Introduction
This praise psalm is the shortest in the Psalter, and seems to have no claim to an independent existence. It is a doxology, and it has been supposed it may have been assigned this separate form with a view to its use in connexion with different psalms. It was, indeed, found connected with Psalms 118:0 in twenty-seven MSS. of Kennicott and De Rossi, and with Psalms 116:0 in thirty-two MSS. It bears a resemblance to Psalms 100:0, but more strikingly to Psalms 67:0, to which Thrupp considers it “the postexilic counterpart.” But, though least in size, it holds a distinguished rank in evangelical doctrine and anticipation. Delitzsch places it in the first class of Messianic psalms, as anticipating “the foreordained participation of the heathen in the promised salvation of Israel.” From the Hebrew standpoint the author contemplates, through Israel, the blessings that should come upon all nations, without, it would seem, any definite idea of the manner of its accomplishment, for the psalm is not prophetic, though it embraces a prophetic theme.
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