English · KJV

Psalm 145:7

“Declaring God's Mighty Acts”Psalm 145:4–7

King James Version
They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

KJV (with Strong's)
They shall abundantly utter H5042 the memory H2143 of thy great H7227 goodness H2898, and shall sing H7442 of thy righteousness H6666.

Bible text: King James Version with Strong's numbers · Public domain

Berean Standard Bible
They will extol the fame of Your abundant goodness and sing joyfully of Your righteousness.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible · Public domain

American Standard Version
They shall utter the memory of thy great goodness, And shall sing of thy righteousness.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

World English Bible Messianic
They will utter the memory of your great goodness, and will sing of your righteousness.

Bible text: World English Bible, Messianic edition · Public domain

Geneva Bible (1599)
They shall breake out into the mention of thy great goodnes, and shall sing aloude of thy righteousnesse.

Bible text: Geneva Bible (1599) · Public domain

Young's Literal Translation
The memorial of the abundance of Thy goodness they send forth. And Thy righteousness they sing.

Bible text: Young's Literal Translation · Public domain

King James Version — Interlinear
6 Hebrew words
  1. זֵכֶרZe·kher[the] remembrance ofH2143N-mscNoun Singular Masculine Construct
  2. רַבrav[the] greatness ofH7227Adj-mscAdjective Singular Masculine Construct
  3. טוּבְךָtu·ve·Khayour goodnessH2898N-msc ¦ 2msNoun Singular Masculine Construct with suffixטוּבְgoodnessךָyour
  4. יַבִּיעוּya·Bi·'uthey will pour forthH5042V-Hiphil-Imperf-3mpVerb Hiphil Imperfect 3rd Plural Masculine
  5. וְצִדְקָתְךָve·tzid·ka·te·Chaand your righteousnessH6666Conj-w ¦ N-fsc ¦ 2msNoun Singular Feminine Construct with suffixוְandצִדְקָתְrighteousnessךָyour
  6. יְרַנֵּנוּye·ra·Ne·nuthey will shout for joyH7442V-Piel-Imperf-3mpVerb Piel Imperfect 3rd Plural Masculine
English is a literal word-by-word gloss of the Hebrew, not the KJV's wording. Why?

This is the original text the KJV's translators worked from — each Hebrew word with its own literal English meaning in this verse, prepared by scholars at Tyndale House, Cambridge. The KJV translates whole sentences, not word by word, so its wording differs: one Hebrew word can become several English words, and the KJV may choose “the LORD” where the gloss reads “Yahweh”. Both are faithful — they answer different questions. For the KJV's own rendering, switch to the KJV text.

Words in [ ] are added by the English.

Translation
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In the KJVVerse 16,328 of 31,102 · 52.5%

Study this verse

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This verse

God’s people pour out the remembrance of his great goodness like a spring, and they sing with joy of his righteousness.

“They shall abundantly utter”

The verb nâbaʻ means to gush forth like a spring.

“the memory of thy great goodness,”

A zêker is a remembrance kept and spoken. The goodness, ṭûwb, is rab, great and plentiful.

“and shall sing of thy righteousness.”

Song joins speech, and its subject is God’s justice and faithfulness, tsᵉdâqâh.

Passage studyPsalm 145:4–7

Every Generation Tells of God’s Mighty Acts

4One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. 5I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works. 6And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness. 7They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.

Summary

In these four verses praise spreads outward from one man to a whole people and on down through time. One generation tells the next what God has done (verse 4). David vows to speak of the splendor of God’s majesty and of his wondrous works (verse 5). Men will speak of the might of his terrible acts, and David will tell over his greatness (verse 6). His people will pour out the memory of his great goodness and sing of his righteousness (verse 7). Here we learn that God’s deeds are given to be told, that who he is and what he does belong together in our praise, and that his goodness and his righteousness are both worth singing.

One generation tells the next what God has done

Psalm 145 is headed “David’s Psalm of praise”, and it is the only psalm given that title, tehillah, praise. It is an acrostic, a poem whose verses begin with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in order, which helps the memory and gives a sense of praise that is complete, from first letter to last. David opens by vowing to bless God’s name (Psalm 145:1) and says that God’s greatness is unsearchable (Psalm 145:3). In verse 4 the praise reaches beyond one man and one lifetime.

