The Berean Table

Field	Detail
Pericope	Psalm 117:1–2
Theme	The shortest psalm and the central chapter of the Bible: a summons to all nations to praise the LORD for His steadfast love and everlasting faithfulness, fulfilled in the gathering of the Gentiles into the worship of God through Christ

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Opening Prayer

Closing Prayer

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Timeline Context

Placement within the Psalter. Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter in the entire Bible, comprising just two verses, and it stands very near the center of the Scriptures. It belongs to the fifth and final book of the Psalter (Psalms 107–150) and falls within the cluster of psalms surrounding the great Hallel (Psalms 113–118), the collection of praise psalms sung at Israel’s major festivals, especially Passover. Psalm 117 sits between Psalm 116, a psalm of thanksgiving for deliverance, and Psalm 118, the great festal psalm that culminates in “the stone that the builders rejected” becoming “the cornerstone” (Psalm 118:22). As part of the Hallel, Psalm 117 would have been sung by Israel at the high points of the religious calendar, and it is likely among the hymns Jesus sang with His disciples after the Last Supper (Matthew 26:30).

Structure and function. Despite its brevity, Psalm 117 is a complete and perfect hymn of praise, containing all the essential elements of the genre: a summons to praise (v. 1) and the grounds of praise (v. 2), framed by the “Hallelujah” that closes it. Its smallness is part of its power: in two verses it gathers up the whole purpose of the Psalter and indeed of redemptive history—the praise of God by all peoples for His steadfast love and faithfulness.

Historical and liturgical setting. The psalm is anonymous and undated. Its inclusion in the Hallel ties it to the great festivals of Israel, when the gathered nation sang God’s praise. Yet the psalm’s vision bursts beyond Israel: it summons not merely the covenant people but “all nations” and “all peoples” to join the praise. This universal scope reflects the missionary heartbeat that runs through the Psalter (Psalm 22:27; 67:1–7; 96:1–3) and through Israel’s own calling to be a light to the nations (Genesis 12:3; Isaiah 49:6).

Redemptive-historical placement. Psalm 117 stands as a pivotal text in the unfolding of redemptive history. The summons for “all nations” to praise the LORD looks back to the Abrahamic promise that in Abraham “all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3), and forward to its fulfillment in the gospel. The Apostle Paul cites Psalm 117:1 in Romans 15:11 as one of the great Old Testament proofs that the inclusion of the Gentiles in the worship of God was always God’s plan (Romans 15:8–12). The psalm thus functions as a bridge between the particular covenant with Israel and the universal scope of the gospel, anticipating the day when a people “from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9) would praise the LORD for His steadfast love and faithfulness revealed in Christ.

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Historical-Grammatical Study

Genre. Psalm 117 is a hymn of praise, the purest and most compact example of the genre. It contains the two classic elements of the hymn: an imperative call to worship and a motivation (introduced by “for,” Hebrew ki) giving the grounds of praise. There is no lament, petition, or instruction—only the summons and its reason.

Structure. The psalm divides cleanly:

• Verse 1 — The Summons: a double call to praise, addressed to “all nations” and “all peoples,” using two parallel imperatives (“Praise” / “Extol”).
• Verse 2 — The Grounds: introduced by “for” (Hebrew ki), giving two reasons—God’s “steadfast love” (chesed) toward “us” and the “faithfulness” (emeth) of the LORD that “endures forever.”
• The closing “Praise the LORD!” (Hallelu Yah) frames the psalm as praise from first to last.

Key Hebrew terms.

• “Praise the LORD!” (Hebrew Hallelu Yah) combines the plural imperative “praise” with the shortened covenant name Yah. This is the worship word that gives us “Hallelujah.”
• “All nations” / “all peoples” (Hebrew kol goyim / kol ha-ummim). The word goyim is the standard term for the Gentile nations—those outside the covenant with Israel. That these are summoned to praise Israel’s God is striking and significant.
• “Extol” (Hebrew shabach) means to laud, commend, or praise loudly; it conveys exuberant, public acclaim.
• “Steadfast love” (Hebrew chesed) is one of the great covenant words of the Old Testament, denoting God’s loyal, covenant-keeping love, His mercy, kindness, and unfailing devotion to His people (Exodus 34:6–7).
• “Great” (Hebrew gavar, “is mighty/has prevailed over us”) conveys that God’s steadfast love is powerful and overwhelming, prevailing toward His people.
• “Faithfulness” (Hebrew emeth) means truth, reliability, constancy—God’s utter trustworthiness and the unfailing reliability of His word and character.
• “Endures forever” (Hebrew le’olam) signifies everlasting permanence; God’s faithfulness has no expiration.

Ancient Near Eastern and first-century Jewish background. In the surrounding cultures, each nation had its own national deity, and the gods were thought to be bound to their peoples and territories. For a psalm to summon all nations to praise the God of Israel was a radical claim: that Yahweh is not a mere national god but the LORD of all the earth, worthy of universal worship. As part of the Hallel sung at Passover, Psalm 117 reminded Israel that her God’s purposes embraced the whole world. The Jewish expectation that the nations would one day come to worship the God of Israel (Isaiah 2:2–4; Zechariah 8:20–23) is given concentrated expression here.

Covenantal themes. The two grounds of praise in verse 2—chesed (steadfast love) and emeth (faithfulness)—are the very words of God’s self-revelation to Moses: “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious… abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6). Psalm 117 thus grounds the praise of all nations in the covenant character of God revealed at Sinai. The word “toward us” (v. 2) speaks from within the covenant community, yet the summons reaches out to all peoples, embodying the covenantal pattern by which God blesses Israel so that through Israel the nations might be blessed (Genesis 12:1–3). The psalm holds together the particularity of God’s covenant love (“toward us”) and the universality of His praise (“all nations”).

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Expanded Outline

Though only two verses, Psalm 117 unfolds in distinct movements that reward careful attention. It divides naturally into five sections: the summons to the nations (v. 1a), the call to all peoples (v. 1b), the ground of God’s steadfast love (v. 2a), the ground of God’s everlasting faithfulness (v. 2b), and the closing Hallelujah (v. 2c). Each phrase opens onto a vast horizon of biblical truth.

