For His merciful kindness is great toward us, And the truth of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!  Psalm 117:2

that Last Forever…

Psalm 117  This brief psalm calls us to praise God for His faithfulness.  Praise need not be long to be meaningful.

117:1 Laud, which means “to speak well of,” nicely parallels the term praise, which means “to be excitedly boastful about.”  The Hebrew word for Gentiles means all people except Jews; the word for peoples speaks of smaller groups of people, along ethnic and language lines.

1  Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples!

117:2 Merciful kindness, or “loyal love,” refers to God’s faithfulness to His covenant promises to His people.  The reason the nations are to give praise to God is found in His relationship with Israel.

2  For His merciful kindness is great toward us, And the truth of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!

** Truth and faithfulness may not be “eye catching” words.  Like the words love, honor and honesty etc., they have become undervalued and even considered to be myths (moral relativism). 

But, regardless of whether we admit it or not, they constitute the core principles we all live by, strive for, and evaluate others by.  If we know someone who always tells the truth, is always faithful and never changes his ways, we would be amazed and praise that person.  Even without the love part.   

117 1  Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples! 2  For His merciful kindness is great toward us, And the truth of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!