The word for generation, dôwr, means a generation, and also a period or age of time. “One generation shall praise thy works to another” pictures the older people of God telling the younger, and those in turn telling the ones after them, so that God’s deeds are known in every age. Israel was given this as a command. Moses told the people to keep God’s words in their hearts and to teach them diligently to their children (Deuteronomy 6:6–7), and to remember the things their own eyes had seen (Deuteronomy 4:9). Psalm 78 makes the same promise: “We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done” (Psalm 78:3–4). Joel uses the same chain of telling: “Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation” (Joel 1:3). In Israel the family and the gathered community were the first places where faith was taught, and history was holy, because it was the record of God at work among his people.

The verb for praise, shâbach, means to commend, and Strong’s traces it to addressing someone in a loud tone. This is praise said out loud, where others hear it. Faith passes from one generation to the next as the young hear their elders thank God for what he has done.

Works and mighty acts

Two words name what is praised. “Thy works” is maʻăseh, God’s doings of every kind: the world he made, his care for it and his ongoing work in it. “Thy mighty acts” is gᵉbûwrâh, which means might and also mighty deeds. Scripture uses it of the strength of men, of nations and even of a horse, and here it names the deeds in which God’s strength was seen, the times he saved his people and judged his enemies. For Israel that meant above all the Exodus, the giving of the Law at Sinai and the conquest of Canaan.

The second line repeats the first and sharpens it, as Hebrew poetry often does. The works are praised, and the mighty acts among them are declared. The verb for declare, nâgad, means to make known or announce. So the telling joins worship and testimony: God is thanked for what he has done, and the next generation learns what that was.

David will speak of God’s majesty and his wondrous works

In verse 5 the voice turns to David himself: “I will speak”. The verb, sîyach, means to ponder or muse, and from there to talk a thing over with oneself and then aloud. David’s speaking grows out of thinking long about God, and what he has turned over in his mind comes out in words. He was a king, and kings in Israel were expected to lead their people in worship, so his vow also set an example for the nation.

“The glorious honour of thy majesty” heaps up three Hebrew words for splendor. The first, hâdâr, translated “honour”, means ornament, splendor or majesty. The second, kâbôwd, “glorious”, is the common word for glory and honour. The third, hôwd, “majesty”, means grandeur and splendor. Together they speak of the royal splendor of God. These are words for the dignity of a ruler, and David, a king himself, uses them for a King far above every earthly throne, the “great King above all gods” (Psalm 95:3). Heaven’s worship answers in the same words: “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power” (Revelation 4:11).

“Thy wondrous works” turns from who God is to what he does. The word for wondrous, pâlâʼ, at root means to separate or distinguish, and so to be great, difficult or wonderful. God’s wonders are deeds set apart from the ordinary, beyond what people could do or fully understand. The word for works here is dâbâr, which means a word or speech and also a matter or thing, and here it means the things God has done. For Israel these wonders included the Passover night and the Exodus (Exodus 12) and the giving of the Law at Sinai (Exodus 19). They are seen in creation too, for “the heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1), and Paul says that God’s invisible qualities are clearly seen in the things he has made (Romans 1:20).

Who God is and what he does

The two halves of the verse belong together. The first speaks of who God is, and the second of what he does. His works come from his character, and his character is made known through his works, so David vows to speak of both. Spoken praise is an offering in its own right, the sacrifice of praise that Hebrews calls us to offer continually (Hebrews 13:15). Psalm 145 closes with David’s vow widened to everyone, as “all flesh” blesses God’s holy name for ever (Psalm 145:21).

Why is a verse missing from Psalm 145?

Psalm 145 is an alphabetic acrostic, and in the standard Hebrew text, the Masoretic Text, the verse for the letter Nun is missing. That verse is found in some ancient versions, in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) and in the Great Psalms Scroll among the Dead Sea Scrolls, known as 11Q5. Its presence there suggests that it may have belonged to the psalm from the beginning. Why it is absent from the Masoretic Text is unknown.

