For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. Praise ye the LORD.
Parallel translations
- WEB For his loving kindness is great toward us. Yahweh’s faithfulness endures forever. Praise Yah!
- BSB For great is His loving devotion toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Hallelujah!
- NKJV For His merciful kindness is great toward us, And the truth of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!
- NASB For His mercy toward us is great, And the truth of the Lord is everlasting. Praise the Lord!
- NLT For his unfailing love for us is powerful; the Lord’s faithfulness endures forever. Praise the Lord!
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 nations are to praise God because his loving kindness is great and his faithfulness endures forever. It matters because God's steadfast love is the reason all peoples should worship him.
Overview
The ground for universal praise is God's covenant love and unfailing faithfulness toward his people. What was shown to Israel becomes a testimony inviting the world to worship. This enduring faithfulness reaches its climax in Christ, in whom God's mercy is extended to all nations, fulfilling the psalm's missionary heart.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Isa 25:1O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
- Ps 103:11For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
- Ps 100:4–5Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
- 1 Jn 5:6This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.
- Ps 89:1I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.
- John 14:6Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
- Mic 7:20Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.
- Ps 85:10Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
- Rom 15:8–9Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:
- Luke 1:54–55He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 117:2 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.