“We could say more.
But we could never say enough.
Let the final word be.
‘He is the all.’
Where can we find the strength
To praise him?
He is greater
Than all his works.
Awesome is the Lord.
He is very great.
His power is marvelous.
Glorify the Lord!
Exalt him as much as you can!
He surpasses even that.
When you exalt him,
Summon all your strength.
Do not grow weary!
You cannot praise him enough.
Who has seen him?
Who can describe him?
Who can extol him as he is?
Many things greater
Than these lie hidden.
I have seen
But a few of his works.
The Lord has made all things.
To the godly,
He has given wisdom.”
Sirach assumes the first person plural saying that he or we could say more, but it would never be enough. In fact, Sirach is very close to a pantheistic view when he maintains that the Lord is all things. However, he quickly corrects himself when he says that the Lord is greater than all his works, separating him from his creation. The Lord is awesome, very great, marvelous, and powerful. Where do we get the strength to praise the Lord? We should glorify him and exalt him as much as we can. We should not grow weary because we can never praise God enough. Nobody has seen him or described him. How can we extol him enough? Sirach has related what he has seen, but there are many more hidden things about the Lord, since he is the creator of all things. Luckily, he has given wisdom to the godly, so that they will experience a few of these marvels of the Lord.