Psalms 145:6

Psa 145:6 And [men] shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness.

Ver. 6. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts] Those that will not talk of thy bounty shall be made to say, Oh the severity of God!

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Psa_145:6-7

And men shall speak of the might of Thy terrible acts: and I will declare Thy greatness.

How the unspeakable is spoken of

Various are the ways in which men speak of the Lord. There is an ascending scale in the four sentences of our text. We hear--

I. The awestruck talk. Men shall . . . terrible acts. There have been times m human history when men have thus spoken. As often the flood, the destruction of Sodom, the judgments on Egypt, on Canaan. So, too, in regard to Nineveh, Babylon. When such acts are abroad turn them into prayer that men may learn Gods lesson from them. Such acts leave deep impress; the boldest blasphemers are silenced then.

II. The bold discourse. And I will declare Thy greatness. After the many have spoken in awe I will deliver my soul with courage. It is the right time for this. I heard it said of a certain preacher by one who was no ill judge, though a simple countryman, I have heard many preachers, but I never heard one that seemed to make God so great as that man does. That was high praise--too little deserved in our day. All divinity is now to be shaped according to man, and from mans point of view. Men are such wonderful beings in this nineteenth century that we are called upon to tone down the Gospel to the spirit of the age--that is, to the fashions and follies of human thought as they vary from day to day. This, by Gods help, we will never do. But after the awestruck people talking of Gods mighty acts, and then the child of God coming in with his personal testimony, we have--

III. The grateful outpouring of thankful spirits. They shall abundantly utter the memory of Thy great goodness. The Hebrew word tells of a bubbling up, as of a full fountain, a springing well. Did you ever tell the story of your life to anybody to the full? Did you ever write it? I am sometimes not a little amused, certainly not surprised, when I get, as I did this week, a letter upon foolscap, twelve sheets, twenty-four pages, all filled up with the story of a man I never saw, who lives far away in the backwoods. Nothing will do but he must tell somebody or other what God has done for him, and he has selected me to hear it. But I like the instinct that makes a man feel, I must tell what the Lord hath done for me.

IV. Listen to the select song. It is of Thy righteousness. David says in Psa_51:1-19. that he will sing aloud of this. Is it not a strange choice? Gods righteousness is a terror to many. But see how Gods righteousness is preceded and succeeded by mention of His goodness. It is righteous mercy and merciful righteousness. What a horror it would be if we had an unrighteous God. But He is righteous in all that He reveals, commands, decrees, does; in all His judgments, but especially in Christ Jesus. To sing of Gods righteousness is in our day one chief mark of real conversion. If we were more sanctified we should be less tempted to cavil at the righteousness of God. Here is a man who takes down his Bible, and he reads, These shall go away into everlasting punishment. Cant bear it, says he. It is because you do not know the mind of God fully, or else, terrible as it is, you would say, It must be right if God determines it. The modern men blot out from Gods Word what they like, or they lay it aside altogether. But when the soul is brought to know God it does not question His Word or His doings any more. Men dream, and then assert their visions as truth. If there be a larger hope, so be it, but let me not preach it as a doctrine. Let us each learn to say, I will sing of Thy righteousness. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6. (Psa 145:6) And the force of thy dread (deeds) they utter—and (as to) thy greatness, I will recount it. Dread, literally feared, and then to be feared, as praised means to be praised in Psa 145:3 above. Utter, literally say precisely as in Psa 40:10. Greatness, or according to the reading in the text of the Hebrew Bible, greatnesses, i.e. great deeds, as mights means mighty deeds in Psa 145:5.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Of thy terrible judgments against the wicked.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

terrible acts--which produce dread or fear.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(6) Thy greatness.—Or, according to the written text, greatnesses. So Aquila and Jerome. The parallelism is decidedly in favour of the plural.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6. Jehovah, Who is “the great, mighty, and terrible God” (Deu_10:17), manifests Himself not only in ‘mighty acts’ of deliverance (Psa_145:4), but in ‘terrible acts’ of judgement, which inspire His enemies with terror, and His people with reverence. Cp. Psa_65:5. Might is a different word from that in Psa_145:4; Psa_145:12, and may be rendered strength, to bring out the connexion of the two words with the epithets strong and mighty in Psa_24:8.