Section 1 — Praise the LORD, All Nations! (v. 1a)

Praise the LORD, all nations! (Psalm 117:1a)

Key Insight

The psalm opens with a summons of breathtaking scope: “Praise the LORD, all nations!” The verb is the great worship word hallelu (“praise”), a plural imperative, and the addressees are “all nations” (Hebrew kol goyim)—the Gentile peoples outside the covenant with Israel. That Israel’s psalmist would command the nations of the earth to praise Yahweh, the covenant God, is a claim of staggering significance. It declares that the God of Israel is not a tribal or national deity but the LORD of all the earth, whose praise is the rightful occupation of every people.

This summons is no isolated note but the flowering of a theme planted at the very root of redemptive history. To Abraham God promised, “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). Israel was chosen not for her own sake alone but to be “a light for the nations” (Isaiah 49:6), that God’s “salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” The Psalter repeatedly sounds this universal note: “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you” (Psalm 22:27; cf. 67:3–5; 86:9; 96:1–3). Psalm 117 gathers this missionary vision into a single, direct command.

John Calvin seizes upon the significance of this verse: “The Psalmist… calls upon all nations to praise God; from which it follows that the time was coming when the same religion would be diffused over all parts of the world.” Calvin saw in this verse a prophecy of the gospel’s reach to the Gentiles, a truth he could affirm because the Apostle Paul had already done so. Matthew Henry likewise notes that “this psalm… foretells the conversion of the Gentiles to the faith of Christ, and their admission into the church.”

The decisive interpretation comes from Paul himself, who cites this very verse in Romans 15:11—”Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him”—as one of four Old Testament witnesses that God always intended to gather the Gentiles into the worship of His name (Romans 15:8–12). Paul’s point is that the inclusion of the nations is no afterthought but the fulfillment of Scripture’s ancient promise. The summons of Psalm 117:1 is therefore prophetic: it anticipates the day when, through Christ, the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile would be broken down (Ephesians 2:14), and a people from every nation would praise the LORD.

Christologically, this verse points directly to Christ, in whom the nations are gathered. He is the offspring of Abraham in whom all nations are blessed (Galatians 3:8, 16), the One who commands His people to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19), and the Lamb who has “ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9). The summons “Praise the LORD, all nations!” finds its Yes and Amen in Him.

Application

This verse confronts us with God’s global purpose and summons us to share His heart for the nations. The God we worship is not content to be praised by one people only; His design from the beginning has been the praise of His name among all peoples. To worship this God rightly is to be drawn into His worldwide purpose, to long and labor for the day when “all nations” praise Him. A faith that cares nothing for the nations has not yet grasped the heart of the God it claims to worship.

Practically, this calls every believer to a missionary vision and a praying heart. We are to pray for the gospel’s advance among the unreached (Matthew 9:37–38), to give and go in support of missions (Romans 10:13–15), and to see our own evangelism as participation in God’s ancient and certain purpose to gather the nations. The certainty of the outcome—secured by Christ and promised in Scripture—fuels confident, joyful labor (Psalm 22:27–28).

This verse also reorders our sense of identity. If we are Gentiles, we are the very ones summoned here; we who were “far off” have been “brought near by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13). This should fill us with wonder and gratitude that the mercy of Israel’s God has reached even to us.

A warning against misapplication: the universal scope of this summons must not be made an excuse for a vague universalism, as though all peoples will be saved regardless of Christ. The nations are summoned to praise the LORD, the God revealed in Scripture and supremely in Christ, and they come into His praise only through the gospel (Romans 10:14–17). Nor should we use the global vision to neglect the near; the same God who sends us to the nations places neighbors at our door (Acts 1:8).

Section 2 — Extol Him, All Peoples! (v. 1b)

Extol him, all peoples! (Psalm 117:1b)

Key Insight

The second line of the summons intensifies and broadens the first through Hebrew parallelism, the characteristic poetic form in which a thought is restated and deepened. “Praise the LORD” becomes “Extol him” (Hebrew shabach, to laud loudly and publicly), and “all nations” becomes “all peoples” (Hebrew kol ha-ummim). The two lines together form a complete couplet, reinforcing with double emphasis the universal call to worship. Where verse 1a uses goyim (nations, often with political connotation), verse 1b uses ummim (peoples, emphasizing distinct tribes and tongues). Together they leave no group outside the summons: every nation, every people, every tongue is called to praise.

The verb shabach adds a note of exuberant, public acclamation. It is not quiet, private devotion that is summoned, but loud, glad, open praise—the kind of praise that proclaims God’s worth before others. The nations are called not merely to acknowledge the LORD but to extol Him, to lift Him high with joyful commendation. Spurgeon observes that “the nations are to be made glad with the gospel, and then they will praise God,” noting that this praise will not be reluctant or forced but the glad overflow of hearts won by grace.

The parallelism also underscores the certainty and fullness of the vision. Hebrew poetry uses repetition not for redundancy but for emphasis and completeness; the doubling of the summons declares that this is no tentative hope but a sure purpose of God. All nations, all peoples—the totality of humanity in its diversity—will praise the LORD. This anticipates the great vision of Revelation, where “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages,” stands before the throne and cries out praise (Revelation 7:9–10).

Paul preserves both lines of the parallelism in his citation: “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him” (Romans 15:11). He reads the full couplet as Scripture’s testimony that the Gentiles, in all their variety, are summoned into the praise of God through Christ. The breaking down of the dividing wall (Ephesians 2:14) means that the distinct “peoples” of the earth are not erased but gathered—each tongue and tribe bringing its own praise into the one great chorus.

Christologically, this gathering of “all peoples” is the fruit of Christ’s atoning work. He died “to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad” (John 11:52), and by His blood He purchased worshipers from every people and language (Revelation 5:9). The diversity of “all peoples” extolling God displays the manifold wisdom of God (Ephesians 3:10) and the surpassing worth of Christ, whose name is praised in every tongue. The unity of the one people of God amid the diversity of all peoples is itself a testimony to the reconciling power of the cross.

