The LORD is exalted over all the nations, His glory above the heavens.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh is high above all nations, his glory above the heavens.
- KJV The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens.
- NKJV The Lord is high above all nations, His glory above the heavens.
- NASB The Lord is high above all nations; His glory is above the heavens.
- NLT For the Lord is high above the nations; his glory is higher than 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
The Lord is exalted above all nations, His glory higher than the heavens. God's supremacy surpasses everything created.
Overview
God reigns sovereignly over every nation, and His glory transcends even the heavens. This declaration of His transcendence sets up the psalm's stunning contrast with His condescension in the following verses. The infinitely high God is the same One who stoops to save in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Ps 8:1For the choirmaster. According to Gittith. A Psalm of David. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory above the heavens.
- Ps 99:2Great is the LORD in Zion; He is exalted above all the peoples.
- Ps 97:9For You, O LORD, are Most High over all the earth; You are exalted far above all gods.
- Isa 40:17All the nations are as nothing before Him; He regards them as nothingness and emptiness.
- Ps 148:13Let them praise the name of the LORD, for His name alone is exalted; His splendor is above the earth and the heavens.
- Isa 40:15Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are considered a speck of dust on the scales; He lifts up the islands like fine dust.
- Isa 40:22He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth; its dwellers are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
- Isa 66:1This is what the LORD says: “Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. What kind of house will you build for Me? Or where will My place of repose be?
- Ps 57:10–11For Your loving devotion reaches to the heavens, and Your faithfulness to the clouds.
- 1 Kgs 8:27But will God indeed dwell upon the earth? Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 113:4 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.