The Eastern Cross/Bible/Psalms/Psalm 144
The Book of Psalms · the Psalter
Psalm 145 in the KJV and most English Bibles
Tap Fathers under a verse to read what the saints said about it.
David’s Psalm of praise. I will exalt thee, my God, my king; And I will bless thy name forever and ever.
Αἴνεσις τοῦ Δαυίδ. Ὑψώσω σε, ὁ Θεός μου ὁ βασιλεύς μου, καὶ εὐλογήσω τὸ ὄνομά σου εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα καὶ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος.
The title is, "Praise, to David himself." Praise to Christ Himself. And since He is called David, who came to us of the seed of David, yet He was our King, ruling us, and bringing us into His kingdom, therefore "Praise to David himself" is understood to mean, Praise to Christ Himself. Christ according to the flesh is…
Every day will I bless thee, And I will praise thy name forever and ever.
Καθʼ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν εὐλογήσω σε, καὶ αἰνέσω τὸ ὄνομά σου εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα καὶ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος.
Now then begin to praise, if thou intendest to praise for ever. He who will not praise in this transitory "age," will be silent when "age upon age" has come. But lest any one should in any otherwise also understand what he saith, "I will praise Thy Name for the age," and should seek another age, wherein to praise, he…
The Lord is great, and greatly to be praised; And there is no end of his greatness.
Μέγας ὁ Κύριος καὶ αἰνετὸς σφόδρα, καὶ τῆς μεγαλωσύνης αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔστι πέρας.
"Great is the Lord, and very much to be praised" (ver. 3). How much was he about to say? what terms was he about to seek? How vast a conception hath he included in the one word, "very much"? Imagine what thou wilt, for how can that be imagined, which cannot be contained? "He is very much to be praised. And of His…
Generation after generation shall praise thy works, And tell of thy power.
Γενεὰ καὶ γενεὰ ἐπαινέσει τὰ ἔργα σου, καὶ τὴν δύναμίν σου ἀπαγγελοῦσι.
For how great things besides has His boundless Goodness and illimitable Greatness made, which we do not know! When we lift the gaze of our eyes even to the heaven, and then recall it from sun, moon, and stars to the earth, and there is all this space where our sight can wander; beyond the heavens who can extend the…
And they shall speak of the glorious majesty of thy holiness, And recount thy wonders.
Καὶ τὴν μεγαλοπρέπειαν τῆς δόξης τῆς ἁγιωσύνης σου λαλήσουσι, καὶ τὰ θαυμάσιά σου διηγήσονται.
"They shall speak of the magnificence of the glory of Thy Holiness, and shall record Thy wondrous deeds" (ver. 5). See whether this man, meditating on Thy works, hath turned aside from the Worker to the work: see whether he hath sunk from Him who made, to the things which He made. Of the things which He hath made, he…
And they shall speak of the power of thy terrible acts; And recount thy greatness.
Καὶ τὴν δύναμιν τῶν φοβερῶν σου ἐροῦσι, καὶ τὴν μεγαλωσύνην σου διηγήσονται.
"And the excellence of Thy fearful works shall they speak of: and Thy greatness, they shall relate it" (ver. 6). For He doth not hold out promises, without holding out threats also: if He held out no promises, there would be no encouragement; if He held out no threats, there would be no correction. They that praise…
They shall utter the memory of the abundance of thy goodness, And shall exult in thy righteousness.
Μνήμην τοῦ πλήθους τῆς χρηστότητός σου ἐξερεύξονται, καὶ τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ σου ἀγαλλιάσονται.
"The remembrance of the abundance of Thy sweetness they shall pour forth" (ver. 7): none but Thine.
The Lord is compassionate, and merciful; Long-suffering, and abundant in mercy.
Οἰκτίρμων καὶ ἐλεήμων ὁ Κύριος, μακρόθυμος καὶ πολυέλεος.
"Merciful and pitiful is the Lord; long-suffering, and very merciful" (ver. 8). Were He not such as this, there would be no seeking to recover us. Consider thyself: what didst thou deserve, O sinner? Despiser of God, what didst thou deserve? See if aught occur to thee but penalty, if aught occur to thee but…
The Lord is good to those that wait on him; And his compassions are over all his works.
