Praise the Lord; call out in His name. They performed this psalm on that day, before the Ark. The psalm also appears in the book of Psalms (105); there are only some small differences involving a few words, which do not affect the meaning. There the psalm [“Praise the Lord”] extends until “do not harm my prophets” (ibid. v. 15), which really also marks the end of our psalm bearing that heading; for “Sing to the Lord, all the earth” (1 Chr 16:23) is a new psalm. That psalm too appears in the book of Psalms (96), albeit with some small differences that do not affect the meaning.

Praise the Lord. These are the words of David to the musicians and to the congregation.

Call out in His name (qir’u bi-shmo). [This means] to cry out to Him in prayer, as in: “and I will call out in the name of (eqra be-shem) the Lord” (1 Kgs 18:24). Alternatively, qir’u bi-shmo means to teach the ways of the Lord, as in: “and Abram spread knowledge of (vayyiqra … be-shem) the Lord there” (Gen 13:4). That, in fact, is the sense of “proclaim His deeds among the nations,” “His deeds” referring to the ones He performed on the Philistines on the matter of the Ark (1 Sam 5).

**Sing to Him, play music to Him—**vocally and on instruments.

Speak of all his wondrous acts. Also, always speak to one another about His wondrous acts.

Exult in His holy name. You are able to exult over all the nations in His holy name, whose sanctity is affirmed through you; thus, let your hearts rejoice that you are seekers of the Lord. Alternatively, [this means]: Let the hearts of all the seekers of the Lord—even members of the other nations—rejoice in His name when they seek Him.

Seek the Lord, His might. The Ark is called “His might,” as it says, “He let His might go into captivity” (Ps 78:61).

O offspring of Israel, His servant. In the book of Psalms [it says], “O offspring of Abraham, His servant” (Ps 105:6). The text here, though, says “offspring of Israel”; for when it says there “offspring of Abraham,” the intention is the offspring of Israel. After all, whereas Abraham had other offspring, the offspring of Israel consist of us specifically. When it says “offspring of Abraham,” it thus refers to the offspring of Israel.

He is the Lord our God. Even though His judgments are throughout the earth, He is our God and we are His nation.

Be ever mindful of His covenant. But in Psalms [it says], “He is ever mindful of His covenant” (Ps 105:8), meaning that He is ever mindful of the covenant that he made with Abraham, for the sake of his descendants. And He **commanded (ṣivvah)**that the matter that was between them—the promise that He made to him—endure for a thousand generations. Alternatively, ṣivvah means “He decreed,” as in “unless the Lord ṣivvah (=decreed so)” (Lam 3:37), and [the phrase] means: the matter that He decreed between the halves (Gen 15:9–21) shall be for a thousand generations. When the text says here “Be mindful,” it means: Always be mindful of His covenant, which is with you forever.

That He made with Abraham—as it says, “On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘To your offspring I assign …” (Gen 15:18). And that covenant and oath was le-Yiṣḥaq, meaning for the sake of Isaac, and not for the sake of Ishmael and the sons of Keturah. For when the text says “To your offspring”—with a covenant and an oath—it means for Isaac, as it says, “For what will be called your ‘offspring’ will be from Isaac” (Gen 21:12). The oath was at the binding of Isaac. For it says, “By Myself I swear, the Lord declares” (Gen 22:1), and He [later] said to Isaac, “and I will fulfill the oath that I swore to your father Abraham” (Gen 26:3). The same oath and covenant He then confirmed in a decree for Jacob, for Israel, as an eternal covenant; for the oath and covenant were for his special offspring, not for Esau. Isaac, after all, said to Jacob, “May He grant the blessing of Abraham to you” (Gen 28:4).

*Saying: “to you [sing.] I will give.”* [God] said this to each one of [the Patriarchs].

As your [pl.] allotted heritage. [This is said] addressing Israel.

When you were. This addresses the Patriarchs. Indeed, in Psalms it says, “When they were” (105:12).

Wandering from nation to nation. [This refers to] Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

He reproved kings on their account. [This refers to] Pharaoh and Abimelech.

