Verse 1-2

PRAISE HIM FOR ALL HIS BENEFITS

Psalms 116:12-19; Psalms 117:1-2

The psalmist dwells joyfully on his enslavement to God, because in and through it he had found perfect liberty. Thou hast loosed my bonds. They who become enslaved to Christ are set free from all other restraints. See John 8:31-36. Do not forget to pay your vows! In trouble we make promises, which, when the trouble has passed, we find it convenient to forget. See Genesis 40:23.

Psalms 117:1-2 is the shortest chapter in the Bible and its center; but, small as it is, it breathes a world-wide spirit and reaches out to all nations. “It is a dewdrop reflecting the universe.” The Apostle quotes it in Romans 15:11, as foretelling the call of the Gentiles. Here, as in Isaiah 11:10 and elsewhere, the spirit of the singer overleaps all national exclusiveness and comprehends all people and all time.

Let us learn to exercise the spirit of praise in our daily sphere. Surely we also can say that God’s loving-kindness has been, and is, mighty over us. “Where sin abounded grace did much more abound.” The permanence of this love is guaranteed by God’s faithfulness; for his truth is his troth. The shortest prayer of praise should find room for Hallelujah! See Revelation 19:4.