This psalm doesn’t explicitly contain every answer God has for every situation you may find yourself in. However, whatever else may be going on in your life right now, and whatever else you may need right now, the one thing you always need right now is to remember and rejoice in who God is. To ground your life in the praise of God.

The call of this psalm is to praise the LORD, and it means to boast and celebrate the magnificence of God. When you see the word LORD in all capital letters, it refers to the covenant name of God. This is speaking of the character of God, and the nature of God. The psalmist is calling on all people to worship God because of who God is.

all nations! all peoples! This psalm is a prophecy. You see, this is not simply an invitation to all people to praise the Lord. This is a declaration of a time when all people will praise the Lord. This is an OT call from God to the lost. The word translated as nations here refers to the Gentiles. This is Israel inviting the Gentiles to join in praise of the LORD. And this pictures how the grace of God in the Gospel of Jesus Christ would spread out to every nation, and every people, Jew or Gentile. In Romans 15:11, when the Apostle Paul makes his case that the Gentiles are included in the grace of God, using the OT, he quotes Psalm 117:1. In the end, the Gospel wins. As Revelation 7:9-10 says – After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne…and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne…!”

Extol him – The word translated as extol here means to exalt God’s name loudly and triumphantly. As the circumstances of your life try and drown out your Christian testimony and witness, God uses your praise as a weapon of redemption. God uses your praise to still the storms of your soul, and heal your wounded heart. Through your loud, triumphant praise, he lifts you up into his arms, beyond the battles of today into the victory of God by the Holy Spirit as you revel in the incarnation, the life, death, burial, resurrection, and return of Jesus Christ. And now the psalmist ignites your praise with a confession of the care and character of God.

For great is his steadfast love toward us – The word translated as steadfast love here is also translated as mercy, kindness, merciful kindness, goodness, or lovingkindness. And as we saw in vs.1, the “us” here includes every saved person. God demonstrates his continual and consistent care for us through his providence, the created order, and personally through our redemption and rescue, as well as guiding us, guarding us, gifting us, and gathering us in and through life. We have multiplied examples of God’s steadfast love for us, his mercy towards us, his goodness and kindness towards us, in our own lives and in the lives of others.

If you are not yet saved, and you wonder why this confession of God’s steadfast love would cause you to praise, think of this. The very same people who are praising God right now were also just as stubborn against God as you are now. God has opened their eyes, and now they are not perfect, but they see the one who is. I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind, but now I see. We are saved to the praise of God’s glorious grace. And we invite you to join with us! There is hope for you, whoever you are, and it’s based on the care and character of God.

and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. The word translated as faithfulness here refers to stability and trustworthiness. It is also translated as truth. God’s word is as good as his character. It is perfect. It is perfectly reliable. There is no falsehood in it at all. It will never fail. You can stake your eternal destiny on it. God displays his steadfast love in making promises to us, and he exhibits his truth in fulfilling those promises. Look at the faithfulness of God in bringing you to Jesus Christ to be saved. Count your many blessings. And even in those times when life seems so cruel, God is still good. He has held you in his arms, and brought you near to his heart. Even in the pain and problems, you can always know his presence.

As King David said in Psalm 23, Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

There is a lot of uncertainty in this world and in our lives. And in the midst of chaos and confusion, what you need is a confession, an anchor of hope, founded on an unshakable reality of truth. You have every reason to loudly and triumphantly praise the Lord! Even those things that are bad will be turned to your good. God will turn your crushing into communion with him. That’s God’s promise, and his faithfulness, his truth, endures forever. Praising the Lord, because of his covenant nature, because of his care and his character, this is why this psalm ends with a hallelujah.

The psalm concludes as it began, with an exclamation – Praise the LORD! This phrase, translated from Hebrew, is where we get the word hallelujah. When God’s people think of God’s nature, his love, and his faithfulness, it results in an expression of praise. The psalmist calls you to praise the Lord, then he gives you the ultimate reasons to praise the Lord, and he finishes with a hallelujah!