World English Bible
- Praise the LORD, all you nations! Extol him, all you peoples!
- For his loving kindness is great toward us. The LORD’s faithfulness endures forever. Praise the LORD!
Psalm 117 is only two verses long, yet it stretches from Abraham to Revelation.
It belongs to the Hallel psalms (Psalms 113–118), the songs Israel used at the great feasts, especially Passover. That means there is a strong and moving possibility that on the night of the Last Supper, before Gethsemane, Jesus sang these very words with his disciples (see the Gospel according to Matthew 26:30, New International Version). Think of it: on the eve of the cross, he sang of all nations praising the Lord.
That matters, because the psalm’s command is shocking. “Nations” in Hebrew is not a soft word for “different cultures.” It means the Gentiles—the outsiders, the peoples beyond the covenant, often the enemies of Israel. In the ancient Near East, gods were usually local. They had territory, shrines, and tribes. But here Israel calls all peoples everywhere to praise the Lord. This is theological dynamite. Israel’s God is not a tribal deity with strong regional influence. He is Lord of the nations.
Yet the deepest surprise is the reason given: the nations are to praise God because his loving kindness is great toward us. The psalm does not say, “Praise him because he has ignored Israel and started fresh with everyone else.” No—the mercy shown to us becomes the hope of all. God’s election of Israel was never meant to be a cul-de-sac. It was always a channel. The “us” is not a fence; it is a doorway.
Paul saw this clearly and quoted Psalm 117 in the letter to the Romans 15:11, New International Version, to defend the inclusion of the Gentiles. Augustine heard in this tiny psalm the whole church gathered from Jews and Gentiles into one song. Calvin likewise saw that God’s covenant mercy was never private property.
There is also a rich Hebrew texture here. “Loving kindness” is hesed—God’s covenant mercy, loyal love. “Faithfulness” is ’emet—firmness, truth, reliability. Together they are the old covenant pair from Exodus 34:6, and they echo forward into the Gospel according to John 1:14, where Christ is full of “grace and truth” (New International Version). Even more striking, the phrase translated “is great toward us” can carry the sense of God’s love prevailing over us, towering above us, proving stronger than our weakness and rebellion. His mercy is not a weak sentiment. It is victorious love.
Yesterday, Psalm 116 taught us personal gratitude: the Lord heard my voice. Today that private rescue opens outward into mission: the one who has been heard must now call the world to praise.
And so Psalm 117 asks the church a hard question: has grace made us more welcoming, more missionary, more full of holy wonder—or only more protective of our own circle? Real praise always widens the room.
Suggested cross-references: Genesis 12:3; Exodus
34:6; Isaiah 49:6; Romans 15:8–11; Revelation 7:9–10.
Hymn suggestion: From All That Dwell Below the
Skies.
Lord of Israel and Lord of all nations, let your victorious mercy conquer our small hearts. Teach us to praise you not as owners of grace, but as witnesses to it. Make your steadfast love and faithfulness shine in us, through Christ, until many peoples join the song. Amen.