Jim Gallagher

Psalm 117​

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles!

Laud Him, all you peoples! 

For His merciful kindness is great toward us,

And the truth of the Lord endures forever.

Praise the Lord!”

It is not always the longest, or even the most creative works, that become the most well known. I am not a poet, and cannot speak to the artistic side of things, but I doubt whether any poem is as well known as “Roses are red and violets are blue…” Sometimes, the simplicity of things is exactly what is most needed. In a songbook filled with some of the most elaborate and beautiful expressions of praise, we find a simple song, consisting of only two short verses. It is the brevity of this song that magnifies its content. We find the Psalmist emphasizing two things that make God worthy of the praise of all the nations. He states, God is kind, and His…