Χρηστὸς Κύριος τοῖς ὑπομένουσι, καὶ οἱ οἰκτιρμοὶ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ πάντα τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ.
"Sweet is the Lord to all, and His compassions reach into all His works" (ver. 9). Hear the Scripture: "I will not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn, and live." By these words of God, he is brought back to hope; but there is another snare to be feared, lest through this very hope he sin the more.…
Let all thy works, O Lord, give thanks to thee; And let thy saints bless thee.
Ἐξομολογησάσθωσάν σοι, Κύριε, πάντα τὰ ἔργα σου, καὶ οἱ ὅσιοί σου εὐλογησάτωσάν σε.
"Let all Your works, O Lord, confess to You, and let Your saints bless You". How so? Is not the earth His work? Are not the trees His work? Cattle, beasts, fish, fowl, are not they His works? Plainly they too are. And how shall these too confess to Him? I see indeed in the angels that His works confess to Him, for the…
They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, And talk of thy dominion;
Δόξαν τῆς βασιλείας σου ἐροῦσι, καὶ τὴν δυναστείαν σου λαλήσουσιν·
To make known to the sons of men thy power, And the glorious majesty of thy kingdom.
Τοῦ γνωρίσαι τοῖς υἱοῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὴν δυναστείαν σου, καὶ τὴν δόξαν τῆς μεγαλοπρεπείας τῆς βασιλείας σου.
"That they may make known to the sons of men Your power, and the glory of the greatness of the beauty of Your kingdom". Your saints then commend "the glory of the greatness of the beauty of Your kingdom," the glory of the greatness of its beauty. There is a certain "greatness of the beauty of Your kingdom:" that is,…
Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And thy dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is faithful in his words, And holy in all his works.
Ἡ βασιλεία σου βασιλεία πάντων τῶν αἰώνων, καὶ ἡ δεσποτία σου ἐν πάσῃ γενεᾷ καὶ γενεᾷ· πιστὸς Κύριος ἐν τοῖς λόγοις αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὅσιος ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἔργοις αὐτοῦ.
The Lord supports all that are falling, And sets up all that are broken down.
Ὑποστηρίζει Κύριος πάντας τοὺς καταπίπτοντας, καὶ ἀνορθοῖ πάντας τοὺς κατεῤῥαγμένους.
The eyes of all wait upon thee; And thou givest them their food in due season.
Οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ πάντων εἰς σὲ ἐλπίζουσι, καὶ σὺ δίδως τὴν τροφὴν αὐτῶν ἐν εὐκαιρίᾳ.
"Thou openest Thine Hand, and fillest every living thing with blessing" (ver. 16). Though sometimes Thou givest not, yet "in due season" Thou givest: Thou delayest, not deniest, and that in due season.
"Righteous is the Lord in all His ways, and holy in all His works" (ver. 17). Both when He smiteth and when He healeth, He is righteous, and in Him unrighteousness is not. Finally, all His saints, when set in the midst of tribulation, have first praised His righteousness, and so sought His blessings. They first have…
"He will perform the will of them that fear Him" (ver. 19). He will perform it, He will perform it: though He perform it not at once, yet He will perform it. Certainly if therefore thou fearest God, that thou mayest do His will, behold even He in a manner ministereth to thee; He doeth thy will. "And He shall hear…
"The Lord guardeth all that love Him, and all sinners He will destroy" (ver. 20). Thou seest that there is severity with Him, with whom is so great sweetness. He will save all that hope in Him, all the faithful, all that fear Him, all that call upon Him in truth: "and all sinners He will destroy." What "all sinners,"…
Since this is so, and we have heard the blessing of the Lord, the works of the Lord, the wondrous things of the Lord, the mercies of the Lord, the severity of the Lord, His Providence over all His works, the confession of all His works; observe how He concludeth in His praise, "My mouth shall speak the praise of the…
Every note is a real passage, quoted word for word from a published English translation, with its source. Nothing here is summarised or written by us. Some verses have many notes and some have none, because the Fathers wrote more on some passages than others.
All of these translations are in the public domain. The passages were matched to their verses by the Historical Christian Commentaries project, which also hosts the full texts we link to. The Fathers are a treasury of the Church's mind, and they are best read alongside the life of the Church: if a passage raises a question, bring it to your priest.