation of God. In v. 2, David will vow to praise your name forever and ever. As we will see, the character of God is precisely what is at stake in this psalmthis God is both a warrior king whose kingdom spells justice for all people, as well as a compassionate provider for those who love him. This God is worthy of eternal praise from his people. V. 2: In v. 2, David intensifies his vow from v. 1 in two ways: 1. He vows to bless you every day. This God is not someone who is content to receive worship on Sabbaths, feasts, and holy days, but a God who deserves to be blessed every day. 2. He vows to praise Gods name forever and ever. I dont know that praise means more than bless (v. 1), but David states the same essential idea in a slightly different manner, intensifying both statements by repetition. V. 3: In v. 3 we begin to get to the reason why this God is greatly to be praised: he is great, and his greatness is unsearchable. The Psalm as a whole gives three reasons why God is great: 1. His great works (v. 4-7, 10-13) 2. His great covenantal mercies (v. 8-9) 3. His great compassion (v. 14-20) Although the word great is used with reference to a host of people and situations in the Bible, David makes it very clear that the greatness of God is unmatched and incomprehensiblethe greatness of God is unsearchable. Matties and Patterson write: The creation context expressed in Ps 145:3 asserts the inscrutable greatness of God. The psalmist goes on to describe rather broadly the character and actions of God. The psalm affirms a greatness that no one can fathom (v. 3), namely, that God is the Lord of the entire world order, including the moral sphere (v. 20). In a context of theodicy and creation, Isa 40:28 similarly declares that the Creators understanding is unfathomable; still, he will not grow tired or weary in renewing the strength of the weak and the powerless. 11 V. 3 functions essentially as the thesis for why this God should be so highly praised and extolled because he is gadol. The rest of the psalm will spell out the reasons for this greatness.

F. Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament in Ten Volumes: Psalms, Vol. 5, trans. James Martin (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1960), 388. 11 Gordon H. Matties and R. D. Patterson, Chqr, in NIDOTTE, vol. 2, ed. Willem A. VanGemeren (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997), 254.

