Psalm 117 is the shortest Psalm and, by the standard modern chapter divisions, the shortest chapter in the Bible, but it is not small in scope. It calls all nations and all peoples to praise the Lord because His mercy has become mighty over us and His truth endures forever. The Psalm stands at the hinge between Israel’s praise and the world’s praise. In two verses it announces the catholicity of the Church.
Psalm 117 (LXX 116) - Praise the Lord, All Ye Nations
Psalm Metadata
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| NKJV / Masoretic numbering | Psalm 117 |
| Septuagint / Coptic numbering | Psalm 116 |
| Accepted author | Alleluia. |
| Period in author’s life | No personal life-setting is given; this is liturgical praise with universal horizon. |
| Christ prophecy status | Strongly Christological and missionary. The praise of all nations finds fulfillment in Christ, through whom the Gentiles glorify God for His mercy. |
| Coptic lectionary/service use | Scripture from this study has an established place in the Coptic Orthodox lectionary through documented Church readings. |
| Numbering issue | This note embeds Brenton LXX Psalm 116, the short two-verse hymn between the LXX split Psalm 115 and the great Paschal Psalm 117. |
Historical and Scriptural Context
Psalm 117 belongs to the Hallel Psalms and is astonishing for its brevity and reach. Israel is not here told merely to praise among the nations, but the nations themselves are summoned. This universal call becomes one of the Old Testament’s clearest anticipations of the Gospel’s expansion beyond ethnic Israel.
St Paul quotes the Psalm in Romans 15 as evidence that the Gentiles were always meant to glorify God for His mercy. The Psalm is therefore not an appendix. It is a missionary trumpet.
Special Literary Note: Why So Short?
Psalm 117 is unusually short because it has the shape of a concentrated liturgical summons: one command to praise and one reason for praise. Its brevity is not a defect. It is compression. The whole movement of salvation is gathered into two lines: the nations are called, and the reason is the Lord’s abundant mercy and enduring truth. Spiritually, this teaches that a prayer does not need many words to be catholic, missionary, and full of theology. The shortest chapter in the Bible opens the widest horizon, all nations and all peoples.
Its placement is also striking. It stands immediately before Psalm 118, the great Paschal Psalm of the rejected stone and the day the Lord has made, and before Psalm 119, the longest chapter in Scripture. The sequence itself is a contemplation: brief universal praise, Paschal trust, then long obedience in the word.
Geographical Significance ⛰️
No local geography dominates the Psalm. Its geography is the world itself, all nations, all peoples. The scope matters because praise has outgrown one land and now fills the earth.
The Characters 👥
The Lord. The God whose mercy has become mighty and whose truth endures forever.
All nations / all peoples. The Gentiles summoned into the praise that once seemed to belong to Israel alone.
🕯️ Light from the Word
Psalm 116:1, all nations are summoned
116:1 Alleluia. Praise the Lord, all ye nations: praise him, all ye peoples.
The Psalm wastes no words. The nations are summoned directly. Praise is not the private property of one people. It is the destiny of all peoples.
Augustine hears in this the expansion of the covenant through Christ. In his exposition he presses the universality of the Psalm against every schismatic instinct: “Let those rather listen who have refused to be the children of this city, since they have cut themselves off from the communion of all nations” (Exposition on Psalm CXVII). The point is not abstract tolerance. To refuse the catholic praise of the nations is to refuse the shape of the Gospel itself.
Theodoret emphasizes that the Psalm’s brevity does not lessen its grandeur; rather, it condenses the mystery of the calling of the Gentiles. A two-verse Psalm can carry the whole missionary horizon of Abraham’s promise, “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed,” and Paul’s witness that the Gentiles glorify God for His mercy.
St Athanasius says the Psalms give the Church words for the soul’s own prayer, and St Gregory of Nyssa teaches that psalmody trains the soul toward virtue and that the end of the life according to virtue is blessedness. Psalm 117 (LXX 116) is a universal hymn that teaches the soul to praise beyond narrow boundaries by fixing its gaze on the God who calls all peoples into one worship.
Christologically, this becomes the voice of the Church after Pentecost. The nations do not merely hear about God, they are summoned to praise Him from within the communion Christ creates.
Lesson Guide
- Key phrases: “Praise the Lord, all ye nations”; “all ye peoples.”
- Emphasize: the universality of salvation and worship.
