Psalms 117King James Version
1O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people.
2For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. Praise ye the LORD.
About Psalms 117
The shortest chapter in the Bible, two verses. O praise the Lord, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the Lord endureth for ever.
What happens here?
The shortest chapter in the entire Bible: two verses. Praise the LORD, all ye nations; praise him, all ye people. For his merciful kindness is great toward us, and the truth of the LORD endureth forever. Praise ye the LORD. In its brevity it carries the weight of the entire Psalter's universalism: all nations are addressed. Paul quotes it in Romans 15:11 as evidence that God's salvation was always intended for the Gentiles.
The big idea?
The smallest psalm carries the largest scope: all nations and all people invited to praise, because the mercy that reached Israel was never meant only for Israel.
A line to remember
verse: "O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people." Two verses with universal address: this is the Psalter's missional claim in its most concentrated form.
Set the scene
No superscription. Egyptian Hallel (sixth and last). Placed between Psalm 116's personal testimony and Psalm 118's processional thanksgiving, its universal scope is the pivot. The literary brevity may be intentional: the shorter the psalm, the wider its invitation.
Who's in it?
All nations and all peoples as the ones addressed; God as the one whose mercy toward Israel is the basis for universal praise; the psalmist implied as the caller to worship.
Why it matters
Paul quotes Psalm 117:1 in Romans 15:11 as part of his chain of OT texts proving that God always intended the Gentiles to praise him alongside Israel. As the shortest chapter in the Bible, it stands at the structural center of the 1189 chapters (being chapter 595 of 1189). The brevity intensifies rather than limits its theological scope.
For when you feel...
For when the scope of what you believe needs to be felt in its full size. Two verses, all nations. That is the whole claim.
