Extol Him

Recently, my husband and I took our raft out with friends on one of the rivers near us. We saw numerous trees in or along the water that had been felled by beavers. The average tree was about 40 feet tall. The average beaver is 2.5-3 feet long, 7.5% the size of the tree and that is just comparing the lengths of each not their weights. Yet, the small beaver can fell the big tree.

Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter in the Bible, but it is mighty in praise. I almost dismissed writing about it because it was so short, but the more I studied, the more I loved this short but mighty psalm.

Praise the Lord, all nations!

Extol him, all peoples!

2 For great is his steadfast love toward us,

and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.

Praise the Lord! [1]

Psalm 117

The Psalm can be divided into two parts: the call (vs 1) and the cause (vs 2). First, the psalmist calls on all the nations to praise the Lord, and all peoples to extol Him. I think most of us read over this without thinking much about it other than that we should praise God. However, for Israel, this would have been very different. Israel praised God. Gentiles, except for a select few in the Old Testament, did not praise God. They praised their false gods. This psalm looks forward to a time when salvation is extended to the Gentiles as well that they may praise God too. This psalm also brings me to Philippians 2:9-11:

9 Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

And:

9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

Revelation 7:9-10

As we consider verse 1, we as Gentiles should be grateful that we are included in the worship of God. What a privilege that we, who were once enemies of God, can now bring Him the praise that He is due. Jews and Gentiles alike can heed this call to praise and extol God.

The psalmist emphasized this praise by repeating the call twice: Praise the Lord and extol Him. Some Bible translations translate both commands as praise, but the Hebrew uses two different words to underscore the praise of God.

To help us understand the phrase praise the Lord a little further, we will go to the Hebrew. Praise is the Hebrew hālal. The Lord in Hebrew is Yᵊhōvâ (vs 1a) or yâ (vs 2b). If we put hālal and yâ together, do you know what English word we get? Hallelujah. We use hallelujah as an expression of praise and rejoicing. Now you know where hallelujah originates.

Second, the psalmist gives us the cause or reason to praise God: “For great is His steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.” Again, we may tend to gloss over this cause for praise after all, we know that God is loving and faithful. Nothing new here, but let’s slow down for a minute.

For great is – “The Hebrew word doesn’t have the thought of exceedingly large, but as something that is mighty and prevails. ‘Gabar, is strong: it is not only great in bulk or number, but it is powerful: it prevails over sin, Satan, death, and hell.’” (Clarke)[2] Does this begin to expand your view of great is in this verse?

His steadfast love – The Hebrew word is hesed. It refers to God’s covenantal love. It is also translated as merciful kindness or lovingkindness. And in Hebrew, this part of the verse actually says, “His hesed hesed is great. The psalmist is again emphasizing his point by repetition. I like the word steadfast in describing God’s love. It ties into God’s love being covenantal. Steadfast for us in English is synonymous with relentless, resolute, abiding, unwavering, and unyielding. We are getting a rich picture of God’s love.

If we join these two parts, the picture we have is God’s: “…lovingkindness is ‘mighty over us’ — the word used for being mighty has the sense of prevailing, and so ‘where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.’” (Maclaren)[3] God’s steadfast love prevails over us.

That is all pretty amazing, but the psalmist doesn’t just describe God’s great steadfast love, but he says that it is toward us. We who deserved hell but have been saved by faith in Jesus’ atoning work on the cross are the recipients of God’s great, prevailing steadfast love.

the faithfulness of the Lord – Faithfulness is also translated as truth. We praise God that He is faithful, but we can also praise Him that He is truth (John 14:6), and we have His truth in Scripture. God’s faithfulness and steadfast love are often joined together as in Psalm 36:5: “Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the clouds.” Note the vastness to both God’s steadfast love and His faithfulness.

endures forever – God’s faithfulness never ends. It is lasting for all eternity. What hope this gives us! I especially think of His faithfulness in completing the good work He has begun in us (Philippians 1:6), and His faithfulness to bring us into His eternal presence one day. No wonder the psalmist ends this short yet mighty psalm with repeating, “Praise the Lord!”

Reflection

1. Do you see praising God both as a call and a privilege? Why or why not?

2. What about “For great is His steadfast love toward us” impacted you the most? Why?

3. How does “the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever” encourage you in the present? Give you hope for the future? Make you grateful for the evidence of it in your past?

4. Take time to praise and extol your loving, merciful, faithful God.

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ps 117:1–2. [2] https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/guzik_david/study-guide/psalm/psalm-117.cfm?a=595001 [3] https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/guzik_david/study-guide/psalm/psalm-117.cfm?a=595001