- Avoid: reading the Psalm as generic tolerance. It is a summons into the praise of the true God.
Psalm 116:2, mercy and truth endure forever
116:2 For his mercy has been abundant toward us: and the truth of the Lord endures for ever.
The reason for universal praise is not vague religious feeling. It is the revealed character of God, mercy and truth. His mercy has become strong over us. His truth does not pass away.
Augustine reads mercy and truth together, mercy heals the sinner, truth keeps salvation from becoming fantasy. He says these are “those two things, loving-kindness and truth,” and adds that the Lord’s truth endures “whether in those things which He promised to the righteous, or in those which He hath threatened” (Exposition on Psalm CXVII). Mercy is not sentimental softness. Truth is not cold accuracy. In God they are one saving faithfulness.
Theodoret sees here the permanence of God’s covenant faithfulness. The Lord’s truth is not a mood or season. It endures forever. This is fulfilled in Christ, “full of grace and truth.” The mercy shown to Israel overflows to the nations, and the truth promised in the covenant becomes flesh and dwells among us.
Lesson Guide
- Key phrases: “his mercy has been abundant toward us”; “the truth of the Lord endures for ever.”
- Emphasize: praise is grounded in God’s revealed mercy and unchanging truth.
- Avoid: separating divine mercy from divine truth.
Romans 15, the Gentiles glorify God for His mercy
New Testament anchor, Romans 15:11, brief quotation
“Praise the LORD, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples!”
St Paul quotes this Psalm in Romans 15 to prove that the inclusion of the Gentiles is not a late adjustment to God’s plan. It was hidden in Israel’s own worship. The nations praise because Christ has made mercy visible and has gathered Jew and Gentile into one Eucharistic voice.
This gives the Psalm its spiritual edge. A soul cannot pray Psalm 117 honestly while despising the people God is calling. The Psalm stretches the heart until prayer becomes ecclesial, missionary, and humble. The one who has received mercy learns to desire that mercy for all.
Lesson Guide
- Key phrases: “the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy”; “all you Gentiles.”
- Emphasize: the Psalm is explicitly used by St Paul as a Gentile-mission text.
- Avoid: turning universal praise into vague optimism detached from Christ and the Church.
The Church’s Voice in Worship 📖
Scripture from this study has an established place in the Coptic Orthodox lectionary through documented Church readings.
Iconography Connection 🖼️
This Psalm pairs with Pentecost icons, apostolic mission icons, and icons of the nations gathered into the Church. Its visual world is catholic and expansive, the Spirit descending and the Gospel going out to all peoples.
Spiritual Fruit 🍇
- Pray beyond your own circle. Let your prayer widen until it includes the nations.
- Receive the Church as catholic in truth, not merely in size. Universal praise is anchored in mercy and truth together.
- Refuse spiritual narrowness. The Psalm rebukes every instinct to make God’s praise tribal.
- Praise because mercy has become mighty over us. Gratitude grows when salvation is seen as gift, not entitlement.
Teacher's Notes
- Timing: 10 minutes for the call to the nations, 15 minutes for mercy and truth, 10 minutes for Romans 15 and Gospel fulfillment, 10 minutes for application.
- Where to linger: the missionary force of the Psalm despite its brevity.
- Key phrase to say slowly: “For his mercy has been abundant toward us.”
- Pastoral warning: do not treat brevity as shallowness. This Psalm is compact, not thin. Its shortness should be taught as spiritual and liturgical compression, not lack of content.
Glossary
- Nations / peoples: The Gentiles, humanity beyond Israel’s ethnic borders.
- Mercy and truth: A common covenant pair in Scripture, steadfast love joined to faithfulness.
- Catholic: Universal, whole, embracing all peoples in the true faith.
Translation and Source Notes
Embedded Scripture is Brenton’s English Septuagint, Psalm 116.
Sources
Primary sources: Brenton Septuagint, Psalm 116; Genesis 12; John 1; Romans 15.
Patristic sources: St Augustine, Exposition on Psalm CXVII in NPNF1, volume 8; Theodoret of Cyrus, Commentary on the Psalms; St Athanasius, Letter to Marcellinus; St Gregory of Nyssa on psalmody and blessedness.
Coptic Orthodox / liturgical sources: Scripture from this study has an established place in the Coptic Orthodox lectionary through documented Church readings.