1 A Psalm of praise. Of David. I will exalt You, my God and King; I will bless Your name forever and ever.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 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.
2 Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 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 saith, "Every day will I bless Thee" (ver. 2).
3 Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; His greatness is unsearchable.
Gregory of Nyssa · AD 395 Now if any one should ask for some interpretation, and description, and explanation of the Divine essence, we are not going to deny that this kind of wisdom we are unlearned, acknowledging only so much as this, that it is not possible that which is by nature infinite should be comprehended in any conception expressed by words.
Ambrose of Milan · AD 397 You cannot, then, heretic [Arian], build up a false doctrine on the basis of an analogy of human procreation. Nor can you gather the means for such a purpose from our discussion, for we cannot embrace the greatness of infinite godhead, "of whose greatness there is no end," in our limited speech.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 Great art Thou, O Lord, and greatly to be praised; great is Thy power, and of Thy wisdom there is no end. And man, being a part of Thy creation, desires to praise Thee, man, who bears about with him his mortality, the witness of his sin, even the witness that Thou "resistest the proud," -yet man, this part of Thy creation, desires to praise Thee.
4 One generation will commend Your works to the next, and will proclaim Your mighty acts—
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 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 eyesight of his mind, not to say of his flesh?
5 the glorious splendor of Your majesty. And I will meditate on Your wondrous works.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "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 hath made a step up to Him, not a descent from Him to them.
6 They will proclaim the power of Your awesome deeds, and I will declare Your greatness.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "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.
7 They will extol the fame of Your abundant goodness and sing joyfully of Your righteousness.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "The remembrance of the abundance of Thy sweetness they shall pour forth" (ver. 7): none but Thine.
8 The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "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 punishment.
9 The LORD is good to all; His compassion rests on all He has made.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "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.
10 All You have made will give You thanks, O LORD, and Your saints will bless You.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "Let all Your works, O Lord, confess to You, and let Your saints bless You" [Psalm 145:10]. 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?
11 They will tell of the glory of Your kingdom and speak of Your might,
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 For when Thy saints bless Thee, what say they? "They shall tell the glory of Thy kingdom, and talk of Thy Power" (ver. 11). How powerful is God, who hath made the earth! how powerful is God, who hath filled the earth with good things! how powerful is God, who hath given to the animals each its own life!
12 to make known to men Your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of Your kingdom.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "That they may make known to the sons of men Your power, and the glory of the greatness of the beauty of Your kingdom" [Psalm 145:12]. 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, Your kingdom has beauty, and great beauty.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is faithful in all His words and kind in all His actions.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "Thy kingdom." What kingdom mean I? "a kingdom of all ages." For the kingdom of this age too hath its own beauty, but there is not in it that greatness of beauty, such as in the "kingdom of all ages." "And Thy dominion is in every generation and generation" (ver. 13).
14 The LORD upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "The Lord strengtheneth all that are falling" (ver. 14). But who are "all that are falling"? All indeed fall in a general sense, but he meaneth those who fall in a particular way. For many fall from Him, many also fall from their own imaginations.
Leo the Great · AD 461 Whoever finds the healing of correction to be difficult should flee to the mercy of God for help and beg that the chains of evil habit be broken away from them, for "the Lord lifts up all who collapse and raises up all who have been broken down." No, the prayer of a believer will not be empty, since our merciful God "will accomplish the intentions of those who fear him." He wil…
15 The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food in season.
Ambrose of Milan · AD 397 And the apostle [Paul] added, "For of him, and through him and in him are all things." What does "of him" mean? It means that the nature of everything exists according to his will and that he is the creator of everything that has come into existence. What does "through him" mean? It means that the creation and preservation of all things is his gift. What does "in him" mean?
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "The eyes of all hope upon Thee, and Thou givest them food in due season" (ver. 15). Just as when thou refreshest a sick man in due season, when he ought to receive, then Thou givest, and what he ought to receive, that Thou givest. Sometimes then men long, and he giveth not: he who tendeth, knoweth the time to give. Wherefore say I this, brethren?
16 You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
Gregory of Nyssa · AD 395 A person, then, who remains the same and yet babbles to himself about the change for the better he has undergone in baptism should attend to what Paul says: "If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself." For you are not what you have not become; whereas the gospel says of the regenerate that "he gave all those who received him the power to become Go…
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "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.
Bonaventure · AD 1257 This Hierarch is the most generous because He gives us whatever we ask. He swears to it and asserts it with complete truthfulness. Hence in the Psalm: "You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing."
17 The LORD is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "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.
18 The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call out to Him in truth.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "The Lord is nigh unto all that call upon Him" (ver. 18). Where then is that, "Then shall they call upon Me, and I will not hear them"? See then what follows: "all who call upon Him in truth." For many call upon Him, but not in truth. They seek something else from Him, but seek not Himself. Why lovest thou God?
Fulgentius of Ruspe · AD 533 If there are any who are even in the catholic church and live evil lives, before they finish this life, let them hasten to give up the evil life, and let them not think that the catholic [Christian] name is enough for salvation, if they do not do the will of God.
Bede · AD 735 But we must look attentively at this—that not everyone who seems to pray before other people is proven to ask or to seek or to knock at the entrance of the heavenly kingdom in the sight of the searcher of hearts. The prophet would not have said, "The Lord is near to all who call on him in truth," unless he recognized that there are some who call on the Lord, but not in truth.
19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "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.
20 The LORD preserves all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "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.
21 My mouth will declare the praise of the LORD; let every creature bless His holy name forever and ever.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 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 Lord, and let all flesh bless His holy Name for ever and ever"…
Theodoret of Cyrus · AD 458 We have confessed that God the Word took not a body only but also a soul. Why then did the divine Evangelist omit in this place mention of the soul and mention the flesh only? Is it not clear that he mentioned the visible nature and intended to include the nature united to it? For the mention of the soul is understood of course in that of the flesh.