1 Praise ye the Lord, Praise ye the Name of the Lord: prayse him, O ye seruants of the Lord.
2 Yee that stand in the House of the Lord: in the courts of the house of our God.
3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good: sing praises vnto his Name, for it is pleasant.
4 For the Lord hath chosen Iacob vnto himselfe: and Israel for his peculiar treasure.
5 For I know that the Lord is great: and that our Lord is aboue all gods.
6 Whatsoeuer the Lord pleased, that did he in heauen and in earth: in the Seas, and all deepe places.
7 Hee causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth, he maketh lightnings for the raine: he bringeth the winde out of his treasuries.
8 Who smote the first borne of Egypt: both of man and beast.
9 Who sent tokens and woonders into the midst of thee, O Egypt: vpon Pharaoh, and vpon all his seruants.
10 Who smote great nations: and slew mightie kings:
11 Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og king of Bashan: and all the kingdomes of Canaan,
12 And gaue their land for an heritage: an heritage vnto Israel his people.
13 Thy Name, O Lord, endureth for euer: and thy memoriall, O Lord, throughout all generations.
14 For the Lord will iudge his people: and he will repent himselfe concerning his seruants.
15 The idoles of the heathen are siluer and golde: the worke of mens hands.
16 They haue mouthes, but they speake not: eyes haue they, but they see not:
17 They haue eares, but they heare not: neither is there any breath in their mouthes.
18 They that make them are like vnto them: so is euery one that trusteth in them.
19 Blesse the Lord, O house of Israel: blesse the Lord, O house of Aaron.
20 Blesse the Lord, O house of Leui: ye that feare the Lord, blesse the Lord.
21 Blessed be the Lord out of Zion; which dwelleth at Ierusalem. Praise ye the Lord.
God to be praised for his mercy. (1-4) For his power and judgments. (5-14) The vanity of idols. (15-21)
1-4 The subject-matter of praise, is the blessings of grace flowing from the everlasting love of God. The name of God as a covenant God and Father in Christ, blessing us with all spiritual blessings in him, is to be loved and praised. The Lord chose a people to himself, that they might be unto him for a name and a praise. If they do not praise him for this distinguishing favour, they are the most unworthy and ungrateful of all people.
5-14 God is, and will be always, the same to his church, a gracious, faithful, wonder-working God. And his church is, and will be, the same to him, a thankful, praising people: thus his name endures for ever. He will return in ways of mercy to them, and will delight to do them good.
15-21 These verses arm believers against idolatry and all false worship, by showing what sort of gods the heathen worshipped. And the more deplorable the condition of the Gentile nations that worship idols, the more are we to be thankful that we know better. Let us pity, and pray for, and seek to benefit benighted heathens and deluded sinners. Let us endeavour to glorify his name, and recommend his truth, not only with our lips, but by holy lives, copying the example of Christ's goodness and truth.
Commentary by Matthew Henry, 1710.