The littlest psalm

If something is both well done and done well, we typically assume it was done on a large scale.  A master’s degree thesis paper can easily end up over 100 pages long, with PhD papers reaching up to 300 pages.  We’re impressed by large collections of art, cars, or historical artifacts.  Huge bridges and tall buildings receive ooohs and aaahs that single-story structures do not.  People with millions of social media followers are clearly better and more newsworthy than someone who has less than 100 followers, right? 

We’re so used to being wowed by the large, that it’s easy to skip over the small.  I think that kind of mindset can sneak into our personal Bible study and Sunday services, as well.  While most sermons will talk about Jesus – and rightfully so, He is the focus and reason for everything – if the preacher’s topic involves someone else in the Bible, odds are it’ll be about Abraham, Moses, or David.  This is certainly understandable, as these three men partnered with God in great ways to bring out His plan and purpose for humanity.  However, if we only talk about God in relation to “the big three” then we will miss out on seeing God in the lives of people like Ruth, Philemon, or John Mark.

And what of our worship songs?  The trend in recent years has been to repeat the chorus of a song 7x, 9x, 11x, or more.  But that’s not entirely something new…the longest psalm in the Bible is Psalm 119, which holds 176 verses (notably not repeating the same words over and over, either). 

That said, brevity and simple, clear truth was not lost on the psalm composers.  Just before Psalm 119 – the longest psalm – is Psalm 117, which is the shortest psalm.  Psalm 117 consists of just two verses and 23 words in total (only 17 words in Hebrew).  This psalm definitely qualifies as “small but mighty” when you look at what the composer wanted people to sing:

Psalm 117:1-2
Praise the Lord, all nations!
Glorify Him, all people!
For His faithful love to us is great;
the Lord’s faithfulness endures forever.
Hallelujah!

Whether your day has been good or your day has been a struggle – being reminded of God’s faithfulness makes the day better.  Remembering that we are not alone, that the Creator of the Universe is active and interested in our lives is a source of both comfort and confidence.

The words faithful love come from the Hebrew word hesed – which is hard to wrap the full meaning of the word into English, but here is a good description of what the psalm’s author had in mind when he wrote about God’s hesed toward us:

It is an unfailing love, a loyal love, devotion, kindness, based on a covenant relationship between the two parties.

The Israelites had their covenant with God, and we have ours through Jesus.  We don’t deserve that kind of love and loyalty.  We can’t earn it or do anything to convince Him that we’re worth it.  The only thing we can do is accept His choice for how He loves and then receive it.

That is how God feels about us…and remembering God’s hesed toward us brings up the praise we find in Psalm 117, the littlest psalm.  Praise the Lord, indeed!

Keep Pressing,
Ken