Psalm 145


Psalm 145 is the 145th psalm of the Book of Psalms, generally known in English by its first verse, in the King James Version, "I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever". The Book of Psalms is the third section of the Hebrew Bible, and a book of the Christian Old Testament. In the Greek Septuagint version of the bible, and in its Latin translation Vulgate, this psalm is Psalm 144 in a slightly different numbering system. In Latin, it is known as "Exaltabo te Deus meus rex". The psalm is a hymn psalm.
The psalm is a regular part of Jewish, Catholic, Anglican and Protestant liturgies. It has been set to music often, notably by Antonín Dvořák who set several verses in Czech in his Biblical Songs.

Background and themes

This is the only chapter of the Book of Psalms that identifies itself as a תְּהִלָה – as a psalm. The version in the Dead Sea Scrolls instead describes itself as a "prayer" although it does not contain any request.
Psalm 145 is an alphabetic acrostic, the initial letter of each verse being the Hebrew alphabet in sequence. For this purpose, the usual Hebrew numbering of verse 1, which begins with the title, "A Psalm of David", is ignored in favor of the non-Hebrew numbering which treats verse 1 as beginning ארוממך.
The Dead Sea Scrolls version also ends each verse with the recurring refrain, "Blessed be YHVH and blessed be His name forever and ever" and adds at the end of the Psalm the tag, "This is for a memorial". The Dead Sea Scrolls version also preserves a line beginning with the letter nun.
Psalm 145 is the last Psalm attributed explicitly to David and also the last of the nine acrostic Psalms in its placement in the Book of Psalms.

Text

Hebrew Bible version

Following is the Hebrew text of Psalm 145:
VerseHebrew
1תְּהִלָּ֗ה לְדָ֫וִ֥ד
אֲ֖רֽוֹמִמְךָ אֱלוֹהַ֣י הַמֶּ֑לֶךְ וַֽאֲבָֽ֘רֲכָ֥ה שִׁ֜מְךָ֗ לְע֘וֹלָ֥ם וָעֶֽד
2בְּכָל־י֥וֹם אֲבָֽרֲכֶ֑ךָּ וַֽאֲהַ֘לְלָ֥ה שִׁ֜מְךָ֗ לְע֘וֹלָ֥ם וָעֶֽד
3גָּ֘ד֥וֹל יְהֹוָ֣ה וּמְהֻלָּ֣ל מְאֹ֑ד וְ֜לִגְדֻלָּת֗וֹ אֵ֣ין חֵֽקֶר
4דּ֣וֹר לְ֖דוֹר יְשַׁבַּ֣ח מַֽעֲשֶׂ֑יךָ וּגְב֖וּרֹתֶ֣יךָ יַגִּֽידוּ
5הֲדַר כְּב֣וֹד הוֹדֶ֑ךָ וְדִבְרֵ֖י נִפְלְאֹתֶ֣יךָ אָשִֽׂיחָה
6וֶֽעֱז֣וּז נֽוֹרְאֹתֶ֣יךָ יֹאמֵ֑רוּ וּגְדוּלָּֽתְךָ֥ אֲסַפְּרֶֽנָּה
7זֵ֣כֶר רַב־טֽוּבְךָ֣ יַבִּ֑יעוּ וְצִדְקָֽתְךָ֥ יְרַנֵּֽנוּ
8חַנּ֣וּן וְרַח֣וּם יְהֹוָ֑ה אֶ֥רֶךְ אַ֜פַּ֗יִם וּגְדָל־חָֽסֶד
9טֽוֹב־יְהֹוָ֥ה לַכֹּ֑ל וְ֜רַֽחֲמָ֗יו עַל־כָּל־מַֽעֲשָֽׂיו
10יוֹד֣וּךָ יְ֖הֹוָה כָּל־מַֽעֲשֶׂ֑יךָ וַֽ֜חֲסִידֶ֗יךָ יְבָֽרֲכֽוּכָה
11כְּב֣וֹד מַלְכֽוּתְךָ֣ יֹאמֵ֑רוּ וּגְבוּרָֽתְךָ֥ יְדַבֵּֽרוּ
12לְה֘וֹדִ֚יעַ לִבְנֵ֣י הָֽאָדָ֣ם גְּבֽוּרֹתָ֑יו וּ֜כְב֗וֹד הֲדַ֣ר מַלְכוּתֽוֹ
13מַלְכֽוּתְךָ֗ מַלְכ֥וּת כָּל־עֹֽלָמִ֑ים וּ֜מֶֽמְשַׁלְתְּךָ֗ בְּכָל־דּ֥וֹר וָדֹֽר
14סוֹמֵ֣ךְ יְ֖הֹוָה לְכָל־הַנֹּֽפְלִ֑ים וְ֜זוֹקֵ֗ף לְכָל־הַכְּפוּפִֽים
15עֵ֣ינֵי כֹ֖ל אֵלֶ֣יךָ יְשַׂבֵּ֑רוּ וְאַתָּ֚ה נוֹתֵֽן־לָהֶ֖ם אֶת־אָכְלָ֣ם בְּעִתּֽוֹ
16פּוֹתֵ֥חַ אֶת־יָדֶ֑ךָ וּמַשְׂבִּ֖יעַ לְכָל־חַ֣י רָצֽוֹן
17צַדִּ֣יק יְ֖הֹוָה בְּכָל־דְּרָכָ֑יו וְ֜חָסִ֗יד בְּכָל־מַֽעֲשָֽׂיו
18קָר֣וֹב יְ֖הֹוָה לְכָל־קֹֽרְאָ֑יו לְכֹ֚ל אֲשֶׁ֖ר יִקְרָאֻ֣הוּ בֶֽאֱמֶֽת
19רְצֽוֹן־יְרֵאָ֥יו יַֽעֲשֶׂ֑ה וְאֶת־שַׁוְעָ֘תָ֥ם יִ֜שְׁמַ֗ע וְיֽוֹשִׁיעֵֽם
20שׁוֹמֵ֣ר יְ֖הֹוָה אֶת־כָּל־אֹֽהֲבָ֑יו וְאֵ֖ת כָּל־הָֽרְשָׁעִ֣ים יַשְׁמִֽיד
21תְּהִלַּ֥ת יְהֹוָ֗ה יְֽדַבֵּ֫ר פִּ֥י וִיבָרֵ֣ךְ כָּל־בָּ֖שָׂר שֵׁ֥ם קָדְשׁ֗וֹ לְע֘וֹלָ֥ם וָעֶֽד

