Commentary - Psalm 145:10-13

Bird's-eye view

This section of David's magnificent alphabetic psalm transitions from the individual's praise ("I will extol You") to the great chorus of all creation and, most particularly, the saints. The theme is the kingdom of God, and the subject matter is what the righteous love to talk about. There is a universal testimony, where all of God's works give Him thanks, a sort of involuntary praise that rises from the very fabric of what He has made. But there is a higher, more specific, and articulate praise that comes from His holy ones, His saints. Their job is not just to feel gratitude but to speak, to talk, to make known. What do they talk about? They speak of the glory, might, and majesty of God's kingdom. This is kingdom talk. It is a public proclamation of His mighty deeds and the splendor of His reign. The passage culminates in a foundational declaration: this kingdom is not a temporary affair. It is an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion is not fleeting but endures through all generations. This is a robustly optimistic, Christ-centered, kingdom-advancing song.

The structure here is a beautiful concentric movement. It begins with the praise of all works, narrows to the articulate blessing of the saints, describes the content of their speech about the kingdom, explains the purpose of that speech which is evangelistic proclamation, and then grounds the entire thing in the eternal nature of that kingdom. It is a motion from creation to the redeemed, from testimony to proclamation, and from historical acts to everlasting dominion. This is the great business of the saints: to be the authorized spokesmen for a silent but grateful creation, declaring to the sons of men the nature of the King and His unconquerable kingdom.

Outline

Context In The Psalms

Psalm 145 is the final psalm attributed to David in the Psalter and is the last of the acrostic psalms. It serves as a grand capstone to David's contributions and a powerful introduction to the final five "Hallelujah" psalms (146-150) that conclude the entire book. Its title is simply "A Psalm of Praise," and it is the only psalm to bear that title. The theme is an exhaustive celebration of God's character and works. The acrostic structure, where each verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet, suggests a comprehensive, A-to-Z declaration of God's greatness. The verses leading up to our section establish God's greatness, His worthiness of praise, His mighty acts, His goodness, and His compassion. Our passage (vv. 10-13) forms the heart of the psalm, focusing on the universal and particular response to this divine character, with the kingdom of God as the central theme of that response.

Key Issues

The Great Conversation

What do Christians talk about when they get together? What should be the central theme of our conversation? David gives us the answer here. The saints, the holy ones, are to be defined by their speech. And their speech is to be defined by the kingdom. We are not called to be silent admirers of God's work. We are commissioned as heralds. Creation itself offers up a constant, mute praise. A mountain range is a testimony to God's might, but it cannot speak of His mercy. A sunset declares His glory, but it cannot preach the gospel of His kingdom. That task is given to us.

The world is full of talk about power, kingdoms, and glory. Men speak of the might of armies, the glory of empires, the majesty of their rulers. But all of that is passing away. It is a shadow play. The saints are those who have had their eyes opened to the true Kingdom, the one that undergirds and will outlast all others. Our conversation, therefore, is to be a counter-revolutionary proclamation. In a world obsessed with the might of men, we are to "talk of Your might." In a world dazzled by the fleeting glory of human courts, we are to "speak of the glory of Your kingdom." This is not idle chatter; it is the central work of the church. We are making known to the sons of men what time it is, whose world this is, and who the rightful King is.

Verse by Verse Commentary

10 All Your works, O Yahweh, shall give thanks to You, And Your holy ones shall bless You.

David begins with two distinct but related choirs. First, there is the universal choir of all God's works. Everything that God has made, from the quasars to the quarks, gives Him thanks. This is the praise of creation. It is an objective reality. The heavens declare the glory of God. The mountains, the seas, the beasts of the field, all of them in their very existence and function, offer up a testimony to their Creator. It is a constant, steady hum of gratitude. But this praise is, in a sense, involuntary and inarticulate. A tree gives thanks by being a tree. A star gives thanks by shining. Then David introduces the second choir: "Your holy ones shall bless You." The holy ones, the hasidim, are those set apart by God's grace. Their praise is different. The word "bless" here implies a conscious, articulate, willing praise. They don't just give thanks; they bless. They speak well of God. They are the priests of creation, gathering up the mute praise of all things and offering it up to God in coherent words.

11 They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom And talk of Your might;

Having established who the speakers are, David now tells us their subject matter. What is the content of this blessing? It is kingdom talk. The saints speak of two things primarily: the glory of God's kingdom and the might of God's power. These are not abstract theological concepts. The glory of His kingdom is its weightiness, its substance, its visible splendor. The saints are those who have seen, by faith, the majesty of Christ's rule and reign. They see that it is more real, more substantial, and more glorious than any earthly empire. And they "talk of Your might." They are constantly recounting the mighty deeds of God in history: creation, the exodus, the conquest, and supremely, the cross and the resurrection. Our God is not a weak, abstract principle. He is a God who acts with power. The conversation of the saints is a running commentary on the majesty of God's government and the power by which He executes His will in the world.

12 To make known to the sons of men His mighty deeds And the glory of the majesty of His kingdom.

This verse gives the purpose of the saints' speech. It is not an internal conversation, a private discussion club for the initiated. The purpose is evangelistic. It is "to make known to the sons of men." The kingdom talk of the saints is a public proclamation directed at the world. The world of men is largely ignorant of God's mighty deeds. They have their own heroes, their own stories of power. The church's task is to tell them the true story of the world, the story of God's powerful interventions. And we are to make known "the glory of the majesty of His kingdom." This is a piling up of majestic words. We are to declare the magnificent splendor of His rule. This is apologetics and evangelism all in one. We are declaring to a world in rebellion that there is a true King, that His kingdom is surpassingly glorious, and that His power is absolute. The goal is to open their blind eyes to the reality that is right in front of them.

13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures from generation to every generation.

This is the foundation upon which all the previous declarations rest. Why should the sons of men care about this kingdom? Because it is the only one that will last. Human kingdoms rise and fall. Empires that seem invincible turn to dust. Political movements have their moment and then fade. But God's kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. It has no end. And His dominion, His active rule, "endures from generation to every generation." There is no point in history, no generation, where His rule is suspended or in jeopardy. This is a profound statement of God's sovereignty over all of history. For the Christian, this is the ultimate ground of our confidence and our optimism. We are not proclaiming a kingdom that might succeed; we are proclaiming the kingdom that cannot fail. This is the kingdom that was inaugurated by Jesus Christ, and of its increase there will be no end. It is currently growing like a mustard seed and will one day fill the whole earth. This declaration is the bedrock of our faith and the engine of our proclamation.

Application

This passage is a direct charge to every believer. What dominates your conversation? When you gather with other Christians, do you talk about the glory of His kingdom and the might of His power? Or do you descend into grumbling, complaining, and talking about the might and power of the enemy? David teaches us that the speech of the saints is to be saturated with God's reign.

We are to be the authorized storytellers of God's mighty acts. This means we must know the stories. We must be steeped in Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, so that we can recount what our God has done. And we must learn to see His mighty acts in our own lives and in the life of our church. When God answers a prayer, we are to talk of His might. When we see a sinner converted, we are to speak of the glory of His kingdom.

Furthermore, this talk is not just for our own encouragement. It is for "the sons of men." We have the good news that the world is not meaningless chaos, but is rather the theater of an everlasting kingdom ruled by a good and powerful King. In our evangelism, we are not just offering a ticket out of hell. We are inviting people to switch their allegiance, to become citizens of an unshakeable and glorious kingdom. And we do this with unshakeable confidence, because we know that this kingdom is not a fleeting human project. It is an everlasting kingdom, and our King's dominion will outlast the sun.