Men speak of his terrible acts, and David tells his greatness

Verse 6 sets the talk of many beside the vow of one. “Men shall speak”, and then “I will declare”. The KJV prints “men” in italics because the translators supplied it, and the Hebrew says simply “they shall speak”. The speakers are people at large, all who see or hear what God has done. Their verb is ʼâmar, the everyday word for saying or telling, and it is a different word from the sîyach of verse 5, though the KJV renders both “speak”.

What they speak of is “the might of thy terrible acts”. Might is ʻĕzûwz, forcibleness or strength. God’s fame spreads well beyond Israel’s borders, as another psalm calls for: “Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people” (Psalm 96:1–3). Isaiah says the same, to “declare his doings among the people” (Isaiah 12:4).

What are God’s “terrible acts”?

They are his awe-inspiring deeds, acts so great that people stand before them in reverent fear. The Hebrew word comes from yârêʼ, to fear, and in the KJV’s English “terrible” meant causing terror or awe. The parting of the Red Sea (Exodus 14) and the LORD’s coming down on Sinai were acts of this kind, and so are the miracles of Jesus and his resurrection. Today “terrible” usually means dreadful or very bad, and that sense belongs nowhere in this verse. Moses spoke to Israel in the same language: “He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen” (Deuteronomy 10:21).

Telling over God’s greatness

“And I will declare thy greatness” brings back the single voice. The verb here, çâphar, means to count or number, and in its intensive form to recount, tell over or declare. So David means to tell God’s greatness the way someone counts out a sum, one thing after another. The word for greatness, gᵉdûwlâh, is the plain word for greatness. The English “declare” in verses 4 and 6 stands for two different Hebrew verbs, nâgad and çâphar, and the second carries the picture of counting.

They pour out the memory of his great goodness

“They” in verse 7 are God’s people, the generations of verse 4 who have received the story and now tell it. “Abundantly utter” translates nâbaʻ, which means to gush forth, bubble up or pour out, the way a spring wells up out of the ground. The picture is of praise that overflows freely and in plenty, from a heart full of wonder and thanks.

What pours out is “the memory” of God’s goodness. The word zêker means a memento or a commemoration, a remembrance that is kept and spoken. When Israel remembered God’s goodness, they retold his faithfulness to his covenant, his rescues and his daily care, from the Exodus to their settling in the land, and that retelling kept them sure of who they were and of the God they trusted. “Great goodness” joins rab, an adjective meaning much, many or great, with ṭûwb, good, here the goodness of God: his kindness, his generosity and the good he gives.

“And shall sing of thy righteousness” adds song to speech. Israel’s praise was often sung, with music, at the feasts and in the temple, and David was himself a gifted musician. The word for righteousness, tsᵉdâqâh, means rightness and justice. Said of God it means his perfect moral integrity, his justice in every judgment and his faithfulness to what he has promised. His people sing of it with joy, as they enter his gates with thanksgiving (Psalm 100:4), and in the closing psalms the whole creation is called to join them (Psalm 148).

Why are goodness and righteousness praised together?

Together they give us the whole of who God is, kind and generous and also perfectly just. His love rests on his justice, and his justice is joined to his goodness. When the LORD proclaimed his name to Moses, he named himself merciful and gracious, and also the God who “will by no means clear the guilty” (Exodus 34:6–7). The psalm goes straight on to his grace and compassion: “The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion” (Psalm 145:8–9).

God’s mighty acts in Christ

The New Testament shows these verses filled out in Jesus. The majesty David spoke of is seen in him, for the Son is “the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person” (Hebrews 1:3). He is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15), and when the Word was made flesh, his glory was seen, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

His miracles were wondrous works. He healed the sick, cast out demons, calmed storms and raised the dead. He cast out devils “with the finger of God” (Luke 11:20), and when the winds and the sea obeyed him, his disciples marvelled and asked what manner of man he was (Matthew 8:27). The greatest of God’s terrible acts are the cross and the empty tomb. The cross looked like weakness, and there God showed his power over sin and death, and by the resurrection Christ was declared to be the Son of God with power (Romans 1:4).

Goodness and righteousness meet at the cross. God commends his love toward us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), and in his death God dealt justly with sin, while those who believe are made the righteousness of God in him (2 Corinthians 5:21). God has highly exalted him and given him the name above every name (Philippians 2:9–11).