Application

This verse calls us to bold, public, joyful praise and to delight in the diversity of God’s gathered people. The summons to “extol” God loudly rebukes a timid or merely private faith. We are called not only to believe but to proclaim, lifting God high before a watching world. Let your praise be open and glad, commending the worth of God to those around you, so that others might be drawn to join the song.

The vision of “all peoples” extolling God should fill us with joy at the diversity of the church. God’s purpose is not a monochrome people but a gathered multitude from every tribe and tongue, each bringing its own praise. This rebukes every form of ethnic pride, partiality, and division within the body of Christ (Galatians 3:28; James 2:1–9). We are to welcome and rejoice in believers of every background as fellow heirs, displaying even now the reconciling power of the gospel.

Practically, this calls us to labor and pray for the worship of all peoples, supporting the translation of Scripture, the planting of churches, and the sending of missionaries to peoples who have not yet heard. Every people group brought into the praise of God is a fresh display of Christ’s worth.

A warning against misapplication: the celebration of diversity must never become a celebration of diversity for its own sake, divorced from the gospel. The peoples are gathered not by erasing the cross or by affirming every culture uncritically, but by the redeeming work of Christ, who calls all peoples to repentance and faith (Acts 17:30). Nor should the call to public praise become a performance for human approval (Matthew 6:1); we extol God for His glory, not our reputation.

Section 3 — For Great Is His Steadfast Love Toward Us (v. 2a)

For great is his steadfast love toward us… (Psalm 117:2a)

Key Insight

Having issued the summons, the psalm now supplies the grounds of praise, introduced by the causal “for” (Hebrew ki). The first and great reason all nations should praise the LORD is His steadfast love: “For great is his steadfast love toward us.” The word translated “steadfast love” is the magnificent Hebrew term chesed, one of the richest words in all of Scripture. It denotes God’s loyal, covenant-keeping love—His mercy, kindness, devotion, and unfailing commitment to His people. It is the love that does not let go, the love bound by covenant promise, the love that pursues and keeps and redeems.

The word “great” translates the Hebrew gavar, which means to be strong, to prevail, to be mighty. The sense is that God’s chesed has prevailed mightily toward His people, overcome all obstacles, triumphed over their sin and unworthiness. Spurgeon captures it: “His mercy is great—great in the heinousness of the sins forgiven, great in the number of sinners pardoned, great in the swiftness with which pardon is granted.” God’s steadfast love is not a trickle but a flood, not a weak affection but a conquering power.

This chesed is the very heart of God’s self-revelation. When God proclaimed His name to Moses, He declared Himself “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6)—the same pairing of chesed and emeth that appears here in Psalm 117:2. The psalm thus grounds the praise of all nations in the foundational revelation of God’s covenant character. The whole of Psalm 136 hammers this home, repeating twenty-six times “for his steadfast love endures forever.” God’s chesed is the bedrock of all His dealings with His people.

Notice the striking movement of the verse: the nations are summoned to praise (v. 1), and the reason given is God’s steadfast love “toward us” (v. 2). The “us” speaks from within the covenant community of Israel. Why should the nations praise God for His love toward Israel? Because God’s covenant love toward His people is the channel through which His mercy reaches the world. Through the chesed shown to Israel—culminating in the Messiah who came from Israel—the nations themselves are brought into the experience of that steadfast love. Calvin notes that the salvation of the Gentiles flows from the covenant mercy God showed to His people; the nations praise God because the love shown to Israel has now overflowed to them.

Christologically, the steadfast love of God is poured out supremely in Jesus Christ. The chesed of God “toward us” reaches its climax at the cross, where “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). In Christ, the covenant love of God prevails over our sin and brings even the nations near. The “us” of Psalm 117:2, originally the covenant people of Israel, is gloriously expanded in the gospel to include all who are in Christ—Jew and Gentile alike, made one people who together praise God for His mighty, conquering, steadfast love.

Application

This verse calls us to ground our praise in the steadfast love of God, the chesed that prevails mightily toward His people. When our praise grows cold, the remedy is to meditate afresh on the greatness of God’s covenant love—a love that has overcome our sin, pursued us when we wandered, and bound itself to us by unbreakable promise. Let the immensity of God’s chesed rekindle worship; the more we grasp how great His steadfast love is toward us, the more our hearts will overflow in praise.

This love is also the ground of our assurance and security. Because God’s love toward His people is chesed—covenant-keeping, loyal, unfailing—it does not depend on our performance or fluctuate with our faithfulness. It is “great,” having prevailed over every obstacle. In seasons of doubt, failure, or affliction, return to this rock: God’s steadfast love toward His people in Christ is mighty and sure (Romans 8:38–39). Rest your weary soul on it.

Practically, the steadfast love we have received should overflow in love toward others. Having been shown such chesed, we are called to show steadfast, loyal love to our brothers and sisters, to keep our covenants and commitments, and to extend mercy to the undeserving as we have received it (Ephesians 4:32; Micah 6:8). The flood of God’s love toward us is meant to flow through us to the world.

A warning against misapplication: God’s steadfast love must never be presumed upon as a license for sin. The chesed that pardons is the same love that transforms; to take God’s mercy as permission to continue in sin is to despise it (Romans 6:1–2). Nor should the greatness of God’s love toward “us” breed complacency about the nations; the very point of the psalm is that this love is the ground on which all peoples are summoned to praise.

Section 4 — And the Faithfulness of the LORD Endures Forever (v. 2b)

…and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. (Psalm 117:2b)

Key Insight

The second ground of praise is the faithfulness of the LORD, which “endures forever.” The Hebrew word is emeth, meaning truth, reliability, constancy, trustworthiness. Where chesed speaks of God’s loyal love, emeth speaks of His unfailing reliability—the absolute dependability of His character, His word, and His promises. The two words form the great covenant pair, joined in God’s self-revelation: “abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6). Together they declare that God’s love is not fickle but firm, not changeable but constant; His mercy is matched by His reliability.

