The  PS 145  belong to Book V  Book of Ps , which is composed of a collection of texts 150 arranged by 5 poetry books. The Book of Psalms, for its  wisdom  and  basic principles  of human action , is considered the heart of the Old Testament. Book V encompasses  Psalms 107  to  150 . Psalm 145 is divided into 21 Verses.

The Psalms are poems-prayers addressed to God, being the privileged way to address and speak to Him. These prayers represent human experiences and religious conscience . They portray the common man , with his faults, insecurities, fears and hopes and, even today, we can identify with the Psalmist and draw inspiration from these texts to pray and plead with God when we feel lost and anguished or to express our gratitude for some blessing received.

“There are enemies or friends, there is life or death, health or illness, pain or joy and, most of the time, there are no changes or gradations. Words are like stones and poetry like boulders carved by chisel”; “The Psalms are a bit like mountain paths, simple, especially when walking on snow, but they lead to the peaks; they are paths toward the peaks of meeting the Lord.” - Carlo Maria Martini, Cardinal of Milan

Psalm 145 - Praise to the Provident King

¹  Hymn. From David.

I want to exalt you, O my God and king,
and bless your name forever.

²  Every day I will bless you;
and I will praise your name forever.:

³  The Lord is great and worthy of all praise,
and his greatness is unfathomable.

⁴  One generation transmits the praise of your works to another,
and all proclaim your wonders.

⁵  They hail the splendor of your majesty,
and I will meditate on your wonders.

⁶  They speak of the power of your awesome wonders,
and I will announce your greatness.

⁷  Thus they express the memory of your immense goodness
and sing of your righteousness.

⁸  The Lord is gracious and compassionate,
patient and full of mercy.

⁹  The Lord is good to all,
and his compassion embraces all his creatures.

¹⁰  Praise thee, O Lord, all thy creatures;
may all your faithful bless you.

¹¹  Spread the glory of your kingdom
and proclaim your deeds,

¹²  making known to humans the exploits of God
and the glorious splendor of his kingdom.

¹³  Your kingdom is a kingdom to all ages,
and your dominion extends to all generations.

¹⁴  The Lord sustains all who fall
and revives all who are downcast.

¹⁵  All have their eyes on you,
and you give them food in due time.

¹⁶  You open your hand
and fill all living beings with generosity.

¹⁷  The Lord is just in all his ways
and faithful to all his works.

¹⁸  The Lord is near to all who call upon him,
to all who call upon him in truth.

¹⁹  He does the will of those who fear him;
listen to their screams and save them.

²⁰  The Lord guards all who love him,
but he cuts off all evildoers.

²¹  Let my mouth proclaim the praises of the Lord,
and every living thing bless his holy name,
for all eternity.

Meaning and interpretation

The Psalm 145 is a hymn in which proclaim the attributes of God and his kingdom (verses 11-13). His providence concerns everyone (Verses 14-17), but it focuses especially on the righteous.

The Psalm follows the pattern of the acrostic alphabetical psalms. The beginning of the Verses starts with a letter different from the previous ones, following the alphabetical order of the Hebrew. Only the Verse corresponding to the letter nun is missing  .  This writing model is consistent with a sapiential type of literary genre. The entire Psalm, in fact, has the appearance of a meditation and its own sapiential taste.

The Sapiential Psalms are books of Sacred Scripture ( Libri Sapientiales ) that contain, above all, moral sentences from ancient Israel - Proverbs, Job, Qohelet (Ecclesiastes), Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), Song of Songs, Wisdom. These prayers are filled with ancient inspiration and wisdom, life experiences and the history of peoples. They analyze human behavior , ethical choices and their consequences, and the search for the meaning of life and death for each one of us and as a society.

Various themes are addressed in these Psalms such as justice / injustice; sinful / righteous; wisdom/foolishness; bad / good; fidelity / infidelity; the honor or lack of it, the virtue that exists in prudence in speaking, in being fair, in knowing how to be rich. The existence of God is never questioned. He is Creator, Lord, Judge, Wise.

The Wisdom Psalms are also understood as a guide for everyone to meditate on the issues of their daily lives and the mysteries of life. The Psalmist uses his own and others’ experiences to discern the path to take based on correct moral principles. They are based on the assumption that what we do in this world, we pay in this life. The wisdom style appears in Psalm 1; 14; 34; 36; 37; 39; 49; 53; 73; 74.

The Book of Psalms

• Book I - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41
• Book II - 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72
• Book III - 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89
• Book IV - 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106
• Book V - 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150

The Joy and Happiness of the Righteous in Communion with God

The Psalms are prayer-poems addressed to God, being the privileged way to address and speak to Him. Depicting the common man , with his failures, insecurities, fears and hopes, we can still identify with the Psalmist and be inspired today in Psalms to make prayers and supplications to God in times of trouble or express our gratitude for some blessing received.

The Psalms, despite being written in Antiquity, still move , sensitize , awaken feelings , inspire and enchant . In them, we can identify anguish and joy , deeply human feelings, praises, supplications, teachings of reflection on spiritual wisdom and prophetic words.

Written for different situations , some Psalms are intimate, revealing the author’s personal relationship with God; others provide guidelines and advice for life, others are compositions for specific liturgical events such as rituals and pilgrimages.

The Book of Psalms is composed of a collection of 150 poetic texts and is divided into five parts, called Psalm Books or Booklets. Each Book closes with short hymns of praise to God . The division into five parts was considered to correspond to the five books of Moses and it is assumed that each passage in the Pentateuch (first five books of the Bible, called Torah by the Jews) was read in parallel with the corresponding Psalm. Its main forms are lamentation , supplication , praise and gratitude .

• Book I  - Psalms 1 to 41
• Book II  - Psalms 42 to 72
• Book III  - Psalms 73 to 89
• Book IV  - Psalms 90 to 106
• Book V  - Psalms 107 to 150

The Power of Prayer in Dialogue with the Divine

The Psalms elevate our thoughts to the Divine and prayer is the power of the word . Prayer is the language of faith. Any thought, word or image addressed to God is called prayer . It is through it that we come into contact with our God within and, therefore, it is so powerful in transforming life . Prayer can produce miracles , turn dreams into reality, give us hope for change , harmony and peace with ourselves and the world.

Each Psalm has an intention that helps us meditate and walk with our God . For many theologians, the Book of Psalms has a prophetic or messianic tone as its verses refer to the coming of Christ into the world of men to guide them through the uncertainty and doubts of Human existence.

The prayer has the power to call the Spiritual Universe full mode, honest, sincere, conscious, for the purpose of spiritual self-protection, family protection and those who are dear to us, to have peace of mind, spiritual and physical, for prosperity and success, to protect health and relationships, to ward off negative energies and, above all, to connect us to something bigger than ourselves. From this peace , well-being, hope and goodness in front of everyone and everything result.

The faith can change our lives. It gives us tranquility and spiritual strength to face challenges. It helps us to meditate on our mission in life and to create a balanced and healthy environment for ourselves and those we love. When you pray, fill your heart with love and determination . The Psalms will guide you on a path of peace and communion with the higher energy.