thy greatness] So the Q’rç, as in Psa_145:3. But the K’thibh, ‘great deeds,’ suits the parallelism better. Cp. 1Ch_17:19; 1Ch_17:11 (R.V.).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts,.... The terrible things of Christ, which his right hand has taught him, and his mighty power has performed; such as the destruction of a disobedient and ungodly world by a flood, to whom he preached by his Spirit in the days of Noah; the burning of Sodom and Gomorrah by raining on them fire and brimstone from the Lord out of heaven; and the dreadful things he did in Egypt and at the Red sea by the hands of Moses; these, men or saints of the former dispensation, in, before, and after the times of David, could speak of: there are others done by him on the cross, as the bruising the serpent's head, destroying his works, and him himself with his principalities and powers; and at the time of his sufferings, when the sun was darkened at noon day, the earth quaked, the rocks were split, the vail of the temple rent in twain, and graves opened, which threw the centurion and his soldiers into a panic that watched Jesus on the cross; and at his resurrection, when was a great earthquake also, and angels appeared, which made the keepers shake and tremble; and in a few years followed the terrible destruction of the Jewish nation, city, and temple, for the rejection of the Messiah; as also of Rome Pagan in a few ages after that; which are things besides the others that men under the Gospel dispensation can speak of: and there are others yet to be done, terrible to the kings of the earth, as the destruction of antichrist and all the antichristian states, the burning of Rome, the fall of the tenth part of the great city, or Romish jurisdiction, and also of the cities of the nations by an earthquake, and the downfall of all kingdoms and states, to make way for the everlasting kingdom of Christ. Now the power of Christ, as the mighty God, is seen in all these things, which show his eternal power and Godhead, and that with him is terrible majesty; and these are to be spoken of by good men to the terror of the wicked, and to command a proper awe and reverence of Christ in the minds of others;

and I will declare thy greatness; the greatness of his person, offices, and grace, as well as he could, being unsearchable; see Gill on Psa 145:3.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts - The force, the power of those things done by thee which are suited to inspire fear or reverence. The great power displayed in those acts shall be a ground or reason for celebrating thy praise. The manifestations of that power will so deeply impress the minds of people, that they will be led to speak of them.

And I will declare thy greatness - Hebrew, “And thy greatness, I will declare it.” In respect to that, I will recount it, or I will make it known to others.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 6. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts. If unobservant of other matters these acts of judgment shall seize their attention and impress their minds so that they must talk about them. Did not men in our Saviour's day speak of the falling tower of Siloam and the slaughtered Galileans? Are there not rumours of wars, when there are not even whispers of other things? Horrible news is sure to spread: under mercies men may be dumb, but concerning miseries they raise a great outcry. The force of dread is a power which loosens the tongue of the multitude: they are sure to talk of that which makes the ear to tingle and the hair to stand upright.

While they are thus occupied with "fearsome facts", such as the drowning of a world, the destruction of the cities of the plain, the plagues of Egypt, the destruction at the Red Sea, and so forth, David would look at these affairs in another light, and sing another tune. And I will declare thy greatness. Those acts which were terrible deeds to most men were mighty deeds, or greatnesses to our holy poet: these he would publish like a herald, who mentions the titles and honours of his royal master. It is the occupation of every true believer to rehearse the great doings of his great God. We are not to leave this to the common converse of the crowd, but we are personally to make a declaration of what we have seen and known. We are even bound in deep solemnity of manner to warn men of the Lord's greatness in his terrible acts of justice: thus will they be admonished to abstain from provoking him. To fulfil this duty we are already bound by solemn obligations, and we shall do well to bind ourselves further by resolutions, "I willGod helping me, I will."