The crucial addition here is the phrase “endures forever” (Hebrew le’olam). God’s faithfulness has no expiration, no limit, no end. It does not weaken with time, fail in adversity, or run out with the generations. Matthew Henry writes that God’s “truth endures for ever; though heaven and earth pass away, the word of the Lord endures for ever.” The faithfulness that gathered Israel, kept the covenant, and sent the Messiah is the same faithfulness that holds today and will hold forever.

This everlasting faithfulness is the ground of all the promises of God. Because God is faithful, His promises are sure; because His faithfulness endures forever, His promises will never fail. “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?” (Numbers 23:19). “He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24). The everlasting faithfulness of the LORD is the bedrock beneath every promise, the guarantee that what God has spoken He will perform.

Notice, too, the logic of the psalm. The summons to all nations is grounded in God’s enduring faithfulness. Why may the Gentiles be confident that they too will be brought into God’s praise? Because the God who promised to Abraham that all nations would be blessed (Genesis 12:3) is faithful, and His faithfulness endures forever. The inclusion of the nations is not a hope that might fail but a certainty grounded in the unchanging reliability of God. Calvin observes that the stability of God’s truth is the reason His promises to the Gentiles cannot fail; the everlasting faithfulness of the LORD guarantees the everlasting praise of all peoples.

Christologically, the faithfulness of God is embodied and confirmed in Jesus Christ. “For all the promises of God find their Yes in him” (2 Corinthians 1:20). Christ is “the faithful witness” (Revelation 1:5), indeed “Faithful and True” is His very name (Revelation 19:11). In Him, the emeth of God is made flesh; He is “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14)—the very pairing of chesed and emeth now incarnate. The everlasting faithfulness celebrated in Psalm 117:2 stands surety for every gospel promise, sealed in the One who is faithful and true.

Application

This verse calls us to rest our whole confidence on the everlasting faithfulness of God. In a world of broken promises, changing circumstances, and failing strength, the faithfulness of the LORD is the one constant that endures forever. When everything else proves unreliable—our health, our relationships, our plans, even our own resolve—God’s faithfulness does not waver. Build your life on this rock (Matthew 7:24–25); anchor your soul to the One whose reliability has no end.

This faithfulness is the ground of steadfast hope amid trial. When we are tempted to doubt God’s promises in the darkness, we must preach to ourselves the truth of His enduring faithfulness. He who promised is faithful (Hebrews 10:23); what He has begun He will complete (Philippians 1:6); not one of His good promises will fail (Joshua 23:14). Let the everlasting faithfulness of God sustain you when feelings falter and circumstances frown.

Practically, the faithfulness of God should make us faithful people. Having a faithful God, we are called to be faithful—keeping our word, fulfilling our commitments, persevering in our callings, and being trustworthy in small things and great (Luke 16:10; 1 Corinthians 4:2). The reliability of our God is to be reflected, however imperfectly, in the reliability of His children.

A warning against misapplication: trusting God’s faithfulness is not a license for presumption, as though we may demand that God fulfill promises He has not made or act on our timetable rather than His. God is faithful to His word and His promises, not to our wishes or assumptions. Nor does His faithfulness exempt us from the path of obedience; we trust His promises even as we walk in His ways (Hebrews 6:11–12). Rest on His faithfulness, but rest on it rightly—clinging to what He has actually promised, in His time and His way.

Section 5 — Praise the LORD! (v. 2c)

Praise the LORD! (Psalm 117:2c)

Key Insight

The psalm closes as so many of the surrounding psalms do, with the great worship word: “Praise the LORD!” (Hebrew Hallelu Yah). This closing Hallelujah forms a fitting bookend to the whole, for the psalm has moved from the summons to praise (v. 1), through the grounds of praise (v. 2a–b), back to the act of praise (v. 2c). The structure itself enacts the truth that praise is both the beginning and the end—the summons and the response, the duty and the delight.

The placement of this Hallelujah is significant. Having declared the grounds of praise—God’s steadfast love and everlasting faithfulness—the psalm does not merely conclude but erupts in the very praise it has summoned. The “for” of verse 2 has done its work: now that the reasons have been given, the only fitting response is “Hallelujah.” Spurgeon notes that the psalm “begins and ends with ‘Hallelujah,’” and that this little psalm is “a whole body of divinity in miniature,” teaching that the contemplation of God’s mercy and truth must issue in praise.

This closing “Hallelujah” also binds Psalm 117 into the great chorus of the surrounding Hallel psalms (Psalms 113–118) and the concluding Hallelujah psalms of the Psalter (Psalms 146–150). The word Hallelu Yah is the keynote of the Psalter’s conclusion, the worship-cry that gathers all the prayers, laments, and thanksgivings of the book into final, unbroken praise. Psalm 117, though tiny, sounds this same eternal note.

There is a profound theological logic in ending with “Praise the LORD!” The psalm has summoned the nations and given the grounds; now it models the response. It does not leave praise as a mere command to others but takes up the praise itself, showing that the one who summons must also sing. The covenant community, having rehearsed God’s chesed and emeth, breaks into the very “Hallelujah” it calls the nations to share. Praise is contagious; the summoner becomes the singer.

Christologically, this closing Hallelujah anticipates the eternal praise of the redeemed. The same “Hallelujah” that ends this little psalm resounds in heaven at the consummation: “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns” (Revelation 19:6). The praise summoned from all nations, grounded in God’s steadfast love and faithfulness revealed in Christ, will become the everlasting anthem of the new creation. The “Hallelujah” of Psalm 117 is a small seed that will grow into the unending praise of the great multitude before the throne (Revelation 7:9–10). In Christ, the steadfast love and faithfulness celebrated here are forever confirmed, and the praise they evoke will never end.

Application

This closing Hallelujah teaches us that the contemplation of God’s character must issue in praise. It is not enough to know about God’s steadfast love and faithfulness; such knowledge is meant to erupt in worship. When we rehearse the grounds of praise—God’s chesed and emeth—and yet remain cold and silent, something has gone wrong. Let the meditation of God’s mercy and truth always lead you to the “Hallelujah” they deserve. Knowledge that does not become worship is incomplete.

