Pentecost Season · Thanksgiving Day Canada · Year C
Psalm 145:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, 10-11
I Will Extol You, My God and King
November 23, 2028
Overview & Insights
“The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.” (Psalm 145:8)
The praise of this psalm is hymnic in that it praises God’s attributes and deeds in general, but the speaker is “I” throughout (“we/us” does not appear), and the opening verses are characteristic of individual thanksgiving. It begins, not with an imperative summons addressed to a congregation, but with a proclamation of praise: “I will exalt you.” The verses form an acrostic (i.e., each verse begins with a successive letter of the Hb. alphabet), but this feature need not imply the psalm is a literary composition not intended for liturgical performance. For example, Psalm 111 is also an acrostic and was probably intended for liturgical performance. Like Psalm 145, its praise consists of general nouns and adjectives that are drawn from Exodus 34:6.
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Commentary
Psalm 145:2 Commentaries BibleHub
Classic commentary on praising God's name every day forever.
Psalm 145 Commentary Enduring Word · David Guzik
David Guzik traces the psalm's acrostic praise of God's greatness and goodness.
Psalm 145 (Barnes' Notes) StudyLight
Barnes walks through the psalm's generational call to declare God's mighty works.
Commentary on Psalm 145:1-8 Working Preacher
Covers the opening half of the psalm, the portion this reading draws from.
Psalm 145:1-8 Center for Excellence in Preaching
A preaching angle on passing thanksgiving down from one generation to the next.
Questions preachers ask
What is Psalm 145?
An acrostic hymn of praise, the only psalm titled “a psalm of praise,” extolling God’s greatness and goodness to all he has made. Its refrain of grace and mercy pairs with Jonah’s reluctant discovery of the same God.
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