Seder 162: Psalm 145----An Acrostic Psalm of Praise

 Psalm 145 is a hymn of praise concentrating on God's attributes and actions.  It is an acrostic psalm, missing only a verse beginning with the letter nun in all but one manuscript of the Masoretic text.  Modern English translations include such a verse, drawing from that one Hebrew manuscript and the LXX (see ESV, NIV, and NLT, for example).

The Psalm begins, "I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever."  God's name signifies his faithfulness to his people. and his people in turn should praise him faithfully.  

This is a psalm that many recite daily.  There is a tradition that one who recites this psalm three times a day will have a place in the world to come (b. Ber 4b).  The sages go on to ask what is so special about this particular psalm.  After all, there are other acrostic psalms---e.g., Psalm 119.  There are also other psalms that praise God's provision for all creation---e.g., Psalm 136.  But Psalm 145 has both.  It's an acrostic psalm that praises God's provision for all of creation---see verses 9 and 15-16, for example. 

The psalm goes on to praise God for greatness, as evidenced in his mighty acts (vv 3-4).  His great works show his power, goodness, and mercy (vv 5-9).  Notice that verse 8 is one of many biblical passages that repeat the message of Exodus 34:6-7. 

We should all praise the King, whose kingdom is great and enduring.  At the same time, he condescends to consider the needs of individual people.  We see God's love in acts of restoration (v 14) and provision (vv 15-16).

Since God is good to all creation, how much more to those who fear him---vv 18-20.  (See Mt 6:25-34.)  He is also a God of justice (v 20).  Our appropriate response is to praise him forever (vv 1-2,21).  

Seder 135: Psalm 136---God's Steadfast Love Endures Forever

 Psalm 136 begins in a familiar way:  "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love [Hebrew chesed] endures forever."  We also find these words in Ps 106:1; 107:1; 118:29; 1 Ch 16:34. 

But Psalm 136 differs from these other psalms in that the refrain "for his steadfast love endures forever" is repeated in each of its 26 verses.  The verses bring out how God's love of Israel is shown in great works of redemption, and his love for all mankind is shown in his works as Creator.  

There is an interesting midrash on Psalm 136:4 ("to him who alone does great wonders").  This midrash says that it is only God who does great wonders, and it is only God who knows what all of these wonders are.  Each day God is doing wonders of which we may be totally unaware.  

We're not sure when this psalm was written.   Commentators point out that the designation for God in verse 26 ("the God of heaven") appears most often in post-exilic books like Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel. Verse 23 ("It is he who remembered us in our low estate") could refer to the Exodus and also to exile. 

On the other hand, nothing else in this psalm is necessarily post-exilic.  There is another midrash that says it would have been fitting for this psalm to have been written right after the victories over Sihon and Og (vv 19-20), much as Exodus 15 celebrated the victory over Pharaoh at the Red Sea.  

A third midrash reflects on the magnitude of the victory over Og the giant.  According to this midrash Og picked up a mountain and threw it at the Israelites, but Moses thwarted that attack with a pebble over which he had pronounced the Divine Name. 

The midrash on Psalm 136 also includes traditions about Israel's miraculous crossing of the Red Sea.  One of these traditions says that "the depths crystallized on both sides of the children of Israel and became a kind of glass," based on Exodus 15:8.  This tradition links Exodus 15 and Revelation 15, which pictures a "sea of glass" in heaven.