Psalm 117:1-2 is now available on all streaming platforms!

THE VERSE

[1] Praise the LORD, all nations!
Extol him, all peoples!
[2] For great is his steadfast love toward us,
and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.
Praise the LORD!

Though it stands as the shortest psalm in the Psalter and the shortest chapter in the Bible (coming in at just two verses!), Psalm 117 has something powerful to say to us if we give it the time! Charles Spurgeon comments that, “…this Psalm, which is very little in its letter, is exceedingly large in its spirit; for, bursting beyond all bounds of race or nationality, it calls upon all mankind to praise the name of the Lord.” Another commentator tells us “its profundity far outdistances its size.” Let’s take a quick look at its content:

Verse 1 begins with a universal call to all nations and all peoples to praise and extol God. None are excluded… There are no people on the planet too distant, too pagan, or too sinful. Are you feeling shameful or too dirty for God? Psalm 117 begs to differ! Every tribe, tongue, and nation is invited to this praise party and that includes you. This party consists not in trying to impress others, or put on a religious performance, but it calls in a rather a ragtag group of people who potentially have nothing in common with each other other than their gaze is on God and their mouths are extolling and praising Him. Plain and simple: a love for God is what unites a previously divided world! Jews or Gentiles, Russians or Ukrainians, Republicans or Democrats, all are welcome. This first verse of Psalm 117 is quoted by Paul in Romans 15:11 reminding us that God’s global heart for the redemption of all people and not just the Jewish people has been pulsing in His veins from the beginning.

The basis of our invitation isn’t based on our great love for God, but rather God’s great and steady love shown toward us!

Verse 2 helps us understand the reason for and scope of this invitation: “For great is his steadfast love toward us…” The basis of our invitation isn’t based on our great love for God, but rather God’s great and steady love shown toward us! The invitation is as wide as His love… Not only is He loving, but He’s faithful. He’s not merely seasonally faithful, or partially faithful. Psalm 117 teaches us He’s eternally faithful. Where all of our faithfulness knows an end, God’s doesn’t. God is love and God is faithful. You can bank of this reality. The psalm book ends with another call to praise! How could we not praise Him again?! You see, theology rightly understood and experienced must naturally lead to praise…

In closing, Jesus embodied Psalm 117 perfectly as well. He invited nations and people to join Him who others had no desire for or were seen as . He showed this steadfast love and faithfulness. Praise Him!

THE SONG & THE ARTIST

This song was written by Joel Limpic and Zach Bolen. Below Joel talks about writing this song:

A group of artists from our church annually take ten consecutive days to write from the Psalms and Psalm 117 was the psalm I was working with. I loved the simplicity but power of the psalm! I also got excited that someone could learn this song and effectively have a whole chapter in the Bible memorized. :)
I sent the song idea over to Zach, and he sent a voice memo back with some different melodic ideas and we ran with it… It sounded so great simple and broken down, but we also wanted to hear a full band version so we decided to record both.

You can follow Zach and his band Citizens here:

Web: wearecitizens.com

IG: @citizens_music

FB: https://www.facebook.com/MUSIC.CITIZENS

TW: @citizenstheband

Song credits:

Writer: Joel Limpic and Zach Bolen

Produced by: Scott Mills

Mixed by: Dalton Diehl

Mastered by: Joe Causey