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V. 4: In v. 4, the Psalmist opens the subject of the mighty works of God. These works are so great, that generation to generation will commend this work. The word for commend (yeshabbach) is a word for praise, often of praise toward God. But here the word refers to praising God to the next generation of Gods covenant people: Elsewhere the vb. denotes religious praise. In hymns it introduces a section of praise at Ps 147:12, and a rhetorical call to the nations to praise God at 117:1. In a solo hymn it appears in an exhortation that praise of God be transmitted from each generation to the next, for his work in creation and in redemptive history (145:4).12 The mighty acts in the second half of v. 4 could refer to the strength of God in general, but in context, most likely refers to the mighty deeds of God. For the word geburah, In all occurrencesthe emphasis lies on power and strength and often on excellence and superiority as well.13 One interesting tidbit from the NIDDOTE article on geburah: It is scarcely surprising that in the rabbinic age, when the name of Yahweh was no longer uttered, the word gebura became one of the substitutes for Gods proper name (Kosmala, TDOT 2, 37071). Jesus used the term at his trial before Caiaphas, saying that he would be seen sitting at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven (Matt 26:64). No other term could convey the authority of Jesus as clearly as this one (Kosmala, TDOT 2:371). The blasphemy of Jesus consisted not in uttering Gods name, but in identifying his own power with God (Kosmala, TDOT 2:371).14 These mighty acts are uniquely mighty, the kind of acts that only omnipotence could accomplish. V. 5: The fifth verse opens with a magnificent string of three words to convey Gods unrivaled splendorous, majestic, glorious kingship: hadar kebod hodeka (the majestic glory of your splendor). Lets take these three words individually. Hadar: The OED includes the following in its definition of the Eng. word splendor: magnificence, great show of riches; eminence, impressive or imposing character; ornate appearance. This corresponds closely to the range of Heb. hadar. The dominant use is in the realm of magnificence, eminence. (a) Magnificence, eminence. Gods impressive or imposing character is in view when this word is used of him.[page] Commonly we find the word pair hod wehadar, majesty and splendor, applied to God: Job 40:10; Ps 96:6 (= 1 Chron 16:27); 104:1; 111:3; cf. 145:5 (hadar kebod hodeka, the splendor of the glory of your majesty), 12 (ukebod hadar malekuto, and the glory of the splendor of your kingdom). Delitzsch (at Ps 96:6) called hod wehadar, The usual pair of words for royal glory.15 Especially in view of the kingdom theme (malkut) in v. 11-13, and the word majesty (hodeka) in this word chain, hadar and kebod should both be read in a kingly light. This is not mere impressive eminence in generalthis is the overpowering eminence of a glorious king.
Leslie C. Allen, Shbch, in NIDOTTE, vol. 4, ed. Willem A. VanGemeren (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997), 26. Robin Wakely, Gbr, in NIDOTTE, vol. 1, ed. Willem A. VanGemeren (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997), 806. 14 Robin Wakely, Gbr, in NIDOTTE, vol. 1, ed. Willem A. VanGemeren (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997), 814. 15 C. John Collins, Hdr, in NIDOTTE, vol. 1, ed. Willem A. VanGemeren (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997), 1013-14.
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Kebod: Kebod is the word for Gods glory, or very literally, his weight (i.e., his importance) in the universe. This is the supremely weighty God, whose glory fills the whole earth, and is higher than the heavens. Hodeka: The ka makes this your majesty. The word refers in particular to majesty. NIDOTTE draws these semantic conclusions for the word hod: From the above it appears that the basic idea conveyed by this word corresponds pretty well to English majesty, which OED defines as magnificence, impressiveness: it is that which is evidence of the bearers power. The word itself does not imply that the power is necessarily supernatural; that information comes from the context (especially the nature of the bearer).16 Interestingthe word for majesty doesnt necessarily refer to a king. Nevertheless, in light of the kingdom in 11-13, the kingship of God is somehow in view. His majesty is awe-inspiring and worthy of worship, adoration, and praise. The second part of the verse, On your wondrous works, I will meditate, reminds us that one of the major ways in which God reveals the glorious splendor of his majesty is through his works. Here is the significant entry on the word meditate: In the Psalms, the vb. is used by the psalmist primarily in a transitive sense (11x), for reflection on the saving deeds of Yahweh on behalf of Israel.This mental/verbal reflection on Yahwehs saving deeds identifies the psalmist as a deserving suppliant for divine aid (143;5), provides the basis for comfort and encouragement in context of suffering (77:12[13]), and gives the motive for and substance of communal praise of Israels God (105:2; 145:5). Within the context of Israels ritual psalmody, siach constitutes one of the vbs. of worship. Its principal object, Yahwehs deeds (77:12[13]) alilot, works; 105:2 niplaot, wonders; 143:5 maase yadeyka, works of your hands; 145:5 dibre nipleoteyka, reports of your wonders, but cf. BHS), anchors Israels worship in the reverent recollection and personal reappropriation of her story of national origin as a history of divine love and [page] deliverance within the election-promise-exodus-divine guidance-conquest/inheritance framework. 17 Of huge importance is the meditation and exultation in the story of what YHWH has done for Israel. I think that this could refer to both YHWHs works in creation and in redemption. V. 6: The word that the ESV translates as awesome deeds comes from the root word for fear, suggesting not so much that we should be afraid of God, but that the deeds are fear-inspiring. Redemption isnt a nice, easy, pretty event, but a terrifying act of Gods judgment for the sake of his people. The overall picture of God that is building is that he is a glorious, splendorous, majestic, terrifying, mighty king. Lest younger generations think that he is not much of a God, the stories of his remarkable deeds must be told again and again, from generation to generation. David vows to recount (cohortative) Gods greatness.
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C. John Collins, Hod, in NIDOTTE, vol. 1, ed. Willem A. VanGemeren (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997), 1016. 17 A. R. Pete Diamond, Siach, in NIDOTTE, vol. 3, ed. Willem A. VanGemeren (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997), 1234-35.

