For all the gods of the nations are idols, but it is the LORD who made the heavens.
Parallel translations
- WEB For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but Yahweh made the heavens.
- KJV For all the gods of the people are idols: but the LORD made the heavens.
- NKJV For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the Lord made the heavens.
- NASB For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the Lord made the heavens.
- NLT The gods of other nations are mere idols, but the Lord made the heavens!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
All the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Only the Creator is the true God worthy of worship.
Overview
The psalm contrasts lifeless idols with the living God who created the heavens. Idols are powerless nothings; Yahweh alone is Maker and Lord. This sharp distinction grounds Israel's exclusive devotion and anticipates the New Testament turning from idols to serve the living and true God revealed in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Isa 44:24Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer who formed you from the womb: “I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who by Myself spread out the earth,
- Ps 102:25In the beginning You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.
- Isa 42:5This is what God the LORD says—He who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its offspring, who gives breath to the people on it and life to those who walk in it:
- Lev 19:4Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods. I am the LORD your God.
- Isa 40:26Lift up your eyes on high: Who created all these? He leads forth the starry host by number; He calls each one by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
- Isa 44:9–20All makers of idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Their witnesses fail to see or comprehend, so they are put to shame.
- Acts 19:26And you can see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in nearly the whole province of Asia, Paul has persuaded a great number of people to turn away. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all.
- 1 Cor 8:4So about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one.
- Jer 10:10–14But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and eternal King. The earth quakes at His wrath, and the nations cannot endure His indignation.
- Ps 115:4–8Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.
- Rev 14:7And he said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come. Worship the One who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and the springs of waters.”
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Christ at the center
The genealogies and the everlasting covenant with David trace the single thread of promise running through the generations straight to the Christ in whom the line reaches its goal.
How 1 Chronicles 16:26 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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