For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His loving devotion for those who fear Him.
Parallel translations
- WEB For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his loving kindness toward those who fear him.
- KJV For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
- NKJV For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
- NASB For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him.
- NLT For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.
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
As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is God's steadfast love toward those who fear Him. His mercy is immeasurable.
Overview
David reaches for the height of the sky to picture the vastness of God's covenant love. This love rests on those who fear Him, that is, who reverence and trust Him. Such boundless mercy is poured out fully in Christ, in whom God's love is shown to be higher than the heavens.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Ps 57:10For Your loving devotion reaches to the heavens, and Your faithfulness to the clouds.
- Luke 1:50His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation.
- Eph 2:4–7But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
- Ps 36:5Your loving devotion, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the clouds.
- Ps 103:17But from everlasting to everlasting the loving devotion of the LORD extends to those who fear Him, and His righteousness to their children’s children—
- Prov 25:3As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings cannot be searched.
- Isa 55:9“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.
- Ps 89:2For I have said, “Loving devotion is built up forever; in the heavens You establish Your faithfulness.”
- Eph 3:18–19will have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth
- Job 22:12Is not God as high as the heavens? Look at the highest stars, how lofty they are!
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 103:11 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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