The telling from generation to generation goes on in the church. Jesus sent his disciples to teach all nations, “teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19–20), and every sermon and testimony that tells of him carries on what Psalm 145:4 describes. It ends in heaven, where the Lamb that was slain is called worthy, and every creature in heaven and on earth gives blessing, honour, glory and power to him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb for ever (Revelation 5:12–13).

A story given to be told

These verses show us a God whose deeds are meant to be spoken of. He has acted in strength and wonder, he has made himself known as good and righteous, and he has given his people voices to tell it and children to tell it to. Everyone who believes heard of him first from someone who had heard before them, and so stands somewhere in the long line of verse 4. The psalm holds out a place in that line, musing on his majesty as David did, counting over his greatness, and letting the memory of his goodness pour out in speech and song. What is told is old and also new, because the God of the Exodus and the empty tomb is still at work, and his goodness and righteousness are as worth singing in this generation as in the first.

Last revised

Public-domain commentary

Matthew Henry

From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry wrote on whole passages, and this entry covers Psalm 145:1–9. He set out his notes in a four-level outline, kept here as he numbered it.

1662–1714 · 9 verses
Passage under commentPsalm 145:1–9
I. II. Main points1. 2. Sub-points(1.) (2.) Details[1.] [2.] Fine details

The entitling of this David's psalm of praise may intimate not only that he was the penman of it, but that he took a particular pleasure in it and sung it often; it was his companion wherever he went. In this former part of the psalm God's glorious attributes are praised, as, in the latter part of the psalm, his kingdom and the administration of it. Observe,

I.Who shall be employed in giving glory to God.

1.Whatever others do, the psalmist will himself be much in praising God. To this good work he here excites himself, engages himself, and has his heart much enlarged in it. What he does, that he will do, having more and more satisfaction in it. It was his duty; it was his delight. Observe,

(1.)How he expresses the work itself: "I will extol thee, and bless thy name (Psalm 145:1); I will speak well of thee, as thou hast made thyself known, and will therein express my own high thoughts of thee and endeavour to raise the like in others." When we speak honourably of God, this is graciously interpreted and accepted as an extolling of him. Again (Psalm 145:2): I will bless thee, I will praise thy name; the repetition intimates the fervency of his affection to this work, the fixedness of his purpose to abound in it, and the frequency of his performances therein. Again (Psalm 145:5): I will speak of thy honour, and (Psalm 145:6) I will declare thy greatness. He would give glory to God, not only in his solemn devotions, but in his common conversation. If the heart be full of God, out of the abundance of that the mouth will speak with reverence, to his praise, upon all occasions. What subject of discourse can we find more noble, more copious, more pleasant, useful, and unexceptionable, than the glory of God?

(2.)How he expresses his resolution to persevere in it.

[1.]He will be constant to this work: Every day will I bless thee. Praising God must be our daily work. No day must pass, though ever so busy a day, though ever so sorrowful a day, without praising God. We ought to reckon it the most needful of our daily employments, and the most delightful of our daily comforts. God is every day blessing us, doing well for us; there is therefore reason that we should be every day blessing him, speaking well of him.

[2.]He will continue in it: I will bless thee for ever and ever, Psalm 145:1 and again Psalm 145:2. This intimates, First, That he resolved to continue in this work to the end of his life, throughout his ever in this world. Secondly, That the psalms he penned should be made use of in praising God by the church to the end of time, 2 Chronicles 29:30. Thirdly, That he hoped to be praising God to all eternity in the other world. Those that make praise their constant work on earth shall have it their everlasting bliss in heaven.

2.He doubts not but others also would be forward to this work. (1.) "They shall concur in it now; they shall join with me in it: When I declare thy greatness men shall speak of it (Psalm 145:6); they shall abundantly utter it" (Psalm 145:7), or pour it out (as the word is); they shall praise God with a gracious fluency, better than the most curious oratory. David's zeal would provoke many, and it has done so. (2.) "They shall keep it up when I am gone, in an uninterrupted succession (Psalm 145:4): One generation shall praise thy works to another." The generation that is going off shall tell them to that which is rising up, shall tell what they have seen in their days and what they have heard from their fathers; they shall fully and particularly declare thy mighty acts (Psalm 78:3); and the generation that is rising up shall follow the example of that which is going off: so that the death of God's worshippers shall be no diminution of his worship, for a new generation shall rise up in their room to carry on that good work, more or less, to the end of time, when it shall be left to that world to do it in which there is no succession of generations.

