Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.
Parallel translations
- WEB Your loving kindness, Yahweh, is in the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
- BSB Your loving devotion, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the clouds.
- NKJV Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
- NASB ¶Your mercy, Lord, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
- NLT Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.
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
In sharp contrast to the wicked, God's loving kindness and faithfulness fill the heavens and skies. His covenant love is vast beyond measure.
Overview
David lifts his eyes from human corruption to the immensity of God's steadfast love (hesed) and faithfulness, picturing them reaching to the heavens. The contrast is deliberate: against the small, dark world of the sinner stands the boundless mercy of God. This covenant faithfulness finds its fullest expression in Christ, in whom God's love and truth meet (John 1:14).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Ps 100:5For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
- Ps 108:4For thy mercy is great above the heavens: and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds.
- Ps 103:11For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
- Ps 57:10For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds.
- Ps 89:2For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.
- Heb 6:18–20That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
- Ps 92:2To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,
- Matt 24:35Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
- Isa 55:7–9Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
- Ps 52:1Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually.
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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 36:5 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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