Ver. 6. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts. When men do not mark his works of mercy and bounty the Lord will show unto them works of justice, that is, terrible works, and give them matter of talking upon this account. David Dickson.

Ver. 6. (last clause.) To "declare" here means either in speech or song; not merely to predicate as a fact, but to proclaim in praise. The Hebrew word has this width of meaning; not merely to declare in cold utterance, concerning mere history. Hermann Venema.

Ver. 6. Thy greatness. All men are enamoured of greatness. Then they must seek it in God, and get it from God. David did both. All history shows the creature aspiring after this glory. Ahasuerus, Astyages, Cyrus, Cambyses, Nebuchadnezzar, were all called the great. Alexander the Great, when he came to the Ganges, ordered his statue to be made of more than life size, that posterity might believe him to have been of nobler stature. In Christ alone does man attain the greatness his heart yearns forthe glory of perfect goodness. Thomas Le Blanc.

Ver. 6. Thy greatness. Or, according to the written text, greatnesses. So Aquila and Jerome. The parallelism is decidedly in favour of the plural. A. S. Aglen.

Ver. 6-7.

1. The awe struck talk. Silent as to mercies and promises, men must speak when God's terrible acts are among them.

2. The bold avowal. One individual declares God's greatness in power, wisdom, truth and grace. This leads others to the same conclusion, and hence

3. The grateful outpouring. Many bless the Lord's great goodness in a song fresh, free, constant, joyous, refreshing, abundant, like the gush of a spring.

4. The select song. They utter goodness but sing of righteousness. This is a noteworthy topic for a discourse.

Psalms 145:7*

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts. Men will "speak of the might of God"s terrible acts," which are those that attract them most the plagues wrought in Egypt, the overthrow of Pharaoh"s host in the Red Sea, the earth swallowing up Dathan, and the like. And I will declare thy greatness (see above, ver. 3).

Vers. 6, 7. God"s greatness is goodness.

"God"s "majesty" is his inherent greatness; his "glory" is the manifestation of that majesty; and its "splendor" in the brightness of this manifestation is seen by the eyes of men." "God declares his almighty power most chiefly in showing mercy and pity. The contemplation of simple majesty breathes awe; the sense of graciousness in majesty adds to it the glow of thankfulness." "If philosophy is to be believed, our world is but an outlying corner of creation; bearing, perhaps, as small proportion to the great universe as a single grain bears to all the sands of the seashore, or the small quivering leaf to the foliage of a boundless forest. Yet even within this earth"s narrow limit, how vast the work of Providence! how soon is the mind lost in contemplating it! How great, then, must the Creator of all be, if his works are so great! Truly " his greatness is unsearchable (Guthrie).

I THE OPPRESSION OF THE MERE SENSE OF POWER. Only an overwhelming feeling attends the working of the great forces of nature, in tempest, flood, earthquake, etc. Only a crushing humiliation follows on the masterful workings of great conquerors Alexander, Attila, Napoleon, etc. And oftentimes the almightiness of God is so presented, the majesty of his creation, his control, his judgments, that the mind and heart of man are simply crushed before him. See the sentiment we have in relation to giants, who are nothing but embodiments of physical power. There is no rest for man in God if all we can know of God is that he is almighty, "none can stay his hand." Illustrate by the slavish submission of Islamism before a God conceived as absolute power only.

II THE RESTFULNESS OF A SENSE OF GOODNESS BEHIND POWER. Illustrate by the different feeling we have toward the giant when we see him tenderly toying and playing with a helpless babe. There is a character behind the power, which puts limitations on, and quality into, the acts of power. The giant is good. It is thus with God. We find no rest in the mighty things he has done, or does, until we see that love to us, and planning for our good, tones, qualifies, and directs all the forthputtings of his power. R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

declare your abounding goodness

"tell others how very good you are"

translationWords

power

might

declare

good

righteous

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

And the strength of Your awesome deeds they will tell And I, too, shall recite Your greatness.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.