The psalm also teaches that the summoner must become the singer. We who call others to praise God must ourselves praise Him; we who proclaim the gospel to the nations must ourselves be a worshiping people. Our evangelism and our worship are bound together: we invite others to join a song we are already singing. Let your own praise be the overflow that draws others in.

Practically, make “Hallelujah” the frame of your life—the first word of the morning and the last word of the night, the response that crowns every contemplation of God’s grace. Cultivate the habit of turning truth into praise, so that the study of God’s word ends not in mere information but in adoration (Romans 11:33–36).

A warning against misapplication: the cry “Hallelujah” must be more than a word on the lips; it must be the genuine response of a heart that loves God (1 Corinthians 13:1). Empty repetition of praise-words, divorced from a worshiping heart, is hollow (Matthew 15:8). Let your “Hallelujah” be real—the true overflow of a soul that has tasted God’s steadfast love and rested on His faithfulness.

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Cross References

Comparative Gospel Study

Not Applicable as Direct Comparison — Psalms is Old Testament Hebrew poetry (hymnody), not Gospel narrative. Psalm 117 has no parallel Gospel account to harmonize. However, this shortest of psalms powerfully anticipates key Gospel themes that find their fulfillment in Christ:

• The gathering of the Gentiles fulfilled in Christ’s mission. The summons “Praise the LORD, all nations!” (v. 1) anticipates the Great Commission, in which the risen Christ sends His people to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:18–20), and is the very text Paul cites to prove that the Gentiles’ inclusion was God’s eternal plan (Romans 15:9–12).

• God’s steadfast love revealed at the cross. The “steadfast love” (chesed) of verse 2 reaches its climax in the Gospel, where “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). The covenant love celebrated here is poured out fully in the cross of Christ.

• God’s faithfulness embodied in Jesus. The “faithfulness” (emeth) that “endures forever” (v. 2) is incarnate in Jesus, who is “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14) and in whom “all the promises of God find their Yes” (2 Corinthians 1:20). The Gospels present Christ as “Faithful and True” (Revelation 19:11).

• The Hallel sung by Christ. As part of the Hallel (Psalms 113–118), Psalm 117 was likely among the hymns Jesus sang with His disciples after the Last Supper (Matthew 26:30), on the very night He went to fulfill the steadfast love and faithfulness it celebrates.

• The universal praise of the redeemed. The closing “Hallelujah” and the summons to all peoples anticipate the Gospel’s fruit: a multitude “from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” praising God before the throne (Revelation 7:9–10).

Old Testament Connections

Pentateuch (Genesis–Deuteronomy). The summons to “all nations” (v. 1) is the flowering of the Abrahamic promise: “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3; 22:18). The grounds of praise—”steadfast love and faithfulness” (v. 2)—are drawn directly from God’s self-revelation to Moses at Sinai: “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious… abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6). Israel’s election was explicitly grounded in God’s chesed and faithfulness, not her own greatness (Deuteronomy 7:7–9).

Historical Books (Joshua–Esther). Joshua testifies at the end of his life that “not one word has failed of all the good things that the LORD your God promised” (Joshua 23:14)—a witness to the everlasting faithfulness of verse 2b. The temple dedication and the recurring refrain “for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever” (1 Chronicles 16:34; 2 Chronicles 5:13; 7:3; Ezra 3:11) echo the chesed that grounds the praise of Psalm 117.

Wisdom Literature (Job–Song of Solomon). Psalm 117 belongs to the Psalter, the great book of praise, and stands as its central and shortest chapter. It distills the Psalter’s recurring themes of God’s steadfast love (Psalm 136) and faithfulness (Psalm 89), and its universal summons echoes the missionary psalms (Psalm 22:27; 67:1–7; 96:1–3). The fear of the LORD that is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7) finds its fitting end in the praise of all peoples.

Major Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel). Isaiah’s vision of the nations streaming to worship the God of Israel (Isaiah 2:2–4; 49:6; 56:6–8; 66:18–23) is the prophetic counterpart to Psalm 117’s summons. Jeremiah and Lamentations celebrate the steadfast love that “never ceases” and the “great” faithfulness that is “new every morning” (Lamentations 3:22–23). Daniel confesses God’s covenant faithfulness even in exile (Daniel 9:4).

Minor Prophets. Malachi prophesies that God’s name “will be great among the nations, from the rising of the sun to its setting” (Malachi 1:11), fulfilling the universal praise summoned in Psalm 117:1. Zechariah foresees the day when “many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem” (Zechariah 8:20–23). Micah celebrates the God who “delight[s] in steadfast love” (chesed) and keeps faithfulness to His covenant (Micah 7:18–20).

New Testament Fulfillment

Gospels and Acts. Jesus, born of Israel, is the One in whom the nations are blessed; Simeon hails Him as “a light for revelation to the Gentiles” (Luke 2:30–32). The Great Commission sends the church to “all nations” (Matthew 28:19), and Acts records the gospel’s advance from Jerusalem to the Gentiles (Acts 10; 13:47–48; 15:14–18), as God takes “from the Gentiles a people for his name.” The summons of Psalm 117:1 begins its historical fulfillment.

Paul’s Epistles. Paul cites Psalm 117:1 directly in Romans 15:11 as proof that the Gentiles’ praise of God fulfills Scripture (Romans 15:8–12). He celebrates the chesed of God as the “great love with which he loved us” (Ephesians 2:4) and grounds Christian hope in God’s faithfulness: “He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24; cf. 1 Corinthians 1:9; 10:13; 2 Timothy 2:13). In Christ, “all the promises of God find their Yes” (2 Corinthians 1:20).

General Epistles and Revelation. Hebrews exhorts us to “hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23). Peter declares God’s people “a holy nation” called to “proclaim the excellencies” of God among the peoples (1 Peter 2:9). Revelation displays the fulfillment of Psalm 117: a multitude from “every nation” praising God (Revelation 7:9–10), the eternal “Hallelujah” of the redeemed (Revelation 19:1–6), and Christ named “Faithful and True” (Revelation 19:11).