What is interesting about v. 6 is the use of the 3MPl Impf for amar: they will speak. Suddenly, it isnt the psalmist doing the speaking. Who are they? It could be the generations, or it could be the works themselves. V. 7: Again in a 3MPl way, They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness, and shall sing aloud of your righteousness. The word for sing aloud is more of a word for a ringing cry, but thats a pretty good translation of the text overall. Whoever they are, they are proclaiming and exalting God and his works. Psalm 145:8-13: Jesus, The Universal King V. 8: The first part of this excursus is lifted straight out of Exodus 34 (the climax of Gods covenantal revelation of himself to his people, where he proclaims his own name in the sight of Moses, the covenant mediator), with a couple of minor changes: 1. Exodus 34 has merciful and gracious, while Ps 145 has gracious and merciful. 2. Exodus 34 opens with YHWH YHWH, a God merciful and gracious while Ps 145 puts YHWH after the first two words gracious and-merciful. 3. Instead of rab-chesed (Ex 34), Ps 145 has gadol-chesed. Within the context of the psalm, this may be to define the way in which YHWH is great. 4. Ex 34 concludes with the word and faithfulness (weemet), while faithfulness does not come up in Ps 145. Numbers (1) and (2) probably come from poetic concerns, trying to fit the chet letter of the acrostic poem. Also, Chanun werachum YHWH is a very concise, elegant restatement of Ex. 34. (3) and (4) seem deliberate, however. Again, I suspect that (3) functions as defining the way in which YHWH is great. The word emet does come up later in Psalm 145 in v. 18: YHWH is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth (beemet). Im not entirely sure what is happening there. V. 9: Whereas v. 8 only had minor variations from Ex 34, v. 9 is VERY different. Rather than focusing on sin (whether as the God who will forgive or as the God who will by no means clear the guilty) as in Ex 34, Psalm 145 focuses on Gods goodness and mercy to all that he has made. In some ways, it seems that Ex 34:7 is kicked out to Ps 145:17-20, becoming an extended meditation there. But why focus here on the goodness to all and the mercy of God over all that he has made? Probably to extend the covenant mercies of this covenant God a bit wider than was typically understood. Notice v. 10: All your works (same phrase as the end of v. 9) shall give thanks to you, YHWH. As we transition into v. 10-13, we see the Kingdom of God reformulated into a wider sense than understood at Sinai: namely, that God is good to all, and that his mercy is over all his works. God loves his whole creation, and his whole mission in this world is to bring them into his kingdom. V. 10: All the works of YHWH will give thanks to him, and your saints (ESV incorrectly adds all to this phrase) will bless you! Again, the phrase All your works in v. 10 is linked to v. 9: and his mercy is over all his works. V. 11: Earlier the glorious splendor of your majesty (v. 5) was mentioned; now, the focus is toward the glory of your kingdom they will tell. The kingdom is in view now as something breathtaking and majestic in its own right; however, this is not merely a kingdom or the kingdom, but your kingdom. The glory and splendor of this kingdom stems from the glory and splendor of the King.

A crucial component to the glory of this kingdom is the power and sway that it holds: and your power they will speak. The word power (geburah) was considered earlier in v. 4, when it referred to the works of Gods power: and shall declare your mighty acts. Now the power seems to refer to the power V. 12: Again the word geburah: The sons of man (beney haadam) will make known your mighty deeds. The choice of the phrase sons of man is interesting here. Why not sons of Abraham or sons of Jacob/Israel? The phrase sons of man is far more universal in scope, moving beyond the people of Israel, but expecting your saints (v. 11) to make known to the sons of man your mighty deeds. This could mean to make God known in judgment, or it could have to do with mission and evangelism. And then again the phrase, the glorious splendor of his kingdom, which is almost identical to v. 5: the glorious splendor of your majesty. Another piling up of (the same) words to describe the incredible degree to which this kingdom is glorious. (Interestingly, the Hebrew text has his kingdom, which is odd in the context of the rest of the psalm. A footnote in BHS says that the LXX and the Syriac Peshitta have a 2 sg suff.) V. 13: Two statements here: Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. Essentially, these are stating the same thing: this kingdom lasts forever/throughout all generations. The word dominion (memshalah) refers to ruling or governing. Wiersbe18 helpfully points out that King Nebuchadnezzar quotes v. 13 in Daniel 4:3, after Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are rescued from the fiery furnace: How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion endures from generation to generation. That the Babylonian king can quote this is powerful testimony to the universal nature of this kingdom. Psalm 145:14-20: Jesus, The Compassionate King V. 14: V. 14 is an intensely compassionate verse, with overtones of Isaiah 42:3: a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench. Here in Psalm 145, David writes, YHWH upholds the falling-down-ones, and he raises up all the bent-down-ones. The form is exactly the same in both halves of the line: VERB YHWH lecol-OBJECT, VERB lecol-OBJECT. YHWH upholds the falling-down-ones, and he raises up the bent-down-ones. What we should notice about this verse is the stark contrast of this picture of YHWH from the picture we have received up to this point. We are not terrified of the glorious splendor of this Gods might. While we might have worried about exclusion from this Gods everlasting kingdom, apparently we need nothe upholds the fallingdown-ones, and he raises up the bent-down-ones! Where we had certainly heard that YHWH is good to all, and his mercy is over all his works, we see it now first-hand. This King is a compassionate king. V. 15: The eyes of all wait/hope for you. The ESV has look as the verb, which isnt really wrong, but which certainly misses some of the point. Here are some notes on the word meaning:

Warren Wiersbe, Psalms in The Bible Exposition Commentary / Wisdom and Poetry (Colorado Springs: Victor, 2003), 376.

