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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". In Latin, it is known as "Exaltabo te Deus meus rex". Parallel Latin/English Psalter / Psalmus 144 (145) medievalist.net It is the last psalm in the final Davidic collection of psalms, comprising Psalms 138 to 145, which are specifically attributed to David in their opening verses.
In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint version of the Bible, and in the Latin Vulgate, this psalm is Psalm 144. The psalm is a hymn psalm.
The psalm forms a regular part of Jewish, Catholic Church, Lutheranism, Anglicanism and other Protestant liturgies. It has often been set to music, notably by Antonín Dvořák who set several verses in Czech in his Biblical Songs.
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 ( Aromimkha, "I will exalt You").
The Dead Sea Scrolls version also ends each verse with the recurring (non-canonical) 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".Abegg, Martin, et al., The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible (1999, NY, HarperCollins) pp. 570–72. 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 (the acrostic Psalms being Psalms 9, 10, 25, 34, 37, 111, 112, 119 and 145).Marvin E. Tate, Harold Wayne Ballard, W. Dennis Tucker - 2000J. Clinton McCann, Jr. (2011), Immersion Bible Studies: Psalms Methodism writer Joseph Benson notes that the king (David) praises "his king", "termed so by way of eminence: the King of kings, the God by whom kings reign".Benson, J., Benson Commentary on Psalm 145, accessed 4 July 2022
O Palmer Roberton writes "The last Psalm has been set in place in preparation for the final crescendo of Praise in the Psalter.", which would be Psalms 146-150. Robertson, O. Palmer, "The Flow of the Psalms, (2015 P&R Publishing) pp 227-228, ISBN: 978-1-62995-133-1
Giovanni Bernardone, better known as Francis of Assisi, wrote a poem towards the end of his life, in 1225, based on Psalm 145 which Draper adapted to the song "All Creatures of Our God and King" in 1919.
| 1 | (David's Psalm of praise.) I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever. | Αἴνεσις τοῦ Δαυΐδ. - ΥΨΩΣΩ σε, ὁ Θεός μου ὁ βασιλεύς μου, καὶ εὐλογήσω τὸ ὄνομά σου εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα καὶ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος. | |
| 2 | Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever. | καθ᾿ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν εὐλογήσω σε καὶ αἰνέσω τὸ ὄνομά σου εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα καὶ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος. | |
| 3 | Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. | μέγας Κύριος καὶ αἰνετὸς σφόδρα, καὶ τῆς μεγαλωσύνης αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔστι πέρας. | |
| 4 | One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. | γενεὰ καὶ γενεὰ ἐπαινέσει τὰ ἔργα σου καὶ τὴν δύναμίν σου ἀπαγγελοῦσι. | |
| 5 | I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works. | τὴν μεγαλοπρέπειαν τῆς δόξης τῆς ἁγιωσύνης σου λαλήσουσι καὶ τὰ θαυμάσιά σου διηγήσονται. | |
| 6 | And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness. | καὶ τὴν δύναμιν τῶν φοβερῶν σου ἐροῦσι καὶ τὴν μεγαλωσύνην σου διηγήσονται. | |
| 7 | They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness. | μνήμην τοῦ πλήθους τῆς χρηστότητός σου ἐξερεύξονται καὶ τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ σου ἀγαλλιάσονται. | |
| 8 | The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. | οἰκτίρμων καὶ ἐλεήμων ὁ Κύριος, μακρόθυμος καὶ πολυέλεος. | |
| 9 | The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. | χρηστὸς Κύριος τοῖς σύμπασι, καὶ οἱ οἰκτιρμοὶ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ πάντα τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ. | |
