Psalms 108:3
in Psalms 108I will praise You, O LORD, among the nations; I will sing Your praises among the peoples.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I will give thanks unto thee, O Jehovah, among the peoples; And I will sing praises unto thee among the nations.
KJV
I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: and I will sing praises unto thee among the nations.
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This verse in Psalms 108
Commentary
9 notes on this verse"I will confess to you among the peoples, O Lord." Understand "the peoples" as the Jews. "And I will make melody to you among the nations." He speaks of us. For by "the Jews" he means those who first believed from among the Jews. And notice the order: first he praises God among the peoples, and afterward he praises God among the nations. For first they believed from among the Jews, and afterward they believed from among the Gentiles.
This site's exposition
My heart is steadfast
on Psalms 108:1-3
The opening is Psalm 57:7 to 9. Psalm 57 says the heart is steadfast twice; here it is said once, and the singer adds that he will sing with all his being. Harp and lyre are called awake, the dawn is woken, and the praise goes out among the nations.
This site's exposition
among the nations
Psalm 57:9 has Adonai, Lord, in this line, and Psalm 108 puts the covenant name, the LORD. The peoples include Moab, Edom and Philistia, named in verse 9. Paul quotes a like vow from Psalm 18:49 at Romans 15:9.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
): I will praise thee among the people of the Jews; nay, I will sing to thee among the nations of the earth. Whatever company we are in we must take all occasions to speak well of God; and we must not be shy of singing psalms, though our neighbours hear us, for it looks like being ashamed of our Master.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people. Whoever may come to hear me, devout or profane, believer or heathen, civilized or barbarian, I shall not cease my music. David seemed inspired to foresee that his Psalms would be sung in every land, from Greenland's icy mountains to India's coral strand. His heart was large, he would have the whole race of man listen to his joy in God, and lo, he has his desire, for his psalmody is cosmopolitan; no poet is so universally known as he.
I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people. Whoever may come to hear me, devout or profane, believer or heathen, civilized or barbarian, I shall not cease my music. David seemed inspired to foresee that his Psalms would be sung in every land, from Greenland's icy mountains to India's coral strand. His heart was large, he would have the whole race of man listen to his joy in God, and lo, he has his desire, for his psalmody is cosmopolitan; no poet is so universally known as he. He had but one theme, he sang Jehovah and none beside, and his work being thus made of gold, silver, and precious stones, has endured the fiery ordeal of time, and was never more prized than at this day. Happy man, to have thus made his choice to be the Lord's musician, he retains his office as the Poet Laureate of the kingdom of heaven, and shall retain it till the crack of doom. And I will sing praises unto thee among the nations. This is written, not only to complete the parallelism of the verse, but to reaffirm his fixed resolve. He would march to battle praising Jehovah, and when he had conquered he would make the captured cities ring with Jehovah's praises. He would carry his religion with him wherever he pushed his conquests, and the vanquished should not hear the praises of David, but the glories of the Lord of Hosts. Would to God that wherever professing Christians travel they would carry the praises of the Lord with them! It is to be feared that some leave their religion when they leave their homes. Nations and peoples would soon know the gospel of Jesus if every Christian traveller were as intensely devout as the Psalmist. Alas, it is to be feared that the Lord's name is profaned rather than honoured among the heathen by many who are named by the name of Christ.
Among the people - The Jews. Among the nations - The Gentiles. Wherever this Psalm is sung or read, either among Jews or Gentiles, David may be said to sing praise to God.
Among the people - The Jews. Among the nations - The Gentiles. Wherever this Psalm is sung or read, either among Jews or Gentiles, David may be said to sing praise to God.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
I will praise thee, O Lord ... - This is taken from Psa 57:9. The only change is the substitution here of the name יהוה Yahweh for אדני 'Adonāy. Why that change was made is unknown.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
I shall awaken the dawn It is the custom of other kings that the dawn awakens them, but I awaken the dawn, for I rise at midnight, when the psaltery and the harp awaken me, as our Rabbis said (Ber. 3b): A harp was suspended above David’s bed.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אוֹדְךָ֖ | ʾodkha | I will give thanks you | H3034 → | 114 times |
| בָעַמִּ֥ים׀ | vaamim | among the peoples | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | O Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וַ֝אֲזַמֶּרְךָ֗ | vaazamerkha | and I will sing praises to you | H2167 → | 45 times |
| בַּל־ | bal- | not | H1077 → | 73 times |
| אֻמִּֽים׃ | ʾumim | nations | H523 → | 7 times |
אוֹדְךָ֖I will give thanks you
ʾodkhaH3034 →114 times
בָעַמִּ֥ים׀among the peoples
vaamimH5971 →1873 times
יְהוָ֑הO Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וַ֝אֲזַמֶּרְךָ֗and I will sing praises to you
vaazamerkhaH2167 →45 times
בַּל־not
bal-H1077 →73 times
אֻמִּֽים׃nations
ʾumimH523 →7 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 22:27All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD. All the families of the nations will bow down before Him.
it leads to
- Psalms 86:9
All the nations You have made will come and bow before You, O Lord, and they will glorify Your name.
- Isaiah 45:22
Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.
- Revelation 7:9–12
After this I looked and saw a multitude too large to count, from every nation and tribe and people and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes…
- Psalms 2:8
Ask Me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance, the ends of the earth Your possession.
- Isaiah 49:6
He says: “It is not enough for You to be My Servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the protected ones of Israel. I will also make You a light…
- Psalms 86:9
Through
Psalms 117:1Praise the LORD, all you nations! Extol Him, all you peoples!
it leads to
- Revelation 15:4
Who will not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before You, for Your righteous acts have been revealed.”
- Revelation 15:4
Through
Psalms 22:22I will proclaim Your name to my brothers; I will praise You in the assembly.
it leads to
- Hebrews 2:11–12
For both the One who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.
- Hebrews 2:11–12
Through
Zephaniah 3:20At that time I will bring you in; yes, at that time I will gather you. For I will give you fame and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore…
it leads to
- Malachi 3:12
“Then all the nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight,” says the LORD of Hosts.
- Malachi 3:12
About Psalms
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 5; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Jerome, Homily 34, on Psalm 107 and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.