My anointed ones. [This means]: My great ones, My princes. For [the Patriarchs] were highly regarded by kings, as though they had themselves been anointed kings. Thus, the Hittites said to Abraham, “You are God’s elect among us” (Gen 23:6). Also, Abimelech came to Isaac to make peace and to make a covenant with him (Gen 26:26–29).

U-bi-nevi’ay (=with my prophets) do not act badly. For [the Patriarchs] were prophets: God would speak with them. He in fact said about Abraham, “Restore the man’s wife, for he is a prophet” (Gen 20:7). Now in Psalms (105:15) [it says] ve-li-nevi’ay (=to my prophets), with a lamed. But it is one and the same; for what that means is: do not do anything harmful to them.

Sing to the Lord, all the earth. They recited this psalm too on that day. Our Sages, of blessed memory (Seder Olam 12), say that they recited “Praise the Lord” (v. 8) in the morning and “Sing to the Lord” in the afternoon—in which case they recited these two psalms every day before the Ark for the entire period prior to Solomon’s transfer of the Ark to the eternal Sanctuary.

Proclaim His salvation mi-yom el yom (=day after day). This is equivalent to yom be-yomo (=each day as required; v. 37), meaning: Proclaim His salvation every day, for He constantly saves you from your enemies. The [specific] reference here is to the saving of the Ark—for the Philistines returned it against their will (1 Sam 5–6). It is in reference to this that the text says, “Tell of His glory among the nations” (v. 24); for the episode of the Ark brought great glory, and it was through it that the nations were expected to recognize thatall the gods of the nations are mere idols, while the Lord made the heavens. For even the service of those who worship the heavenly hosts is vanity: because He made the heavens, their hosts, the earth, the sea, and all that is contained in them (cf. Exod 19:10), it is only sensible to worship the Master, not the servants. Indeed, the Philistines’ god Dagon fell and broke apart before the Ark, whereas the Ark remained in its glory (1 Sam 5:3). Hence they glorified and aggrandized Him when they saw His wonders (1 Sam 6:1–18).

Glory and majesty are before Him; strength and joy are in His place. For when the Ark stayed in the territory of the Philistines, there was wailing and crying among them the entire time.

Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the nations. For all the nations who see and hear this shall ascribe to Himglory and strength: this is the sense of all the verses. Although this psalm refers to the episode of the Ark, it also refers forward to the present exile: when God, on taking us out of this exile and gathering us in, will show His wonders, He will do so to the point that all the families of the nations ascribe to Him glory and strength in accordance with the verse, “And the Lord shall be king over all the earth” (Zech 14:9), as it says here, “Let them declare among the nations that the Lord is King” (v. 31). Similarly it says, “Let the sea and all within it thunder, the fields and everything in them exult” (v. 32). And so too in the context of the ingathering of the exiles: “Before you, mount and hill shall clap aloud, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands” (Isa 55:12), so that people will say to one another, “Praise the Lord for He is good; his steadfast love is eternal” (1 Chr 16:34).

Declare: Deliver us God, our deliverer, etc. This means: Declare “Deliver us” now also. That is, each and every day, pray for the future ingathering of the exiles.

Blessed is the Lord, God of Israel. This verse marks the end of the words of praise and acclaim: when the musicians completed these psalms, ending with the recitation of this verse, all the people said “Amen” and “Praise the Lord.”

[David] left there before the Ark of the Covenant, etc. He left Asaph and the rest of the musicians there to stand regularly before the Ark to minister, sing, and play music as each day required, and to sacrifice burnt-offerings, because a non-priest can bring an offering on a small shrine. But he told Zadok the priest and his fellow priests to go to Gibeon before the Tabernacle of the Lord to process burnt-offerings morning and evening, because the largest shrine was there, and only a priest may bring an offering on it.

Along with Obed-edom and their kinsmen. This means: and his sons and their kinsmen; for that is what the text says below: “they and his sons and their kinsmen” (cf. 1 Chr 26:8).

And with them, Heman and Jeduthun, there were trumpets. This means: And with Heman and Jeduthun there were trumpets; but a pronoun appears before the nouns. The same is true for: “When she opened it, she saw him—the child” (Exod 2:6), “His spirit detests it—food” (Job 33:20), “shall bring them—gifts for the Lord” (Exod 35:5), and others as cited in the Mikhlol (25a).