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2. The primary idea of the root is that of examining, diggint out, and exploring (HALAT). Nehemiah nightly examined (sbr) the walls of Jerusalem that had been broken down (Neh 2:13, 15), probably to get an idea of their condition. 3. It is the more pervasive intensive form (pi) that conveys the added notion of hope and expectancy. As with this family of vbs. (chkh ; ychl; qwh), the person concerned is looking mostly to God to provide what is hoped for. Thus, the psalmist says people and animals alike look to God to provide food (Ps 104:27; 145:15)19 But again, the emphasis of this verse is on the compassionate, providential care of this God: you give them their food in due season. All look expectantly in hope toward God, and he gives all of them their food at the proper time. V. 16: In fact, God is depicted as personally giving out the food (and more) at the proper time: You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing (kol-chay). This God personally opens his hand to satisfy the desires of all his creatures. The word desire (ratson) comes up again in v. 19, so its worth taking a look at. Fretheim locates the word within a semantic range of being pleased with, treating favorably, being accepted, making onself pleasing, what is acceptable, and favor. Of this specific usage, Fretheim writes, For human beings, ratson may be either negative (Gen 49:6); Dan 11:3) or positive, as favor (Prov 16:13, 15) or a desire to seek God (2 Chron 15:15) or Gods blessings (Ps 145:16).20 God personally opens his hand to give us blessings that we desire. This does not mean that the Prosperity People are correctGod is concerned about much more than making us happy in the immediate now; however, we would be mistaken to think that he is concerned with less than making us happy. As in v. 15, it may be a matter of the proper time, or various other issues at stake. Still, God intends to bless us and to make us happyeven if the path looks nothing like the ultimate goal. V. 17: Indeed, his ways are inscrutable: YHWH is righteous in all his ways, and kind in all his works. Tsadiq is the word for righteous, the kind is chasid, a cognate of chesed. In this way, kind is short for lovingkindness. Whatever YHWH does, he does in righteousness and in a way that is truly kind throughout all of his works. V. 18: This verse speaks most clearly on the aspect of faith as a necessary response of Gods people. Everywhere through this psalm the theme of faith is implicit, from the overflowing desire to praise Gods greatness, to the gentle trust that God will uphold the falling-down-ones, but here the theme of faith is explicit: YHWH is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. Calling on YHWH is an act of faith, believing that he will be near to you if you call on him. YHWH does not stand aloof from those who call on himhe graciously draws near to them. V. 19: The desire of those who fear him he fulfills, and their cries he hears and he saves them. YHWH both fulfills their desires (granting a positive), but he saves those who cry out (righting a negative). He cares deeply for his people, and he addresses any manner of concern or hurt in their lives. V. 20: Yet YHWH is not some drowsily benevolent Grandfather in the sky, loving each of his grandchildren the same. He is a righteous God who will establish justice: YHWH keeps all who love

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Daniel Schibler, Sbr, in NIDOTTE, vol. 3, ed. Willem A. VanGemeren (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997), 1214. Terence E Fretheim, Rtsh, in NIDOTTE, vol. 3, ed. Willem A. VanGemeren (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997), 1185-86.

him, and all the wicked he will annihilate. The word annihilate is the strongest possible word to describe how YHWH will deal with the wicked: The basic meaning suggests wholesale destruction of a group of people.[page] 5. Gods future judgment can be stated in the same way, whether it be directed against other nations (Jer 38:8; Zech 12:9, etc.), against the high places in Israel (Hos 10:8), or against the wicked in general (Ps 37:38; Isa 26:14).21 Although this verse might seem a bit out of place at first reading, this is probably because we dont think that much about claiming justice against the wicked who oppress us. (Probably because there arent many/any people who actually oppress us.) For God to care tenderly for his people, he must ultimately hear their cries, save them from their enemies, and destroy the wicked who have harmed them. Without that final step, there can be no real justice. Psalm 145:21: Jesus, The Universally Worshiped King V. 21: V. 21 circles back around to v. 1. In v. 1, we read that this was the praise of David (tehillah ledavid). In v. 21, David vows that, my mouth will praise YHWH (tehilat YHWH yedabber-piy). In v. 1, David promised to bless your name forever and ever, and in v. 21, David urges that all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever. So, this has become a solo praise song of David to the universal blessing of Gods holy name by all flesh. Through the course of this psalm, David has recruited all flesh to praising YHWH.

Gary H. Hall, Shmd, in NIDOTTE, vol. 4, ed. Willem A. VanGemeren (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997), 15152.

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