Psalms 7:17
in Psalms 7I will thank the LORD for His righteousness and sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I will give thanks unto Jehovah according to his righteousness, And will sing praise to the name of Jehovah Most High.
KJV
I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the Lord most high.
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This verse in Psalms 7
Commentary
14 notes on this verseWe conclude with the joyful contrast. In this all these Psalms are agreed; they all exhibit the blessedness of the righteous, and make its colours the more glowing by contrast with the miseries of the wicked. The bright jewel sparkles in a black foil. Praise is the occupation of the godly, their eternal work, and their present pleasure. Singing is the fitting embodiment for praise, and therefore do the saints make melody before the Lord Most High.
This site's exposition
He has dug a hole
on Psalms 7:15-17
The man digs a hole, hollows it out, and falls into the pit he made. His trouble comes back on himself and his violence lands on his own head. David closes in thanks and praise before any answer comes.
This site's exposition
sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High
Albert Barnes took the thanks as praise of God's righteousness, the quality the plea has leaned on since verse 9. LORD Most High joins the covenant name with Elyon, the title of Genesis 14:18 to 22. The judge becomes the one praised.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
"I will confess to the Lord according to His justice" [Psalm 7:17]. This is not the sinner's confession: for he says this, who said above most truly, "If there be iniquity in my hands:" but it is a confession of God's justice, in which we speak thus, Verily, O Lord, You are just, in that You both so protect the just, that You enlighten them by Yourself; and so order sinners, that they be punished not by Your malice, but by their own. This confession so praises the Lord, that the blasphemies of the ungodly can avail nothing, who, willing to excuse their evil deeds, are unwilling to attribute to their own fault that they sin, that is, are unwilling to attribute their fault to their fault. Accordingly they find either fortune or fate to accuse, or the devil, to whom He who made us has willed that it should be in our power to refuse consent: or they bring in another nature, which is not of God: wretched waverers, and erring, rather than confessing to God, that He should pardon them. For it is not fit that any be pardoned, except he says, I have sinned. He, then, that sees the deserts of souls so ordered by God, that while each has his own given him, the fair beauty of the universe is in no part violated, in all things praises God: and this is not the confession of sinners, but of the righteous. […]
He has built traps for no one. He has dug a pit for no one. He has despised iniquity. Knowing the future destruction of the wicked at judgment, he said, "I will give thanks to the Lord according to his righteousness," my righteous works having been brought forth at the tribunal; and "I will sing to the name of the Lord most high," bound by the hope that I am going to be received into the choir of those who are going to follow after salvation through him, through his merit.
That same adversary, Absalom, as if he has been born again from ourselves, prepares the war against us. Our sound judgment concerning the matter, or rather our alliance with God, turns him who is bloodthirsty against us back. For because he attributes the cause of the good things that have been accomplished for him through "the words of Cush" to God, he composes this thanksgiving.… It would be worthwhile to apply the figures of the story to the virtuous life, how the advice that saves us becomes the strangling of the adversary; and this saving advice has been recorded, on the one hand, in the history, and on the other, in the psalm.
He shall be condemned in this way.
The Medieval Church1 voice
"I will confess." This is the third part, where he sets forth the thanksgiving according to God's justice, because merit preceded: Ps. 110: "Confession and magnificence are his work." "And I will sing with the Psaltery": Ps. 80: "Take up the Psalm and give the …
6 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
In this David was a type of Christ, who was himself, and still is in his members, thus injured, but will certainly be righted at last. David Prays Against His Enemies; Prayer for Sinners and Saints.
), praise the Lord according to his righteousness, that is, give him the glory of that gracious protection under which he takes his afflicted people and of that just vengeance with which he will pursue those that afflict them. Thus we must sing to the praise of the Lord most high, who, when his enemies deal proudly, shows that he is above them.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
We conclude with the joyful contrast. In this all these Psalms are agreed; they all exhibit the blessedness of the righteous, and make its colours the more glowing by contrast with the miseries of the wicked. The bright jewel sparkles in a black foil. Praise is the occupation of the godly, their eternal work, and their present pleasure. Singing is the fitting embodiment for praise, and therefore do the saints make melody before the Lord Most High. The slandered one is now a singer: his harp was unstrung for a very little season, and now we leave him sweeping its harmonious chords, and flying on their music to the third heaven of adoring praise.
I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness - I shall celebrate both his justice and his mercy. I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High. The name of God is often put for his perfections. So here, שם יהוה עלין shem Yehovah Elyon; “The perfections of Jehovah, who is above all.” My old Scotico - English MS., mentioned at the conclusion of the introduction, begins at this verse, where are the following words by way of paraphrase: Sang falles til ioy; and he that synges well that name, his ioy es mare than i kan tell. Those who are happy may sing; and he who can duly celebrate the name of God, who knows it to be a strong tower into which he can run and find safety, has inexpressible happiness. That is the sense of the above.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness - That is, particularly as manifested in the treatment of the righteous and the wicked, protecting the one, and bringing deeserved punishment upon the other. The purpose of the psalm is to show this. In the course of the psalm the author had declared his full conviction that this was the character of God, and now, in view of this, he says that he will render to him the praise and glory which such a character deserves.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אוֹדֶ֣ה | ʾodeh | I will give thanks to | H3034 → | 114 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| כְּצִדְק֑וֹ | ketzidko | according to righteousness his | H6664 → | 119 times |
| וַ֝אֲזַמְּרָ֗ה | vaazamerah | and I will sing praise to | H2167 → | 45 times |
| שֵֽׁם־ | shem- | [the] name of | H8034 → | 864 times |
| יְהוָ֥ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| עֶלְיֽוֹן׃ | elyon | [the] Most High | H5945 → | 53 times |
אוֹדֶ֣הI will give thanks to
ʾodehH3034 →114 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
כְּצִדְק֑וֹaccording to righteousness his
ketzidkoH6664 →119 times
וַ֝אֲזַמְּרָ֗הand I will sing praise to
vaazamerahH2167 →45 times
שֵֽׁם־[the] name of
shem-H8034 →864 times
יְהוָ֥הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
עֶלְיֽוֹן׃[the] Most High
elyonH5945 →53 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 98:2The LORD has proclaimed His salvation and revealed His righteousness to the nations.
it leads to
- Isaiah 52:10
The LORD has bared His holy arm in the sight of all the nations; all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.
- Isaiah 62:2
Nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory. You will be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will bestow.
- Psalms 22:31
They will come and proclaim His righteousness to a people yet unborn— all that He has done.
- Isaiah 52:10
Through
Psalms 9:2I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.
it leads to
- Psalms 83:18
May they know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, are Most High over all the earth.
- Psalms 5:11
But let all who take refuge in You rejoice; let them ever shout for joy. May You shelter them, that those who love Your name may rejoice in You.
- Psalms 97:9
For You, O LORD, are Most High over all the earth; You are exalted far above all gods.
- Psalms 28:7
The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart rejoices, and I give thanks to Him with my song.
- Psalms 83:18
Through
Psalms 111:3Splendid and majestic is His work; His righteousness endures forever.
it leads to
- Psalms 145:4–5
One generation will commend Your works to the next, and will proclaim Your mighty acts—
- Psalms 145:4–5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Psalms
This page draws on 13 works. Open the list of works
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); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 7; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 1; Eusebius of Caesarea, COMMENTARY ON PSALMS 7:18; Gregory of Nyssa, INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PSALMS 2:11.148-49; Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Homily 3, on Psalm 7; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.