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Gustave Doré’s engraving of David standing crowned and bowed as he mourns Absalom

Psalm 145

What St Athanasius said to pray when you keep seeing God’s kindness, in a letter from the 300s.

  • 21Verses
  • 1Situation

St Athanasius, Letter to Marcellinus

When to pray it

In the 300s, St Athanasius of Alexandria wrote a letter to his friend Marcellinus about praying the Psalms. In it he matched psalms to what people go through. This is what he gave this one for.

You keep seeing God's kindness, to you and to everyone, and you want to bless Him for it.

Marvelling at God's kindness to everyone, and remembering His goodness to you and to all, bless Him in David's own words with Psalm 145.

Letter to Marcellinus

21 verses, Berean Standard Bible

The whole psalm

Psalm 145

Its own heading A Psalm of praise. Of David.

  1. 1I will exalt You, my God and King; I will bless Your name forever and ever.
  2. 2Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever.
  3. 3Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; His greatness is unsearchable.
  4. 4One generation will commend Your works to the next, and will proclaim Your mighty acts—
  5. 5the glorious splendor of Your majesty. And I will meditate on Your wondrous works.
  6. 6They will proclaim the power of Your awesome deeds, and I will declare Your greatness.
  7. 7They will extol the fame of Your abundant goodness and sing joyfully of Your righteousness.
  8. 8The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion.
  9. 9The LORD is good to all; His compassion rests on all He has made.
  10. 10All You have made will give You thanks, O LORD, and Your saints will bless You.
  11. 11They will tell of the glory of Your kingdom and speak of Your might,
  12. 12to make known to men Your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of Your kingdom.
  13. 13Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is faithful in all His words and kind in all His actions.
  14. 14The LORD upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.
  15. 15The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food in season.
  16. 16You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
  17. 17The LORD is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds.
  18. 18The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call out to Him in truth.
  19. 19He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them.
  20. 20The LORD preserves all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy.
  21. 21My mouth will declare the praise of the LORD; let every creature bless His holy name forever and ever.

Psalm 145 is 144 in the Greek numbering Athanasius used, which Orthodox Bibles and some older Catholic ones still follow.

When life is good, and you want to thank Him and grow

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Which Psalm are you living right now?

A few honest taps about your life right now, and the psalm an early Church Father gave for exactly that.

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Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Athanasius’s advice is paraphrased from his Greek.