18 The Lord is near all those who give honour to his name; even to all who give honour to him with true hearts.
The Lord is near the broken-hearted; he is the saviour of those whose spirits are crushed down.
For what great nation has a god so near to them as the Lord our God is, whenever we are turned to him in prayer?
And you will go on crying to me and making prayer to me, and I will give ear to you. And you will be searching for me and I will be there, when you have gone after me with all your heart.
Then at the sound of your voice, the Lord will give an answer; at your cry he will say, Here am I. If you take away from among you the yoke, the putting out of the finger of shame, and the evil word;
Come near to God and he will come near to you. Make your hands clean, you evil-doers; put away deceit from your hearts, you false in mind.
When our heart says that we have done wrong; because God is greater than our heart, and has knowledge of all things. My loved ones, if our heart does not say that we have done wrong, we have no fear before him; And he gives us all our requests, because we keep his laws and do the things which are pleasing in his eyes.
And when your hands are stretched out to me, my eyes will be turned away from you: even though you go on making prayers, I will not give ear: your hands are full of blood. Be washed, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes; let there be an end of sinning;
And when you make your prayers, be not like the false-hearted men, who take pleasure in getting up and saying their prayers in the Synagogues and at the street turnings so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, They have their reward. But when you make your prayer, go into your private room, and, shutting the door, say a prayer to your Father in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will give you your reward. And in your prayer do not make use of the same words again and again, as the Gentiles do: for they have the idea that God will give attention to them because of the number of their words. So be not like them; because your Father has knowledge of your needs even before you make your requests to him.
<A Prayer. Of David.> Let my cause come to your ears, O Lord, give attention to my cry; give ear to my prayer which goes not out from false lips.
Happy are they who keep his unchanging word, searching after him with all their heart.
And they have not made prayer to me in their hearts, but they make loud cries on their beds; they are cutting themselves for food and wine, they are turned against me.
You are near, O Lord; and all your teachings are true.
The offering of the evil-doer is disgusting to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright man is his delight.
And in the middle of the day, Elijah made sport of them, saying, Give louder cries, for he is a god; he may be deep in thought, or he may have gone away for some purpose, or he may be on a journey, or by chance he is sleeping and has to be made awake. So they gave loud cries, cutting themselves with knives and swords, as was their way, till the blood came streaming out all over them.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Psalms 145
Commentary on Psalms 145 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
PSALM 145
Ps 145:1-21. A Psalm of praise to God for His mighty, righteous, and gracious government of all men, and of His humble and suffering people in particular.
1, 2. (Compare Ps 30:1).
bless thy name—celebrate Thy perfections (Ps 5:11). God is addressed as king, alluding to His government of men.
3. (Compare Ps 18:3; 48:1).
greatness—as displayed in His works.
4. shall declare—literally, "they shall declare," that is, all generations.
5. I will speak—or, "muse" (Ps 77:12; 119:15).
thy wondrous works—or, "words of thy wonders," that is, which described them (Ps 105:27, Margin).
6. terrible acts—which produce dread or fear.
7. memory—(Ps 6:5), remembrance, or what causes to be remembered.
righteousness—as in Ps 143:1, goodness according to covenant engagement.
8, 9. (Compare Ps 103:8; 111:4).
over all, &c.—rests on all His works.
10. bless—as in Ps 145:1, to praise with reverence, more than merely to praise.
11, 12. The declaration of God's glory is for the extension of His knowledge and perfections in the world.
13. (Compare Da 4:3, 34).
14. (Compare Ps 37:17; 54:4).
15, 16. eyes of … thee—or, look with expecting faith (Ps 104:27, 28).
17. holy … works—literally, "merciful" or "kind, goodness" (Ps 144:2) is the corresponding noun.
righteous—in a similar relation of meaning to "righteousness" (Ps 145:7).
18, 19. (Compare Ps 34:7, 10).
20. Those who fear Him (Ps 145:19) are those who are here said to love Him.
21. (Compare Ps 33:21).
all flesh—(Ps 65:2). The Psalm ends, as it began, with ascriptions of praise, in which the pious will ever delight to join.