King James Version

  1. I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.
  2. Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.
  3. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.
  4. One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.
  5. I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.
  6. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness.
  7. They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.
  8. The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.
  9. The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.
  10. All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee.
  11. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power;
  12. To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.
  13. Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.
  14. The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down.
  15. The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season.
  16. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.
  17. The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.
  18. The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.
  19. He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.
  20. The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.
  21. My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.

    The "missing verse"

Being an alphabetic acrostic psalm, the initial letter of each verse in Psalm 145 should be the Hebrew alphabet in sequence, but in the Masoretic Text there is no verse beginning with the letter nun, which would come between verses 13 and 14. A very common supposition is that there had been such a verse but it was omitted by a copyist's error. If so, that error must have occurred very early. By the 3rd century C.E., Rabbi Johanan Ha-Nappah is quoted in the Talmud as asking why is there no verse in Psalm 145 beginning with nun, and the explanation is given that the word "fallen" begins with nun, as in the verse of , and thus it is incompatible with the uplifting and universal theme of the Psalm. Since verse 14, the samech verse, contains the word "נֹּפְלִ֑ים", the Talmud conjectures that King David foresaw the destruction of Israel and omitted a verse starting with nun, while nevertheless hinting to it in the next verse, and verse 13, starting with "מַֽלְכוּתְךָ֗" ). The explanation may not satisfy modern readers, but it demonstrates that the absence of a verse beginning with that letter was noticed and was undisputed even in antiquity.
However, the Septuagint, the Latin Vulgate, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Dead Sea Scrolls all provide a verse at this point which commences with nun—נֶאֱמָן
New Revised Standard Version
This verse is now inserted at the end of verse 13 in several Christian versions of the Bible including the New Revised Standard, the New American, the Today's English Version, the Moffat, and others. However, not everyone is convinced that this nun verse is authentic. It is, except for the first word, identical to verse 17 , and thus, as Kimmelman argues, may have been a post-facto attempt to "cure" the apparent deficiency. These ancient versions all have other departures from the traditional Hebrew text which make them imperfect evidence of the original text; for example, the Dead Sea Scrolls version ends every verse in Psalm 145 with "Blessed be YHVH and blessed is His name forever and ever." And no such nun verse is found in other important ancient translations from the Hebrew — the Aramaic Targum, the Greek versions of Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion — nor is such a verse quoted anywhere in the Talmud. Additionally, there are other alphabetic acrostics in the Book of Psalms — specifically Psalms 25 and 34 — that also imperfectly follow the alphabet. It is plausible that a nun verse was not part of the original text.

Uses

Judaism

Czech composer Antonín Dvořák set verses 1-3, 5 and 6 to music in No. 5 of his Biblical Songs. Brian Shamash has recorded one of the most common traditional Jewish melodies for chanting Ashrei.
Giovanni Bernardone, better known as Francis of Assisi, 1182-1226 wrote a poem towards the end of his life, in 1225, based on Psalm 145 which Draper made into the song "All Creatures of Our God and King" in 1919.