Redemptive-Historical Context

Psalm 117, for all its brevity, stands at a pivotal point in the unfolding drama of redemption. To grasp its place, we must read it against the whole biblical arc of Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Consummation, for in these two verses the entire movement of God’s saving purpose is compressed.

In creation, God made all peoples from one man (Acts 17:26) and designed the whole earth to praise Him (Psalm 19:1). Humanity was made to glorify God, and the diversity of nations was always meant to display the manifold richness of His glory. The summons “Praise the LORD, all nations!” recalls this original purpose: every people, made by God, owes Him praise.

The Fall fractured this purpose. At Babel, humanity in its pride was scattered, and the nations turned to idols, exchanging “the glory of the immortal God for images” (Romans 1:23). The nations became “alienated from the life of God” (Ephesians 4:18), strangers to the covenants of promise (Ephesians 2:12). The silence of the nations’ praise, and their worship of false gods, is the tragic backdrop against which Psalm 117’s summons rings out.

In redemption, God set in motion His plan to recover the nations. He called Abraham with the promise that “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). He chose Israel and grounded that choice in His chesed and faithfulness (Deuteronomy 7:7–9)—the very grounds of praise in Psalm 117:2. Through Israel He preserved the line of promise, and in the fullness of time He sent the Messiah, born of Israel, in whom the steadfast love and faithfulness of God were poured out for the world. At the cross, God’s chesed prevailed over sin (Romans 5:8), and in the resurrection His emeth was forever confirmed (2 Corinthians 1:20). Through Christ, the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile was broken down (Ephesians 2:14), and the nations summoned in Psalm 117 began to be gathered into the praise of God.

Psalm 117 stands in the “already / not yet” tension of redemptive history. Already, through the gospel, the nations are being gathered; Paul saw the Gentiles streaming into the church as the fulfillment of this psalm (Romans 15:9–12). The summons is being answered in every generation as the gospel reaches new peoples. Not yet, the praise of “all nations” is not yet complete; many peoples have not yet heard, and the church still labors in the harvest (Matthew 24:14). The psalm therefore looks forward with certainty—grounded in God’s enduring faithfulness—to the consummation.

At the consummation, Psalm 117 is fully realized. The vision of John in Revelation is the answered summons: “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,” crying out praise (Revelation 7:9–10). The “Hallelujah” with which the psalm closes becomes the eternal anthem of the new creation (Revelation 19:6). The steadfast love and faithfulness celebrated in two verses will be the theme of unending praise, as every nation joins the song. Psalm 117 is thus a window onto the goal of all history: the gathering of all peoples into the praise of God, secured by Christ, grounded in the steadfast love and everlasting faithfulness of the LORD. The smallest chapter of the Bible contains the largest of hopes.

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Systematic Theology Connection

The Covenant of Grace and the Inclusion of the Gentiles

Psalm 117 stands as a key witness to the covenant of grace, the one covenant of salvation that runs from Abraham to Christ and embraces both Jew and Gentile. The summons to “all nations” (v. 1) grounded in God’s “steadfast love” and “faithfulness” (v. 2) reveals that God’s covenant purpose was never confined to Israel but always aimed at the blessing of all peoples (Genesis 12:3). Westminster Confession 7.3 teaches that in the covenant of grace God “freely offereth unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ,” and 7.5–6 affirm that this one covenant, administered differently under law and gospel, extends “to all nations” under the New Testament.

The psalm teaches this doctrine by summoning the Gentiles into the praise of Israel’s God on the basis of His covenant chesed. Paul’s citation in Romans 15:9–12 confirms that the inclusion of the nations is the fulfillment of this covenant promise, not a departure from it. The “us” of verse 2—the covenant people—is expanded in Christ to include all who believe, so that Gentiles are “fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 3:6).

Practically, this doctrine assures Gentile believers that they are full members of God’s covenant people, not second-class additions but the very nations summoned from of old. It grounds the unity of the church across all ethnic lines (Ephesians 2:11–22) and fuels the mission of the church to gather the nations into the covenant of grace. It also magnifies the faithfulness of God, who keeps His covenant promises across the ages, bringing to pass what He pledged to Abraham millennia before. Cross-references: Genesis 12:3; 17:7; Isaiah 49:6; Romans 4:16–17; 15:8–12; Galatians 3:8, 14, 29; Ephesians 2:11–22; 3:6.

The Steadfast Love and Faithfulness of God (Attributes of God)

Psalm 117 grounds all praise in two great attributes of God: His steadfast love (chesed) and His faithfulness (emeth). These are not peripheral perfections but central to God’s self-revelation (Exodus 34:6). Westminster Confession 2.1 confesses God as “abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin,” language drawn from the same revelation. God’s chesed is His loyal, covenant-keeping love; His emeth is His unfailing reliability and truth. Together they declare a God who is both infinitely loving and utterly dependable.

The psalm teaches these attributes by making them the grounds of universal praise: all nations should praise the LORD precisely because His steadfast love is great and His faithfulness endures forever (v. 2). These attributes are the foundation of the gospel, for in Christ the chesed of God is poured out (Romans 5:8) and His emeth is confirmed (2 Corinthians 1:20). The everlasting permanence of God’s faithfulness (“endures forever”) reflects His immutability—God does not change (Malachi 3:6; James 1:17).

Practically, these attributes are the ground of Christian assurance and hope. Because God’s love is steadfast and His faithfulness everlasting, the believer rests secure not on his own constancy but on God’s. In trial, doubt, and failure, the unchanging chesed and emeth of God hold firm (Lamentations 3:22–23). These attributes also call God’s people to reflect His character, showing steadfast love and faithfulness to one another, that the world might see the God they worship. Cross-references: Exodus 34:6–7; Psalm 36:5; 89:1–2; 100:5; 136:1–26; Lamentations 3:22–23; Malachi 3:6; James 1:17.

