Go to Related Reading
About this book

Psalms

About this book
Psalm 145

1 A psalm of praise; by David. I will extol you, my God, O King. I will praise your name continually. 2 Every day I will praise you. I will praise your name continually. 3 The Lord is great and certainly worthy of praise. No one can fathom his greatness. 4 One generation will praise your deeds to another and tell about your mighty acts. 5 I will focus on your honor and majestic splendor and your amazing deeds. 6 They will proclaim the power of your awesome acts. I will declare your great deeds. 7 They will talk about the fame of your great kindness and sing about your justice. 8 The Lord is merciful and compassionate; he is patient and demonstrates great loyal love.⁠ 9 The Lord is good to all and has compassion on all he has made. 10 All your works will give thanks to you, Lord. Your loyal followers will praise you. 11 They will proclaim the splendor of your kingdom; they will tell about your power, 12 so that mankind might acknowledge your mighty acts and the majestic splendor of your kingdom. 13 Your kingdom is an eternal kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations.⁠ 14 The Lord supports all who fall and lifts up all who are bent over. 15 Everything looks to you in anticipation, and you provide them with food on a regular basis. 16 You open your hand and fill every living thing with the food it desires. 17 The Lord is just in all his actions and exhibits love in all he does. 18 The Lord is near all who cry out to him, all who cry out to him sincerely. 19 He satisfies the desire of his loyal followers; he hears their cry for help and delivers them. 20 The Lord protects all those who love him, but he destroys all the wicked. 21 My mouth will praise the Lord. Let all who live praise his holy name forever.

Texts in conversation

Compare Exodus 34:6 and Psalm 145:8

Hebrew Bible

Share:

Summary

Exodus presents a declaration of God’s character as compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, and full of loyal love and faithfulness. Psalm 145 echoes this language, incorporating it into a hymn that celebrates God’s reign over all creation.

Passages

Exodus 34:6

Hebrew Bible
4 So Moses cut out two tablets of stone like the first; early in the morning he went up to Mount Sinai, just as the Lord had commanded him, and he took in his hand the two tablets of stone. 5 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the Lord by name. 6 The Lord passed by before him and proclaimed: “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness, 7 keeping loyal love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. But he by no means leaves the guilty unpunished, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children and children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.” 8 Moses quickly bowed to the ground and worshiped
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Exodus

Psalm 145:8

Hebrew Bible
6 They will proclaim the power of your awesome acts. I will declare your great deeds. 7 They will talk about the fame of your great kindness and sing about your justice. 8 The Lord is merciful and compassionate; he is patient and demonstrates great loyal love. 9 The Lord is good to all and has compassion on all he has made. 10 All your works will give thanks to you, Lord. Your loyal followers will praise you.
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

References

"... Verbal echoes of Exodus 34:6-7 ... A similar doxology appears in the acrostically arranged Psalm 145. This quotation concludes the verbal resemblances of the DNP in the Psalter, and highlights YHWH’s universal reign. The psalmist begins by blessing and praising YHWH’s name (verses 1–2). This theme is picked up again in verse 7 with a reference to those who speak of ָ“the memory of your abundant goodness.” The noun זֵכֶר is the closest nominal synonym to the noun שֵׁם, and the following abbreviated quotation of Exodus 34:6 gives the content of this “memorial name”: (“gracious and compassionate is YHWH, slow to anger and great in kindness,” Psalm 145:8). The only noticeable change from the DNP appears in the use of this adjective highlights the quality of divine kindness. Through this quotation, the psalmist returned YHWH’s own words to him in praise ..."
Austin Surls, Making Sense of the Divine Name in the Book of Exodus: From Etymology to Literary Onomastics, BBRSup 17 (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2017), 177.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Tags

Your feedback

Exodus 34:6 and Psalm 145:8

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library