For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His mercy toward 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.
- BSB For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His loving devotion for those who fear Him.
- NKJV For as the heavens are high 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 great loving kindness reaches to the heavens, and your truth to the skies.
- Luke 1:50His mercy is for generations of generations on those who fear him.
- Eph 2:4–7But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us,
- Ps 36:5Your loving kindness, Yahweh, is in the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
- Ps 103:17But Yahweh’s loving kindness is from everlasting to everlasting with those who fear him, his righteousness to children’s children;
- Prov 25:3As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth, so the hearts of kings are unsearchable.
- Isa 55:9“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
- Ps 89:2I indeed declare, “Love stands firm forever. You established the heavens. Your faithfulness is in them.”
- Eph 3:18–19may be strengthened to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth,
- Job 22:12“Isn’t God in the heights of heaven? See the height of the stars, how high 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.