Psalm 117
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/Psalm_117_%28116%29.jpg/220px-Psalm_117_%28116%29.jpg)
The Psalm 117 ( Ps 117 EU ) is the shortest psalm and with only two verses at the same time the shortest chapter in the Bible . It is part of the hallel that is sung on high Jewish holidays. In the Septuagint and the Vulgate it has the number 116. As one of the Sunday Vespers psalms, it is one of the most frequently set texts in Western music history (“Laudate Dominum omnes gentes”).
In terms of content, it is an invitation to all peoples - including mankind who do not (yet) belong to the people of God - to glorify YHWH , the God of Israel, because his loyalty to the covenant is inviolable. Luther translated the word goyim with the word “ heathen ” in the sense of “non-Jewish peoples” .
According to Luther's translation, it reads:
1 Praise the Lord, all you nations!
- Praise him, all peoples!
2 For his grace and truth
- rule over us forever.
- Alleluia!
Settings
- Robert Strassburg (1915–2003) composed the liturgical music for the psalm in 1965 with the title Psalm 117 .
Web links
- Psalm 117 in the standard translation , the Luther Bible and other translations from bibleserver.com
- Psalm 117 in the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) on bibelwissenschaft.de
- Public domain sheet music of settings for Psalm 117 in the Choral Public Domain Library - ChoralWiki (English)
- Songs that Psalm 117 influenced at least in part
- Sermon recording on Psalm 117
- Music for Psalm 117 written by the American composer Robert Strassburg (1915-2003)