The Perseverance of the Saints and the Faithfulness of God

The declaration that “the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever” (v. 2b) undergirds the Reformed doctrine of the perseverance of the saints—the truth that those whom God has effectually called and justified will be kept by His power and never finally fall away. Westminster Confession 17.1 teaches that the saints “can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end,” and 17.2 grounds this perseverance “upon the immutability of the decree of election… the abiding of the Spirit… and the nature of the covenant of grace”—in short, upon the faithfulness of God.

Psalm 117 teaches this doctrine by anchoring the believer’s hope not in human steadfastness but in God’s enduring faithfulness. Our perseverance rests on His perseverance with us; we are kept because “he who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24). The everlasting character of God’s faithfulness means that the salvation He begins He will complete (Philippians 1:6), and nothing can separate His people from His love (Romans 8:38–39).

Practically, this doctrine gives the trembling believer a stable hope. Our assurance does not depend on the strength of our grip on God but on the strength of His grip on us. When we are weak, faithless, and failing, “he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself” (2 Timothy 2:13). This does not breed presumption, for the same faithfulness that keeps us also works in us perseverance through the means of grace; but it does free us from the despair of self-reliance, anchoring our final salvation in the faithfulness of God that endures forever. Cross-references: John 10:27–29; Romans 8:38–39; Philippians 1:6; 1 Thessalonians 5:24; 2 Timothy 2:13; 1 Peter 1:3–5; Jude 24.

The Doctrine of Missions and the Universal Lordship of God

Psalm 117 provides a biblical foundation for the doctrine of missions, rooted in the universal lordship of God. The summons to “all nations” and “all peoples” (v. 1) declares that the LORD is not a national deity but the rightful King of every people, whose praise is owed by the whole earth (Psalm 24:1; 47:7–8). Because there is one God, the worship of all nations is His by right, and the gospel rightly claims the allegiance of every people.

The psalm teaches that missions flows from the very character and purpose of God. God’s design from the call of Abraham was the blessing of all nations (Genesis 12:3); His steadfast love and faithfulness, the grounds of praise here, are the engine of His saving purpose toward the world. The church’s mission is therefore not a human enterprise but participation in God’s eternal plan, certain of success because grounded in His enduring faithfulness (v. 2b). Christ’s command to disciple all nations (Matthew 28:18–20) is the marching order that answers Psalm 117’s summons.

The Westminster Standards reflect this missionary vision: the Westminster Larger Catechism Q.191 teaches us to pray “that the gospel may be propagated throughout the world, the Jews called, the fulness of the Gentiles brought in.” Practically, this doctrine summons every believer to pray, give, and labor for the gathering of the nations, assured that God’s purpose cannot fail. It guards against both a privatized faith indifferent to the world and a despairing pessimism about the gospel’s advance, for the One who summons the nations is faithful, and His steadfast love will surely gather them in. Cross-references: Genesis 12:3; Psalm 22:27; 67:1–7; Isaiah 49:6; Matthew 28:18–20; Acts 1:8; Romans 10:13–17; Revelation 7:9–10.

Union with Christ and the One People of God

Psalm 117’s gathering of Jew and Gentile into one praise points to the Reformed doctrine of union with Christ, the bond by which believers of every nation are joined to Christ and, in Him, to one another as one people of God. The “us” toward whom God’s steadfast love is great (v. 2) is, in the gospel, no longer Israel alone but all who are united to Christ by faith—a people drawn from every tribe and tongue (Revelation 5:9).

The psalm teaches this doctrine implicitly: the nations are summoned to praise God for His love “toward us,” and through union with the Messiah who came from Israel, the Gentiles are brought into that very “us.” In Christ, “there is neither Jew nor Greek… for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). The dividing wall is broken down, and Jew and Gentile are made “one new man” (Ephesians 2:14–15), joined together in Him into “a holy temple in the Lord” (Ephesians 2:21). The praise of all peoples is possible only because all are united in one Savior.

Practically, union with Christ is the ground of both our salvation and our unity. Because we are in Christ, we share in all His benefits—His righteousness, His Sonship, His inheritance (Ephesians 1:3–14). And because we are all in the one Christ, we are bound to one another across every human division, called to live out the unity our union with Christ creates (Ephesians 4:1–6). The diverse, gathered, worshiping church of Psalm 117 is the visible fruit of union with Christ, displaying to the world that in Him the scattered peoples are made one. Cross-references: John 15:1–11; 17:20–23; Romans 6:3–5; 1 Corinthians 12:12–13; Galatians 3:26–29; Ephesians 1:3–14; 2:11–22.

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Reformed Theology

Reformed theology treasures Psalm 117 as a small psalm of vast significance, a text in which the great themes of the covenant of grace, the universal scope of redemption, and the unchanging character of God are compressed into two verses. Charles Spurgeon called it “a whole body of divinity in miniature,” and the Reformed tradition has consistently read it as a window onto the heart of God’s saving purpose: the gathering of all nations into the praise of the LORD on the basis of His steadfast love and everlasting faithfulness.

Within the covenant of grace, Reformed theology situates Psalm 117 as a prophecy and pledge of the New Covenant’s universal reach. The covenant of grace, established with Abraham (Genesis 12:3; 17:7) and unfolding through the generations, always aimed at the blessing of all the families of the earth. The summons “Praise the LORD, all nations!” is the Old Testament anticipation of the day when, in Christ, the middle wall of partition would be removed and the Gentiles brought into the one covenant people. John Calvin read the psalm as a clear prophecy of the calling of the Gentiles: “The Psalmist… foretells that the time was coming when the same religion would be diffused over all parts of the world.” That the Apostle Paul cites the psalm to this exact end (Romans 15:11) confirms the Reformed reading: the inclusion of the nations is the fulfillment of the covenant, not its abolition.