II.What we must give to God the glory of.

1.Of his greatness and his great works. We must declare, Great is the Lord, his presence infinite, his power irresistible, his brightness insupportable, his majesty awful, his dominion boundless, and his sovereignty incontestable; and therefore there is no dispute, but great is the Lord, and, if great, then greatly to be praised, with all that is within us, to the utmost of our power, and with all the circumstances of solemnity imaginable. His greatness indeed cannot be comprehended, for it is unsearchable; who can conceive or express how great God is? But then it is so much the more to be praised. When we cannot, by searching, find the bottom, we must sit down at the brink, and adore the depth, Romans 11:33. God is great, for,

(1.)His majesty is glorious in the upper world, above the heavens, where he has set his glory; and when we are declaring his greatness we must not fail to speak of the glorious honour of his majesty, the splendour of the glory of his majesty (Psalm 145:5), how brightly he shines in the upper world, so as to dazzle the eyes of the angels themselves, and oblige them to cover their faces, as unable to bear the lustre of it.

(2.)His works are wondrous in this lower world. The preservation, maintenance, and government of all the creatures, proclaim the Creator very great. When therefore we declare his greatness we must observe the unquestionable proofs of it, and must declare his mighty acts (Psalm 145:4), speak of his wondrous works (Psalm 145:5), the might of his terrible acts, Psalm 145:6. We must see God acting and working in all the affairs of this lower world. Various instruments are used, but in all events God is the supreme director; it is he that performs all things. Much of his power is seen in the operations of his providence (they are mighty acts, such as cannot be paralleled by the strength of any creature), and much of his justice - they are terrible acts, awful to saints, dreadful to sinners. These we should take all occasions to speak of, observing the finger of God, his hand, his arm, in all, that we may marvel.

2.Of his goodness; this is his glory, Exodus 33:19. It is what he glories in (Exodus 34:6, Exodus 34:7), and it is what we must give him the glory of: They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, Psalm 145:7. God's goodness is great goodness, the treasures of it can never be exhausted, nay, they can never be lessened, for he ever will be as rich in mercy as he ever was. It is memorable goodness; it is what we ought always to lay before us, always to have in mind and preserve the memorials of, for it is worthy to be had in everlasting remembrance; and the remembrance we retain of God's goodness we should utter, we should abundantly utter, as those who are full of it, very full of it, and desire that others may be acquainted and affected with it. But, whenever we utter God's great goodness, we must not forget, at the same time, to sing of his righteousness; for, as he is gracious in rewarding those that serve him faithfully, so he is righteous in punishing those that rebel against him. Impartial and inflexible justice is as surely in God as inexhaustible goodness; and we must sing of both together, Romans 11:22.

(1.)There is a fountain of goodness in God's nature (Psalm 145:8): The Lord is gracious to those that serve him; he is full of compassion to those that need him, slow to anger to those that have offended him, and of great mercy to all that seek him and sue to him. he is ready to give, and ready to forgive, more ready than we are to ask, than we are to repent.

(2.)There are streams of goodness in all the dispensations of his providence, Psalm 145:9. As he is good, so he does good; he is good to all, to all his creatures, from the highest angel to the meanest worm, to all but devils and damned sinners, that have shut themselves out from his goodness. His tender mercies are over all his works.

[1.]All his works, all his creatures, receive the fruits of his merciful care and bounty. It is extended to them all; he hates nothing that he has made.

[2.]The works of his mercy out-shine all his other works, and declare him more than any of them. In nothing will the glory of God be for ever so illustrious as in the vessels of mercy ordained to glory. To the divine goodness will the everlasting hallelujahs of all the saints be sung.

Historical interpretation

Historical reception

1 surviving comment on this verse from the historical church.

1 quote · AD 430
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.

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