| 10 | All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee. | ἐξομολογησάσθωσάν σοι, Κύριε, πάντα τὰ ἔργα σου, καὶ οἱ ὅσιοί σου εὐλογησάτωσάν σε. | |
| 11 | They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power; | δόξαν τῆς βασιλείας σου ἐροῦσι καὶ τὴν δυναστείαν σου λαλήσουσι | |
| 12 | To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom. | τοῦ γνωρίσαι τοῖς υἱοῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὴν δυναστείαν σου καὶ τὴν δόξαν τῆς μεγαλοπρεπείας τῆς βασιλείας σου. | |
| 13 | Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations. | ἡ βασιλεία σου βασιλεία πάντων τῶν αἰώνων, καὶ ἡ δεσποτεία σου ἐν πάσῃ γενεᾷ καὶ γενεᾷ. 13α πιστὸς Κύριος ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς λόγοις αὐτοῦ καὶ ὅσιος ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἔργοις αὐτοῦ. | |
| 14 | The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down. | ὑποστηρίζει Κύριος πάντας τοὺς καταπίπτοντας καὶ ἀνορθοῖ πάντας τοὺς κατερραγμένους. | |
| 15 | The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. | οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ πάντων εἰς σὲ ἐλπίζουσι, καὶ σὺ δίδως τὴν τροφὴν αὐτῶν ἐν εὐκαιρίᾳ. | |
| 16 | Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing. | ἀνοίγεις σὺ τὰς χεῖράς σου καὶ ἐμπιπλᾷς πᾶν ζῷον εὐδοκίας. | |
| 17 | The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. | δίκαιος Κύριος ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτοῦ καὶ ὅσιος ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἔργοις αὐτοῦ. | |
| 18 | The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. | ἐγγὺς Κύριος πᾶσι τοῖς ἐπικαλουμένοις αὐτόν, πᾶσι τοῖς ἐπικαλουμένοις αὐτὸν ἐν ἀληθείᾳ. | |
| 19 | He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them. | θέλημα τῶν φοβουμένων αὐτὸν ποιήσει καὶ τῆς δεήσεως αὐτῶν εἰσακούσεται καὶ σώσει αὐτούς. | |
| 20 | The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy. | φυλάσσει Κύριος πάντας τοὺς ἀγαπῶντας αὐτὸν καὶ πάντας τοὺς ἁμαρτωλοὺς ἐξολοθρεύσει. | |
| 21 | My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever. | αἴνεσιν Κυρίου λαλήσει τὸ στόμα μου· καὶ εὐλογείτω πᾶσα σὰρξ τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ἅγιον αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα καὶ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος. | |
However, the Septuagint, the Latin Vulgate (which is largely based on the Septuagint), the Syriac Peshitta, and the Dead Sea Scrolls (11QPs-ɑ; (2025). 9780060684655, HarperCollins. ISBN 9780060684655 which shows some affinity with the Septuagint, e.g., the inclusion of a 151st Psalm) all provide a verse at this point which commences (in Hebrew) with nun—נֶאֱמָן
New Revised Standard Version
This verse is now inserted at the end of verse 13 (sometimes numbered "verse 13b") 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.Cohen, A, The Psalms (1945, London, Soncino Books of the Bible, Soncino Press) page 467; Freedman, David Noel, Psalm 119: The exaltation of the Torah (1999, San Diego, Biblical and Judaic Studies of the Univ. of California-S.D.) pages 20-24; Barnabas Lindars, The Structure of Psalm CXLV, Vetus Testamentum, vol. 29, nr. 1 (Jan. 1989) page 24; Kimelman, Reuven, Psalm 145: Theme, structure, and impact, Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 113, nr. 1 (Spring 1994) pp 50–51.See, e.g., Bible tools. It is, except for the first word, identical to verse 17 (צ) (" Righteous is YHVH in all His ways…"), 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.See, e.g., Benun, Ronald, Journal of Hebrew Scriptures, vol. 6, art. 5 ; Jacobson, Bernhard S., The Weekday Siddur (2nd Engl. ed., 1978, Tel-Aviv, Sinai) p. 94. The Dead Sea version also contains, in that one verse, a reference to God as Elohim, which is not used anywhere else in Psalm 145. Lieberman, Abraham A., Again: The Words of Gad the Seer, Journal of Biblical Literature, vol 111, nr. 2 (Summer 1992) p. 314.
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