The psalm resonates with the Westminster Standards. The grounds of praise—God’s “steadfast love and faithfulness”—echo the confession of God as “abundant in goodness and truth” (Westminster Confession 2.1). The summons to all nations gives voice to the church’s missionary calling, expressed in the Larger Catechism’s prayer for “the fulness of the Gentiles” to be “brought in” (WLC Q.191). And the everlasting faithfulness of verse 2 undergirds the confession’s teaching on the perseverance of the saints and the immutability of God’s covenant (WCF 17). The psalm is the worshiping heart of Reformed covenant theology.

On the question of Israel and the Church, Reformed theology sees in Psalm 117 the fundamental unity of the people of God across both Testaments. The steadfast love shown “toward us”—the covenant people of Israel—is the same love that, in Christ, embraces the believing Gentiles, so that there is one olive tree into which the nations are grafted (Romans 11:17–24). The Reformed tradition rejects a permanent two-track distinction between Israel and the church, affirming instead that the Gentiles are made “fellow heirs” and “members of the same body” (Ephesians 3:6), the true Israel of God being all who belong to Christ by faith (Galatians 6:16; Romans 9:6–8).

Typologically, Reformed theology sees the chesed and emeth of Psalm 117 as fulfilled in Christ, who is “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14)—the incarnate embodiment of God’s steadfast love and faithfulness. The covenant love shown to Israel finds its climax at the cross (Romans 5:8), and the faithfulness that “endures forever” is sealed in the resurrection, where “all the promises of God find their Yes” (2 Corinthians 1:20). Geerhardus Vos and the biblical-theological tradition trace how God’s covenant faithfulness drives redemptive history forward to its consummation; G.K. Beale shows how the gathering of the nations into worship fulfills the temple and mission themes running through Scripture. The little psalm thus participates in the grand sweep from Abraham to the new creation.

Representative Reformed voices enrich this reading. Calvin stresses the psalm’s prophecy of the Gentiles’ calling and the stability of God’s truth as the ground of their hope. Spurgeon calls it a “body of divinity in miniature” and dwells on the greatness of God’s prevailing mercy. Matthew Henry sees it foretelling “the conversion of the Gentiles to the faith of Christ.” Together they read Psalm 117 as a jewel of the covenant of grace: the universal praise of God by all nations, grounded in His steadfast love and everlasting faithfulness, fulfilled in Christ and consummated in the worship of the redeemed from every tribe and tongue. Cross-references: Genesis 12:3; Psalm 22:27; Isaiah 49:6; John 1:14; Romans 11:17–24; 15:8–12; Ephesians 2:11–22; 3:6; Revelation 5:9; 7:9–10.

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Dispensational Theology

Dispensational theology approaches Psalm 117 with its characteristic literal-grammatical hermeneutic and its distinctive concern for the distinction between Israel and the Church and the future program of God for the nations. While dispensationalists rejoice with all believers in the universal praise the psalm summons, they interpret its fulfillment within the framework of God’s successive administrations and His distinct purposes for Israel, the church, and the nations.

Dispensational scholars note that Psalm 117 was given to Israel as part of her worship, included in the Hallel (Psalms 113–118) sung at the great festivals. On the literal-grammatical reading, the summons to “all nations” expresses Israel’s God-given role as the channel of blessing to the world (Genesis 12:3), a role that dispensationalists understand will reach its climax in the future millennial kingdom, when Israel, regathered and restored, becomes the head of the nations and the center of worldwide worship (Isaiah 2:2–4; 60:1–3; Zechariah 8:20–23). The psalm’s vision of all peoples praising the LORD finds, in dispensational thought, a notable fulfillment in that coming kingdom age, when “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD” (Isaiah 11:9) and the nations stream to Jerusalem to worship the messianic King.

Regarding the Israel/Church distinction, dispensationalists observe that Paul cites Psalm 117:1 in Romans 15:11 in connection with the present inclusion of the Gentiles in the church (Romans 15:8–12), and they affirm that in the present dispensation, Jew and Gentile believers together praise God in the body of Christ. Charles Ryrie and classic dispensationalists nonetheless maintain that the church is a distinct entity, a “mystery” not fully revealed in the Old Testament (Ephesians 3:1–6), while Israel retains a distinct national future. On this reading, Psalm 117’s summons has a present application to the church and a future, fuller application to the nations’ worship in the kingdom, when God’s promises to national Israel are literally fulfilled.

Dispensational interpreters emphasize that the grounds of praise—God’s “steadfast love” and “faithfulness” that “endures forever” (v. 2)—guarantee the certainty of God’s promises to Israel. Because God’s faithfulness endures forever, dispensationalists argue, His unconditional covenant promises to Abraham and David concerning the land, the nation, and the throne cannot fail but will be literally fulfilled (Genesis 15:18–21; 2 Samuel 7:12–16). John Walvoord and J. Dwight Pentecost stress that the everlasting faithfulness of God secures Israel’s future restoration and the establishment of the messianic kingdom. The psalm’s celebration of God’s enduring faithfulness thus becomes, in dispensational thought, a pledge of the literal fulfillment of all God’s prophetic promises.

The universal scope of the psalm also fits the dispensational expectation of a future age of global worship. C.I. Scofield and the Scofield Reference Bible tradition read the missionary and universal psalms as anticipating the kingdom, when the LORD will be praised among all nations under the reign of Messiah. The closing “Hallelujah” anticipates the praise that will fill the millennial earth and, ultimately, the eternal state, when God’s program for Israel, the church, and the nations reaches its consummation.

Representative dispensational voices include C.I. Scofield, Charles Ryrie, John Walvoord, J. Dwight Pentecost, and progressive dispensationalists such as Craig Blaising and Darrell Bock, who, while drawing the church and Israel into closer connection in the one plan of God, retain the emphasis on a future for national Israel and a literal kingdom. For all of them, Psalm 117 magnifies the faithfulness of God that guarantees His promises and anticipates the day when all nations will praise the LORD in the consummation of His program—a hope grounded in the steadfast love and everlasting faithfulness the psalm so concisely proclaims. Cross-references: Genesis 12:3; 15:18–21; 2 Samuel 7:12–16; Isaiah 2:2–4; 11:9; 60:1–3; Zechariah 8:20–23; 14:16–21; Romans 11:25–29; Revelation 19:6.

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